All around us there are signs of spring. Already, daylight saving time has kicked back in. If you’re a frequent reader of Skywatch, you know I’m not a big fan of it because it means I have to wait until later in the evening to start my star-watching because of the later sunsets.

The official start of spring, otherwise known as the Vernal Equinox, takes place this Tuesday, March 19, at 10:07 p.m. That’s when the sun starts rising and setting above an imaginary line in the sky called the celestial equator, a projection in Earth’s terrestrial equator. From now until June 20, the sun will arc higher and higher in the sky.

(Mike Lynch)

One fallacy about the Vernal Equinox is that that’s the day that we have equal amounts of daylight and darkness, 12 hours and 12 hours. That’s not true because of something called astronomical refraction. The shell of the atmosphere surrounding our Earth bends the light coming from the sun or any other celestial object. The maximum effect of the bending of light is along the horizon, where the atmosphere is the thickest from the observer’s perspective. When the sun appears right at the horizon, it’s below it. So when the sun is setting, it has actually been below the horizon for about five minutes. Conversely, in the morning, the sun may appear just above the horizon when it’s still below the horizon. I know that sounds crazy, but that’s what happens! If you check the sunrise and sunset times for this Tuesday, you’ll discover that the days are well over 10 minutes longer than the nights on that day.

So when do the days become equal to nights this time of year? The answer is this weekend when we’re celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Yet another reason to celebrate one of the greatest feast days in the year, in my book.

In the night sky, this time of year, one of my favorite signs is the appearance of the bright star Arcturus. It’s the second-brightest nighttime star, and when you start to see it rising in the northeast by around 9:30 to 10 p.m., spring is right around the corner. Arcturus is also the brightest star in the constellation Bootes the Herdsman, which looks much more like a kite rising its side in the east than a shepherd.

Beehive cluster (Mike Lynch)

Another celestial sign of spring is the Beehive star cluster, located in the faint constellation Cancer the Crab. Don’t bother trying to find this constellation, though. It’s one the faintest of over 65 constellations available in Minnesota and western Wisconsin annually. The Beehive cluster is actually brighter than most of the stars in the constellation. Instead, look in the high southeastern sky about halfway between the brighter constellations Leo the Lion and Gemini the Twins.

If it’s dark enough where you are, the Beehive cluster, known astronomically as Messier object or M-44, looks like a faint patchy cloud. When ancient Greek astronomers like Hipparchus observed it around 130 B.C., he registered it in his star catalog as a “cloudy star.” The Romans saw it as a manger and called it Praesepe, Latin for manger.

In the early 1600s when Galileo poked his telescope toward the Praesepe and saw it as a cluster of stars it eventually became known as the Beehive cluster.  You can easily see how it got that moniker with your not-so-crude telescope or even a decent pair of binoculars.

Astronomically, the Beehive is considered an open star cluster, a group of young stars that emerged out of the same hydrogen gas nebula. Astronomers believe the stars in this cluster to be about 600 million years old, and while that’s considered a young age for a star, it is rather old for a cluster of young stars. Many of these same kinds of clusters are gravitationally broken up before the time the stars are that old, but the Beehive is hanging in there. That “teenage mob” of at least 200 stars is over 3400 trillion miles away and over 130 trillion miles wide.

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, March 19, 7:30-9:30 p.m. at Afton Elementary School, in Afton, through Stillwater Community Education. For more information and reservations, call 651-351-8300 or visit stillwaterschools.org/community-education.

Saturday, March 23, 7:45-9:45 p.m. through the City of Ramsey Parks and Recreation. For more information, location, and reservations call 763-443-9883 or visit www.ci.ramsey.mn.us/269/Parks-and-Recreation.

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When Jim Audette first started cutting hair, prices were $5.75 for men’s hairstyling, every barber’s booth had a phone to make appointments and he would see some clients every two weeks.

Audette is still surrounded by the familiar sounds of electric razors and the barber pole twirling in the corner of the room, but haircuts often now cost $30 or more, most people make appointments online and he sometimes doesn’t see clients for two or three months.

Jim Audette with his awards from a barber competition in 1967, after winning first place in the men’s hairstyling contest, when he had only been cutting hair for four years. Pictured in the St. Paul Life newspaper, he was declared the “hottest of the bunch” among the Barbers group in the article. (Courtesy of Jim Audette)

Now working at Good Neighbor Barber Shop on Randolph Avenue in St. Paul these days, Audette is in his sixth decade clipping hair. On Feb. 2, he turned 80.

