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Country music stars to perform at gala where Willie Nelson will be honored with prestigious Texas award

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:27 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) –The LBJ Foundation will honor Willie Nelson with its most prestigious award, the LBJ Liberty & Justice for All Award, Friday at a gala dinner at the LBJ Presidential Library.Willie Nelson, who just celebrated his 90th birthday, won’t be the only country musician in attendance. The gala will also feature performances by Eric Church, Sam Hunt, Elle King and Lyle Lovett. Only several other people have received the prestigious award since it was created in 2010. Other award recipients include President George H. W. Bush, President Jimmy Carter, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Sen. John McCain, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, U.S. Rep. John Dingell, U.S. Rep. James Clyburn and philanthropist David M. Rubenstein. “A lifelong advocate for farmers, alleviating food insecurity, and support of rural communities, Nelson embodies President Lyndon Baines Johnson's commitment to...

Win tickets to see 'Hairspray'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:27 GMT

Win two tickets to see the Tuesday, June 13, 8 p.m. production of “Hairspray” at Bass Concert Hall. The contest opens on May 15 and closes on May 21. Sorry, you are using an unsupported browser. This page will not display correctly. Please click here to upgrade to a newer browser. /**/

Meet Jay Christensen, the drone pilot behind the Vikings schedule release

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:27 GMT

It was a normal day at TCO Performance Center. That was the hardest part for cinematographer Jay Christensen earlier this week as he tried to fly his drone around the practice facility in Eagan.“Everyone is there working,” said Christensen, founder of JayByrd Films, and the drone pilot behind the Vikings schedule release. “We wanted to make sure we made every shot count.”That, he did. The results spoke for themselves on Thursday night when when the Vikings tweeted out the video. It featured an aerial view of TCO Performance Center as a whole, with the Vikings using the footage to present a game-by-game breakdown of their schedule for this season.122 days until Week 1Enjoy The Ride pic.twitter.com/UZgsYsbygF— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) May 12, 2023This has become a common trend throughout the NFL with pretty much every team looking for a creative way to unveil their schedule on social media.For the Vikings, the idea to commission JayByrd Films proved e...

Eduardo Porter: Latin America’s new lithium bounty unearths an old problem

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:27 GMT

What to do with all the lithium?Sell it to the highest bidder?Or maybe ban exports?How about setting up a lithium cartel, to ensure a high price?These questions are proving thorny for a clutch of Latin American countries that have found themselves sitting on massive deposits of a mineral critical for a carbon-free future.Chile, Argentina and Bolivia jointly account for 61% of the world’s identified lithium resources, essential for the lithium-ion batteries that will power electric vehicles and nix the internal combustion engine. That’s 52 million tons, dissolved in underground lakes of brine in the highlands of the Andes. Mexico, Brazil and Peru have 3.5 million more, according to the US Geological Survey.The bounty raises again a challenge that Latin America has repeatedly faced, starting back when the wealth came from Peru’s guano and Brazil’s rubber all the way to when it came from Bolivia’s natural gas and Mexico’s oil: How to leverage natural...

St. Paul man sentenced for fracturing cat’s skull with hammer during family dispute

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:27 GMT

A St. Paul man was put on probation for three years Thursday for hitting his family’s cat with a hammer during a dispute with his brother in 2021.Bar Blute Too, 25, pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to felony mistreating an animal and misdemeanor domestic assault in connection with the family dispute in the 300 block of Atwater Street in St. Paul’s North End.Bar Blute Too (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)According to the criminal complaint, family members told police that Too came home around 1 a.m. Nov. 6 under the influence of drugs. Too’s mother asked him to do something and he became agitated and aggressive. A brother intervened and Too punched him in the face with a closed fist.Too got a hammer and struck their cat’s head with it three times. He went downstairs and kicked another brother in the leg.The first brother grabbed Too and held him down until police arrived. The brother told police he feared Too would seriously hurt someone if he was n...

