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Boston Marathon bombing survivor Meghan Zipin finds light after tragedy; first book to be released on 10-year anniversary

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:01 GMT

As she struggled to fall asleep, Meghan Zipin started writing notes on her phone of what she remembered from the Boston Marathon bombings and the aftermath of such devastation.Those notes became prompts she used to write poetry from — a coping mechanism that Zipin turned to along her road to healing.Zipin crossed the finish line on April 15, 2013, just moments before “the spectacular marathon day” turned Boylston Street into what she described as a “war zone.” Physically, she said, she feels lucky because the bombs didn’t injure her, but the emotional pain and “survivor’s guilt” took a toll.When Zipin reached 15 poems, she said, it clicked that the collection could turn into a book.So it did.Zipin’s first published book First Light is set to be released on April 15, the 10-year anniversary of the bombings. Readers will be walked through the time of the bombings to when Zipin spoke to bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at trial, with the collection of 37 poems highlighting her experiences with...

South Africa police say prison escapee arrested in Tanzania

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:01 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African convicted murderer who faked his death to escape from prison has been arrested in Tanzania following a two-week manhunt, police have announced.South African officials are going to Tanzania Sunday to begin to extradite Thabo Bester, 35, dubbed the “Facebook Rapist” as he used the social media platform to lure at least two women he was convicted of raping. He was also found guilty of killing one. Bester was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012 and it was reported in May last year that he died in a fire in his prison cell.However, reports surfaced of him being seen in Johannesburg and an investigation including DNA samples showed that the body found burned beyond recognition in the cell was not his.Two weeks ago police said they were chasing Bester and last week they raided a luxurious home he was believed to have been renting in a posh Johannesburg suburb.Bester was apprehended with his girlfriend Nandipha Magudumana, a well-known celebrity doctor...

Reports: Tesla plans Shanghai factory for power storage

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:01 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Electric car maker Tesla Inc. plans to build a factory in Shanghai to produce power-storage devices for sale worldwide, state media reported Sunday.Plans call for annual production of 10,000 Megapack units, according to the Xinhua News Agency and state television. They said the company made the announcement at a signing ceremony in Shanghai, where Tesla operates an auto factory.The factory is due to break ground in the third quarter of this year and start productions in the second quarter of 2024, the reports said.Tesla didn’t immediately respond to requests for information.The Associated Press

Police kill suspect, 3 victims die in Florida home shooting

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:01 GMT

Four people including a child are dead after a suspect shot three victims inside a home and then was killed by police after opening fire on officers responding to a domestic violence report early Sunday, police in Florida said.Officers heard gunshots inside the home before the suspect exited and shot at the officers around 2:25 a.m., the Orlando Police Department said in a statement.Inside the home, police found three gunshot victims, including a child who was transported by officers to a hospital. The three victims died of their injuries, Orlando police said.The suspect also died after being transported to a hospital, police said.The two officers involved in the shooting were not injured and have been placed on administrative leave, police said.The identifies of the suspect, the victims and the officers were not immediately released.The Associated Press

Sunday Bulletin Board: How do you say ‘where the deer and the antelope play’ in Italian?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:01 GMT

One shining momentSIS writes: “Subject: Diva.“I can hear my longtime friends scoff: ‘Say that again! You sang in the world-famous opera house La Scala, in Milan? Impossible! You can’t sing, period. Sister Edeltrude trained the Grade 6 choir. She let you stand on stage with your pals as long as you just moved your lips. Let’s face it, SIS, you can’t carry a tune.”“In the parlance of our former schoolyard, I would reply with hauteur: ‘Did, too.’“Years ago, I was in Milan, Italy, on a baking-hot August day. The inhabitants of the city had closed up shop and headed to the beach.“I hired a private tour guide to take us (my aunt, a neighbor, and me) around the city. We met Mr. N. on a street corner — an elderly man in his late 70s. He was wearing a tweed jacket and mopping his face with a large, white handkerchief. After brief forays into numerous churches, I became alarmed at Mr. N.’s appearance. I thought he might keel ov...

