Park Crossing, a 19-unit apartment complex at 1068 Raymond Ave., has provided three-bedroom and two-bedroom residences for low-income families since its construction by Project for Pride in Living in 1991.

Following a property sale driven by an operating loss, the building will continue to offer below-market rents for at least five more years, but under terms that are not quite as affordable, and up to 11 families may have to move.

The St. Paul City Council met as the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority on Wednesday and approved extending a long-standing, low-interest loan to the new ownership partnership, Joseph Hughes of Union Park Management and JF Development, which is run by Judd Fenlon. Both men own several properties in St. Paul that are considered “naturally occurring affordable housing,” or below-market rate because of their age, but this will be their first acquisition of designated affordable housing in which rents are officially capped through binding covenants related to a city loan.

Project for Pride in Living had limited rents to no more than 50% of area median income, but was unable to maintain the building or pay its $525,000, 30-year deferred HRA loan back to the city by July 2021. Even at just 2% interest, that debt has grown to $878,000.

“In recent years, the project has been operating at a loss and the project has expended all available reserves,” reads a city HRA staff report. “PPL has funded the operating shortfalls and invested $350,000 to replace the roof, siding, windows and add a new camera security system. PPL has modeled a 15-year proforma with rents at 50% AMI and has shown that the project will not be able to cashflow at current rent restrictions.”

Project for Pride in Living recently agreed to sell the property to Hughes and Fenlon, who said they will increase rents to no more than 60% of area median income through at least September 2029 to keep it financially viable. As a result of Wednesday’s HRA vote, the loan was extended to that time and was subordinated to a new mortgage lender.

If need be, Project for Pride in Living will relocate residents who are in good standing with rent payments to other affordable housing complexes in their portfolio by Dec. 31, though a project manager acknowledged that several families have fallen behind.

Currently, five units at Park Crossing are being intentionally held vacant through the time of the sale. Three households have tenant-based federal Section 8 housing vouchers and are not expected to be impacted by rent increases.

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Mia Taylor | (TNS) TravelPulse

For more than a few globetrotters, booking holiday airfare is a dreaded chore.

Because let’s face it, who enjoys being gouged on ticket prices in order to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas with loved ones?

If you happen to fall into that bucket of irritated holiday travelers, read on. Hopper has just released a holiday travel cheat sheet. Translation: When to book your holiday ticket in order to score the biggest savings (Or at least avoid being quite so drastically overcharged.)

Here’s what the experts at Hopper have to say about holiday travel 2024.

Thanksgiving 2024

Airfare for Thanksgiving trips is currently averaging $298 per round-trip ticket, which is a steep 10% higher from this time last year and 3% higher than the prepandemic cost.

But here’s the good news. While prices are higher than historic levels today, they are expected to decline by about $40 on average until they reach their lowest point in early October.

So, mark that on your our calendar: Book holiday tickets in October.

It seems October is what the experts at Hopper call “the sweet spot” for snagging your holiday flight tickets. At that point, prices are likely to be in line with 2023 levels, and below 2019 levels.

Christmas 2024

Here’s another insider’s tip: October is also the best time to book your Christmas flights.

Currently, airfare for Christmas trips is averaging $406 per round-trip ticket, says Hopper. That’s an increase of 4% from this time last year and a whopping 13% above prepandemic prices.

While those ticket prices may be higher than historic levels today, they too are expected to fall, and will do so by about $80 until they reach their lowest point in October.

When Christmas fares reach their October sweet spot, the prices are likely to be in line with 2023 levels, says Hopper.

A few more money-saving details

If you’re a frequent flyer, you likely know this already, but being flexible on travel dates can help you save quite a bit of money during the holiday rush.

Hopper says it’s possible to save more than $100 off peak airfare by flying on less popular dates before and after each holiday week during Thanksgiving and Christmas.

“Departing the week before Thanksgiving or on the Monday ahead of the holiday will save travelers the most,” says Hopper. “Savvy travelers will save 23% or about $60 per ticket by departing on the Thursday before Thanksgiving (Nov. 21) or the Monday of Thanksgiving week (Nov. 25) instead of taking a weekend flight.”

As for that dreaded return flight after Thanksgiving, it should come as no surprise that the Sunday immediately after the big day is no time to be in the airport.

It is the most popular day to return for Thanksgiving travelers, and also the most expensive, per Hopper.

“Travelers returning on Sunday will pay a 45% premium, or $137 per ticket more than those travelers who return the following day, Monday,” says Hopper. “Skip the Sunday return and fly home on Black Friday, or Monday, Dec. 2, to pack on the savings.”

Similarly, for Christmas, travelers hoping to get the best prices for domestic trips should plan to be flexible on their travel dates, says Hopper.

Departing the week before Christmas or on Christmas Eve or Day will save travelers the most. Savvy travelers will save 26% or about $100 per ticket by departing on Christmas Eve instead of taking a flight the weekend before the holiday.

Meanwhile, the week following Christmas is an especially pricey week for domestic travel, as Americans head home from Christmas trips and head out on New Year’s trips.

For travelers headed home from the holiday, New Year’s Eve departures will be the most cost effective, saving travelers about $68 per ticket on average.