“It’s a hard thing to get out of,” Audette said. “They say that barbers are the only occupation that stay in the same business for their whole life. That’s true, because I know a few pretty old ones.”

The apprentice

Growing up in northwestern Minnesota, Audette noted that the town’s barber seemed to know everybody around. Originally planning on attending the University of Minnesota, the 18-year-old Audette met barber Joe Francis in 1962 when he came into a barber school. Francis took Audette under his wing as an apprentice after Audette gave him a haircut.

Francis founded the Barbers, one of the first barbershop franchises in the country, which had humble beginnings in the Highland Village Shopping Center with a single shop. Francis taught Audette new techniques such as European razor cutting, a trend in the early 1960s, that allowed the shop to raise their prices and bring in new, curious clientele. It involved running a sharp razor along the hairline to make precise cuts.

Audette began competing in barber competitions, some of which took place right in St. Paul as their popularity spread around the country. One Saturday at the St. Paul Hotel, as Audette recalls, he won one of his first competitions, a hairstyling contest.

Barber Jim Audette, who turned 80 last month, gives long-time customer Rick Cunningham a trim at the Good Neighbor Barber Shop on Randolph Ave. in St. Paul on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

“They didn’t want to give me the trophy, because I was an apprentice, and it was for master barbers,” Audette said. “Joe Francis made a big deal out of it … (so) they gave it to me anyway, finally.”

Competitions took Audette from St. Paul to Chicago, Texas, New York and Canada. He even became a judge after a while. Some competitions had more than 100 participants, so even placing in the top 50% felt like an accomplishment.

The Handlebar

Audette left the Barbers after nine years to open his own shop, called the Handlebar, at Ford Parkway and Cretin Avenue in St. Paul. Eventually he moved out of that location due to construction, and Audette’s final shop before semi-retirement in 2020 was right where he started — just a few doors down from the old Barbers location in Highland Village.

Audette now works alongside Mike Haeg and Nick Hoshor, the owner of Good Neighbor, using space in his shop after it opened in 2021. Now limiting his schedule to three days a week and no more than four customers a day, Audette no longer is the owner of a shop, but has maintained many of his clients.

“What I’ve always liked is you get people from all walks of life,” Audette said. “That’s what makes this business really interesting — because they’re all interesting.”

Barber Jim Audette, who turned 80 last month, gives long-time customer Rick Cunningham a trim at the Good Neighbor Barber Shop on Randolph Ave. in St. Paul on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Building a reputation via connections and word of mouth, Audette used to tell the barbers he hired that if they could retain one customer that day, they would have a business clientele built in a year. Having been a barber for politicians, university faculty and players on the Minnesota Vikings and Twins, Audette maintained a higher-profile clientele alongside his committed base of some clients who, in some cases, came to him for more than 40 years.

Haircuts over the generations

Some families have sent three or four generations for haircuts by Audette. These connections come with some small perks — cutting hair for car salesmen and restaurant staff have provided fast and friendly service at places sporting loyal customers.

“I did (their hair) no matter where they were, till the day they died,” Audette said. “I think that was probably one of my biggest accomplishments.”

Audette said starting out as a barber isn’t solely about hair cutting skills. A good 15% of the job is social — and barbers have to have the whole package. Audette has worked with some people who are great at cutting hair but not connecting with customers — and some who crack jokes at the barber chair all day but weren’t as skilled with the scissors.

Over the span of his career, the look and feel of the barber shop and trends in hairstyles people ask for have changed from the days when the Handlebar shop boasted individual booths, shoe shiners and manicurists.

Although Audette has clients come in with pictures of what they want, he said picking a haircut is all about collaboration.

“I’ve learned the most from Jim about how to interact with clients,” Hoshor said. “He’s a veteran, and has been doing it longer than anybody that I know.”

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Any performance review of Ryan Poles’ first two years as Chicago Bears general manager has to be stamped with a big, red “Incomplete.”

As Poles said at the Bears end-of-season news conference earlier this month, his rebuild of the Bears, who finished 7-10 last season, is “just not there yet.” Some of the team’s young players still are developing. Poles still has some roster holes to fill and depth to build. And he has major decisions ahead that will affect the trajectory of the franchise.

The most crucial decision, of course, is whether Poles will select a quarterback with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFLdraft, stick with three-year starter Justin Fields at the position — or do both.

