Category Archives: Ron Paul

Tainted

I would like to taint the City of St. Paul.

Some background: Around 100 years ago my family bought the whole side of a city block in a tax foreclosure sale, five lots. The plan was to give one lot to each of the sons and daughters.

One son was killed in WWII, the others moved out of town. So there are two houses on the remaining four lots, they have always stayed in the family. We are campers so we have had our camping trailers stored in the back corner of one of the lots since the 1960s. We have always tried to keep up with the changes to zoning regulations to keep it back there. We even paid the city for a driveway cutout when curbs were added to our street. Weve always kept our extra cars up there with just enough driveway to satisfy zoning laws. These are not nuisance cars. They are well maintained and constantly used.

We try to be good neighbors in our neighborhood. The city sends us a letter that they changed the rules once again and we are no longer allowed to park on our own property without significant changes. Admittedly, we havent looked into what those changes are yet, we will wait until next spring.

So, fine, we will park on the street in front of our own house.

Then, not even a week later, the are signs put up that say no parking during school hours, which I get because it is always a mess out there. We have occasionally not been able to use our driveway as people just park wherever when they get their kids. Weve had to strategically park our cars when we knew we were going to take the camper out. So we cant park in our yard, and now we cant park in front of our house.

This just seems like over-meddling to me. Let us use our own stuff. Stop trying to be our nanny.

Craig Lloyd, St. Paul

On Friday the 19th my husband and I went to the Wal-Mart in Oak Park Heights. After filling our cart we went to pay. As I took out my credit card a pretty young woman told me to put it away. She then proceeded to pay our bill.

I was taken aback so I didnt think to get her name but my husband asked if he could hug her, and proceeded to do so.

She should be sainted.

All she asked us to do was pay it forward

Carol and Russ Nygren, Stillwater

Sainted to the couple who bought our dinner and drinks on Nov. 23 while we were celebrating Moms birthday at Mancinis.

How kind and thoughtful. We will definitely pay it forward.

Mike Galdonik, St. Paul

A belated thank you and sainted to the historic unbeaten North St Paul 1970-71 football team that celebrated its 50th anniversary at our history museum back in October and thanks, too, for the $250 donation from the Class of 1971 to our museum. Twas so good to see the core players of that outstanding team and also for the entire Tom Carlson family to show up with the old coach for this event. That was special. Thanks also to Ron Adams (linebacker and National Honor Society) and Pat Behm Chase (contact person and trophy/photo finder) who helped round up these old fellas.

Also, a very belated thanks to the 1961 baseballL Polars who won the State Championship as seniors after winning the consolation trophy as juniors and they gave us a fine program back in September. Thanks also to North Hi A.D. Jed Helwig and his very able assistant Ty Moore for digging up those old trophies and more thanks to our own Kevin Jents (1958) and Clyde Doepner (1962) who helped stitch the program together. Finally, we also found Don Arlich, our stalwart pitcher and great all-around athlete who finished his career as a math teacher (yes, Miss Joyce would be so proud) at our old rival school St Paul Park. And thanks for the autographed baseball that also was special.

Bruce Fisher, North St. Paul

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Sainted & Tainted: After a hundred years, we cant park on our St. Paul lot. Or in front of our house. - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press

A regulatory board in Maine has temporarily suspended the license of a physician because of claims he inappropriately signed COVID-19 exemption letters.The Maine Board of Osteopathic Licensure has suspended the license of Waterville doctor Paul Gosselin for 30 days. Gosselin is also accused of spreading misinformation about the virus.The board reviewed exemption letters signed by Gosselin and reports from other providers that he spread the misinformation, the Bangor Daily News reported Monday. The board's order states that Gosselin must make new arrangements for the care of his patients.Gosselin's attorney, Ron Jenkins of Portland, did not respond to a reporter's request for comment.Gosselin was also suspended in 2014 after findings that he practiced medicine after ingesting drugs and prescribed himself medication when not in need of treatment.

A regulatory board in Maine has temporarily suspended the license of a physician because of claims he inappropriately signed COVID-19 exemption letters.

The Maine Board of Osteopathic Licensure has suspended the license of Waterville doctor Paul Gosselin for 30 days. Gosselin is also accused of spreading misinformation about the virus.

