Seasons rule

The U.S. Senate’s ill-named Sunshine Protection Act is a third attempt at permanent Daylight Saving Time (DST). Haven’t fiascos, like in 1974, shown it’s misguided? DST delays morning sunlight, vital for our circadian rhythm, sleep and health. In Minnesota, winter sunrises would lag past 8 a.m. for over 100 days, some nearing 9 a.m. in the Twin Cities.

Misaligning clocks with nature doesn’t “save daylight” — it robs our biology by delaying that essential first light. No laws can change winter’s dark, cold, short days or summer’s bright, warm, long ones — seasons rule. DST is wrongly credited for summer’s late sunsets — a misconception risking public health. Standard time preserves our cherished later summer sunsets naturally. Stop this harmful policy. We need permanent standard time, not DST.

Chase Kassel, St. Paul

 

Thousands depend on these programs

Gov Walz and the DFL are attempting to cut $109 million in aid from private schools throughout the state. This aid pays for textbooks, standardized tests, health services, guidance counselors and other education materials. Charter schools stand to lose $40 million which would result in eliminating teachers who work with students on IEPs, mental health support and speech therapy.

Thousands of children depend on these programs. Has the DFL even developed a plan to address their needs?

Obviously we need to address the budget crisis.  So why are we spending $87 million then to subsidize free meals to the children of multimillionaires? That’s what should be cut.

Jim Piga, Mendota Heights

 

‘First they came’, updated

“First they came” is a constructed poem based on a speech by Pastor Martin Niemoller (1892-1984) to the Confessing Church (1946). In this speech Niemoller recognizes the complicity of German intellectuals and clergy with the Nazi regime. Niemoller was a Nazi supporter when Hitler came to power in 1932-33. In 1934 he joined with other clergymen like Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer to form the Confessing Church, a Protestant group opposed to the Nazis, but he still did not defend the Jews. He is an example of a Nazi supporter who gradually became disillusioned when the cruelty he had supported against others came too close to him. In this speech to his church he confesses that he did not defend others when it could actually have made a difference. Eventually he himself was incarcerated by the Nazis.

Here’s my version, for 2025:

First they came for lawyers who defended the law and the Constitution, and I did not speak out because I was not a lawyer.

Then they came for those who helped the government function, and I did not speak out because I was not a government worker.

Then they came for the media, and I did not speak out because I was not a writer or reporter.

Then they came for immigrants, and I did not speak out because I was not an immigrant.

Then they came for students who defended the weak and helpless, and I did not speak out because I was not a student.

Then they came for me, and it was too late.

Phyllis Ballata, St. Paul

 

Just another tax

What am I missing here? (“Tax on social media platforms is proposed.”) Let’s see, a tax proposed because our legislators are thinking of us poor, privacy-robbed Minnesotans, a tax that goes right to the heart of those mean social media companies. So out with their Daffy Duck quarter staff.

Ho! Ha ha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Ha! Thrust! TAX! Take that, social media companies!

Social media, the little good it does, and there is a little, but the harms oh my. Because they are a privacy destructive force in this century where your data and mine down to the minutest detail is sold and re-sold to anyone who’ll buy, including government. Think of all the good this new tax will do to help alleviate that intrusive, downright creepy collection of our personal data.

What’s missing, of course, is YOU. AND. I. This isn’t meant to help us at all. It’s just another tax to help cover the expense of our bloated state government without concern of the people.

Julia Bell, St. Paul

See the pattern?

If you lose an election, claim the election was stolen. Convince your cult that only Republicans can win elections, and that if a Democrat wins they cheated.

If you are accused of a crime, claim the nation’s justice system is corrupt and out to get you. Convince your cult that only Democrats commit crimes.

If a judge (even those appointed by yourself or other Republican presidents) rules that your Executive Order has violated the Constitution, remove this judge and all others who don’t uphold your views.

If Congress abdicates its powers, proclaim tariffs to create a stock market collapse and tell your billionaire friends when to “buy low” so they can make more billions while the rest of your citizens lose most of their retirement savings.

If a university allows free speech protests that oppose your point of view, take all federal funding from that school and convince your cult that all legal foreign students who participated in the legal protests must be sent to foreign concentration camps or deported.

See the pattern?

Crush free speech and dissent, transform “diversity” and “compassion” into negatives, bully and blackmail anyone who doesn’t bow down to you, terminate all programs designed to help the most needy, manipulate the economy to enrich your friends, fire and destroy the lives of hard-working citizens — just because you can, and imprison all real and perceived threats to your power.

This is how things work in Russia, China, North Korea, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran — and now, the United States of America.

Nice company we are keeping.

George Kimball, White Bear Lake

 

And the debt continues to rise

Our country is $36 trillion in debt. Our president says we can’t continue on this course and on that we agree. We’re told we need “short term pain” to change this course. I would be totally willing to do that if it seemed any of this was actually being done to pay off this debt.