Oct. 14 is deadline for deals

If scoring a deal during the October “sweet spot” that Hopper is projecting is on your must-do list, then you’ll need to book airfare by October 14.

“Airfare will drop from now until the end of September, then remain low and volatile in October before rising in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas,” says the Hopper report. “Over the next few weeks while prices are volatile, travelers who are proactively monitoring prices could get notified of great, time-sensitive deals.”

Airfare deals by region

Here’s one last bit of parting information that may be helpful. If your holiday travel plans are not tied to a specific location, consider bring the family party to a bargain travel destination.

Hopper says airfare to international destinations in Mexico and Central America, popular for shorter holiday trips, is down compared to last year, with prices averaging $464 per round-trip ticket.

Airfare to Europe, the top destination for international travelers from the U.S., is down 7% compared to this time last year.

You’re welcome.

______

©2024 Northstar Travel Media, LLC. Visit at travelpulse.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The library is always there to help.

That’s especially true during Banned Books Week, which kicked off on Sept. 22. The yearly event not only celebrates the free access of ideas, but it also highlights the increasing efforts to ban books – especially targeting titles featuring characters or written by authors who are LGBTQ+ and BIPOC.

This year’s honorary chair is filmmaker Ava DuVernay and its youth honorary chair is Julia Garnett, a Tennessee student and a leader in the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Student Advocates for Speech program who has fought book bans in her home state.

This week, I got on the phone with Cindy Hohl, the president of the American Library Association, to talk about Banned Books Week and more.

“Banned Books Week has been going on for more than 40 years now, and it’s an opportunity for us to bring awareness to the attempts to remove books and materials from libraries, schools and bookstores,” says Hohl. “Even bookstores are being told what they can stock and what should be available to consumers. So this year’s theme for Banned Books Week is ‘Freed Between the Lines,’ and it’s an observance of the freedom we find in the pages of books. And as librarians, we are here to defend that freedom from censorship.”

Librarians’ jobs are more complex and challenging than most of us realize, so I asked Hohl how librarians are dealing the surge in book banning.

“Our goal is to always put books into the hands of readers,” she says. “One of the beauties of being an American is that, should you pick up a book and you don’t enjoy the content, you can certainly place that book down and pick up another one.

“First Amendment rights are for everyone – for youth, for adults. We want to make sure that everyone knows that the public library space and public school libraries are also there for their students, so that everyone has an equal opportunity to access information.”

These attempts to block the availability to books and information are counter to the library’s mission, she says.

“We are public servants, and we go into this work to serve the public good. And so we want to make sure that everyone has the information they need to make informed decisions. We believe that is every American’s right. You have a right to choose what information you want to read, write, listen to, access – both in print and online.

“But you know, we don’t have the right to tell our neighbors what they should read or listen to. That’s really up to them to make those decisions. We absolutely have the right to make those decisions for ourselves and for our families, but it becomes problematic when anyone wants to say that they know what’s best for you, for the rest of the community, that they want voices silenced. And so the role of the information professional is really here to help everyone access the information, and to do so in a way that is supportive in its understanding, and we absolutely hope everyone uses the library.”

And should someone have questions about a particular book, she says librarians are there to help.

“If someone has a concern, we hope that they’ll come in and talk to us and we can have that discussion together. If there is a form already in place, we’ll help you fill it out. If you’re at home and you’re chatting with a librarian online, we’ll link you to the policy. We absolutely are here to help our community access information, whatever that may be,” says Hohl.

Hohl also had suggestions for what readers can do during Banned Books Week.

“Go to the library and check out a book. If you can’t go to the library, check one out online. Make sure that you share your love of reading, of literacy, of libraries. Do a shout-out to your favorite librarian. Do a shout-out to your favorite school library. Make a donation if you can, do what you can to help support readership in America, because an educated society is one that we should all want to live in.”

During our conversation, I mentioned to Hohl that one of my favorite parts of this newsletter is when we ask authors about someone – a librarian, a teacher, a parent or relative – who inspired their love of books and reading. It’s the best.

“I love that,” says Hohl, who is a member of the Santee Sioux Nation of Nebraska. “Let me add mine to yours.”

And this is what she told me:

“When I was little, I grew up on a reservation, our village in Nebraska, and several nights of the week, we would all sit around in a circle outside, and our elders would tell us stories. And those are traditions of our people. Those are gifts to our people, hearing those stories.

“In an oral storytelling tradition, you live for those moments to be a part of that community. When we moved to the city, it was a very different experience because I was no longer surrounded by everyone I was related to, and one of the first things we did was our mom walked us over to the public library.

“It was the first time we’d been in one. It was amazing that you could sit down and read any one of these books, and it was amazing that you could actually check them out and take them home. I distinctly remember the colorful room where we went to storytime, and I thought it was such an amazing place,” she says. “Even though everything there was different, it was still the same. So back home, our stories lived in our hearts; and in the city, they became alive in our hands as we held the book. And so that’s really the love of storytelling that I’ve held throughout my entire life.”

She added a note in the language of her ancestors, “‘Yawa wiconi,’” she says, “means, ‘Reading is life.’”

For more information, go to the ala.org or bannedbooksweek.org