Hours after the Grundhausers’ beloved family dog died, they got devastating news — longtime St. Paul police officer Don Grundhauser was diagnosed with cancer.

They soon learned the 54-year-old’s cancer was stage 4 and, with a whirlwind of chemotherapy and other treatments in the months that followed, getting another dog wasn’t on the mind of his wife, Kelly Grundhauser.

But when she saw a puppy named Hope on social media, she told Don Grundhauser about the dog.

He responded: “Meant to be.” They adopted Hope and the small dog has been a bright spot in their lives.

As the last couple of years have been filled with grief — both of Kelly’s parents died and Don had to retire from the police department early due to his diagnosis — the Grundhausers have clung to hope, faith and the kindness of people they know along with strangers.

“When you have cancer, it’s like a bully on your back,” Don Grundhauser said this week. “I hated bullies growing up, I hated when people got picked on — maybe that’s why I became a cop. With this cancer, you can’t get the bully off, it won’t face you.”

But he started a new clinical trial this week and that’s giving him and Kelly renewed hope after previous treatments haven’t worked.

People have been rallying around the Grundhausers to support them and a fundraiser is being held for Don on Saturday. He and Kelly, who was previously a trauma nurse at Regions Hospital, are used to being the ones to help others, so it’s difficult for them to be on the receiving end of so much goodwill.

“Through all of this, we have learned to be vulnerable in ways we never imagined,” Kelly Grundhauser wrote this week. “We have fought it unintentionally. … We initially declined help many times — we simply didn’t know how to accept it. But as more doors closed, Donny realized it was time to say yes.”

St. Paul kid who started a family legacy

Don Grundhauser grew up on Winter Street behind the state Capitol, and attended St. Bernard’s School.

“If you know Don, you likely also know him as Donny or Grundy,” family friend Holly Macke wrote on a GoFundMe she started for his medical expenses and to help keep them afloat because Kelly cut back her hours as a professional photographer to take care of her husband. “He’s often referred to as a ‘Rice Street Legend.’”

Grundhauser became a St. Paul police officer in 1994, and started a family legacy — his two younger brothers, Mark and Keith, followed in his footsteps and one of his sons, now 25, also joined the department. The three are still St. Paul officers.

Don and Kelly Grundhauser married in 1996 at St. Bernard’s Church.

In August 2023, Kelly’s mother, Kathy Kuder, was diagnosed with cancer. She began treatment in September 2023. Three weeks later, Kelly’s father, 72-year-old Al Kuder, died suddenly. A week-and-a-half after they buried him, Kathy Kuder died of the cancer.

Kelly and Don Grundhauser spent months fixing up her parents’ house so they could sell it. With money from the sale, they took a family trip they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford with their twin sons to Hawaii last June. It was where Kelly’s parents had met, which led to their 52-year marriage.

The trip was supposed to be “a reset from all the sadness” and a chance to “build some new memories,” Kelly Grundhauser said. But she and her sons, Jacob and Nicholas, noticed that Don “wasn’t acting right,” she said. He usually loves food, though he wasn’t eating much on the trip. He seemed more tired than usual. Still, they celebrated his 54th birthday in Hawaii.

Diagnosis: ‘There’s no way’

When they got home in early July, Kelly told Don he needed to go to the doctor — she thought he might have an ulcer — but he told her he was fine. Grundhauser was a sergeant in the St. Paul Police Department’s Special Operations Unit. They plan for policing at large-scale events, such as the Twin Cities Marathon or the Minnesota Yacht Club Festival.

“I told Donny, ‘Once you start working again, you’re going to be working all the time, and I know that you won’t go in,’” Kelly Grundhauser said.

Back home, they learned their dog had been having trouble breathing, went to the veterinarian and had to make the difficult decision to put her to sleep due to congestive heart failure. Soon after, they were heading their separate ways to work.

Don Grundhauser was waiting at a red light — “he told me it felt like the light lasted for four hours and something just made him call” an urgent care center, Kelly Grundhauser said. He went there immediately and, after blood work and an imaging scan, a doctor told him he had cancer. He called his wife to break the news.

“I said, ‘I just lost my mom, my dad, my dog, there’s no way,’” she recounted.

