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‘Nothing to come back to,’ says Ukrainian woman in Canada, her beloved home destroyed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:00 GMT

IRPIN, Ukraine — Oleksandra Verovkina and her son, Danylo, would stroll half a block through the back alley behind their apartment to a large forest. They would walk hand in hand beneath the tall trees, the air filled with the scent of pine resin, until the three-year old lost steam, and then return home.The bright orange dining room in their fourth-storey apartment soaked up the sun streaming in from the skylight in the roof. Oleksandra would place a cup of hot chocolate on the child-sized table where Danylo worked away on his favourite puzzle, a map of the world. When they did not feel up to a walk they would venture outside to the parking lot beside the white stucco building, where her son played on a bright yellow, metal play structure with a slide and swing. They were often joined by his best friend, who lived two floors below.Oleksandra, 36, had dreamt of leaving Ukraine for Canada since 2014 when separatist forces first seized the Donbas region where she lived at the time. Bu...

Piper down: Village in New Brunswick wants giant sandpiper returned to pedestal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:00 GMT

FREDERICTON — A new sculpture has been commissioned and a platform has been built — but a New Brunswick village’s oversized avian avatar has still not returned to its roost.Standing 2.4 metres high and weighing 135 kilograms, the statue of a semipalmated sandpiper was once the pride of Dorchester.Since 2001, Shep — named after nearby Shepody Bay — had pointed thousands of tourists and townsfolk to the mudflats of the Bay of Fundy, where the pint-sized shorebirds gather in late July in a pit stop on their flight from the Arctic to South America.After the original wooden statue started to rot and had to be removed three years ago, local officials commissioned a $10,000 reincarnation made of steel, epoxy and fibreglass. The result is now sitting in the workshop of artist Robin Hanson in French Lake, N.B., as municipal officials try to untangle what one former official said is “red tape” grounding the bird.A recent municipal amalgamation has stalled payment for the scu...

Berliners vote to decide on climate goals for city

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:00 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Berlin voters were asked Sunday to decide on a proposal that would force the city government to drastically ramp up the German capital’s climate goals. The referendum calls for Berlin to become climate neutral by 2030. The target means that in less than eight years, the city would no longer be allowed to contribute further to global warming.An existing law sets the deadline for achieving that goal at 2045, which is also Germany’s national target.The center-right Christian Democratic Union, which won a recent local election in the capital and is likely to lead its new government, opposes the earlier target but would be bound to implement it if the referendum passes.While surveys showed Berliners narrowly in favor of the proposal, enthusiasm was muted on Saturday. A rally and concert at the city’s iconic Brandenburg Gate drew far fewer than the 35,000 people organizers had hoped for.The referendum requires the support of at least 25% of the city’s 2.4 million eligible vo...

Man fatally shot on West Side, officer injured in group incident

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:00 GMT

CHICAGO — A man was fatally shot while driving in South Lawndale early Sunday morning. According to police, a 25-year-old man was driving southbound near the 2200 block of South Sawyer Avenue around 2:00 a.m. when shots were fired into his vehicle. Police say he sustained a gunshot wound to the body and was pronounced dead on the scene. CPD: Shots fired inside Pullman Walmart Police reports state that while officers were responding to the incident, they encountered a group of individuals at which time one of them threw an object at an officer and struck his head. An emergency call was made for more officers and the group fled the scene. The officer who was injured was transported to a local hospital in good condition for observation. There is currently no one in custody and police are investigating.

What counts as 'criminal mischief' in the state of Texas?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:00 GMT

TYLER, Texas (KETK) - Mischief is a term that is used in a variety of ways, and in the state of Texas, it could even land you in prison.Criminal mischief is a charge that can be applied under specific circumstances. It can be confused with vandalism, which is a form of criminal mischief. According to Texas Penal Code, criminal mischief is defined as:When a person intentionally damages or destroys another individual's property. When a person intentionally tampers with someone's property which results in a "substantial inconvenience" or financial lossWhen a person intentionally marks or writes on another individual's propertyThis offense can be classified as a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the severity of the damage done to the property. Misdemeanors are divided into classes A-C, depending on the seriousness of the offense. Felonies range in degrees also depending on the seriousness of the offense.Misdemeanors are not considered as serious as felony-level offenses, but can st...

