Free Republic

The political class -- they build themselves new office buildings and such -- live in a different universe from the rest of us, and the rest of us are getting routinely pickpocketed. No greater proof of this truth exists than the remarks of St. Paul's own City Council Member Dave Thune last week after Metro Transit released the financial figures for the first six months of the Green Line. Passengers boarding the Green Line from its debut in June, 2014 through the end of the year paid $6.21 million into the farebox, or about 35.8 percent of what it costs...

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Have the taxpayers of St. Paul spent nearly $3 million over the past five years to bring chaos and danger to their schools and students? Apparently so. In 2010, the St. Paul school district began a contractual relationship with the Pacific Educational Group, a San Francisco-based organization that tries to help public schools deal with achievement and disciplinary issues involving black students. PEG packages and sells the concept of victimization, for a very high price. It claims that the American education system is built around white culture, tradition and social norms – aka “white privilege” –...

Aviation buff John Zimmerman was at a weekly gathering of neighbors Friday night when he noticed something peculiar: a small plane circling a route overhead that didnÂ’t make sense to him. It was dark, so a sightseeing flight didnÂ’t make sense, and when Zimmerman pulled up more information on an aviation phone app he routinely checks, he had immediate concerns. The planeÂ’s flight path, recorded by the website flightradar24.com, would eventually show that it circled downtown Minneapolis, the Mall of America and Southdale Center at low altitude for hours starting at 10:30 p.m., slipping off radar just after 3 a.m....

While Metro Transit's Green Line isn't exactly paying for itself through passenger fares, it's doing a better job than most other Minnesota public transit options. Passengers boarding the state's second light-rail line from its debut in June through the end of 2014 paid $6.21 million into the fare box, or about 35.8 percent of what it costs to operate the 11-mile route. "I think 35 percent is a really good percentage," said St. Paul City Council member Dave Thune. "I love it. I think it has been a success. The kind of traffic it's seeing, going from one end of...

What Does the Arrest of St. Paul at Philippi Teach a Sometimes-Timid Church? By: Msgr. Charles PopeIn daily Mass we are following the missionary journeys of St. Paul. Yesterday we heard of his going over to Macedonia and of the baptism of the first “European” converts: Lydia of Thyatira and her family.Unfortunately, in today’s reading (Tuesday of the 6th Week of Easter) important lines are cut out that describe why Sts. Paul and Silas were in jail. The whole story serves as a metaphor for the radical nature of true Christianity and explains why it so perturbs many in this world....

When the guns finally fell silent in Europe 70 years ago today, St. Paul prayed and drank. It was called V-E Day -- Victory in Europe -- when Nazi leaders still alive in Germany agreed to unconditional surrender ending World War II on the European continent. In St. Paul, it was celebrated with a prayer service at the Municipal Auditorium attended by 6,000 people. "The audience ranged from fur-draped women to women in defense plant coveralls and bandannas, and from white-collared business executives to work-stained garage mechanics," according to the St. Paul Dispatch. The city's churches also were packed, as...

Counsel the Doubtful – A Meditation on the Third Spiritual Work of Mercy By: Msgr. Charles PopeAt first glance, counseling the doubtful may seem rather similar to instructing the ignorant. However, teaching has learning as its goal while counseling aims to assist with decisions. Certainly giving counsel often includes some aspects of teaching, such as providing information and perspective, but its primary purpose is to assist a person in coming to a decision. This distinction is contained in the root meanings of the words “counsel” and “doubtful.”The English word “counsel” comes from the Latin consilium (con (with) + silium (a decision)). So to...

Eyes That Are Humble – A Meditation on the Humbling Thorn of St. Paul By: Msgr. Charles PopeThe story of St. Paul’s conversion is well known and we read it last week in daily Mass. But there is a detail that I have often pondered which, though speculative, ought not be overlooked. Indeed, even my choice of the words “speculative” and “overlooked” (both of which refer to the eyes) indicate that we ought to give an eye (i.e., a look) to St. Paul’s eyes.As you probably recall, St. Paul was not just struck down on the road to Damascus, he was...

Come Lord Jesus! A Meditation on the Stunning Glory of Being Gathered to Christ on the Last Day By: Msgr. Charles PopeIn Advent, as we continue to meditate on the Parousia (the magnificent Second Coming of the Lord), we do well to allow our imaginations to be engaged in contemplating the glory that awaits those who are faithful, to meditate on the joy and ecstasy of the culmination of all things!Though we have soberly meditated on the need to be ready and on the great danger that many who are not serious may be lost, for those who ARE ready, what glories...

Heavy hitters in U.S. media joined prominent First Amendment scholars to file two amicus briefs challenging last summer’s jury verdict that favored former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura in his defamation trial in St. Paul. The friend-of-the-court media brief, filed with the 8th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals, characterizes the $1.3 million jury award to Ventura as unprecedented, with no basis in common law. The scholars’ filing faults U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle’s instructions to the jury. The briefs support Taya Kyle, widow of Chris Kyle, author of the best-selling memoir “American Sniper.” Ventura’s lawyers convinced the jury in a 10-2...