She rushed to make appointments for tests and scans, which confirmed that Don Grundhauser had colorectal cancer and it had already spread to his lungs and liver.

He’d had a colonoscopy about 2½ years earlier, and it hadn’t detected cancer. Doctors have since looked back and saw a spot on the scan where Don Grundhauser’s cancer is, but it only appeared to be an irritant at the time and didn’t set off alarm bells.

If there’s a silver lining, it’s this: “We have been told that Donny’s diagnosis has saved more people than he knows,” Kelly Grundhauser said. “People have reached out to him and said, ‘I wouldn’t have ever gotten a colonoscopy if it wasn’t for you and they found early cancer in me.’”

Doctors don’t know what caused Grundhauser’s cancer. He doesn’t have a family history of it.

A study found a slightly higher rate of cancer in police officers in Nordic countries, compared to the general population. Two recent St. Paul officers have died of cancer since January — Shawn Filiowich, 52, and John Adamek, 60.

While Don Grundhauser loved being a police officer and misses it and the people, his wife worried about the effects on his health — stress, not eating well when he was constantly on the go, and energy drinks he consumed to keep him awake during long, late hours.

He also went with a contingent of St. Paul officers to help in New Orleans for six weeks after Hurricane Katrina, and doesn’t know if he was exposed to anything in the aftermath of the disaster that could have put him at risk for cancer.

‘Have to have hope’

After his diagnosis, Grundhauser immediately started treatment, but his body didn’t respond well to various kinds of chemotherapy or initial immunotherapy. Kelly wanted to donate part of her liver to him, which doctors ruled out.

He’s lost a significant amount of weight. More recently, he’s been experiencing some pain. He’s sleeping a lot and is weaker.

The family’s new dog, Hope, snuggles up with Grundhauser during his naps. She’s a Yorkshire terrier and miniature Schnauzer mix, which takes him back to being a boy because his childhood dog was a Schnauzer.

In the clinical trial he started this week, he’s receiving a different type of immunotherapy infusions.

“You have to have hope and you want to believe. I don’t feel like this is it,” said Don Grundhauser. He and his wife lean strongly on their faith.

But if he does run out of options with traditional medicine, Kelly has been researching holistic treatments for cancer and she said she’ll take Don anywhere in the U.S. or world to receive them, if he wants to.

“There are a lot of options out there that we would like to try before we just say, ‘It was good knowing you, honey,’” she said, choking up. “I don’t want him to go and he’s not ready to go, so of course, when you get to this point, you want to try everything.”

People offered to host a benefit for Grundhauser last September, but he said, “No, thank you.”

“He refused and he refused and he refused until he found out that this wasn’t working, and he realized we might have to go and try something different,” Kelly Grundhauser said.

The fundraising that’s underway and upcoming will help pay health insurance deductibles, co-payments and any future treatments not covered by insurance.

The Grundhausers’ sons work in Don’s old stomping grounds. Jacob is a staff member at the Minnesota House of Representatives, near where his father grew up. Nicholas has his father’s badge number and patrols in the area where Don once did, which includes the North End.

When he’s out and about on patrol, people stop Nicholas and tell him, “I know your dad!” and they want to tell stories about him.

“I have to try to live up to his legacy,” Nicholas Grundhauser said.

Linda Schwartzbauer, owner of Corporate Mark Inc. in St. Paul, worked with Don Grundhauser to design a shirt with the saying that he always had for other officers — “It doesn’t cost anything to be nice to someone.” All proceeds are going to his medical expenses.

Grundhauser said he’s been surprised to receive messages from people he knew from his policework, who write things like, “I don’t know if you remember me, but you helped me out with my daughter.”

He does remember and those messages answer a key question for him: “You go through life, wondering, ‘Did I make a difference?’”

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To help Don Grundhauser

More than 100 items and experiences, such as golf outings and Minnesota Twins tickets, have been donated for a silent auction, which is being held online until 5 p.m. Saturday and in person at the fundraiser. It can found at bit.ly/4hYycIi.

The Saturday fundraiser for Don Grundhauser is open to the public. It’s from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Earl and Wilson Event Center, 246 E. Seventh St., St. Paul. Entry is $20; $30 is for entry and a burger meal.