As Poles works to make such choices in a critical third offseason, here’s a look at 10 of the biggest decisions he has made since the Bears hired him exactly two years ago Thursday.

1. Trading the 2023 No. 1 draft pick.

When Poles traded the No. 1 draft pick to the Carolina Panthers last March, he described himself as “over the moon” to add not only first-round picks in 2023 and 2024 and second-round picks in 2023 and 2025 but also wide receiver DJ Moore.

Poles has to be somewhere well beyond the moon now given the way the trade has played out, perhaps most notably getting the No. 1 pick this year courtesy of the Panthers’ 2-15 finish.

Moore’s 1,364 receiving yards on 96 catches in 2023 ranked fourth all time among Bears single-season leaders. And rookie right tackle Darnell Wright and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, the players acquired from the 2023 draft picks, turned in promising rookie seasons. (The Bears drafted Stevenson with the help of a second trade.)

One potential criticism of the trade, however, is that Poles decided to give Fields at least one more year as the Bears starter rather than taking a quarterback prospect such as C.J. Stroud, who was selected at No. 2.

Given Stroud’s success in helping the Houston Texans to the divisional round of the playoffs as a rookie, Poles was asked this month if he felt like his team made a misevaluation.

“You have to take in what’s best for your team,” Poles said. “So when you look at that situation and how it ended up playing out, to have DJ, to have Darnell, to have Stevenson, to have the first overall (pick) and to have the second(-round pick) next year, I feel like that’s the best for our organization.”

Now Poles has the opportunity to build up the return of the trade even more depending on what he does with the 2024 No. 1 pick — setting up what could be a pivotal moment in team history on April 25.

2. Hiring Matt Eberflus — and retaining him.

Two days after the Bears hired Poles as GM on Jan. 25, 2022, Poles landed on Eberflus as his head coach from a group of finalists that included Dan Quinn and Jim Caldwell.

Poles said at the introductory news conference that he was so confident in Eberflus, a longtime defensive coach and coordinator but first-time head coach, that “the moment he walked through the room I knew he was the guy, especially when he started going through his plan.”

Poles has continued to offer support for Eberflus despite the coach’s 10-24 record — including 2-10 in the NFC North — over two seasons. And Poles did so again this month when he affirmed that Eberflus would return for a third season. He cited Eberflus’ leadership and stability through a turbulent season that included a 2-7 start, defensive coordinator Alan Williams’ abrupt exit and frequent quarterback speculation as reasons he wanted to retain the coach in 2024.

“When you go through hard times and he can keep everyone together, to me that’s like the critical piece,” Poles said. “In a big market like this, you have to be strong. … So the stability was a big piece of it. The detail that he coaches with. Taking some of the mistakes from the game, bringing them to practice and making sure that we’re doing things the right way, I saw a lot of progress in that. There’s a reason why we went from three to seven wins. … If it’s not for him, I really don’t think that’s the case. I think it starts to crumble, everyone starts to do their own thing.”

Poles and Eberflus have shown a willingness to move on from other coaches. The Bears fired running backs coach David Walker midseason for what Poles said was not meeting team standards of conduct. And they fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and four other assistants this month.

But Poles tethered the Bears’ future success to Eberflus, whose defense at least made visible strides by the end of the season.

Taking that track of consistency eliminated the possibility of Poles hiring certain top offensive coaching candidates whose eyes are on becoming a head coach instead of an OC, but Poles seemed convicted in the decision. Eberflus hired new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, the former Seattle Seahawks OC and play caller, to guide whichever quarterback helms the Bears next year.

3. Trading for defensive end Montez Sweat.

On locker clean-out day at Halas Hall, Sweat called it a “cool stat” to be the first player in NFL history to lead two teams in sacks in one season. He had 6 1/2 sacks with the Washington Commanders and then six with the Bears after Poles acquired him for a 2024 second-round draft pick.

“But really when I look at that, I feel like I left a lot of meat on the bone,” Sweat said. “So I’m going to analyze that over the offseason and come back ready to go.”

Sweat already got off to a pretty good start with the Bears as one of the driving forces in the late-season defensive turnaround. He had 14 quarterback hits and 21 pressures, according to Pro Football Reference, and became what Poles called “a multiplier.”

“He helped that entire defense,” Poles said. “When you add players like that, all of a sudden you could see everyone had a little more swagger to them. I think it affected the back end. You saw interceptions go up. You saw us win more games. The “Tez Effect” there. Really proud of that one. Great human being too.”