The board reviewed exemption letters signed by Gosselin and reports from other providers that he spread the misinformation, the Bangor Daily News reported Monday. The board's order states that Gosselin must make new arrangements for the care of his patients.

Gosselin's attorney, Ron Jenkins of Portland, did not respond to a reporter's request for comment.

Gosselin was also suspended in 2014 after findings that he practiced medicine after ingesting drugs and prescribed himself medication when not in need of treatment.

More here:
New England doctor suspended over COVID-19 misinformation, exemptions - WCVB Boston

Ronald William Knight was born at St. Marys Hospital in Long Beach, CA to Loretta Alice Krause and William Paul Knight on March 14, 1940, and died on November 22, 2021, at the age of 81 in Klamath Falls, OR. Ronald was the only son to Loretta and was raised in Ritzville, WA by his grandfather and grandmother, Wilhelm (William) Krause Jr. and Margaretha (Margaret) Schulz.

Ronald was married three times. His first wife, Barbara Joan Aetzel, gave him two sons, Brent Alden Knight, and William Ryan Knight. His last 15 years were spent with his beloved wife, Carrie Knight.

Ron attended Washington State University after graduating Ritzville High School in the class of 1959 and graduated with a business degree from the University of Washington, falling just short of his MBA. He spent his entire career working for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302, starting in the field working as an oiler, maintaining equipment, and then advancing to the office as the apprenticeship coordinator, later a business agent, and eventually business manager. Ron retired in 1998 at the age of 58 and spent extended periods of time traveling across the U.S. in his RVs.

Ron was known for his sense of humor, his work ethic and commitment to his job and the people he loved and served, his appreciation for family and a love of travel. Ron was a devoted Husky fan, loved to fish and dedicated his life to Christ.

Ron fought frontal temporal dementia, Parkinsons and diabetes during the final years of his life and passed away peacefully in his sleep. He was loved my many and will be missed greatly.

Ron is survived by his wife Carrie Knight and sons Brent and Ryan, four grandchildren, Payton, Rylie, Mason and Emerson, as well as an extended family and friends. A celebration of life will be held in the spring in Ritzville to honor and remember Ron. In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family asks that contributions be made to Alzheimers research.

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Ronald William Knight: Devoted Husky fan loved to fish and to travel - My Edmonds News

WASHINGTON Retired folk singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie is getting married again, but not before he celebrates a quiet Thanksgiving in the Berkshires.

Arlo Guthrie and longtime girlfriend Marti Ladd plan to marry in Florida.

He announced on Facebook that he would be spending the holiday at his home in Washington with only his "bride-to-be," his longtime girlfriend, Marti Ladd.

"Its not every year I get married," he wrote. "So this year instead of getting together with large groups of family and friends, my bride-to-be and I are going to celebrate Thanksgiving alone at a candlelight dinner to be thankful for each other. I wish everyone a joyful holiday however youre able to celebrate."

In October, Guthrie told a local newspaper in Sebastian, Fla., that he would marry Ladd. He said he had been with her for almost a decade, a relationship that blossomed after the death of his first wife, Jackie Guthrie.

We first met about 20 years ago when I went to Woodstock, New York with my wife Jackie to do a film," Guthrie told Sebastian Daily. "We were put up at The Wild Rose Inn. Marti Ladd was the owner/operator. Our friendship developed into a relationship after Jackie passed away in 2012. In September 2016, Marti sold the Inn and moved in with me in my home in Sebastian."

Guthrie has taken refuge at his Washington home throughout the coronavirus pandemic, according to Sebastian Daily, but he plans to get married in Florida.

Not familiar with Arlo Guthrie? Here's what you need to know about the Berkshires homeowner.

Guthrie is a political activist and folk singer-songwriter from Brooklyn. He's best known for "Alice's Restaurant Massacree", a satirical talking blues song from 1967. In the protest song, Guthrie describes his own arrest and conviction for dumping trash illegally during Thanksgiving break a conviction that later got him out of the draft for the Vietnam War.

The song, which is more than 18 minutes long, propelled Guthrie's career, and he went on to play at venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Woodstock Festival. Throughout his time touring, Guthrie played with numerous musicians, from Pete Seeger to Emmylou Harris to Willie Nelson. In 2020, he announced his retirement from touring.

"Alice's Restaurant" became a popular counterculture song. Guthrie himself endorsed resisting the draft, though he would later describe the song not as anti-war so much as anti-stupidity.