The Emerald Society of Minnesota is collecting monetary donations for Grundhauser at bit.ly/4h2dhm2 through 5 p.m. on Saturday. The GoFundMe for him is ongoing at gofundme.com/f/support-donnys-battle-against-cancer.

For people who want to follow Grundhauser’s journey, his CaringBridge is at bit.ly/41xVDSI.

A new report released by the Minnesota Chamber Foundation highlights the contributions of immigrants to the state’s economy.

According to the report from the foundation associated with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, nearly 60% of the state’s total labor force and employment growth came from foreign-born workers from 2019 to 2023.

Officials with the foundation say the report is based on 16 years of research and highlights how immigrants fill essential roles in key industries like agriculture, health care and manufacturing.

“Minnesota’s economy and workforce depend on a strong pipeline of talent, and immigration has become the leading driver of our state’s population growth,” said Sean O’Neil, director of economic development and research at the Minnesota Chamber Foundation. “With foreign-born workers accounting for the majority of recent employment gains, it’s clear that New Americans are playing a crucial role in filling workforce gaps and keeping our economy competitive.”

The authors of the report found that smaller counties in greater Minnesota may disproportionately benefit from the added population base that immigration provides. According to the findings, 51 of Minnesota’s 87 counties had more deaths than births from 2020-2023, making them dependent on both domestic and international migration.

It also shows Minnesota’s total labor force and employment gains this decade have been largely driven by immigration. Findings show the state added more than 100,000 foreign-born workers to the labor force from 2010-2023. And while Minnesota had the fourth highest foreign-born labor force participation among states in 2023, the report finds immigrant entrepreneurship rates are still among the lowest in the country.

Over the last several years, there have been local efforts to foster immigrant business ownership. In 2023, the Ignite Business Women Investment Group and the African Career, Education and Resources purchased the Shingle Creek Center, a strip mall in Brooklyn Center. The $5.2 million purchase was inspired by the growth of businesses run by African immigrants in the western Twin Cities suburbs.

Immigrant resource fairs also play a key role in offering guidance for those looking to start a business.

Among the findings in the report, Minnesota has the 23rd highest percentage of foreign-born residents in the U.S., but the 44th highest share of immigrant business owners.

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The last of a trio who stole copper wire from Cottage Grove streetlights last year has been sentenced to probation, as the two others were before her.

Paw Hkee La, 22, of St. Paul, received the sentence Wednesday in Washington County District Court after she previously pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting felony first-degree criminal damage to property.

As part of a December plea agreement, her conviction will become a misdemeanor if she follows conditions of three years of supervised probation. Two other charges were dismissed in the case: aiding and abetting felony possession of burglary or theft tools and aiding and abetting misdemeanor theft. A second case charging her with felony possession of methamphetamine was also dismissed.

Paw Hkee La (Courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office)

Judge Siv Mjanger ordered Paw La to pay a third of the $5,720 in restitution to the city of Cottage Grove for the damaged streetlights, along with her two accomplices Tha Dah Htoo and Dei Gay Moo, both 25 and of St. Paul.

Paw La has an open streetlight copper wire theft case that she picked up in Ramsey County while out on bond. It alleges she was part of an organized crew that stole wire from streetlights for copper and then sold it to recycling facilities. After she was charged in the case in April, she was transferred from the Ramsey County jail to the Washington County jail, where correctional officers found meth in her wallet while booking her.

Rash of wire theft from streetlights

Cottage Grove is among the cities that has seen a rash of theft of copper wire from streetlights in recent years.

The problem has skyrocketed in St. Paul, especially. Restoring lighting from wire theft cost the city $2 million last year, according to St. Paul Public Works. That’s up from $1.2 million in 2023, $453,172 in 2022, $294,494 in 2021 and $104,595 in 2020.

“Working with our partners in the St. Paul Police Department, we have seen successes with some of the creative strategies to prevent wire theft, as well as the use of our high access street lights,” said Lisa Hiebert, Public Works spokesperson.

In Minneapolis, officials said the city has spent $545,000 replacing stolen copper wire over the past two years.

Thefts caught on camera

Cottage Grove police set up covert video cameras in spots thieves might target. The effort paid off as one spot — a mostly industrial area along 100th Street and west of U.S. 61 — was too tempting for Paw La and her accomplices the night of Jan. 18, 2024, police say.

