Connect with us

Star Tribune

Land of 10,000 Valentine pitches

Avatar

Published

on


Anything can be news on Valentine’s Day, if you spin it right.

Welcome to the Star Tribune mail bag, where companies work to convince you that the story they want to sell is, in fact, a Valentine’s Day story. Household accidents? Pet products? Online scammers who tell you they love you? Valentine’s Day story! Let’s dive in.

Marketing pitches pour into the newsroom every day, but the pace picks up around the holiday, when reporters start looking for love stories. And there’s nothing Minnesota loves more than a good state ranking. Love means never having to accept that Minnesota ranked 31st on a news release from Rare Carat, charting how much each state spends on engagement rings on average.

“Even though Taylor Swift did not get an engagement ring at the Super Bowl, an unprecedented number of Americans might on Valentine’s Day,” the press release from the online diamond marketplace begins. “A new study found Minnesota residents spend an average of $7,175 on engagement rings – No. 31 most expensive in the nation.”

Who knew there was a national ranking of states with the most “careless cooks?” Take the knowledge contained within this press release from Claim Guide and make sure your Valentine’s Day is hot, but not too hot. Because Minnesota ranks 16th on that Danger Chef list. Happy Valentine’s Day!

“Cooking at home for Valentine’s Day?” the press release asks. “You might want to keep your eyes locked on the stovetop rather than your sweetheart.

Is Minneapolis Cupid-compatible? That’s the question asked and answered by The Matchmaking Company, which scrutinized American cities to find the ones with the most candy shops, matchmaking services and [checks notes] archery ranges. Also, daycare centers, since Cupid is technically a diaper-wearing baby. Minneapolis came in seventh on the list. Congratulations, Minneapolis! We do have a lot of archery ranges.

“If you’re hoping to fall madly in love by Valentine’s Day,” the press release began, “stay just where you are.”

It’s not all hearts and flowers in the mail bag. A site called Social Catfish weighs in with a press release entitled “Five signs your Valentine is a scammer.”

Do they ply you requests for gift cards and crypto? Do they always have an excuse to avoid video chats that would let you see that attractive face from their profile pic? Social Catfish ranks Minnesota 21st in romance scams. I am so sorry you had to find out like this on Valentine’s Day. Do not send anyone any crypto, just in case.

Last but not least, a news release that fails to rank Minnesota on any list, but does offer you a shot at $1,000 this Valentine’s Day.

Thinking of proposing this Valentine’s Day? Include your pet in the engagement photo and enter it in a drawing from pet shopping site Chewy.

“This one is for fur-ever loves,” begins the pitch. “Couples getting married in 2024 or 2025 who share their pet-posal photos or videos on social media using #ChewyPetposals before March 31 will have a chance to win big! 10 lucky couples will win a $1,000 Chewy eGift card toward pet supplies.”

Happy Valentine’s Day, Minnesota! You’re #1 on our list. And if you want to make your own candy hearts, you can do so here.



Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

Star Tribune

Nicollet Avenue bridge in Minneapolis gets $34 million federal grant

Avatar

Published

on


“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, more than 11,000 bridges in communities across America are finally getting the repairs they’ve long needed with funding from our infrastructure law,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in a news release. He said the bridge repairs ensure “people and goods can get where they need to go, safely and efficiently.”



Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

Star Tribune

Driver, 19, passing illegally on Wright County road, causes fatal crash

Avatar

Published

on


A 19-year-old driver trying to get around slower vehicles collided head-on with an SUV in Wright County and killed one person and injured several others, officials said Thursday.

SUV passenger Janice Evelyn Johnson, 92, of Arden Hills, died Monday at HCMC from injuries she suffered in the collision on Oct. 22 in Monticello Township on County Road 37 near County Road 12, the Sheriff’s Office said in a search warrant affidavit filed in Hennepin County District Court.

The driver and two other people in the SUV survived their injuries, according to the affidavit, which the Sheriff’s Office filed to collect Johnson’s medical records at HCMC as part of its investigation.

According to the affidavit:

Deputies arrived at the crash scene and spoke with the car’s driver, Christian Kabunangu, of Brooklyn Park, who said he was heading west on County Road 37 and found himself behind two vehicles traveling below the speed limit.

“He was late for work, so he decided to pass them,” the affidavit read. Kabunangu said he saw the oncoming SUV and estimated it was about a half-mile down the road.

As he attempted to pass one of the slower vehicles, he explained, the other driver “sped up, preventing him from getting back into the westbound lane,” the filing continued.

As the Honda drew near, he swerved to the left, but the SUV did the same and they collided.



Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

Star Tribune

University of Minnesota researchers find that native plants can beat invasive buckthorn on their own turf.

Avatar

Published

on


If the invasive buckthorn that is strangling the life out of Minnesota’s forest floor has a weakness, it is right now, in the shortening daylight of the late fall.

With a little help and planning, certain native plants have the best chance of beating buckthorn back and helping to eradicate it from the woods, according to new research from the University of Minnesota.

The sprawling bush has been one of the most formidable invasive species to take root in Minnesota since it was brought from Europe in the mid-1800s. It was prized as an ornamental privacy hedge. All the attributes that make buckthorn good at that job — dense thick leaves that stay late into the fall, toughness and resilience to damage and pruning, unappealing taste to wildlife and herbivores — have allowed it to thrive in the wild.

It grows fast and thick, out-competing the vast majority of native plants and shrubs for sunlight and then starving them under its shade. It creates damaging feedback loops, providing ideal habitat and calcium-rich food for invasive earthworms, which in turn kill off and uproot native plants. That leaves even less competition for buckthorn to take root, said Mike Schuster, a researcher for the university’s Department of Forest Resources.

When it takes over a natural area, buckthorn creates a “green desert,” Schuster said. “All that’s left is just a perpetual hedge, with little biodiversity.”

Since the 1990s, when the spread became impossible to ignore, Minnesota foresters, park managers and cities have spent millions of dollars a year trying to beat it back. They’ve used chainsaws and trimmers, poisons and herbicides, and even goats for hire. The buckthorn almost always grows back within a few years.

It’s been so pervasive that a conventional wisdom formed that buckthorn seeds could survive dormant in the soil for up to six years. That thought has led to a sort of fatalism: even if the plant were entirely removed from a property there would be a looming threat that it would sprout back, Schuster said.

But there is nothing special about buckthorn seeds. They only survive for a year or two.



Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2024 Breaking MN

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.