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Field hockey notebook: Walpole hungry to capture program’s 13th state championship

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Decorating the inside of the bus whenever the team qualifies for the Div. 1 state final has become a tradition for the Walpole field hockey program.Head coach Jen Quinn partook when she was a senior in 1990, drawing on posters and hanging pink streamers before eventually winning the state title. She’s been a Porkers assistant coach on eight of their 12 state champion teams, and all of them participated. Players can design however they want, though a sign on the back must read, “Honk if you love bacon.”It’s a wonderful spectacle for coaches, a sort of coming-of-age moment Walpole players got to experience each of the last two seasons as the program broke a four-year finals hiatus. The anticipation to add their names to a long list of champions on the ride over was as thrilling as anything.But the trip back, after losing each state final to Andover by a 1-0 score, was a different story.“We actually started undecorating on the bus on the way home (last year),” Quinn said. “The loss is ...

Girls soccer: Tight-knit Hopkinton 15-0 and rolling

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

HOPKINTON — No matter what type of sport or level of competition you watch, chances are you are going to find a small handful of teams that always seem to compete every single season. Sometimes the dynastic programs have hiccups, but they always find their footing in short order.Then there are longer-term projects, some of which take years to come to full fruition.Just off Route 85 in the hills of Hopkinton, there is a high school girls soccer program that has suddenly taken the state by storm, and its resurgence all stems from one word.Camaraderie.“I think that all of the players have put in a tremendous amount of effort in improving their athleticism, their individual technical skills, and with understanding what we want to do as a team tactically,” said Hillers coach Tom Skiba. “They’ve all put in tremendous effort in those areas, but I’d say the biggest difference this year is that the team has really come together this year, as teammates and friends.”As recently as the 2019 sea...

Pacific and Atlantic hurricanes Norma and Tammy make landfall on Saturday in Mexico and Barbuda

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Norma came ashore near the Pacific resort of Los Cabos at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula on Saturday afternoon. Hours later, Hurricane Tammy made landfall on the Caribbean island of Barbuda.The storms were each Category 1 hurricanes when they hit.There was a threat of heavy rainfall and flash flooding as Norma moved into mainland Mexico early Sunday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami reported at 3 a.m. ET.Norma was centered about 145 miles (235 kilometers) west of Culiacan, Mexico, and about 105 miles (165 kilometers) south-southwest of Los Mochis, Mexico, moving north-northeast at 7 mph (11 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kmh). The Mexican government extended a tropical storm warning along the coast northward to Huatabampito, the center said.Tammy came ashore Saturday night with 85 mph (140 kph) winds. In an update at 5 a.m. ET Sunday, the hurricane center said the storm was centered about 70 ...

How an award-winning Halifax professor nurtured a network of battery entrepreneurs

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

HALIFAX — They call themselves the “Dahn lab” graduates, and they’re powering an unlikely, Halifax-based research hub for batteries designed to replace fossil fuels.At the tightly wired network’s heart is Jeff Dahn, a professor of chemistry and physics at Dalhousie University, who on Oct. 9 was presented with the Olin Palladium Award from the Electrochemical Society for a lifetime of working to improve rechargeable batteries. The prestigious prize has previously been won by Nobel laureates.According to the award citation, the 66-year-old researcher is an author or co-author of 78 inventions with patents issued or filed, and has trained over 65 PhDs and 30 post-doctoral researchers, many of whom now hold senior positions in battery firms around the globe. They’re scientists who delve deeply into chemistry and physics, yet Dahn describes the mission driving the work in fairly simple social terms. “It’s a war on climate change. We need every se...

Literary pick for week of Oct. 22

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

“When We Become Ours,” the first young adult anthology of short stories by adoptees about adoptees, will be launched at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, at Moon Palace Books, 3032 Minnehaha Ave., Mpls. It’s published by HarperTeen.(Courtesy of HarperTeen)Edited and contributed to by Shannon Gibney and Nicole Chung, the anthology shows that no two adoptees have the same story. These stories are from 15 bestselling, acclaimed and emerging adoptee authors whose insights are told in a variety of genres, including a Korean adoptee in high school in Toronto falling for a suitor who could be her undoing to a mixed Black girl embarking on a quest to be as Black as possible in the eyes of her peers.Gibney and Sun Yung Shin, both of Minneapolis, will be joined by fellow contributor Jenny Heijun Wills during the program that includes a reading followed by a discussion moderated by poet LM Brimmer.Gibney is a writer, educator and author of “See No Color” and “Dream...

