The 2025 Ramsey County Fair has been called off, making this the sixth straight year the event has been canceled.

The primary reason for the cancellation, organizers said in an announcement on the fair’s website, is a recent decision by the county to no longer host any external event on the Maplewood fairgrounds over concerns relating to accessibility and unsafe buildings.

However, the issues that derailed the fair in 2022, 2023 and 2024 remain problematic, primarily relating to clean-up, insurance and the use of county resources. (The 2020 and 2021 fairs did not take place because of the pandemic.)

Previously, the county absorbed the costs of mowing, utilities and trash services and did not collect an event fee or parking revenue. When the Ramsey County Agricultural Society, an independent organization that runs the fair, was staging a post-pandemic comeback, the county announced it intended to charge the fair for these production costs, a total of about $25,000, which fair officials said in previous years was unworkable.

Representatives for both the fair and Ramsey County could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

The inaugural Ramsey County Fair was held in 1913, and the event has taken place in its most recent location, at 2020 White Bear Ave. in Maplewood, since the 1950s.

In the fair’s cancellation announcement, organizers note that the agricultural society intends to continue exploring whether the Fair could take place elsewhere or potentially still operate at the Maplewood fairgrounds without using the unsafe buildings, but the status of those negotiations is unclear.

To operate, the fair estimates, it needs about 12 acres of land for a carnival, entertainment and beer tent, plus access to utilities like electricity and water.

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For its newly announced 2025/2026 season, St. Paul’s Park Square Theatre will celebrate its 50th year with four new productions, three of which “explore the magic and mayhem of life in the theater, onstage, backstage and everywhere in between.”

Tickets for the full season are priced from $257 to $165, with three-show packages priced from $194 to $125. Discounts are available for seniors. See parksquaretheatre.org for details.

The lineup includes:

“It’s Only a Play” (Sep. 24-Oct. 19): This comedy by Terrence McNally follows the opening night of a new theater. Wealthy producer Julia Budder hosts a lavish Manhattan party. Downstairs, celebrities are arriving, but upstairs, the playwright, director, leading lady and other insiders anxiously await the first reviews.

“R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps: Phantom of the Auditorium” (Nov. 21-Dec. 14): Based on the popular spooky book series, this musical tells the story of Brooke and her best friend Zeke, who land the leads in their middle school’s new musical. They’re thrilled, until strange things start happening around the theater. Whispers of an old legend resurface, warning that the play might be cursed.

“A Chorus Line” (May 15-June 14): With music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban, “A Chorus Line” captures the spirit, energy and raw tension of a Broadway ensemble audition. As hopeful dancers compete for a coveted spot in the chorus, they reveal the personal stories, ambitions and struggles that have shaped their lives.

“The Butler Did It” (July 17-Aug. 16, 2026): This world premiere by Jefferey Hatcher follows a school for butlers that caters to the fabulously rich. There’s a perfectly planned murder, a perfectly pulled off theft and the butler did it. But which one and how and why?

Park Square started in 1975 with 70 seats and has grown to a multi-stage, 550-seat professional theater. In August 2020, Park Square and SteppingStone Theatre for Youth announced they were becoming partners due to pre-pandemic debt issues. SteppingStone later moved into Park Square’s home in the historic Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul.

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For its newly announced 2025/2026 season, St. Paul’s Park Square Theatre will celebrate its 50th year with four new productions, three of which “explore the magic and mayhem of life in the theater, onstage, backstage and everywhere in between.”

Tickets for the full season are priced from $257 to $165, with three-show packages priced from $194 to $125. Discounts are available for seniors. See parksquaretheatre.org for details.

The lineup includes:

“It’s Only a Play” (Sep. 24-Oct. 19): This comedy by Terrence McNally follows the opening night of a new theater. Wealthy producer Julia Budder hosts a lavish Manhattan party. Downstairs, celebrities are arriving, but upstairs, the playwright, director, leading lady and other insiders anxiously await the first reviews.

“R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps: Phantom of the Auditorium” (Nov. 21-Dec. 14): Based on the popular spooky book series, this musical tells the story of Brooke and her best friend Zeke, who land the leads in their middle school’s new musical. They’re thrilled, until strange things start happening around the theater. Whispers of an old legend resurface, warning that the play might be cursed.

“A Chorus Line” (May 15-June 14): With music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban, “A Chorus Line” captures the spirit, energy and raw tension of a Broadway ensemble audition. As hopeful dancers compete for a coveted spot in the chorus, they reveal the personal stories, ambitions and struggles that have shaped their lives.

“The Butler Did It” (July 17-Aug. 16, 2026): This world premiere by Jefferey Hatcher follows a school for butlers that caters to the fabulously rich. There’s a perfectly planned murder, a perfectly pulled off theft and the butler did it. But which one and how and why?

Park Square started in 1975 with 70 seats and has grown to a multi-stage, 550-seat professional theater. In August 2020, Park Square and SteppingStone Theatre for Youth announced they were becoming partners due to pre-pandemic debt issues. SteppingStone later moved into Park Square’s home in the historic Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul.

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History Theatre season includes new musical about the St. Paul Winter Carnival

Twin Cities Improv Festival to feature performers from the metro, Chicago and beyond

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ

NEW YORK (AP) — New York University said it would deny a diploma to a student who used a graduation speech to condemn Israel’s attacks on Palestinians and what he described as U.S. “complicity in this genocide.”

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Logan Rozos’s speech Wednesday for graduating students of NYU’s Gallatin School sparked waves of condemnation from pro-Israel groups, who demanded the university take aggressive disciplinary action against him.

In a statement, NYU spokesperson John Beckman apologized for the speech and accused the student of misusing his platform “to express his personal and one-sided political views.”

“He lied about the speech he was going to deliver and violated the commitment he made to comply with our rules,” Beckman added. “The University is withholding his diploma while we pursue disciplinary actions.”

Universities across the country have faced tremendous pressure to crack down on pro-Palestinian speech or risk funding cuts from President Donald Trump’s administration, which has equated criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

But NYU, which is attended by Trump’s son, Barron, has largely avoided the president’s ire so far.

Rozos, an actor and member of the Gallatin Theater Troupe, was selected by fellow students to give the liberal art program’s address. He said he felt a moral and political obligation to speak to the audience about what he called the atrocities in Palestine.

“The genocide currently occurring is supported politically and militarily by the United States, is paid for by our tax dollars and has been livestreamed to our phones for the past 18 months,” he said.

The speech drew loud cheers from the crowd, along with a standing ovation from some graduating students.

But as video of the speech spread online, it was roundly denounced by pro-Israel groups, who accused NYU of creating an unsafe environment for Jewish students.

“No student — especially Jewish students — should have to sit through politicized rhetoric that promotes harmful lies about Israel during such a personal milestone,” the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement.

The group #EndJewHatred suggested the speech — which did not mention Jewish people — would meet the university’s newly-expanded definition of antisemitism, which includes certain criticism of Israel.

An emailed inquiry to Rozos was not returned.

As pro-Palestinian rallies roiled campuses across the country last spring, the 2024 commencement season was was marked by tensions and cancellations, and strict limits on what students could say.

With billions of dollars of funding at risk from the Trump administration, the stakes for universities are even higher this year, some faculty said.

“They are bending over backward to crack down on speech that runs counter to what the current administration in Washington espouses,” said Andrew Ross, a professor of social and cultural analysis at NYU.

“Myself and many of my colleagues are frankly appalled at the decision that’s being made to deny a student speaker his diploma,” Ross added. “This is a very good example of an administration falling down on the job.”