St. Paul: Little Mekong Night Market returns to University Avenue after four-year hiatus

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The Little Mekong Night Market will return to University Avenue in St. Paul this weekend after a four-year hiatus.

Organizers say this year’s two-day event will be their biggest yet, featuring dozens of artists, food vendors and performances radiating out from the intersection of University and Western avenues.

“It’s bigger in terms of our footprint — we’re working with more private businesses to hold events on their property,” said VaMegn Thoj, executive director of the Asian Economic Development Association.

“We also anticipate our biggest turnout as well,” he added.

When it was last held in 2019, the event drew 30,000 people over the Fourth of July weekend.

This year’s Night Market will run from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. A full list of attractions can be found at littlemekong.com.

The event, which was first held in 2013, has been canceled in past years because of the COVID-19 pandemic and costs associated with hiring police officers to provide security.

Organizers hope to make the Night Market experience a permanent attraction on University Avenue in coming years, with the Little Mekong Cooperative Market, Thoj said.

The AEDA is working to renovate its headquarters at 422 University Ave. W. to accommodate a marketplace for “food vendors, artists, makers, and micro-entrepreneurs to generate broad economic development,” according to its website.

The cooperative will celebrate “the many cultures of the neighborhood, while uniquely providing representation of St. Paul’s Southeast Asian communities along the Green Line corridor,” the website says.

Thoj said the organization has already raised $3 million in funding for the renovation and aims to begin construction in the first quarter of 2025, with plans to open six months to a year after work begins.

Once the cooperative is up and running, the AEDA is planning to redevelop its parking lot on Aurora Avenue into a residential and retail complex with outdoor public spaces.

“It’s a pretty sizable project,” Thoj said. “The return on this investment will be a thriving cultural business district on University Avenue.”

Planning for the project began six years ago, but work was interrupted by the pandemic, he added.

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Border Patrol reports arrests are down 25% since Biden announced new asylum restrictions

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By REBECCA SANTANA (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of arrests by Border Patrol agents of people illegally crossing into the United States fell in May to the third lowest of any month during the Biden presidency, while preliminary figures released Thursday show encounters with migrants falling even more in the roughly two weeks since the president announced new rules restricting asylum.

The figures are likely welcome news for a White House that has been struggling to show to voters concerned over immigration that it has control of the southern border. But the number of people coming to the border is often in flux, dependent on conditions in countries far from the U.S. and on smugglers who profit from global migration.

Border Patrol made 117,900 arrests of people entering the country between the official border crossing points in May, Customs and Border Protection said in a news release. That’s 9% lower than during April, the agency said. The agency said preliminary data since President Joe Biden’s June 4 announcement restricting asylum access shows arrests have fallen by 25%.

“Our enforcement efforts are continuing to reduce southwest border encounters. But the fact remains that our immigration system is not resourced for what we are seeing,” said Troy A. Miller, the acting head of CBP.

The U.S. has also benefitted from aggressive enforcement on the Mexican side of the border, where Mexican authorities have been working to prevent migrants from making their way to the U.S.-Mexico border.

The figures are part of a range of data related to immigration, trade and drug seizures that is released monthly by CBP. The immigration-related figures are closely watched at a time of intense political scrutiny over who is entering the country and whether the Biden administration has a handle on the situation.

Immigration is a top concern for voters, with many saying Biden hasn’t been doing enough to secure the country’s borders. Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has made immigration a cornerstone of his campaign by saying he’s going to deport people in the country illegally en masse and take other measures to crack down on immigration.

After Biden announced his plan to restrict asylum access at the southern border, opponents sued, saying it was no different from a similar effort under Trump.

River floods in northeastern Minnesota community of Cook, submerging downtown

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The banks of the Little Fork River have flooded downtown roads, businesses and homes in the northeastern Minnesota community of Cook after Tuesday’s storm, which caused flooding and washed out roads from the Iron Range to Wisconsin’s Bayfield County.

It likely hasn’t crested yet.

“Our farm is fine. We’re on a hill,” said Lois Pajari, owner of Cook’s Country Connection petting zoo in Cook. “But our community is in trouble.”

Pajari said there is waist-deep water in some locations in the St. Louis County community of 500, and she’s heard of basements completely full of water up to the home’s main level.

But residents are helping each other out.

Pajari said she was loading gravel from a pit at midnight Wednesday so volunteers could fill sandbags, and she’s caring for a flock of chickens for someone who had to evacuate their home. “Everybody’s sticking together and doing what we can to save what we can,” Pajari said.

While there was initial flash flooding in Cook during Tuesday’s storm — 4.2 inches of rain fell just north of Cook, according to the National Weather Service — the headwaters of the Little Fork near Lake Vermilion saw some of the highest amounts of rain, causing the river to flood in late afternoon Wednesday and keep rising overnight.

Ketzel Levens, meteorologist and a co-manager of the hydrology program at the National Weather Service Office in Duluth, said the 7.6 inches of rain that fell near Tower and the headwaters took some time to reach Cook.

“All of that water is finally able to work its way through our water systems — through those little creeks and rivers — that’s when we start to get that convergence of all that water that was leading to overland flash flooding concerns, (and) now is turning into riverine flooding in those community that are in low-lying areas along rivers,” Levens said.

