Star Tribune
At Mayo Clinic, soldiers urge five-year-old cancer patient to keep up the fight
ROCHESTER – As five-year-old Gabe Downey walked down the steps to Mayo Clinic’s Children Center on Friday, he was greeted with the kind of reaction one would expect for a high-ranking military officer.
After all, he now holds the honorary rank of Sergeant Major Gabe Downey.
About two dozen active-duty soldiers from the U.S. Army traveled to Rochester to greet Downey, who is battling a rare form of cancer known as rhabdomyosarcoma, after hearing about Downey’s journey through a social media post. One by one, the soldiers approached Downey to offer him a fist bump or a high five as they presented him with patches they had earned from missions across the world.
“We’re very grateful … knowing that we could try and make his Christmas a little bit better with the support of our organization, to let him know that he’s not alone in what it is that he’s going through,” said Army Sergeant First Class Michael Davis, who worked with Mayo to arrange the visit.
Downey was diagnosed with cancer in April after his mother, Riley, noticed blood coming from his ear. Initially, the family thought it may have just been an infection. But after visiting the hospital, a cyst from his ear was taken in for a biopsy that showed he had rhabdomyosarcoma.
The treatment, including radiation and chemotherapy, has been brutal on the five-year-old, Riley said. At one point, he told his family he didn’t have the strength to keep fighting the disease.
“When you hear a five-year-old tell you, ‘I don’t want to fight it, I don’t want to do this,’ that’s a little heartbreaking,” Riley said.
The visit by the soldiers on Friday was one step toward giving Gabe the strength and courage to keep fighting. After a couple of setbacks, he will find out in January how much his tumor has shrunk. By spring, he could wrap up his treatments, though he will continue to have scans until the age of 12.
”Whether BlueSky likes it or not, it is being pulled into the real world,” Perez said, noting that it needs to quickly prioritize threats and work to mitigate them if it hopes to continue to grow.
That said, disinformation and bots won’t be Bluesky’s only challenges in the months and years to come. As a text-based social network, its entire premise is falling out of favor with younger generations. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that only 17% of American teenagers used X, for instance, down from 23% in 2022. For teens and young adults, TikTok, Instagram and other visual-focused platforms are the places to be.
Political polarization is also going against Bluesky ever reaching the size of TikTok, Instagram or even X.
”Bluesky is not trying to be all things to all people,” Wardle said, adding that, likely, the days of a Facebook or Instagram emerging where they’re ”trying to keep everybody happy” are over. Social platforms are increasingly splintered along political lines and when they aren’t — see Meta’s platforms — the companies behind them are actively working to de-emphasize political content and news.
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Dozens wept and embraced before releasing scores of balloons Saturday over north Minneapolis to remember two community pillars who were killed in a fiery car accident.
The crowd gathered near 26th and Emerson avenues to remember Esther Jean Fulks, 53, and Rose Elaine Reece, 57. They died on Dec. 16 when Teniki Latrice Elise Steward, 38, allegedly drove through a red light and struck their vehicle. A teen waiting at a nearby bus stop also was injured.
Fulks and Reese “gave their love and their hard work and dedication to the community. And as you can see, there’s people out here for them,” said Fulks’ daughter, D’Nia. “I’m going to miss my mom. That was my world, I was with her day in and day out. I was hoping to come home to my mom and it didn’t happen.”
“It means a lot,” Esther’s son, Joseph Loyd, said of neighbors attending the balloon release. “It shows what they contributed to the community and how much they meant to people. Not just their own families, but they touched countless other families and helped people.”
Emmary Thomas set a candle down at a bus stop during a balloon release Saturday for Esther Fulks and Rose Reece at 26th and Emerson avenues in north Minneapolis. Fulks and Reece died in a crash at the intersection on Dec. 16. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Flowers, balloons, candles and pictures sat at a bus stop during a balloon release Saturday for Esther Fulks and Rose Reece in north Minneapolis. Fulks and Reece died in a crash at the intersection on Dec. 16. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Drakarr Lobley hugged a supporter during Saturday’s balloon release for Esther Fulks and Rose Reece in north Minneapolis. Fulks and Reece died in a crash at the intersection on Dec. 16. Lobley is Reece’s son. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Family and friends said Fulks and Reece were pillars of the community who treated strangers like family and brought love to those around them. Both had worked as navigators for the Minneapolis Cultural Wellness Center since 1998, connecting residents to food, clothing, shelter and other resources.
“They reminded us daily of the transformative power of service, love, and cultural connection,” Elder Atum Azzahir, executive director of the Cultural Wellness Center, said in a statement. “They were not just navigators — they were beacons of hope, guiding people toward brighter futures.”
At the crash scene Saturday, loved ones embraced while shedding tears and sharing memories. Anthony Hamilton’s “I Can’t Let Go” played as passing motorists shouted condolences and words of support. Caution tape strung to a traffic cone near the intersection fluttered in the wind.
Hit by headwinds including inflationary pressures, competition from e-commerce sites, big box retailers, pop-up stores and even a helium shortage, Party City is going out of business.
The closing of the nation’s largest party supply store, reported by CNN on Friday, is expected to shutter more than 700 retail stores in North America by the end of February, including 10 stores in Minnesota.
According to the company’s website, Party City has outlets in Apple Valley, Bloomington, Chanhassen, Coon Rapids, Maple Grove, Maplewood, Roseville, St. Cloud, St. Louis Park and Woodbury. Employees contacted at stores in Roseville, St. Cloud and Apple Valley said they had heard of the closing but could not comment.
Party City, which sells everything from balloons, costumes and birthday banners to gender reveal props and New Year’s Eve tiaras, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2023. That resulted in the cancellation of nearly $1 billion in debt.
The 38-year-old New Jersey-based company exited bankruptcy after naming a new CEO, Barry Litwin, in August. But the company was still contending with more than $800 million in debt, according to CNN. The New York Times reported the company employed more than 16,000 people.