Thomas Friedman: To win the war, defeat Hamas and stop settlements

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

I have great admiration for how President Joe Biden has used his empathy and physical presence in Israel to convince Israelis that they are not alone in their war against the barbaric Hamas, while also trying to reach out to moderate Palestinians. Biden, I know, tried really hard to get the Israeli leadership to pause in their rage and think three steps ahead — not only about how to get into the Gaza Strip to take down Hamas but also about how to get out — and how to do it with the least civilian casualties possible.Although Biden expressed deep understanding of Israel’s moral and strategic dilemma, he pleaded with Israeli military and political leaders to learn from America’s rush to war after 9/11, which took our soldiers deep into the dead ends and dark alleys of unfamiliar cities and towns in Iraq and Afghanistan.Nevertheless, U.S. officials left Jerusalem feeling that although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu understands that an overreach in Gaza could set the whole ne...

Sunday Bulletin Board: Fourscore and one years ago . . . school was out for summer!

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Then & Now . . . and: The Permanent Family RecordAfter a considerable absence, we welcome back JIM FITZSIMONS of St. Paul: “Subject: Uncle Ralph Then & Now.“A couple/few years ago, the Pioneer Press ran a special section in their Sunday paper. It was a retrospective featuring several photographs that had appeared in the paper over the decades.“One photo was taken in June of 1942. It shows a group of very excited second-graders getting out of school to start their summer. My dad showed me the photo and asked if I recognized any of the kids in the picture.“In the center of the photo, there’s a boy with what looks like a note pinned to his overalls, for his parents. (They did that then.) That boy is my dad’s older brother Ralph. He was about 8 years old.“Ever since I saw it, I’ve wanted to get a picture of my Uncle Ralph, who is still alive, holding the photo.“Last month, my younger brother got married, and all sorts of family members gathere...

Skywatch: Get a stellar start to your day

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

This week in Skywatch I want to share the joy of stargazing in the early morning hours. I was a regular super early riser for many years, but not by choice. Before I retired over three years ago, I was a morning radio broadcaster at WCCO Radio In Minneapolis and had to be out of bed a little after 3 a.m. As brutal as that was, one of the great things about it is that if clouds didn’t get in the way, I could start my day with the stars. This time of year, it’s really a treat because the morning stars are dazzling and bright, especially in the southern half of the sky.  That’s because those stars make up the great winter constellations, the same stars and constellations we see in the early evening skies in early January. I lovingly call this part of the sky “Orion and his Gang.”(Mike Lynch)Even if you don’t know many constellations, chances are you recognize Orion the Hunter. It’s the one that resembles an hourglass or a cockeyed bowtie. Its hallmar...

On its 40th anniversary, Kowalski’s remains committed to being a civic-minded neighborhood grocer

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Officially, Kris Kowalski Christiansen is the chief executive officer of the grocery store her parents, Mary Anne and Jim Kowalski, started 40 years ago in St. Paul.But still. Even after years in the role, something about that title doesn’t feel quite right.“We never viewed ourselves as chain, or corporate,” she said. “(Mom) and Dad always taught us, we’re a neighborhood grocer. We just stayed small in how we viewed ourselves.”That neighborhood ethos — spending time in their own stores, not growing too fast, prioritizing a business’s civic role in the community — is partly what’s kept Kowalski’s Markets around for four decades, Kris and Mary Anne said. The business now has 11 stores around the Twin Cities.The Kowalski family buys their groceries there, too, of course.“We’re consumers,” Kris said. “We just want to bring an experience to people that we would want to have.”“A common-sense neighborhood kind of thing”Growing up in St. Paul, Jim Kowalski and then-Mary Anne Oase were “neig...

Is the Lexington haunted? That mystery among local Halloween events

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Halloween rolls around again, and this year is chock-full of events for young and old to enjoy. Whether it’s wholesome family fun or something a little more spine-tingling for adults, these events are sure to invite one into the spirit of the spooky season.Twin Cities Paranormal Society Cocktail Party: Reminisce and drink over the Twin Cities Paranormal Society’s spooky adventures Oct. 27, 28 and 30 at The Lexington restaurant in St. Paul. On Oct. 30, the party will be joined by paranormal investigator Dave Schrader, host of the podcast The Paranormal 60, who will reveal the findings of his overnight investigation of The Lexington itself. Tickets available at opentable.com/r/the-lexington-saint-paul.Minnesota Jack-O Lantern Spectacular: Through Nov. 4, the Minnesota Zoo invites families to walk its pumpkin-lined trail. This year’s theme is “Seasons of the Year” with pumpkins carved by artists. Ticket prices range from $18-24 for adults and $14-20 for children...