In his early years of performing, his political positions were largely anti-war, anti-Nixon and pro-drugs. He then registered Republican in 2008 and supported Rep. Ron Paul of Texas for the 2008 Republican Party nomination.

During the 2016 election he identified himself as an independent. Later on in the Trump presidency he declared he was "not a Republican" and said he disagreed with Trump policies, especially on immigration.

"I left the party years ago and do not identify myself with either party these days," he wrote to Urban Milwaukee in 2018. "I strongly urge my fellow Americans to stop the current trend of guilt by association, and look beyond the party names and affiliations, and work for candidates whose policies are more closely aligned with their own, whatever they may be.

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Love in the Berkshires: Arlo Guthrie celebrates Thanksgiving in Washington with his 'bride-to-be' - Berkshire Eagle

The films capture images people, places, and traditions from Buffalos heyday, which stand as memories still cherished by many.

BUFFALO, N.Y. Films produced and images captured by a home movie buff from South Buffalo generations ago are now being enjoyed thanks to the effort of his grandson.

Paul Kimaid owned the Kimaid and Mattar clothing store on Seneca Street until it closed in the 1980s. But along with running a business and raising a family, he had passion for filmmaking.

Every birthday party, every graduation, every Christmas, recalled Kimaids daughter, Betty Romeo, of her father and his ever-present film camera.

Kimaid bought his first camera in the 1940s, and while film cameras were common among families during the post-World War II era to capture lifes special moments, Kimaid took to his hobby with zeal.

He filmed events around South Buffalo and produced several short films starring members of his family during the 1950s, long before anyone thought of reality TV.

The genres included comedies, mysteries and dramas.

It just became his passion, recalled Romeo. And we kids were just used to always being on camera.

She also remembered that her father won several awards from regional film clubs for his efforts.

Every time we woke up in the morning and there was a new trophy on the mantel, we knew hed won another, she said.

The Cecil B. DeMille of South Buffalo

He would feed us the lines to say as he was about to film, recalled Robert Kimaid, Pauls oldest son. "He was like the script writer, producer, director, and the camera man.

Robert says that after his father shot the reels of film, he would send them off to the Eastman Kodak company in Rochester to be developed, and that when they returned, the real work would begin.

Then he would edit it and do the splicing and moving things around, making it the way he wanted it, Robert said.

Some of the films were up 17 minutes in length.

Remembering the clunky equipment and lights his dad would use, Robert quipped, hed be absolutely amazed by what you can do with a cell phone today.

Its fun to watch the progression of how his talent grew and the quality of the productions changed and grew to improve over the years, said John Romeo, Bettys son and Paul Kimaids grandson.

Romeo, who owns a video production and graphic design firm in Virginia, embarked on an effort to collect all the films, which had become scattered in the basements and attics of various family members over the years following his grandfathers death in 1989, and to sort, digitize, and then upload them on a YouTube channel to preserve them and make them accessible to his family.

The channelPaul Kimaid Presents currently includes 122 films.

I honestly didnt think thered be much interest in these outside of my family, Romeo said. But the response Ive gotten from friends and even strangers who are finding this stuff is that theyre just blown away by it. People are connecting with this family even though it's not theirs.

Now in their golden years, the Kimaid children, who all live within a mile of each other in Orchard Park, realize that while they were once the stars of the show, that may no longer be true.

The attraction, they believe, is what anyone viewing the films now sees around them.

There are vintage shots of downtown Buffalo and other parts of the city when it was in its heyday, and had more than a half-million residents.

I think its just the history you see, said Ron Kimaid, the youngest of Paul's three children.

You can take, for example, a film from 1953 and youre like, Holy cow! Look at that car. Look at that stove, look at that refrigerator. I remember that toy.Things like that are precious to people.

Indeed, because anyone watching these films from a bygone era might not be just looking at the Kimaid family.

They may be looking at their own.

And they may be remembering the times (as captured in the Kimaid films) when their favorite uncle came home from serving overseas, or a trip to Crystal Beach on the Candiana to ride the Comet, or dancing the jitter bug at the annual South Buffalo Days in a poodle skirt and saddle shoes.

"I think that people can identify with those movies and identify in their own life," Betty said. And I think that everyone has those has those memories somewhere in the past and they can relate to it when they see it.