Shepard Road/Warner Road in St. Paul to reopen Monday but Water Street is still off-limits by the river

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:27 GMT

Shepard Road/Warner Road in St. Paul will reopen between Eagle Parkway and U.S. 61 in St. Paul by 6 p.m. Monday. The stretch of road had been closed to vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic since April 16 due to flooding.St. Paul and Ramsey County Public Works crews have cleared debris and inspected the road and its underlying structures to determine it’s safe to reopen.Sibley and Jackson Streets also will reopen between Shepard Road and Kellogg Boulevard. Water Street will remain closed along the south side of the Mississippi River, as will several park areas and facilities until inspection, testing and clean up are complete.River levels, which crested at 18.24 feet on April 27, are now below minor flood stage. See stpaul.gov/flood for more information.Related ArticlesLocal News | St. Paul man sentenced for fracturing cat’s head with hammer during family dispute Local News | Maureen Hartman tapped as St. Paul Public Libraries director L...

Maureen Hartman tapped as St. Paul Public Libraries director

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:27 GMT

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter has appointed Maureen Hartman as director of the St. Paul Public Library system. Hartman has served as interim director this year following the departure of Catherine Penkert last September.Maureen Hartman has been appointed director of the St. Paul Public Library system by Mayor Melvin Carter, it was announced May 12, 2023. Hartman has served as interim director this year following the departure of Catherine Penkert last September. (Courtesy of the City of St. Paul)In response to concerns about public safety, Hartman will oversee the launch of a new safety specialist role in the public libraries, as well as an assessment of current resources to inform a safety plan. She also will oversee the redevelopment of three libraries, including the Hamline-Midway Library, which was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places over the city’s objections.Hartman joined the library system in 2017 as deputy director for public services, where she ...

Gophers’ new quarterback commit Drake Lindsey has ties to Vikings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:27 GMT

The Gophers football program received a commitment from Arkansas quarterback Drake Lindsey on Friday.Lindsey, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound, three-star prospect from Fayetteville, Ark., visited the Gophers this week. He also received offers Colorado State, Alabama-Birmingham and others.Lindsey had a 67-percent completion percentage with 3,620 yards, 37 touchdowns and three interceptions during his junior season in the state’s largest-schools classification.Lindsey is a grandson of former University of Arkansas running back Jim Lindsey, who won a national championship with the Razorbacks and went on to play for the Vikings from 1966-72. With the Vikings, Lindsey rushed 178 times for 566 yards and six touchdowns.The Gophers, who now have 15 recruits in their 2024 class, had to recruit other quarterbacks for next year after Aaron Philo of Bogart, Ga., backed out his pledge to the U on April 10. Philo committed to Georgia Tech on Thursday.Related ArticlesCollege Sports | Gopher...

‘The Mother’ review: Jennifer Lopez is a woman on fire, protecting her daughter just in time for Mother’s Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:27 GMT

Michael Phillips | Chicago TribuneIt’s all about the children. If an action movie’s job is to kill as many adversaries as possible while retrieving and protecting an abducted child (preferably the protagonist’s), narratively it can put its feet up and dictate the rest. Long before Denzel Washington was a Man on Fire, long before Liam Neeson’s daughter got Taken, and long, long before the recent, expensive hunk of action cheese “The Gray Man” flew in one eye and out the other, we have yearned as a movie audience to see the kids get home safely, no matter how many corpses litter their path.Now, on Netflix, comes “The Mother,” produced by and starring Jennifer Lopez as a crack sniper and go-between for two of the sleazier arms dealers on the planet. The character has no name. She’s the title, and the 12-year-old child (played by Lucy Paez) she never knew has been raised, happily, in Cincinnati. The beginning of her life had its difficulties: In flashback, one of the arms dealers, playe...

St. Paul City Council takes over customer service and cart replacement for Eureka Recycling

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:27 GMT

Do you need a new recycling cart, was your collection skipped or just have a question about egg cartons and pizza boxes? The city of St. Paul, instead of Eureka Recycling, is now handling cart replacements and customer service calls for St. Paul property owners, one step in an effort to improve residential recycling participation.That’s a significant change, and others will roll out toward the end of summer. For the record, egg cartons should go in the compost, but take-out pizza boxes are ripe for recycling once any plastic items, like forks and knives, have been removed.Since absorbing customer service operations from Eureka on May 1, St. Paul Public Works has fielded an average of 139 calls per day from property owners, with customer calls split between missed collections, requests for cart replacements and general program questions. Eureka had reported receiving 77 daily calls, on average.“That is the best way for us to know how it’s going,” said St. Paul...