Poles took a risk in trading for Sweat before having an agreement on a contract extension. But the Bears signed Sweat to a four-year, $98 million contract four days after the trade, and the early returns are good — though Sweat still has a long way to go to make the contract worth it.

4. Trading away edge rusher Khalil Mack.

Poles certainly started his Bears career with a bold move — trading the team’s best player.

Poles’ trade of Mack to the Los Angeles Chargers in March 2022 set the tone for a multiyear rebuild. The Bears gained needed draft picks, which they turned into second-round safety Jaquan Brisker, seventh-round safety Elijah Hicks and seventh-round punter Trenton Gill. And they freed up some salary cap space.

“I would understand why some people would be upset,” Poles said after the trade. “It’s not easy for us to do either but again that’s kind of the name of the game. That is my job is to do what I think is best for the organization for now and the future.”

Of course, the Bears still could use a player like Mack, who at age 32 had a career-high 17 sacks, 21 tackles for a loss, five forced fumbles and 10 passes defended. He has been named a Pro Bowler twice in two seasons with the Chargers.

5. Drafting right tackle Darnell Wright over defensive tackle Jalen Carter.

Carter was considered by many analysts to be the most talented defensive player in the 2023 draft, but his buildup to the draft was turbulent.

During the NFL scouting combine, news broke that Carter was involved in a crash that killed a Georgia teammate and staffer. Carter, who was driving a different car than the one that crashed, later pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of racing and reckless driving. Amid that turmoil, Carter also struggled to get through his pro day workout in Georgia.

When Carter was available at No. 9 for Poles to select in April, the Bears GM instead traded back one spot, allowing the Philadelphia Eagles to take Carter and earning the Bears a 2024 fourth-round pick. The Bears then nabbed their first-round choice at No. 10: Wright.

Carter and Wright both were named to the Pro Football Writers of America’s all-rookie team this week. Carter had six sacks, nine quarterback hits, eight tackles for a loss, two forced fumbles and a fumble return touchdown for the Eagles. Wright started all 17 games for the Bears at right tackle.

Poles said this month that he feels really good about the move and raved about Wright’s potential.

“Darnell did an outstanding job,” Poles said. “He continues to work on his technique. Once he closes the technique gap and the consistency of using the right techniques versus the right players … There’s a Rolodex that you’ve got to build out in terms of the pass rushers that you go against, because they all have different stuff. So once he starts putting that together, you’re going to see a really good player.

“He’s out there right now as a rookie just using his natural ability. In a lot of games, that was good enough, but there were some games and some reps where it wasn’t good enough, and he’s got to continue to get better. And I know he’s going to put the time in. But he’s made of the right stuff. He’s tough. He’s strong.”

6. Trading linebacker Roquan Smith and defensive end Robert Quinn.

In a season and a half since Poles traded Smith to the Baltimore Ravens for second- and fifth-round draft picks, Smith has twice been named an All-Pro and has helped the Ravens to the AFC championship game this season.

Poles said at the time of the November 2022 trade that he and Smith couldn’t find common ground on a contract extension. The Ravens gave Smith a five-year, $100 million deal.

“The reality of it is that you have to ask yourself a question: Are we ever going to find that middle ground?” Poles said then. “It felt like it was highly unlikely. So then are you able to then take the opportunity to enhance your roster now? Or are you OK with the chance that he walks away and we can’t use some of that to enhance our roster? And that’s what it came down to and I felt like we had to move forward at that time.”

Poles turned the draft picks received in the trade into defensive tackle Gervon Dexter and linebacker Noah Sewell, and Poles spoke highly this month of Dexter’s development in his rookie year. But it’s fair to wonder on the outside why the Bears couldn’t make it work with Smith.

The trade of Quinn to the Eagles hasn’t left as many questions, even though Quinn had 18 1/2 sacks with the Bears in 2021. Quinn didn’t play this season after he was charged with hit-and-run and assault in August in South Carolina, ESPN reported. The Bears used the fourth-round pick on wide receiver Tyler Scott, who had a bit of a bumpy rookie season.

7. Signing linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards.

The flip side to the Smith trade is the Bears signed two linebackers in the offseason who found their groove together as the season went on and became key team leaders too.

The Bears signed Edmunds to a four-year, $72 million contract and Edwards to a three-year, $19.5 million contract, which now looks like a steal given his play in 2023.

