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Why Americans feel gloomy about the economy despite falling inflation and low unemployment

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:39:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation has reached its lowest point in 2 1/2 years. The unemployment rate has stayed below 4% for the longest stretch since the 1960s. And the U.S. economy has repeatedly defied predictions of a coming recession. Yet according to a raft of polls and surveys, most Americans hold a glum view of the economy.The disparity has led to befuddlement, exasperation and curiosity on social media and in opinion columns.Last week, the government reported that consumer prices didn’t rise at all from September to October, the latest sign that inflation is steadily cooling from the heights of last year. A separate report showed that while Americans slowed their retail purchases in October from the previous month’s brisk pace, they’re still spending enough to drive economic growth.Even so, according to a poll last month by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about three-quarters of respondents described the economy as poor. The disparity between t...

Freeland to present fall fiscal update Tuesday as cost-of-living dominates politics

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:39:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will table the fall fiscal update on Tuesday, which is expected to focus on housing and affordability as the Liberal government struggles to regain favour with Canadians feeling overwhelmed and angry about the rising cost of living.But with little money to spend, Freeland has tried to temper expectations.“We have to be sure that we make the investments Canadians need, provide them with the support they need, but do it within a fiscally responsible framework,” Freeland told reporters in Toronto on Thursday.“We won’t be able to do everything.”The finance minister has been relatively tight-lipped on the contents of the fall economic statement, but has repeatedly said measures will be geared toward addressing housing and affordability.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly renewed his government’s focus on these two issues after the Liberal caucus retreat in London, Ont., in September at the end of a rough s...

Memphis shooting suspect kills self after 3 women and girl killed and teen girl wounded

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:39:00 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A suspect in Tennessee died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot while on the run early Sunday after he allegedly killed four and seriously injured a fifth victim during a deadly outbreak of domestic violence Saturday night, police said.Officers found Mavis Christian Jr., 52, in his car during a manhunt following the shootings at three locations in Memphis that left three women and a teenage girl dead and critically wounded another teen girl. Memphis Police Department officers responded to a report of a shooting at 9:22 p.m. on the 100 Block of Howard Drive. Police found a woman with an apparent gunshot wound who was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators determined there were two other connected fatal shootings. At Field Lark Drive, a woman and a 13-year-old girl were killed and a 15-year-old girl was critically wounded. Another woman was found fatally shot on Warrington Road, Memphis Police Officer Christopher Williams said.Police believed Christian was...

At least 30 premature babies have been evacuated from Gaza’s main hospital and are bound for Egypt

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:39:00 GMT

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 30 premature babies were evacuated from Gaza’s main hospital on Sunday and will be transferred to Egypt, Palestinian health officials said, as scores of other critically wounded patients remained stranded there days after Israeli forces entered the compound.The fate of the newborns at Shifa Hospital had captured global attention after the release of images showing doctors trying to keep them warm. A power blackout had shut down incubators and other equipment, and food, water and medical supplies ran out as Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside the hospital.A World Health Organization team that visited the hospital on Saturday said 291 patients were still there, including 32 babies in extremely critical condition, trauma patients with severely infected wounds, and others with spinal injuries who are unable to move.Medhat Abbas, a spokesman for the ministry, confirmed the evacuation of 30 babies. The Palestinian Red Crescent...

Sunday Bulletin Board: Sneaking into the hockey tournament: Those were the days!

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:39:00 GMT

In memoriam . . . and: Gee, our old LaSalle ran great!ZOO LOU of St. Paul writes: “The recent passing of longtime St. Paul Johnson boys’ hockey coach Lou Cotroneo brought back special memories of attending the high-school hockey tournament at the old St. Paul Auditorium in the early ’60s. How we managed to get into this wildly popular event is a highly improbable, if not downright miraculous, saga of good fortune and pure luck. And Lou was a big part of that saga.“My dad, Joe, my brother Tom and I made our first foray to the tourney on Feb. 14, 1961, after reading in the St. Paul Dispatch that a few tickets remained for the semifinal games. Despite a lobby jammed with desperate fans, a friend was able to procure three precious tickets. The late Doug Woog, who I got to know some years later, was playing for South St. Paul that night — in one of a pair of the best games I ever saw.“Bolstered by our ‘miracle’ the year before, we found ourselves once more in a jammed A...