It is memories which bind families over time, especially around the holidays, whether those memories were made in an old house that still stand in South Buffalo, or in any one of a million others like it across America.

Captured in time through the passion, and the lens, of a long ago fellow named Paul Kimaid.

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Buffalo-area familys films yield treasure trove of memories for all - WGRZ.com

Republicans often present a united front, but loyalty to former President Donald Trump, seen here with House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, and views about his future in the party are showing some divisions. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption

Republicans often present a united front, but loyalty to former President Donald Trump, seen here with House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, and views about his future in the party are showing some divisions.

Newspaper headline writers joke about keeping "Democrats in Disarray" set in type, just to be ready the next time it's needed.

In any given year or season, that "standing head" pops up about as often as "Weather Snarls Traffic" or "Middle East Peace Talks Collapse."

But we lack an equally facile clich for Republicans. Either they manage not to fall out with each other, or they are less likely to let it show at least not where it might be seen as newsworthy.

Presenting a united front has been an even greater imperative for the GOP when Democrats were in the White House and especially when Democrats also had majorities in Congress.

That may be changing. Heightened tensions within the GOP have been increasingly visible in recent weeks, driven by the still-divisive personality of former President Donald Trump but also by issues such as vaccines and mandates and by the prospect of big Republican gains in the elections of 2022 and 2024.

This week's focus has been on Republican governors declaring their independence not only from the former president but from present party leaders in Washington.

In some cases, the governors are reacting to Trump's meddling in their home state politics. Here we have Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is term-limited but has backed a candidate to succeed him. Trump has endorsed someone else, adding that Hogan himself is "toxic" and "a Republican in name only [who] has been terrible for our country and against the America First Movement."

Asked about Trump taking sides, Hogan replied: "I'd prefer endorsements from people who didn't lose Maryland by 33 points," referring to Trump's blowout loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the state last year.

This particular feud is not new. Hogan has been critical of Trump for years and condemned him for inciting the crowd that marched on the Capitol on Jan. 6.

But eyebrows were raised over the weekend when a big name Republican, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, criticized Trump and his claque in Congress. Sununu was especially disturbed at the so-called "MAGA Squad," the hardcore Trump acolytes who have tried to ostracize their in-party House colleagues who voted for the Senate's bipartisan infrastructure bill earlier this month or who voted to impeach Trump earlier this year.

"I think they've got their priorities screwed up," Sununu said on CNN Sunday. "That kind of social media mob mentality that's built up in this country ... culturally, those tactics are ruining America."

These critiques are more than just talk. Sununu's approval in New Hampshire is 67%, Hogan's at home is 70%, but both have declined to run for the Senate next year, depriving the GOP of their best chance at a pick-up in both states.

Also refusing party pleadings are Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont, the nation's most popular governor at 79% approval, and Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, who looks not too shabby at 72%. Scott has said publicly he voted for Biden and also called for Trump to be removed from office after Jan. 6. Baker has said he did not vote for Trump in either 2016 or 2020, and Trump has endorsed someone else for governor in the Bay State.

Trump has also weighed in on intraparty struggles in other states where the race is likely to be competitive next year, always seeking out someone willing to parrot his line about the "stolen" 2020 election. That makes recruiting that much harder for Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and the party's Senate campaign chairman, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida (both of whom have acknowledged the Biden win and urged the party to move on).

But Trump's continued insistence on his 2020 alternative reality is not the only problem driving the GOP's dive into disunity. Another factor, curiously enough, is the prospect of power.

Robust Republican turnout this month in New Jersey and Virginia gave the party near-giddy certainty about its prospects in 2022. This is especially true in the House. The party in the White House nearly always loses seats in the House in the midterm election year. The few exceptions, such as in the aftermath of the terror attacks 20 years ago or the Great Depression 90 years ago, mostly prove the rule.

More typically, the president's party's midterm losses soar well into double digits. Trump lost 40 seats and control of the House in 2018. The last two Democratic presidents, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, also lost the House in their first midterm with even greater carnage: Obama lost 63 seats, the worst loss for his party in 72 years, Clinton lost 52 seats (and also lost the Senate the same day, giving the GOP its first full control of Congress in 40 years).

Right now, the Democrats' margin in the House can be counted on the fingers of one hand. So it might seem necessary or especially smart for Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy to be out there predicting his party will flip more than 60 seats again in 2022, or to set the bar even higher to challenge most of the 200-plus Democrats now hold.