Some senior buyers are already gone. Vice presidents, too. But for 13,000 other Target Corp. employees in Minnesota, there's fear that the bull's-eye is on their backs. Target jolted the Twin Cities on Tuesday when it said "several thousand" corporate staffers will be laid off in a cost-cutting move. Executives didn't say who, when or where -- although the buzz is the ax will swing freely next week. Since the news broke, reaction to Target's $2 billion cost-savings plan has been split, especially by street. On Wall Street, analysts mostly liked the plan. Target stock touched an all-time high Wednesday...

In the modern world many people rather casually assume, or assert, that the Apostle Paul was a misogynist based upon his teachings concerning the differing roles of men and women in the church and in marriage in the early church. What such critics fail to realize is that they are reading the Apostle Paul through the lens of a 21st century perspective, rather than the 1st century world to which Paul wrote originally. In the first century A.D., women were considered their husband's property, not their partner, and they had very few rights or protections. In that first century context,...

Ibrahim Mohamed has worked at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for almost 11 years. Within that time, his jobs have ranged from cabinet-maker, to ticket-verifier to, currently, a cart driver. "Absolutely, I do enjoy my job that's why I stay on it still," he said. But now Mohamed faces a new and daunting challenge. He's been appointed by Governor Mark Dayton to the 14-member Metropolitan Airports Commission. He will be the only current airport employee. Mohamed's appointment is also historic and has not gone unnoticed. "His appointment is welcomed by the community but it also shows that it's long overdue,"...

“And no small tempest lay on us …” – The Story of a Storm That St. Paul Endured and What It Has to Teach Us About SinBy: Msgr. Charles PopeIt is an interesting fact that St. Luke devotes and entire Chapter of Acts (27) describing a storm at sea that St. Paul endured. The level of detail is high and thus we are signaled that such details are important. The Holy Spirit has something to teach of here of how we get into trouble, and how we can get out.Storms in life often come to us out of our...

Crews found a pickup truck stuck in a tree almost ten feet off the ground Sunday morning near Sherwood. Firefighters used thermal imaging to scan the truck at Highway 99 and Middleton Road and found it was empty. The details of how the truck got into the tree are a mystery to investigators. They were first alerted to the tree at 7:30 a.m. and called area hospitals, but no trauma patients came in overnight. PGE was at the scene due to safety concerns over power lines near the tree.

A new project from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is using computer simulated training sessions to teach doctors in Minnesota how to talk to fat kids.The nearly $500,000 study using “virtual role play” to coach doctors is the latest attempt by the federal government to combat obesity.“Obesity in the United States is at historically high levels and is an important health problem,” the grant for the project states. “Interventions targeting children are a high priority because children bear the greatest lifetime health risk from overweight and obesity.”“Health professionals in primary care settings are influential in the lives of families,”...

The house at 27 Crocus Place is listed on property tax statements for $1.06 million, but neighbors consider it priceless. Built in 1902, the yellow, two-story Victorian sits on a bluff, overlooking Pleasant Avenue and Interstate 35E. In November, trial attorney Fred Pritzker and his wife, Renee, bought the 4,200-square-foot home from his brother and sister-in-law with a singular goal: to tear it down and replace it with one that is more accessible to the disabled. At 64, Pritzker said he is slowly losing function on the left side of his body; at some point soon, he'll need a walker...

Overcoming Life’s Storms: A Teaching From St. Paul to Some Storm-weary Souls By: Msgr. Charles PopeIn the midst of a great storm in Acts 27, St. Paul finds himself among desperate and defeated people. Though the storm is from nature, their problems are of their own doing and are rooted in a foolish refusal to listen to either natural warnings or God. All of this foolishness was described in yesterday’s post. Is there a way out of their situation? With God there is, but only with God and only by turning to Him in obedient faith. As long as we live,...

Richard Thill survived Pearl Harbor and waited 73 years for an ovation many of his comrades would never hear. So a stubbornly long New York Jets drive and icy wind at TCF Bank Stadium could not ruin his moment. The Vikings salute military veterans during the first television timeout of the second quarter each home game. Thill was a special honoree Sunday, Dec. 7 -- a solemn anniversary in U.S. history, one he hopes never fades from memory. The 91-year-old St. Paul native was introduced with a video tribute that included an interview and familiar black-and-white newsreels that showed the...

A parent at St. Paul's Nova Classical Academy alleges the charter school violated his sixth-grade daughter's right to free speech when administrators prohibited her from passing out anti-abortion fliers. The parent, Nicholas Zinos of St. Paul, has sued the school in federal court on behalf of the girl. Nova policy requires administrator approval before students hand out or post materials at school, the lawsuit states. In a letter to Zinos, the school's top administrator said the school has come to limit political, religious and controversial speech to its high school students in response to parental concerns. The lawsuit alleges the...