I have lived in the Midway neighborhood of St. Paul for nine years now, and the business I own, the queer soccer bar The Black Hart of Saint Paul, just celebrated its seventh anniversary. On my three-block walk to work, on one of the busiest streets in the city, I pass by three empty lots and I stare at a wall of empty storefronts. Just a few more blocks away is the derelict CVS that has become a lightning rod of neighborhood fury, a monument to gross neglect.

Most of us who live and work in Midway can imagine so much better for our neighborhood: vibrant streets filled with more housing and more dynamic, locally owned business. There is no single panacea that will spur more development and investment, but there are a few tools to bring about that vibrant future that are incredibly basic and simple.

The fact is that our local government has been deliberately handcuffed from being able to take action on derelict spaces in our neighborhoods.

Unlike all other big cities in Minnesota, when a commercial property owner leaves their property to crumble, St. Paul cannot fine them. The city can send them a sternly worded letter and then eventually take the owners to criminal court. There is nothing in between.

In the spring, our City Council finally voted to give the city tools to operate between the harsh warnings and criminal charges: financial penalties that can be right-sized for the situation — and don’t go on anyone’s criminal record — called Administrative Citations. The city was finally going to be able to address the owner of the CVS building or others like it in the future. But then a small group of loud voices took those tools away and forced us to wait for a citywide vote to implement them.

Most small businesses owners like me are community-minded and do our best to play by the rules. Let me give you an example. In 2023, Black Hart built a patio next to our bar (it’s gorgeous, you should visit) after a long approval process. Around the same time, we saw another patio created without a single construction permit. Likewise, a major hardware store installed an illegally tall fence that also cuts off pedestrian access. I spoke to an inspector about the hardware store who said they had no luck getting beyond an automated phone service to get anyone to address the situation — meaning that, just like the CVS building, nothing was going to happen.

They broke the rules, with absolutely no consequences. Let me clarify — no consequences for them, but lots for the community. The city’s inability to enforce its ordinances for bad actors brings down the surrounding neighborhoods, makes the city less safe and less pedestrian- and transit-friendly, all of which are a drag on the city’s image and the small businesses on University Avenue.

The current system incentivizes scofflaws and penalizes people who obey the law. What incentive do business owners like me have to follow the rules?

This November, we have the opportunity to change this. In the current St. Paul city election, if we vote yes to approve an amendment to our city charter, we can give our local officials the authority to fight back against bad actors who make our neighborhoods suffer. That will kick off a public process in which the City Council will carefully consider which violations warrant the use of of administrative citations and how the fines will be scaled. They will be established by new, specific ordinances, each one evaluated by an equity committee and adopted through a public process that allows residents to weigh in. This approach will ensure that this tool is aimed at giving the worst offenders a financial incentive to operate by the same set of rules as the rest of us.

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Today it’s the CVS building, but there are a large number of derelict spaces throughout the city. Many are owned by far-away speculators who are happy to turn down offers from local start-ups that want to improve the neighborhood, and instead let their properties molder while they wait to cash in when property values rise. Our community cannot continue to simply hope that these situations will turn themselves around someday. Many small businesses won’t make it that long.

St. Paul residents deserve thriving, walkable communities now. The city desperately needs this tool, making a vote for Administrative Citations common sense. We need to untie the city’s hands, so it can push back against absentee landlords, employers who steal employee wages, those who violate the conversion therapy ban, and other egregious rule-breakers.

Wes Burdine, St. Paul, owns The Black Hart of Saint Paul in the Midway.

JOHN U. BACON: Presents “The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” 7 p.m. Tuesday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

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COFFEE HOUSEPARTY: Literary publisher Coffee House Press invites the public to a “What’s Brewing?” fundraising evening featuring a silent auction; peeks at forthcoming books; and readings by authors Steve Healey, Bob Phi, Kathryn Savage, Sun Yung Shin and Moheb Soliman. Free but registration encouraged. Go to coffeehousepress.org. 6 p.m. Thursday, Coffee House offices, 79 13th Ave. N.E., Mpls.