Yet McCarthy continues to set expectations in the stratosphere. And the explanation may lie in the message he was sending when he kept the House in session overnight to hear him speak for more than eight hours (a total of 512 minutes) last week.

In that moment, McCarthy was delaying a final House vote on the roughly $2 trillion, 10-year budget bill that embodies Biden's social-and-climate agenda. A futile gesture, perhaps, but one likely to be noticed by the media and applauded by the base.

While McCarthy is nominally in line to be Speaker in a Republican House, he has been in that position before and been denied. He is popular with his colleagues, but getting the big gavel is much trickier than winning other leadership jobs, because it requires more than just a majority of one's own teammates.

The speaker is chosen by the whole House, not just the majority party. So 218 votes are required. If a new GOP majority has lots more members than that, McCarthy could lose a slice to an intraparty rival and still reach 218. But if the margin is narrow, he would need virtually every Republican vote to win. That gives even a small faction the power to stop him and to empower an alternative.

That is the calculus that did him in the last time the opportunity beckoned. McCarthy was next in line when Speaker John Boehner resigned in 2015, but doubts about his readiness and media savvy kept him short of 218. The party managed to unite instead behind Paul Ryan, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and the GOP vice-presidential nominee in 2012. Ryan, a reluctant speaker, stepped down two years later, presaging the losses the party would suffer in that cycle, and reflecting his frustration with the House Freedom Caucus, an informal but powerful faction of several dozen Republicans who were willing to withhold their votes at crucial moments even on issues such as keeping the federal government open for business.

Two of this group's founders, Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mark Meadows of North Carolina, continue to play a role today.

Jordan is still in the House, having been an outspoken defender of Trump and now ranking member on Judiciary. Meadows left the House to be Trump's fourth (and final) chief of staff and has recently been in the news for defying a subpoena to testify before the House committee investigating Jan. 6.

Meadows was a guest on the podcast of MAGA squad member Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida earlier this month. He unloaded on his former colleague McCarthy and the rest of the GOP leadership: "They're not skating to where the puck is, and so I would give them a grade of D."

Meadows suggested that a new GOP House majority next year should elect Trump as Speaker, an idea that has been floated before. It is not impossible. The Constitution does not require the Speaker to be a member of the House, only to be chosen by the House. So it could be Trump or someone else not a member, such as, perhaps, Meadows.

Or it could be a member, as it has always been since Congress first convened. Jordan has been regarded as a likely contender, and so has McCarthy's presumably loyal No. 2, Steve Scalise of Louisiana. Scalise, the House Minority Whip, has staked out a far more Trump-friendly position on the 2020 election than McCarthy's. (Given multiple chances to say who won that election, Scalise simply refuses to say.)

For his part, McCarthy has tried to zig-zag between acknowledging Biden's win (and criticizing Trump for Jan. 6) and pledging fealty to the former president and calling the Jan. 6 rioters "patriots."

Trump, who had previously called McCarthy "my Kevin" and favored him over other Hill Republicans, more recently has been keeping his options open. Would he like to be Speaker? It is hard to imagine him cooped up in the Capitol when he would rather be campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Add to all this the familiar friction between potential presidential contestants already running shadow campaigns for 2024. Most, if not all, still say they will defer to Trump if he runs. This crew includes former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Senators Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Marco Rubio of Florida and Tom Cotton of Arkansas.

Also rising in national polls are the pro-Trump governors of the nation's second and third most populous states Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida although neither is nearly as popular in his home state as the Republican governors who have broken from Trump.

But not everyone in the field is promising to step aside for another Trump bid. Take for example Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who ran against Trump in 2016, then worked hard to elect and re-elect him.

In recent weeks, while eagerly supporting "Trump policies" in TV appearances, Christie has been suggesting it was time to replace Trump at the helm. He and others speak in a kind of code, using phrases such as "time to move on" and "focus on the future."

To date, GOP unity has been both a virtue of necessity and a function of longstanding habit. The party has since the 1930s been routinely called the "minority party" in the U.S., meaning only that a plurality of Americans were more likely to call themselves Democrats. This "minority" status clung to the party even when its presidential candidates were winning in landslides and its members had clear majorities in Congress.