Woodbury woman is driving force behind city’s K-9 program

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:39:00 GMT

When her husband died of a heart attack in 2014, Donna Smith Stafford knew she wanted to donate money in his memory to help the Woodbury Public Safety Department.Bruce Stafford served as a firefighter in Woodbury for 22 years, retiring as fire chief. He also was a paramedic for 35 years with HealthEast and served in the Minnesota National Guard.“When he passed away, Woodbury Public Safety was amazing to me,” Stafford said. “I mean, they cut my grass for two years. They parked a squad outside my house during the visitation and funeral to make sure my home was safe. It was always, ‘What do you need?’ They were so loving and caring to me. It’s, like, how do you say thank you?”The idea came to Stafford one day as she was sitting in her office and looking out the window.“I never know what people believe in, but it literally came to me from above,” she said. “I felt a light tap on my shoulder, and then I heard Bruce saying, ‘Dog.’”Stafford called then-Woodbury Director of Public Saf...

Rosario: Every generation has its greatest. These kids are on their way.

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:39:00 GMT

I spent much of the past weekend thinking about my late stepfather, a New York City-raised World War II veteran. He was a blunt-speaking and sometimes surprisingly contrarian tough cookie with a soft interior reserved only for those he loved and cared for.Of the many things he told me that still resonate throughout my life, one of of them struck a chord as I read the backstories of the 16 high school winners of this year’s Optimist Club of St. Paul’s Youth Appreciation college scholarship awards.“I get but don’t care for that ‘greatest generation’ thing,” he told me one time. “There are greatest and there are idiots in every generation.”True that. And this year’s Optimist Club winners, like many of their predecessors, fall in the former category, in terms of potential.They are mostly unheralded and little-known budding gems living among us, many of them from low-income or working-class families, excelling in school and outside of it in spite of dealing with or overcoming a host of p...

St. Paul police chief’s first year: Tackling gun violence, recruiting officers, making community connections

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:39:00 GMT

The grandmother of Monica Holley, a 14-year-old fatally shot in St. Paul, was surprised to see St. Paul’s mayor and police chief at the girl’s wake last month.“It made me feel like it was important to them to recognize the loss and to try to support the family,” Gail Wright said recently.The shooting of Monica, in which three other teens were injured, was one of the most challenging times of Axel Henry’s first year as police chief.Monica Joy Holley (Courtesy of the family)Homicides have been higher than normal for St. Paul in recent years and the trend has continued this year, though some gun violence — nonfatal shootings and reports of shots fired — is less pervasive.Henry, who rose through the St. Paul Police Department’s ranks and became police chief on Nov. 16, 2022, said last year that his top priorities were addressing gun violence, recruiting and retaining officers, and “expanding from community engagement to real community conn...

Literary calendar for weeks of Nov. 19 and Nov. 26

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:39:00 GMT

Because of the holiday, this calendar includes the weeks of Nov. 19 and Nov. 26.Nov. 19READINGS BY WRITERS: Hosted by Tim Nolan, with nonfiction writers Chris Middlebrook and Lynette Reini-Grandell and poets Patricia Barone and Joyce Sutphen. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21, University Club, 420 Summit Ave., St. Paul.MINNESOTA MYSTERY NIGHT: With Christine Husom, in conversation with former prosecutor and public defender Colin Nelson. Husom has written 13 novels drawing on her experience with the Wright County Sheriff’s Department. Nine of her books are in the Winnebago County Mystery series featuring Sgt. Corrine “Corky” Aleckson and Det. Elton “Smoke ” Dawes. She’s also written four sort-of-but-not exactly cozy novels in the Snowglobe Mysteries series and is a frequent contributor to mystery anthologies. Nelson, who’s written seven novels and a book of short stories, draws on his life experiences to write thrillers set in numerous exotic locale...

Readers and writers: Check out 4 new books featuring local history

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:39:00 GMT

It’s been a while since we’ve dipped into nonfiction. Today it’s all about history.“Eastcliff: History of a Home”: by Karen Fults Kaler (University of Minnesota Press, $29.92)(University of Minnesota Press)Eastcliff, the 20-room estate on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Paul, has been home to University of Minnesota presidents since 1961. This year, interest was revived in the stately residence, built in 1922, because it has been rented to Gov. Tim Walz and his family while the official Governor’s Residence on Summit Avenue is undergoing a $6 million renovation. Eastcliff was without a tenant when former U President Joan Gabel moved out.Kaler knows her way around the big house, having lived there from 2011 to 2019 as spouse of the university’s 16th president, Eric W. Kaler. She takes readers through the residence, donated in 1958 by the family of Edward Brooks, from the foyer to the bathrooms and back stairs, and discusses menus fo...