BILL GAYTHWAITE: Discusses “A Place in the World” with Mubanga Kalimamukwento. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

PEG GUILFOYLE: Minnesotan reads from her new book, “An Eye for Joy: Noticing the Good World Everywhere.” 3 p.m. Oct. 26, Unity Unitarian Church, 733 Portland Ave., St. Paul.

MOINETTE MAGRATH: Shares a behind-the-scenes look at her one-woman show “The Last Flapper,” by William Luce, based on the writings of Zelda Fitzgerald, in Friends of the St. Paul Public Library’s Fitzgerald at 100 celebration of St. Paul native F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby.” Free. 6 p.m. Monday, Merriam Park Library, 1831 Marshall Ave., St. Paul.

MINNESOTA MYSTERY NIGHT: Monthly reading series celebrates its third anniversary with a conversation between award-winning Minnesota authors Michael Mallory and Cheri Johnson, who writes as Sigrid Brown. Mallory’s most recent mystery is “Tiger Claw,” and his first novel in his latest series is “The Lost Dragon Murder.” Johnson is the author of  “The Girl in Duluth” and a literary novel, “Annika Rose,” a reimagining of “Rosemary’s Baby.” 7 p.m. Monday, Lucky’s 13 Pub, Mendota. $13 cover charge. Reservations at ticketttailor.com/events/minnesotamysterynight/1865730.

READINGS BY WRITERS: Welcomes poets Sarah Green, Ryan Vine, Marg Walker and Joyce Sutphen. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, University Club. 420 Summit Ave., St. Paul.

(Courtesy of Kelly’s Cover Press)

BART SCHNEIDER: Former editor of the Hungry Mind Review reads from his new novel “Giacometti’s Last Ride,” which follows the Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti in Paris during his last years. When he meets a “working girl” who becomes his lover and final model, his life shifts into high gear. Schneider captures the milieu of Paris in the early 1960s with appearances by Jean Genet, Samuel Beckett, Pablo Picasso and Eli Lotar. This is the second collaboration between artist Chester Arnold and Schneider, after “The Daily Feast.” 6 p.m. Monday, Moon Palace Books, 3032 Minnehaha Ave., Mpls.

SL SMITH: Discusses “Malice,” 10th in the Pete Culnane series. 4 p.m. Saturday, Once Upon a Crime, 604 W. 26th St., Mpls.

LYNN PAINTER: Bestselling author of “Better Than the Movies” celebrates her latest release, “Fake Skating,” a hockey romance set in Minnesota. 6 p.m. Tuesday, St. Catherine University, 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul. Presented by Red Balloon Bookshop and the school’s master of library and information science program. Ticket required. Go to redballoonbookshop.com.

OCEAN VUONG: University of Minnesota Freier Lectures in Literature hosts bestselling, award-winning author of “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” and a MacArthur “Genius” fellow. Free with registration. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Coffman Union Great Hall, 300 Washington Ave. S.E., Mpls. Registration: https://cla.umn.edu/english/news-events/events/ocean-vuong-conversation.

What else is going on?

What good news. Minneapolis-based Trio House Press announced it is acquiring Red Dragonfly Press, the acclaimed Minnesota-based small press founded by the late poet and publisher Scott King. Known for its commitment to books with rural, communal and environmental themes, Red Dragonfly has been a part of Minnesota’s literary landscape for more than two decades. Among its books are “Loon in Late November Water” by Freya Manfred and “The Ice-Cream Vigils: Last Poems” by Philip Dacey. When the acquisition is finalized in 2026, Trio House will officially launch the Red Dragonfly imprint. For information, go to triohousepress.org.

One of the classic constellations of the night sky is Pegasus, the flying horse. The heavenly horsey is currently soaring in the southeastern early evening sky.

The traditional interpretation of Pegasus is a horse flying upside down with puny little wings. If you can see it that way, more power to you.. I see a majestic horse flying right side up with a huge wingspan. With apologies to purists, in order to do this, I had to “borrow” some stars from the constellation Andromeda. My unofficial version of Pegasus is what you see on Mobile gas station signs. Pegasus is rescuing the lovely Princess Andromeda from a giant ravenous sea monster.