Despite snow on the ground, spring turkey season arrives

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:01 GMT

Minnesota and Wisconsin so far seem to be avoiding a mysterious decline in wild turkey numbers that has plagued several southern states in recent years, with populations in the north holding steady even through some tough winters.While getting an accurate handle on a statewide turkey population is a difficult task, biologists in Minnesota and Wisconsin say that hunter harvest data and other anecdotal reports show turkey numbers in both states are holding their own and that spring turkey hunters should see good numbers of birds when they go afield starting next week.A flock of turkeys are seen during the opening morning of the Minnesota gun deer season on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021, in rural Carlton County. (Clint Austin / Forum News Service)Even if there’s still snow on the ground.Last year, 54,491 hunters went afield in Minnesota and bagged 12,309 tom turkeys, down a bit from records set in 2020 during the pandemic-fueled rush to get outdoors, but still more than years leading up...

Literary calendar for week of April 9

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:01 GMT

OSCAR HOKEAH: Citizen of the Cherokee Nation and the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, with Mexican ancestry on his father’s side, discusses his novel “Calling for a Blanket Dance,” about a woman who comes from a family that is part Native American, part Mexican, and the tragedy that results when identity is suppressed. In conversation with PEN award-winning Minnesota Native American author Mona Susan Power, whose forthcoming book is “A Council of Dolls.” Virtual/streaming, presented by Club Book. 7 p.m. Monday, April 10. Go to facebook.com/ClubBook.SUZANNE NIELSEN: Metro State University associate professor of fine arts leads a discussion about her book “FaceUp: A Collection of Outlaw Poems,” which serve as a springboard for conversations about moments when facing up to something, or someone, is the only way out of a dilemma. Part of her story is about her depression and hearing loss. A panel of Metro State students and faculty will read original wo...

Skywatch: Corvus the Crow ate crow

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:01 GMT

I’m retired now, but for 40 years I was a weather forecaster, and over time I ate crow at times so I can certainly relate to the classic story about the constellation of Corvus the Crow.Crows have been getting a terrible rap for eons, but they’re really one of the most intelligent birds around. In Greek and Roman mythology, crows were once the most respected birds. Back in the day they were exalted, highly intelligent, and had beautiful voices that allowed them to sing glorious songs that delighted all. They were blessed with bright white feathers with gold trim on their wings and tail. They served the gods and goddesses as reliable messengers on Mount Olympus with great distinction until Corvus the bungling crow messed it up for all crows.(Mike Lynch)The constellation Corvus the Crow is one of the 66 or so constellations we see throughout the year in our Minnesota and Wisconsin night skies, but even though it’s not one of the biggest or brightest, it’s very ...

Readers and writers: A unique look at a Fitzgerald favorite, and a veterinarian’s touching memoir

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:01 GMT

Today we look at a program based on one of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short stories, and a veterinarian’s memoir about overcoming adversity and loneliness.“Bernice Bobs Her Hair” is one of St. Paul native Fitzgerald’s most popular short stories. Who’s Bernice and why did she cut her hair?Danny Klecko, poet/baker and promoter of all things St. Paul, is going to tell you at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 13, at Friedli Gallery, 943 W. Seventh St., St. Paul, with special guests Heather Friedli and Chef JD Fratzke. It’s the first of four free programs about Fitzgerald’s short stories in a new partnership between Klecko and Fitzgerald in St. Paul, an organization under the auspices of Friends of the St. Paul Public Library.In 1915 Fitzgerald sent his 14-year-old sister, Annabel, a 10-page letter about how to make herself more socially appealing, including advice on conversation poise, carriage, dancing, expression, dress, and personality. It began, i...

Ramsey County SNAP application backlog leaves thousands in limbo

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:16:01 GMT

After losing her job late last year, Alex Curry moved back into her parents’ St. Paul home with her three children.Having no other source of income, the single mother applied in early January for benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food aid to people in need.Weeks turned into months as Ramsey County processed her application, leaving Curry to increasingly rely on her parents for help feeding her kids.“Every day was just kind of a waiting game,” she said. “You have that worry, that stress and that anxiety. … I don’t want my parents to have to deal with a financial struggle because I can’t help them with groceries.”Last week, Curry received the SNAP debit card that will allow her to buy groceries for her family, nearly three months after she first applied for aid.“It just makes you kind of feel like, who can you depend on?” she said of the wait. “I don’t really have a lot of trust in the system at all.”Curr...