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‘They were resilient. I’m living proof’: Irish descendants commemorate St. Paul’s Connemara Patch

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:02:12 GMT

Afton resident Leslie Thomas has spent years researching her family’s Irish roots.She’s scoured genealogy sites, traveled to Ireland more than 10 times, and is one of the founders of a Facebook group called “Connemara to Minnesota in the 1880s: The Families and Their Stories.”According to Thomas’ research, 32 of her family members emigrated to St. Paul from Connemara, Ireland, in 1883 as part of Quaker philanthropist James Hack Tuke’s assisted-emigration program, which Tuke started to provide relief during the 1879-1882 famine.Many of Thomas’s relatives settled in Connemara Patch on St. Paul’s East Side, where another group of Irish immigrants – brought to Minnesota by Bishop John Ireland – had already settled along Lower Phalen Creek.“My great-great-uncle Patrick Stewart emigrated in 1883, and he lived right in here,” Thomas said during a recent tour of the snow-covered site, now part of Swede Hollow Park.There’s not much to see now. The homes are long gone, the s...

David French: Don’t let the culture war degrade the Constitution

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:02:12 GMT

The Constitution of the United States, properly interpreted, provides a marvelous method for handling social conflict. It empowers an elected government to enact even contentious new rules while protecting the most fundamental human rights of dissenting citizens. Political defeat is never total defeat. Losers of a given election still possess their basic civil liberties, and the combination of the right to speak and the right to vote provides them concrete hope for their preferred political outcomes.But if a government both enacts contentious policies and diminishes the civil liberties of its current ideological opponents, then it sharply increases the stakes of political conflict. It breaks the social compact by rendering political losers, in effect, second-class citizens. A culture war waged against the civil liberties of your political opponents inflicts a double injury on dissenters: They don’t merely lose a vote; they also lose a share of their freedom.That’s exactly what’s hap...

Ezra Klein: This changes everything

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:02:12 GMT

In 2018, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google — and not one of the tech executives known for overstatement — said, “AI is probably the most important thing humanity has ever worked on. I think of it as something more profound than electricity or fire.”Try to live, for a few minutes, in the possibility that he’s right. There is no more profound human bias than the expectation that tomorrow will be like today. It is a powerful heuristic tool because it is almost always correct. Tomorrow probably will be like today. Next year probably will be like this year. But cast your gaze 10 or 20 years out. Typically, that has been possible in human history. I don’t think it is now.Artificial intelligence is a loose term, and I mean it loosely. I am describing not the soul of intelligence, but the texture of a world populated by ChatGPT-like programs that feel to us as if they were intelligent, and that shape or govern much of our lives. Such systems are, to a large extent, already here. But what’s c...

Assembly releases one house budget

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:02:12 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) -- The Assembly one house budget has been published. The final budget deadline is due April 1. The 146-page document details the Assembly’s plans to address bail reform, minimum wage, school meals and much more. While the Governor's budget proposal totaled around $227 billion the Assembly is asking for  $233 billion. "Well, the one thing I’ve heard from constituents, I think we saw the last election frankly, as people are concerned about affordability and crime in your state unfortunately, other than maybe the Suny tuition freeze, I didn’t see this proposal address affordability at all, and it certainly did nothing on crime, they rejected the Governors cashless bail reforms," said Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay. Governor Hochul’s proposal included giving judges more discretion when it comes to serious crimes. It also includes removing the least restrictive means standard.  Senate releases one house budget A recent study by John Jay College shows those re...

Senate releases one house budget

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:02:12 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)---The Senate’s one house resolution makes some changes to Governor Hochul’s $227 Billion state budget proposal.One recommendation is to establish a universal school meals program to require all schools to participate in a national school lunch and breakfast program, at no cost to the student. It also would like to leave out a proposal to increase tuition at SUNY and CUNY Schools. However, one issue causing a lot of controversy is that the Senate resolution does not include changes to bail reform. Governor Hochul wants to remove the least restrictive means standards and give judges more discression."I’m not clear why there are different interpretations by judges of the same law," said Senate Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins. "Bail again is applicable for recidivists. It certainly has always been applicable for violent offenses, so I’m not clear where the confusion is."Unlike Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans think changes do need to be made to the stat...