Water levels on the Little Fork River at Linden Grove, approximately nine miles west of Cook, continue to rise. As of 8:45 a.m. Thursday, the river reached 38.82 feet, 8 feet higher than before Tuesday’s rain, according to the National Water Prediction Service.

“The rate of rise doesn’t appear to be slowing just yet,” Levens said. “So we aren’t seeing any indication of it turning over or at least peaking today. I would expect probably sometime in the next couple of days.”

More rain is on the way, but the heaviest amounts are expected to fall on central and southern Minnesota, Levens said.

According to the National Weather Service, another half-inch to an inch of rain could fall on Cook between Friday afternoon and Saturday evening.

“Any additional rain, what that’s going to lead to is just a longer period of that high water and the recession rate being slower,” Levens said.

County declares disaster

Meanwhile Thursday, the St. Louis County Board of Commissioners called a special meeting to declare the recent flooding events a natural disaster.

County Board Chair Keith Nelson estimated flood waters have inflicted “north of $50 million” in damages so far, based on what he called “a back-of-the-napkin guess.”

Jim Foldesi, the county’s director of public works, said 45 roads remain closed due to flood damage and continued high water. He noted that until those waters recede, it will be impossible to determine the level of damage caused by recent weather.

Foldesi said the flood ranks as the second-most-damaging event he has experienced in his 31-year career with the county, surpassed only by a flood that occurred nearly 12 years ago.

With the weather forecast threatening to drop more rain on the region, Foldesi said the situation could still worsen.

The county’s emergency declaration could open the door for state and federal emergency assistance to flow, helping to assist with repairs. Nelson said he had been in touch with Gov. Tim Walz, who pledged to render state assistance.

Emergency Support Services Director Dewey Johnson said the county is better prepared to handle a challenging situation, following past ordeals, including the unparalleled flood of 2012, which hit Duluth hard. He said the county has 150,000 sandbags in stock.

“We’re in a much better place,” Johnson said.

Officials have been using drones to assess the damage.

Foldesi said special attention has been devoted to parties with access cut off due to washed-out or flooded roadways. Some of these properties remain accessible only by boat.

While the county seeks to assist residents, it is also taking care to document the level of damage, in hopes of receiving state and federal aid to effect needed repairs.

The response has been complicated by the remote and rural nature of many areas impacted by the storm, which Nelson described as roughly “the northern third” of the county.

“Let’s pray we don’t get more rain,” he said, noting that the Northland is entirely saturated at this point, with nowhere for water to go but up.

Reservoirs north of Duluth are near capacity as well, and pending releases in the coming days are expected to impact additional communities downstream, Johnson said.

“It’s been a journey, and it’s not over,” said County Administrator Kevin Gray.

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‘Back to the 50s’ classic car show to take place at Fairgrounds this weekend

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Gearheads from across the nation gathered at Mancini’s Char House in St. Paul on Thursday afternoon amid dozens of cars dated from 1964 and older.

Collectors — some dressed in 1950s attire featuring poodle skirts and pinned up hair — mingled with each other and munched on steak sandwiches as oldies rock music played from speakers ahead of the three day Minnesota Street Rod Association’s “Back to the 50s” event taking place at the State Fairgrounds this weekend.

2022 and 2023 Miss Back to the Fifties Tammie Johnson (’22) left, and Amanda Moore (’23) pose next to a 1956 Chevrolet at the Minnesota Street Rod Association’s (MSRA) Back to the 50’s Weekend Kickoff Rally at Mancini’s Char House on West 7th, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

The event brought Larry Rollow, from Dallas, up to St. Paul with his blue 1951 Studebaker — a car that’s been in his life ever since he was a child. Originally, he bought the car from a friend where he grew up in California and used it for drag racing. Eventually he sold it, but 20 years later when flipping through an Autotrader magazine, he spotted the Studebaker and knew that it was his, so he bought it back, fixed it up and now he’s ready to show it off in Minnesota.

Scott Weyer, from Prior Lake, stood by his black pearl gold 1939 Chevrolet Master Deluxe that he spent more than five and half years building and repairing. Originally, the car was a friends’ and Weyer wanted to buy it from him, but his friend didn’t want to sell it. Seven years later, in April 2016, his friend asked him if he was still interested. So, Weyer took his wife, Mary, to go see it and “he couldn’t write the check fast enough.”

His wife loved it and was understanding, which is the most important thing, according to Weyer.

Classic cars are line up during the Minnesota Street Rod Association’s (MSRA) Back to the 50’s Weekend Kickoff Rally at Mancini’s Char House on West 7th, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

More than 10,000 classic vehicles are expected to fill the State Fairgrounds on June 21 through June 23, according to Dale Sohlstrom, a committee member of the Minnesota Street Rod Association. It’s the largest car show in the country, and recently was voted one of the top car shows in the nation by USA Today.

More than 2,000 volunteers working a total of 4,500 shifts are needed. Sohlstrom notes that there is going to be something for everyone — food, kids games, a “ladies showcase” featuring fashion items and more.

The collectable cars, poodle skirts and 1950s’ music that brought a classic atmosphere to Mancini’s on Thursday is just a taste of what is to come this weekend, according to Sohlstrom and J. Marie Fieger, volunteer for MSRA. To them, Back to the 50s is more than just an event, it’s a family. To get a full schedule and map for the Back to the 50s event, visit msrabacktothe50s.com/.

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