Literary calendar for week of March 26

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:00 GMT

JANIE CHANG: Author of bestselling historical fiction inspired by her Chinese ancestry introduces her new novel “The Porcelain Moon,” set in France in the waning days of World War I, spotlighting the untold story of 140,000 Chinese workers brought to Europe as non-combatant labor during the Great War, in the Club Book reading series. Free virtual/streaming event. 7 p.m. Thursday, March 30. To access, go to facebook.com/ClubBook.LITERARY BRIDGES: Celebrates National Poetry Month with readings by Diane Jarvenpa, Dralandra Larkins, Lora Robinson, John Medeiros and Michel Moos. 2 p.m. Sunday, April 2, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul.COLBY MARTIN: Presents “The Shift: Surviving and Thriving after Moving from Conservative to Progressive Christianity.” 2 p.m. Saturday, April 1, Grace-Trinity Community Church, 1430 W. 28th St., Mpls., presented by Magers & Quinn. Registration required: magersandquinn.com/events.MOORE-EASTER/KNITTEL: Minnes...

Urban Roots brings environmental education to St. Paul elementary school

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:00 GMT

“Whoa-hhhh,” came a murmur from a group of 64 Cornerstone Montessori Elementary School students when they learned that the humble oak tree can live for more than 200 years.Third-graders Marci Rogers and Eliza Harmon harvest milkweed seeds from a milkweed pod at Cornerstone Montessori Elementary School in St. Paul on Thursday, March 16, 2023. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)As Urban Roots’ conservation program director, David Woods, read from “As an Oak Tree Grows,” the students, from first- to third-grade classes, only broke attention to ask why the landscape around the tree changed so much over time or boo when the tree died and had to be cut down.“A big part of it is just encouraging questions and really helping the youth recognize that oh, yeah, they might already know a lot,” said Woods. “When they do ask kind of the bigger questions that require maybe a bit more science, providing that to them, but really helping them see that they already have a lot of that knowledge within themse...

Forest Lake developer wants to revolutionize apartment construction, drive down costs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:00 GMT

In Forest Lake sits a manufacturer attempting to change the trajectory of modern housing construction.Norhart’s method of building apartment unit components in-house, and then completing the development on-site in five-hour rotations, would eventually drive down the cost of housing in general and open up the market to more people, CEO Mike Kaeding says.Norhart is a one-stop apartment development operation, handling everything from a building’s design and construction to its leasing and marketing. It’s been in the construction business for 30 years, originally operating under the name Kason, and was founded by Kaeding’s father, Edward Kaeding, before Mike took over in 2014.One star of the show is Norhart’s apartment manufacturing facility, EVE, where steel wall panels, ceilings and floors for each apartment unit are built before being trucked to the construction site. The 25-person production team at EVE completes the framing, bracing, drywalling and weather-proofing all ...

St. Louis forecast: Warm Sunday with some storms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- A weak cold front is pushing through the region Sunday. It could spark a few isolated thunderstorms late this afternoon and evening. Temperatures this afternoon will pop into the upper 60s to maybe even 70 degrees. St. Louis radar: See a map of current weather here Some showers are also expected late this evening into tonight. The rain should be out of here by Monday morning. Much cooler on Monday with highs in the low 50s, about 10 degrees cooler than normal for this time of year. We will also see some low clouds hanging around through midday, with gradual clearing into the afternoon. 

Downtown St. Louis pedestrian bridge demolished to stop looters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - A bridge connecting a vacant parking garage to the old Famous Barr building was taken down in Downtown St. Louis Saturday. Police say burglars used the bridge to loot the building. The unhoused use it to find shelter.The old Famous Barr building was once a grand department store. It is slowly being stripped of metal and copper wiring. The City's Problem Properties Unit is pushing owners to step up preservation efforts. Trending: Saint Louis Zoo named 8th best US zoo in national poll The demolition of the old Famous Barr pedestrian bridge started within the past week.Authorities say the number of people now getting inside there is down significantly.