As soon as it’s dark enough, look directly above the eastern horizon for a giant diamond of four fairly bright stars that outline the torso of Pegasus, otherwise known as the “Square of Pegasus.” They’re easy to spot since they are the brightest stars in that area of the sky. The star at the top of the diamond is the star Scheat, the base of the flying horse’s neck. Look above Scheat for two fainter stars that outline the rest of the neck and another relatively faint star to the lower right of the neck that marks the flying horse’s snout.

(Mike Lynch)

The horse has a multi-jointed front leg that extends upward in a curved line. To see it, start at Markab, on the right-hand corner of the square of Pegasus. From there, look for a curved line of slightly fainter stars that extends up to the upper right. There’s a moderately bright star, Enif, that marks Pegasus’ hoof.

On the left corner of the square of Pegasus is the star Alpheratz. You can easily see a curved line of three bright stars extending to the lower left of Alpheratz. That outlines the mighty wings of Pegasus. Above the wing stars, there’s another nearly parallel line of fainter stars. That outlines Andromeda, the princess, who’s hitched to the rear end of the horse. In the traditional view of the upside-down flying Pegasus, both the bright and faint curved lines of stars attached to Alpheratz make up the constellation Andromeda.

No matter how you see the constellations Pegasus and Andromeda, the saga of how the lovely princess found herself tied to a flying horse’s rear end is part of the great Greek mythological story involving Perseus, Cassiopeia, Pegasus and Princess Andromeda.

Perseus, son of Zeus, king of the gods, was flying back from a mission when he flew over a distressing scene. The giant ugly sea monster Cetus was closing in on a beach where Princess Andromeda was chained to a rock by her own parents, Cassiopeia and Cepheus, the king and queen of ancient Ethiopia. They were forced to offer their daughter as a sacrifice to Cetus to keep their entire kingdom from being ravaged by the sea monster. Perseus had to save this damsel in distress, but he had to be smart about it.

Perseus’ mission was to cut off the head of Medusa, a terrible monster that was so ugly that anyone who looked at it turned to stone. Entire communities were being stoned! It had to be stopped. To keep from being stoned himself, He managed to lop off Medusa’s head while looking the other way.

As quick-thinking Perseus approached the sea monster, he whipped out Medusa’s head and waved it at Cetus just as the beast was about to make lunch out of Andromeda. Cetus sank into the depths, never to be seen again.

But that’s not all. Blood from the severed head of Medusa hit the ocean waves and magically produced Pegasus, a beautiful white-winged horse. The magical horse instinctively flew down to the boulder where Andromeda was, chewed off the chains, and then flew the Princess up to Perseus, where it was love at first sight. Perseus and Andromeda were soon married.

Andromeda galaxy (Mike Lynch)

Astronomically, one of the best celestial gems in the traditional constellation Andromeda is the Andromeda Galaxy, otherwise known as Messier object 31. Scan that area of the heavens just above the princess with your binoculars or a small telescope and look for a ghostly fuzzy patch. If you’re out in the countryside and really have dark skies, you may see it with your naked eye. That fuzzy little patch is our Milky Way Galaxy’s next-door neighbor, over 2 million light-years away, with just one light year equaling almost 6 trillion miles. That small fuzzy patch is the home of possibly a trillion stars and many, many, many more planets.

A pair of comets in the early evening this week

(Mike Lynch)

There’s no guarantee about how bright they’ll be, but we have two comets available this week in the early evening sky. Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6 Lemmon) will be hanging out this week around the bright constellations Bootes and Corona Borealis in the low west-northwest sky after evening twilight, setting around 9:30 p.m. See the attached diagram to help you find it, but better yet, use a good free stargazing app like Sky Guide or Celestron Sky Portal to help you pinpoint it. This dirty cosmic snowball, spewing gas and dust, is making its closest approach to Earth this week, about 56 million miles away. Predicting comet brightness is extremely difficult but there is a chance you may be able to see it with the naked eye; otherwise, you should be able to spot it with binoculars. You could also snap a picture with your smart phone in its general direction. You just might be able to detect Comet Lemmon in your photo.