But over the years, as the nominally smaller group, the GOP nurtured the image of a tested, hardened cadre with fierce demands on members' loyalty. Like Gideon's army in the biblical Book of Judges, they saw their strength not in their numbers but the righteousness of their cause. This implied a certain virtue, perhaps, but also communicated the absolute necessity of sticking together in a fight.

Some of this was myth, of course, as the GOP always had its share of disagreements and dissension not to mention competing egos. Ronald Reagan used to cite what he called "the 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican." But Reagan also ran hard in the primaries against his party's incumbent Republican president, Gerald Ford.

But myth or not, this impression has been powerful, helping to goad even marginal Republicans to turn out in November and to vote for whomever the party nominated. Trump himself was a major beneficiary of this habit and discipline in 2016, and he suffered when it weakened somewhat in 2020.

GOP cohesion has also proven limited when it might have mattered most. At the start of their control in Congress in 1995 or the start of George W. Bush's second term a decade later, Republicans had a big agenda they could not quite rally their ranks to support in full. And in the very next election cycle, the voters reined them in.

Nonetheless, clichs die hard. And the motif of D's in disarray and R's in lockstep is likely to live on in the popular imagination, and in the media, for a long time to come.

Read more:
Trump, tough issues and personal rivalries test the GOP's reputation for unity - NPR

Tuesday brought some very entertaining banter between the Sports Junkies (106.7 The Fan) and WFT Head Coach Ron Rivera, appearing for his weekly (Tuesday) discussion.

The Junkies launched the conversation thanking Coach Rivera, saying the week would have been a disaster for them had Cam Newton and the Panthers defeated the WFT in Week 11.

Had Taylor not played well and had you guys lost and Cam have played well, it would have been a week, a flood gate of call after call of fans saying, Why didnt the WFT bring in Cam? emphasized John-Paul Flaim.

Enthusiastically jumping in was Eric Bickel, I will be honest with you coach, I told people to bet their 401K on Tampa, to which Rivera reacted, Oh ye of little faith.

You will take this personally, but dont, continued Bickel. They are just the Panthers to me.

Rivera interrupted, No, no, you are right, they are only the second-ranked defense in the NFL. But that is ok. You guys want to stick with numbers, Im good, Im good.

Rivera talking over everyone continued, They beat the number one team in the NFL two weeks ago (Cardinals). But we are fine. I promise we will show up and give it our best.

Bickel: I just want to disrespect them. We have three trophies (Super Bowl); they have zero trophies the last time I checked. We are a heritage franchise; they are an expansion franchise. I will ALWAYS pick us (WFT) against the Panthers.

As Bickel was saying this, I was cringing wondering how Rivera was receiving that, seeing he coached the Panthers for nine seasons.

It was humorous to hear Coach Rivera eating his breakfast during the interview and to have Flaim then actually ask him, What are you having for breakfast right now?.

Also, John Cakes Auville jokingly asked Rivera if he works four hours a day as the Junkies do.

You will also want to listen to Rivera explaining what all he had scheduled for Tuesday.

Most emphatically, Coach Rivera was unwavering that the franchise quarterback might be on the roster now, or come in the draft or free agency next year.

There was much more The segment begins at 18:30

You can listen here.

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The Junkies and Ron Rivera rocked Tuesday - Redskins Wire

Perhaps its nostalgia for life before the internet, but I love perusing public message boards. Im old enough to remember when you discovered useful information by glancing at lampposts, and somehow the city seemed more alive. I knewI was in the right place when I spotted a flyer that caught my eye in the doorway of a coffee shop, on a library wall or tacked to a telephone pole.

Photo by Bill Lindeke

Today on certain corners, old-school message boards are still somehow thriving. If you glimpse one, its a sign youre at an urban hotspot, part of a city alive with the footsteps of strangers.

Until a few years ago, the message board on the corner of Como and Carter was the best one in the city, its combination of design and vitality unbeaten in my Twin Cities wanderings. Its dynamic was a credit to the sense of community in St. Pauls St. Anthony Park neighborhood, itself a legacy of the areas 19th century origins as a distinct suburb along the Northern Pacific railroad. Beginning in the 1880s, you could get from St. Anthony Park to either downtown in about 25 minutes, still a pretty good commute compared to todays #3 bus.