St. Charles plans lawsuit against Ameren over water contamination

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:02:12 GMT

ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The City of St. Charles plans to move forward with a lawsuit against Ameren Missouri amid frustrations with water contamination at the city's Elm Point Wellfield.City officials announced the hiring of two law firms, Dowd Bennett LLP and Blitz and Bardgett & Deustch L.C., to handle the non-superfund portion of a lawsuit against Ameren. The lawsuit has not yet officially been filed as of Wednesday afternoon, but Mayor Dan Borgmeyer announced it is in the works. Trending: Daughter roasts Alton dad in sweet and funny obit Once the lawsuit is filed, the City of St. Charles will be limited on what it can say about the cost of damages and other things specific to any ongoing litigation. Mayor Borgmeyer says the reason for hiring the outside law firms is because of the monetary burden the contamination has put on the city."It is vital to St. Charles that we are compensated fully for all damages and costs caused by the chemical pollution by Ameren and it’s time for ...

Two wanted in carjacking at St. Louis gas station

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:02:12 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Police are searching for two suspects from a carjacking last month at a St. Louis gas station. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department released surveillance photos of two suspects Wednesday, one month to the date since the carjacking. Investigators say a 58-year-old man was pumping gas at the BP Gas Station in the 1500 block of South Grand when he was carjacked. One of the suspects approached him, pointed a gun at him and demanded the car's keys. The victim complied, and two suspects took off in the car. Trending: Daughter roasts Alton dad in sweet and funny obit The victim was not hurt, but the suspects briefly took off in a 2017 Toyota Highlander with his work laptop still inside. Police later found the victim's vehicle in the 8600 block of Oriole. The victim was not hurt. The suspects are described as 15-17 years old. One was caught on camera wearing a dark gray/gray hooded sweatshirt, black sweatpants and black shoes with a black handbag. The other wore a whi...

Ferguson man sentenced on federal gun charge

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:02:12 GMT

ST. LOUIS - A Ferguson man who was caught with a gun while fleeing St. Louis police was sentenced in federal court Wednesday.Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Anthony Willis was convicted on Nov. 16, 2022, of being a felon in possession of a firearm.The incident occurred on July 19, 2021. Willis, now 30, refused to pull over for police after going through a stop sign in the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood. Trending: Daughter roasts Alton dad in sweet and funny obit Willis drove through another stop sign, prompting St. Louis police to deploy spike strips to deflate his tires. Willis continued driving and then crashed into another vehicle at Goodfellow and Natural Bridge. He fled on foot, but was arrested almost immediately.Police found a loaded .40 caliber handgun in the car.Willis was convicted in 2010 of a robbery at a Del Taco in the city, and of robbing the manager of a St. Louis County Popeye's restaurant. He was sentenced to 1...

Clayton man posed as girl online to obtain child porn

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:02:12 GMT

ST. LOUIS - A federal judge has sentenced a Clayton man to 11 years in prison after he posed as a girl online to obtain nude photos of minors. Jason W. Fine, 50, was also ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and special assessments of $45,000 that will go into a fund for victims and prevention programs. He pleaded guilty last November to two felonies, soliciting child pornography and receiving child pornography. Trending: Daughter roasts Alton dad in sweet and funny obit According to his plea, Fine admitted that he pretended to be an 11-year-old girl on Kik Messenger, then requested and received nude pictures of the 11-year-old girl from Kentucky. This happened between July 1 and Sept. 2, 2021. In an interview with law enforcement last year, Fine said he had communicated online with multiple minors online and a few had sent him child pornography.The victim's mother, in Wednesday's sentencing hearing, said it was "absolute devastation" when they learned Fine had obtained photos of his dau...

Hummingbirds are headed back to the Midwest

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:02:12 GMT

JOPLIN, Mo. — With the official start to spring less than two weeks away (March 20th), there are many types of birds that will start making their way back into the Midwest for the spring and summer months. The hummingbird — specifically the Ruby-throated hummingbird — has officially started their migration north, and will soon return to the central U.S.Thanks to birdwatchers across the country, and a website to connect them all, those looking forward to the return of the hummingbird can begin to plan for their arrival."I think it's great for people that are really interested in bringing wildlife to their yards. They can have a better understanding of when these beautiful birds will start to make their way back to our area," said Robert Balek, Horticulture Specialist from the University of Missouri Extension office.On the website, Hummingbird Central, anyone who has spotted the season's first hummingbirds can mark the location where the bird was spotted, and make notes about the sigh...