Both players had the type of ball production the Bears wanted to see from Smith. Edmunds received the Bears Ballhawk Award for 2023 after totaling four interceptions, including a pick-six, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Edwards added three interceptions, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.

“You can kind of see it from when they got here just how competitive they are,” linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi said last month. “It’s been pretty consistent throughout the whole season, just their love and passion to play the game, and it carries over to Sunday. How they prepare really affects how they play on Sunday, and the way they prepare is unbelievable. It kind of rubs off on the rest of the group, and it’s been such a positive impact not just for the play on the field but the guys around them as well.”

8. Signing tight end Cole Kmet to an extension.

Poles’ first extension for a player the Bears drafted came in July when Kmet signed a four-year, $50 million deal. Kmet said at the time he wanted to prove the Bears right, and then he put together his best season in four years, totaling 73 catches for 719 yards and six touchdowns.

“We’ve seen Cole get better and better ever since we’ve been here,” Poles said after the extension. “We’re excited for him. He embodies everything we look for in a Bear: hard work, dedication, how he handles himself in the locker room. He’s a true professional.”

Kmet’s extension, however, was sandwiched by two the Bears couldn’t get done, the aforementioned Smith negotiations and talks with cornerback Jaylon Johnson. The Johnson talks broke down at the 2023 trade deadline, resulting in Johnson requesting a trade that didn’t materialize. But Poles said last month that he is confident the Bears can work something out this offseason with the cornerback.

9. Using three second-round picks on the secondary.

Among the major focuses of Poles’ first two offseasons has been rebuilding the Bears secondary.

Poles used second-round picks in 2022 to draft cornerback Kyler Gordon and Brisker, then used another second-round pick to draft Stevenson in 2023. Poles also added fifth-round cornerback Terell Smith last spring.

The result has been a promising young group anchored by more veteran players in Johnson and safety Eddie Jackson, both of whom Poles must make decisions about this offseason.

At nickel, Gordon took a big leap from his rookie year to his second season, and Brisker also continued his development. Stevenson and Smith dealt with growing pains but also flashed enough potential to get the Bears excited about the group under cornerbacks coach Jon Hoke.

If Johnson is back and the players stay healthy, it could be a strength in 2024.

“You’ve got to give all the credit to those guys. The work they put in is incredible,” Poles said on the team’s pregame radio show in December. “I look out my window even after practice, for 20-30 minutes after, and those guys are still working on ball skills to be able to finish and get interceptions to the little footwork, nuances of the position and the different coverages. They put a lot of work in and they’re reaping the benefits.”

Of course, making those moves to build the secondary has come at the expense of depth at other positions, and the Bears notably still need help on the offensive line and at wide receiver.

10. Trading for Chase Claypool — and then trading him away.

Poles offered an interesting nugget of information while thanking the leadership of Chairman George McCaskey and President and CEO Kevin Warren earlier this month.

Poles said he was reflecting on a trade midseason that went poorly, entering it into a decision log where he discusses what he can do better.

“We met on that, and they both supported me in terms of saying, ‘Keep shooting your shot, man. If you put your log together, you’re hitting those boxes that it feels right, and it’s going to help our team, keep shooting your shot,’ ” Poles said. “For a decision-maker to have that type of support is incredible.”

Poles didn’t say whether the trade he was bummed about was the November 2022 acquisition of Claypool, but that was among the biggest errors of Poles’ short tenure thus far. He traded a second-round pick for Claypool, who then managed just 18 catches for 191 yards and a touchdown in 10 games with the Bears. The team benched Claypool in October for poor performance on and off the field and then traded him to the Miami Dolphins for a 2025 sixth-round pick.

Poles, however, continued to shoot his shot. Twenty-five days after parting with Claypool, Poles acquired Sweat, and the Bears defense began its turnaround, which in turn helped make a case for Eberflus to retain his job.

Another web of decisions lies ahead in 2024.

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With sexual violence among the most underreported crimes in the nation, St. Paul and Ramsey County are taking a new approach to letting victims make reports on their own terms.

Megan Rae, an advocate who works with survivors of sexual violence, looked at what other states are doing to help and worked with St. Paul police to craft a program she didn’t find elsewhere: If people want to report, they can start with a sexual assault advocate who delivers the report on their behalf to law enforcement.

Called On My Terms, it’s a program of St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health’s SOS Sexual Violence Services in partnership with St. Paul police that gives people more options — and control — over how and when they report sexual violence.