Officers monitoring the cameras from squad cars saw the thievery go down around 8:50 p.m., swooped in and arrested the trio.

Video cameras showed a car driving back and forth near Ideal Avenue and 100th Street. It eventually stopped, three people got out and pulled wire from the base of a streetlight, the criminal complaint says.

They got back into the car, drove to another streetlight and pulled wire from it. Officers converged on the area and arrested them.

A search of the car turned up spooled wire with wrap labeled, “City of Saint Paul,” the complaint says. Pliers, a wire cutter and screwdriver were also in the car.

In July, Judge Mjanger sentenced Tha Htoo to three years of supervised probation as part of the county’s diversion program, which allows first-time offenders to avoid convictions by successfully completing the conditions of probation.

Mjanger gave Dei Moo a downward departure from state sentencing guidelines in November. A two-year prison sentence was stayed and he was put on probation for five years. He had served 63 days in jail. Mjanger noted in a departure report that he is “particularly amenable” to probation and chemical dependency treatment.

Court records show Dei Moo has several prior criminal convictions, including two for cutting catalytic converters off vehicles. Since 2020, he’s been convicted of motor vehicle theft three times and threats of violence and fleeing a police in a motor vehicle once.

Statewide requirements to help prevent copper wire theft became law on Jan. 1, despite an ongoing lawsuit by scrap metal workers claiming the legislation will effectively shut down their industry.

“We continue to be optimistic that the new copper wire legislation will impact the markets of thieves profiting on selling stolen copper, but it’s still too early” to measure, Hiebert said.

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A St. Paul Public Schools field trip for students of color has been canceled after a federal civil rights complaint was made in response to the trip by a Mendota Heights man alleging racial discrimination against “students who are not ‘of color.’”

Mark Perry, who works for organizations Do No Harm and The Equal Protection Project, asked the U.S. Department of Education’s Chicago Office for Civil Rights on Tuesday to open a Title VI investigation into Highland Park Senior High School in relation to the field trip.

Now that the trip is canceled, Perry said he plans to withdraw the complaint once a case number is assigned to it. He said he was hoping that the trip would either be canceled or opened to all students.

The digital marketing and advertising field trip, originally scheduled for Thursday, would have been to Betty, a marketing agency in Minneapolis, according to a description of the field trip shared with students. The trip was for 11th and 12th grade students who “identify as a student of color,” according to the description.

The BrandLab, the Minneapolis-based nonprofit organization sponsoring the trip, was working with Highland Park High School to find 11th and 12th-grade students interested in attending a field trip, according to The BrandLab CEO Kelli Williams.

“The organization has been in existence for over 15 years and is committed to inclusivity in marketing and advertising, truly representing the world we live in,” Williams said in the statement. “One of our programs provides exposure opportunities for high school students to learn more about the advertising and marketing professions through field trips to local agencies and businesses.”

“We are working to find Highland Park High School an opportunity to attend a field trip before the end of the school year,” Williams added.

In a statement on the field trip, Erica Wacker, a St. Paul Public Schools spokesperson, said: “Saint Paul Public Schools values our partnerships with community organizations like The BrandLab and the opportunities they provide for our students. The district remains committed to providing post-secondary and career-related opportunities for all of our students to pursue their passions.”

Perry has a long history of filing discrimination complaints, most of which have targeted college scholarships and programs for women and girls. His complaints alleging violations of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination, had led to 157 investigations and about 50 resolutions, mostly in his favor, he told the Pioneer Press in 2021.

Since 2021, he said the complaints he has filed have involved about half Title IX and half Title VI. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.

Though Perry files federal civil rights complaints regularly in his work with Do No Harm and the Equal Protection Project, he said he filed the complaint against the high school as an individual.

Perry said the trip’s cancellation was typical in his experience.

“So I think it’s either some combination of unawareness of federal civil rights laws and then another part of just a lack of concern about federal civil rights laws when they think that they can do some good for some group of students, in this case,” Perry said.

Perry also asked the U.S. Department of Education’s Chicago Office for Civil Rights in April to open a Title IX investigation into the district in response to a district summer learning program for girls which he said “excludes and discriminates against binary, non-female identifying students based on their sex and gender identity.”

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