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The Como Avenue message board only dated back a few decades, the work of a local architect named Joe Michels. He worked with the surrounding business community to build and construct the kiosk and two distinct bus shelters that bracketed the street.

They were almost orientalist, said Pat Thompson, a long-time member of the St. Anthony Park Community Council, describing Michels designs. They were sort of a cross between Japanese and Prairie-style influence, both the bus shelter and kiosk.

Photo by Bill Lindeke

The Mississippi River News message board outside Birchwood Cafe.

For the last two years, downtown St. Anthony Park lacked a public message board and, to me, the absence was palpable. From the vantage of the sidewalk caf tables, something was missing, as if a cherished parlor painting had vanished.

It turned out that I wasnt the only one who felt this way.

Photo by Bill Lindeke

A message board outside a Kenwood neighborhood bookstore.

The campus focuses on agricultural work, and includes a bee lab. Thats where the idea for the beehive theme emerged.

The St. Anthony Park community is nothing if not diligent, and they quickly began communicating with the Public Works department. City street reconstructions have a public art budget, and resuscitating the message board seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Photo by Bill Lindeke

The Joe Michels-designed kiosk in St. Anthony Park.

(You might be familiar with the sidewalk poetry project, the 2009 brainchild of artist-in-residence, Marcus Young.)

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In this case, the citys worked with a sculpture artist named Brad Kaspari. The result is the Langstroth kiosk, a playful, artistic structure that mimics a distinct kind of apiary (i.e. a housing complex for bees).

Photo by Pat Thompson

Artist Brad Kaspari shown behind the kiosk he created.

The end result is a relief for someone like me, a fan of dynamic public space. After it was installed in June, random community messages have returned to the corner of Como and Carter.

The St. Anthony Park Council is in charge of maintaining it, Thompson told me. We take turns once a week, stopping by, to make sure things are taken down that are past date, to look and if it looks neat enough. It has a door on it so things wont blow off. Its really well designed!

Indeed, visit the kiosk today and youll find: ads for a dog walkers, the holiday bazaar at a nearby church, a tea house, Christmas wreath sales, computer repair, a tribute show at the Cabooze bar; want ads for an experienced carpenter, a lawn raker, and a female roommate; and the news that local TV personality Ron Schara will be appearing at the bookstore across the street on December 4th to sign his latest work.

Photo by Bill Lindeke

The Lengstroth kiosk in use.

If you find a corporeal message board these days, its a good sign of thriving civic life, a barometer of the dynamic feedback loop that persists between a city and its people. At least along some well-trod sidewalks, where people still stroll with curious eyes, these little spots still have a purpose.

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Thats why Im happy to report that the message board in St. Anthony Park will live to see another day, revealing another generation of dog walkers and free yoga classes to local passers-by. Keep it coming, St. Paul. As long as there are lost cats to be found, Ill be watching.

Original post:
In praise of the community message board - MinnPost

Matthew Paul "Matt" Wiser, age 37, of Bluffton, passed away Monday, Nov. 22, 2021.

Matt was born June 22, 1984, in Russellville to James Ricky and Sandra Kaye Jones Wiser. Matt was an avid outdoorsman. He loved hunting, fishing, golfing and his yearly trips to Colorado. He loved his kids and family most of all and will be missed daily by those blessed to know him.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Bobby and Judy Jones; and grandfather, James Clyde Wiser.

Survivors include his wife, Ashley Wiser; children, Lilyan Grace Wiser and Beau Matthew Wiser; parents, Rick and Sandra Wiser of Havana; brother, James Rick Jr. and Nauscha Wiser of Havana; mother and father-in-law, Melinda and Len Cullins of Bluffton; sister and brother-in-law, Farrah and Robert Caldwell of Havana; grandmother, Wanda Wiser; uncles, Ron Wiser and Mike Wiser; aunts, Tammy and Dan Fincher all of Havana; several cousins, aunts, and uncles who he loved dearly.

Graveside service will be at 10 a.m. on Friday at Bluffton Cemetery with W.A. Gorman officiating.

Pallbearers include Jon Wiser, Mark Fincher, Bradley Bland, Daniel Kimball, Robert Caldwell, Jeremy Jones, Luke Jones and Blake James.

Arrangements by Cornwell Funeral Home, Danville.

Online guestbook and condolences available at http://www.cornwellfuneralhomes.com.

Published by The Courier on Nov. 24, 2021.

