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1 week ago | 
startribune.com | Jennifer Brooks
Not long ago, during a particularly depressing news cycle for civil rights in America, Kelly Wilson decided it was time to put a little joy out into the world. And what's more joyful than a wedding? "Calling all LGBTQ+ couples!" she wrote. "We want to throw you a wedding to remember!" Then she waited to see if any gay, trans or nonbinary couples would accept an invitation to their own wedding. With just weeks to go before wedding(s) day, Wilson has her answer.
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2 weeks ago | 
startribune.com | Jennifer Brooks
By Jennifer Brooks The Health Department used to operate a hotline to field calls from the public in search of information and resources. Since 2020, the hotline fielded more than 400,000 calls and too many emails to count. The hotline team also researched long COVID, investigated reports of whooping cough and chicken pox and shared information about everything from bird flu to vaccinations in multiple languages. The hotline has shut down. Nobody asked for this.
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2 weeks ago | 
startribune.com | Jennifer Brooks
By Jennifer Brooks Happy High School Voter Registration Week to those who celebrate. The Minnesota Star Tribune Minnesota allows teens to preregister to vote, starting at age 16. (Mark Vancleave/The Minnesota Star Tribune) If you want to feel good about America, spend time with the people who will be running this place before long. Their future. Our bragging rights. Minnesota, long the state with the nation's highest voter turnout, lost that title to Wisconsin in 2024.
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2 weeks ago | 
startribune.com | Jennifer Brooks
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3 weeks ago | 
thenewsenterprise.com | Jennifer Brooks
The ping of incoming texts startled me awake. Texts from family, texts from friends; all starting with the same two words. Oh no. Oh no. kAmx H@<6 E@ 2 H@C=5 H:E9@FE !@A6 uC2?4:D :?
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3 weeks ago | 
sacbee.com | Jennifer Brooks
The ping of incoming texts startled me awake. Texts from family, texts from friends; all starting with the same two words. Oh no. Oh no. I woke to a world without Pope Francis in it. That was the last thing this sad old world needed. The first pope from the global south spent his final Easter defending the defenseless who are under attack. Francis put his final day to good use. He celebrated one last Easter. He delivered one last homily; read aloud by someone else because he had so few breaths left.
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3 weeks ago | 
startribune.com | Jennifer Brooks
By Jennifer Brooks Waking to the loss of the first pope from the global south was the last thing the world needed. The Minnesota Star Tribune Pope Francis presides over a mass for the World Children Day, in St.Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, May 26, 2024. (Gregorio Borgia/The Associated Press) The ping of incoming texts startled me awake. Texts from family, texts from friends; all starting with the same two words. Oh no. Oh no.
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4 weeks ago | 
startribune.com | Jennifer Brooks
I opted for the eggiest-looking potatoes I could find: the Petite Potato Medley from Trader Joe's for $3.49. That got me 19 wee potatoes, all small enough to tuck into the pockets of an empty egg carton. Three of the potatoes had already been dyed red and purple by nature itself. The price of everything is increasing, driven by Trump tariffs and the threat of Trump tariffs.
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1 month ago | 
startribune.com | Jennifer Brooks
His skittish advisers assured Americans that the pain they're experiencing, as the economy is thrown into chaos and our national image is thrown in the woodchipper, is simply an "adjustment." Much as your morning commute might be adjusted if the bus driver yanked the wheel for no reason and rammed full-speed into a wall. "The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO," the president posted in caps-locked glee on his personal social media platform.
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1 month ago | 
startribune.com | Jennifer Brooks
By Jennifer Brooks "One of the biggest problems we talk about is the face of St. Paul," she said. "People from other areas who don't come here are afraid to come down here. But there's nothing scary about it.""So how do we change the face?" she added. "How do people know that we're here and we're safe? We're like a small town in a big city."Maybe you've been missing Lowertown. Lowertown's been missing you.