(Mike Lynch)

Meanwhile, Comet Swan (C/2025 R2 SWAN) is spending early evening a little higher up in the lower third of the southern sky, just below the constellation Aquila the Eagle. See the diagram. It’s also making its closest approach to Earth, less than 25 million miles away. Like Lemmon, you’ll probably need binoculars to see Comet Swan unless you’re in a super dark countryside. Good Luck!

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Mike is available for private star parties. You can contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.

Starwatch programs

Tuesday, Oct. 21, 7-9 p.m., Gilfillan Estates in Redwood Falls, Minn. For more information, call Redwood Falls Library at 507-616-7420 or visit redwoodfallslibrary.org/events/month/2025-10.

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 7-9 p.m., Loring Park in Minneapolis. For more information, call 612-230-6400 or visit www.minneapolisparks.org/parks-destinations/parks-lakes/loring_park/

Friday, Oct. 24, 8-10 p.m., in Red Wing. For information and location, call 651-385-4565  or visit www.redwing.k12.mn.us/community-education-homepage/

Saturday, Oct. 25, 7-9 p.m. at Isanti Middle School. For reservation,s call 763-689-6188 or visit www.c-ischools.org/community/community-education

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Finance ministers and central bankers, gathering in Washington for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund, face a global trading system in disarray, uncertainty over the dollar’s standing and the likely course of interest rates, and financial markets that are (for now) unnervingly complacent.

Amid all these challenges, policymakers must pay particular attention to one more: Following years of neglect, public debt has emerged as an increasingly serious risk.

Five years ago, budget deficits soared worldwide because of the pandemic. Lockdowns throttled economic activity and squeezed tax revenue, while public spending surged as governments tried to protect the most vulnerable. Deficits increased from 3.5% of global output in the year before the emergency to 9.5% in 2020. No question, a strong fiscal response was necessary — but, as many argued at the time, it should’ve been reversed in due course. It wasn’t. Even now, deficits are higher than they were in 2019.

Before the pandemic, government debt was 84% of global gross domestic product. It currently stands at 95%. In country after country — including the U.S., the UK and most of the European Union — it’s on track to keep growing faster than output. By 2030, even if all goes well, the global debt ratio might surpass the level it surged to in 2020, when the fiscal emergency was at its worst.

Public debt, to be clear, isn’t bad in itself, and there’s no fixed ceiling on how high it can safely go. But as it rises, so-called fiscal capacity shrinks, leaving governments less room to maneuver when the next crisis comes around. Eventually, a combination of protracted indiscipline, bad economic news and souring financial markets can dig countries into a hole so deep that the only way out is some form of debt default, either explicit or disguised by high inflation.

Attitudes shifted after the global recession of 2008, and they will need to shift back again. Because the post-crash recovery was so sluggish, “austerity” — the effort to roll back the earlier stimulus — got a bad name. There was talk of “secular stagnation” as interest rates fell to historic lows, which were then thought to be permanent. Cheap money for years to come made bigger deficits affordable. Balance the budget? From now on, public borrowing would pay for itself.

The facts have changed, but this mind-set persists. Most U.S. policymakers have simply stopped caring about ever-rising debt. Elsewhere, governments might pay lip service to the need for discipline — in some cases adopting budget rules or creating “fiscal councils” to address the problem — but their actions have fallen short. If long-term inflation-adjusted interest rates outpace economic growth and drift even higher, debt will keep trending upward and deficits will be ever harder to cut.

That’s all too likely. In the U.S. and Europe, aging populations are raising dependency ratios, pushing revenue down and social spending up. Governments are acknowledging the need for bigger defense outlays. New and better infrastructure is urgently required, including for the clean-energy transition. And coping with the next recession, to say nothing of the next pandemic, is a matter of when, not whether.

The only alternative to an eventual fiscal breakdown is to combine spending restraint with new revenue. First, though, policymakers must understand just how vulnerable their economies have become. It’s way past time for them to rediscover budget discipline — and actually plan to do something about it.

— The Bloomberg Opinion Editorial Board

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