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Matthew Wiser Obituary (1984 - 2021) - Bluffton, AR - The Courier - Legacy.com

The American Independent Foundation asked every major candidate running for U.S. Senate in 2022 about their COVID-19 vaccination status.

At least six candidates running for U.S. Senate in 2022 remain unvaccinated against the coronavirus, an American Independent Foundation analysis shows.

All of the unvaccinated candidates are Republicans, conforming with trends showing a wide partisan gap in the United States' vaccination rate. Every Democratic candidate for Senate has received at least one COVID-19 shot.

There are 91 major Senate candidates running for office in 2022. That number includes incumbents seeking re-election, challengers seeking to replace those candidates, and individuals running in states with open seats.

Of those candidates identified, 50 had spoken publicly to their status as vaccinated against COVID-19 or were reported to be fully or partially vaccinated by other news organizations. Five had previously stated publicly that they were not vaccinated or were reported to be so. And the remainder had not commented on whether they had received the shots.

All U.S. senators seeking re-election are vaccinated except for two: Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) andRand Paul (R-KY). Johnson has yet to formally announce his re-election bid but is expected to seek another term. "I'm not going to get the vaccine," Johnson said in a recent interview with C-SPAN. He added that if members of Congress were required to get vaccinated, "I would just stop coming here."

Paul, like Johnson, has previously contracted the virus, and the two argue that grants them a so-called "natural immunity" such that they do not require vaccination. Though studies have shown that previous infection does provide some level of protection, the CDC still recommends that everyone eligible gets vaccinated against COVID-19. Moreover, a recent CDC study showed that unvaccinated Americans who previously contracted the virus were over five times more likely to get COVID again than those who were fully vaccinated.

Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, who running to replace Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), told a local radio show in August that he was not vaccinated. He has also come under fire for not having a plan to get more people vaccinated. Greitens' campaign did not respond to multiple inquiries about his vaccination status.

Fellow Missouri Senate candidate Mark McCloskey has similarly refused to get vaccinated, according to the Missouri Independent. McCloskey rose to prominence after he and his wife brandished guns at protestors demonstrating in response to the murder of George Floyd. McCloskey recently suggested that people who refuse the vaccine would get "their name on a list" and would eventually "get eliminated." His campaign did not respond to multiple inquiries.

Mark Pukita, an Ohio IT executive seeking to replace Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), bragged in a GOP candidate forum earlier this month that he was the "only one up here" who was not vaccinated, though fellow GOP candidate Josh Mandell has refused to disclose his vaccination status and did not respond to multiple inquiries. Pukita may remain unvaccinated, but he holds up to $50,000 in Johnson & Johnson stock and up to $15,000 in Pfizer stock, two companies that manufacture COVID-19 vaccines.

Jason Beebe, who serves as mayor of Prineville, Oregon, and recently announced a long-shot bid to oust incumbent Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), confirmed to the American Independent Foundation in an email that he was unvaccinated. "I have talked with my doctor and am waiting for more testing and results," Beebe said.

Beyond those who have stated publicly or confirmed privately that they were unvaccinated, several leading candidates have refused to disclose their status altogether.

Herschel Walker, a retired football player running to unseat Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), has refused to say if he is vaccinated. In October, Walker's campaign canceled a fundraiser with a conservative film producer whose Twitter profile picture showed a swastika made of needles. Walker's campaigndid not respond to multiple inquiries about his vaccination status.

Senate candidate Marc Brnovich, who currently serves as Arizona's attorney general, has also refused to say whether he has been vaccinated. A reporter asked Brnovich about his vaccination status on Monday, to which he responded, "Have you had an STD?" Brnovich's campaign did not respond to multiple inquiries from the American Independent Foundation.

Public health officials are increasingly worried about a resurgence of COVID-19 cases heading into the winter months. Still, research has found that hesitant people may be persuaded to get vaccinated with the encouragement of local officials they know and trust, including their political representatives. Public opinion research has shown that as more conservative leaders come to support vaccines, so do their followers.

"If you can get Republican [leaders] to stand up for science, to stand up for public health, to stand up for vaccines, you're going to have an easier time convincing Republicans in public to do the same," Matt Motta, assistant professor of political science at Oklahoma State University, told the American Independent Foundation in August.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

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At least 6 Senate candidates have refused a COVID vaccine and they're all Republican - The American Independent