“After they didn’t have control over what happened to them and their body, it allows them to make the decision about what their healing looks like,” said Rae, legal services coordinator at SOS Sexual Violence Services.

On My Terms is intended for people who aren’t in immediate danger — anyone who is in danger should call 911. But if they’re not and if the crime occurred in St. Paul or Ramsey County, people can contact SOS Sexual Violence Services and talk with a sexual assault advocate.

If they want to use On My Terms, they work with Rae and she gets basic information about what happened to write a report.

“Then we talk about, ‘How far do you want that report to go in the system at this time?’” Rae said.

The victim/survivor decides on the next step:

They can give permission for their report to be forwarded to police for documentation, but not a formal investigation.
They can ask to talk to a police investigator about their case and possible next steps.
They can request a formal investigation by law enforcement.

People can also change their mind and ask for an investigation later, and having some information already documented can be helpful, said Sgt. Vlad Krumgant, an investigator in St. Paul police’s sexual violence unit working with On My Terms.

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“It lets victims/survivors seek appropriate care, and it also gives the St. Paul Police Department and the criminal justice system a chance to hold perpetrators accountable,” he said.

National statistics indicate that more than 60 percent of people don’t report sexual violence. Some possible reasons: survivors worry about retaliation, fear they won’t be believed, don’t want to go through a long process with the criminal justice system or may have had past negative interactions with law enforcement, Rae said.

Overall, “it’s traumatizing to report,” Rae said. “You’re telling many people a really horrific thing that happened to you.”

In 80 percent of cases that are known about nationally, the victim/survivor knows the person who assaulted them.

Information could help other investigations

Of survivors Rae has talked to so far about On My Terms, some people have wanted to report sexual violence but did not move forward with a formal investigation. But their reports still have value.

“They feel that they don’t have the information that might be needed or they just don’t want to have to continue to talk about what happened,” she said. But she’s also heard them express: “If I don’t tell someone what happened to me, what is the potential of this person hurting someone else? What is the potential of this being a repeat offender?”

Megan Rae (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

If they choose to report and not ask for an investigation, the suspect’s name is still documented by law enforcement, which “they’re finding healing in the fact that if there’s other reports or other victims, they’ve contributed” information that could help authorities in other cases involving repeat offenders, Rae said.

SOS Sexual Violence Services received a two-year, $300,000 grant for the On My Terms program. Rae worked with law enforcement and prosecutors about the information she would collect in reports, and started taking reports in July.

She’s talked to about a dozen survivors about whether they wanted to use the program and, as of Friday morning, had taken seven reports. By getting out the word more broadly, she’s hoping more people will be aware of their options for reporting.

The report that Rae takes is “not a replacement for an investigator” because that’s not her role, she said. It’s a report that, if a victim/survivor signs permission to release, she provides to law enforcement. If the reporting person is seeking an investigation by law enforcement, they’d talk to an investigator for a more thorough report.

“We know through research that for victims/survivors that want to go through the criminal justice system, one of the strongest ways to support them through that process is to connect them to advocacy right away,” she said.

SOS Sexual Violence Services offers support groups, a crisis hotline, safety planning and referrals to community resources, among other services. People don’t need to report a sexual assault to law enforcement to get help from SOS Sexual Violence Services, Rae noted. They worked with about 800 people last year, which includes both victims/survivors and their families.

On My Terms is for people who are 18-plus, though Rae said it’s possible they’ll look at expanding it in the future.

Improvements to investigations, prosecution rates

A study released by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office in 2018 showed that of 646 sexual assault cases reported to east metro law enforcement between 2013 and 2016, only about 30 percent of cases were referred by investigators to the county attorney’s office for possible charges. And just 11 percent resulted in charges.

The findings resulted in changes, including adding two more advocates to SOS Sexual Violence Services, two additional investigators to the St. Paul police sex crimes unit and one additional sex crimes investigator to Roseville police; securing an additional grant-funded investigator in the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office; and assigning a Ramey County prosecutor to work full time on sex crimes cases, according to the county attorney’s office.

Since then, the number of sex assault cases that law enforcement forwarded to prosecutors has increased, as has the charging rate, said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi. Last year, based on preliminary information, 167 cases were presented of which 57 percent were charged, according to Choi.

Sexual violence services

People in St. Paul and across Ramsey County can call SOS Sexual Violence Services’ 24-hour resource line at 651-266-1000 or they can email asksos@ramseycounty.us for help or to find out more about On My Terms.

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