Star Tribune
Duluth manuscript museum has old, obscure documents. Then there is the historical loot tucked into the walls.
“It became an addiction to him,” said his daughter, Cheryl Karpeles Allemanwho lives in Florida. “He had a collector personality. He took his earnings and he started buying priceless manuscripts that changed or shaped our history.”
Karpeles opened manuscript museums across the country — places where he could showcase the pieces in rotating exhibits, like sketches of designs from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and a certificate proving that Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Entry to Karpeles museums is always free.
Karpeles bought an old Duluth church in the 1990s, adding a museum in the city where he was raised and where his parents still lived. Thirty years later, the space off of downtown and a block from a main thoroughfare retains its quiet, church-like interior, from its rounded stained-glass windows to its balcony to its pews angled toward a piano. The museum doesn’t quite rank among Duluth’s more high-traffic attractions, but it has its niche — including visitors from local hospitals, locals with an eye on the quarterly-rotating exhibits and, according to the guest book, people from as far away as New Zealand.
On a recent afternoon, a man from Las Vegas dropped in with two adult sons. Christian Kolberg, who works in charity auctions, is known in his family for always finding the quirky spot to stop. This is a go-to in Duluth.
“This place,” he said, “is a treasure.”
Much like this weekend, the time capsule was the main event of a morning ceremony in late October 1912, when members of the congregation started building the church at 902 East First Street. An article in the Duluth Herald highlighted the copper box, its tightly-packed contents described as “literature of the day especially interesting to Christian Scientists.”
Star Tribune
Dozens dead and millions without power after Helene's deadly march across southeastern US
Hurricane Helene caused dozens of deaths and billions of dollars of destruction across a wide swath of the southeastern U.S. as it raced through, and more than 3 million customers went into the weekend without any power and for some a continued threat of floods.
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Nearly 30 nonprofits are trying to help those people, said Wendy Jones, executive director of Minnesota Alliance of Recovery Community Organizations. The group created a spreadsheet of other organizations that help in recovery, and noted whether they are hiring.
The alliance held a town hall meeting Thursday where substance-use disorder providers, including former Kyros peer recovery workers, discussed what is needed in the aftermath of the closure and long-term changes they want see in the field. DHS and other state officials participated, including Rep. Luke Frederick, DFL-Mankato, who said lawmakers could make further changes around peer recovery next session.
Several recovery providers said Kyros’ closure not only destabilizes those relying on peer support, but the workers providing it — some of whom are only a year into recovery.
Kyros hired many of its peer recovery workers as contractors, not full-time employees. That means they likely won’t qualify for unemployment insurance, said Marla Beaty of the state’s Department of Employment and Economic Development. But she said people should still apply, and added that they could qualify for a dislocated worker program that aims to get people re-employed fast.
Emanuel Roberts said he worked with Refocus Recovery as a trainer for about two years and was “shocked” by how quickly operations stopped. The nonprofit offered free training for people to become certified peer recovery specialists, an unusual move in the industry. Roberts said he’s volunteering to continue training for some people who had signed up.
“It wasn’t their fault that the organization shut down,” he said. “You never know if that could be somebody’s first gig out of recovery, or the only way they could survive.”
A bumble bee collects pollen off a Meadow Blazing Star in Dana Boyle’s garden. (Aaron Lavinsky/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Landscaping vs. erosion
Hong has pitched an idea to developers to allow homeowners to choose their landscaping, much the same way they might choose the home’s paint color or countertops, and to give them the option of planting native grasses and pollinator gardens. If someone just bought a new house that came with sod and in-ground irrigation, “it’s asking a lot of the homeowner to rip that all out and do something different,” Hong said.
She tried the state Builders Association, and then local cities and watershed districts, but the talks weren’t productive. For now, she keeps lobbying for the idea when she can.
The counterargument is that most builders choose sod for new houses because of state and federal rules about stormwater and erosion control, said Nick Erickson, the senior director of housing policy for Housing First Minnesota, the state trade association for builders.
Homebuilders are responsible for erosion on a new homesite, and the fastest way to stabilize the project after the house is built is to lay down sod. Waiting for native grasses to fill in isn’t practical, said Erickson.
“Thirty years ago, you could sell a house and leave it with untilled soil, but that’s not allowed anymore,” he said, noting a homebuilder who doesn’t control the flow of water running off the building site could be fined. The need for native plantings might be acute, but so is the need for mitigating water pollution, Erickson said: “This is a situation where you’re putting two interests against each other.”
The future of the rusty patched bumblebee hasn’t been written yet, and experts say it’s hard to know what will happen as habitat losses continue.
Dozens dead and millions without power after Helene's deadly march across southeastern US
At least 17 killed in 2 mass shootings in the same town in South Africa; search underway for suspects
Kyros’ closure in Minneapolis leaves about 1,000 peer recovery clients in limbo
Dozens dead and millions without power after Helene's deadly march across southeastern US
At least 17 killed in 2 mass shootings in the same town in South Africa; search underway for suspects