But it is clear this pain will only be to benefit the wealthy. Instead of a $4 trillion payment on the debt, the wealthy are getting a tax break. Instead of actual trade reform, the wealthy get insider trading tips and market manipulation to make millions.

And the debt continues to rise, just as it did during Trumps last term. We are being made fools of by a corrupt administration making money for itself, the country be damned.

Gloria Zaiger, St. Paul

 

Stand by DEI

The fight against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in schools by the Trump administration is morally wrong and confusing. The letter sent to states and school districts on April 3  is the latest effort by the zdministration to enforce compliance to their orders by way of threatening federal funding. The letter seemingly describes DEI programs as those that “advantage one’s race over another.” In reality, DEI allows groups who have been marginalized or historically discriminated against the chance to have equitable access. DEI is not about one group having an advantage, but rather ensuring equity and belonging for all. Despite the lack of a clear definition of what DEI is in the letter from the administration, or what constitutes “illegal DEI practices,” the consequences are specific and clear. This is the same formula this administration has been following since the start of the presidential term; create a new Executive Order that is purposefully unclear in order to create chaos, fear, and hopefully, compliance.

I am thankful for Willie Jett, the commissioner of Minnesota Department of Education, and for Minnesota’s continued commitment to DEI practices in education. An inclusive classroom, one that supports difficult conversations about diversity and biases, and ensures access for all students improves academic outcomes for all students. DEI programming in schools also contributes to an increase in critical thinking among students and an investment in community mutual aid (Kite & Clark, 2022). In other words, DEI benefits everyone. Isn’t that the overall goal of education; to support students in reaching their academic goals so they are prepared to be productive members of society? My hope as a parent is that my child can learn and grow in an environment that supports, encourages, celebrates, and includes all people. My hope as a Minnesotan is that we can continue to stand by DEI practices in schools and not waver in our stance should added pressure come.

Meghan Jackson, West St. Paul

An Inver Grove Heights mother has avoided jail time in a child endangerment case in which her 3-year-old son shot his 7-year-old brother with her gun.

A January plea agreement that Kamera Karmeasha Wright Ramsey, 32, reached with Dakota County prosecutors called for no additional jail time beyond the five days she had already served after her arrest for the August 2023 shooting. The plea deal also allowed her attorney to argue the duration of probation at sentencing.

Kamera Karmeasha Wright Ramsey (Courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)

On Wednesday, Dakota County District Judge Krista Marks put Wright Ramsey on probation for one day. A gross misdemeanor child endangerment charge was dismissed.

Court documents say the 3-year-old got hold of a Glock 45 9mm handgun while he and his brother were alone in their mother’s car. While handling the firearm, it was discharged and at least two bullets hit the 7-year-old in his hand and leg, causing serious injuries requiring surgery.

Wright Ramsey was the registered owner of the gun and had a permit to carry a gun, according to court documents.

However, her boyfriend, Derrick Wayne Burkhalter Jr., who was also charged in the case, later said at his plea hearing that he brought the gun with him into the car.

According to the criminal complaints:

Officers responded to a St. Paul hospital on Aug. 16, 2023, on a report of a child who’d been shot.

Wright Ramsey gave officials varying accounts of what happened.

She initially told Inver Grove Heights police that her son was playing with other children at Salem Hills Park in Inver Grove Heights when she heard a boom and saw her son was shot. Police went to the park and didn’t find evidence of a shooting, and confronted her about that.

She then said she’d been in a minor car crash outside her apartment in the 5300 block of Audobon Avenue. While she was outside her Chevrolet Cruze, she said her 3-year-old son got unbuckled, got her handgun from the trunk of the car and shot his 7-year-old brother. She believed he accessed the trunk from inside the car.

Officers talked to an apartment resident who said Wright Ramsey’s car struck hers on Aug. 15. Wright Ramsey and a man, later identified as Burkhalter, exited the car and exchanged information. As the couple began to sit back down in the car, the resident heard a loud bang followed by a child screaming in pain and she heard Wright Ramsey yell at a child.

County child protection workers interviewed the 7-year-old, who said he was on his tablet in the backseat of the car when his 3-year-old brother grabbed a gun and shot him. He said his mom was in the car at the time. “When asked if his mother told him what to say, he stopped answering questions,” according to the criminal complaint.

Derrick Wayne Burkhalter Jr. (Courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)

Child protection staff also talked to Wright Ramsey, who said she hadn’t been truthful with police because Burkhalter was with her in violation of a domestic abuse no-contact order. She said she’d left the children in the car with the firearm in her purse and, after the shooting, put the gun in a storage unit before going to the hospital. She said Burkhalter drove them.

Both children told police that the 7-year-old was shot with “daddy’s gun.” Burkhalter is the younger boy’s dad and the older boy refers to him as his father. The 3-year-old said his foot was burned after firing the gun, which was likely from a casing, court documents say.

Burkhalter, 30, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty to one count of felony child endangerment and one count of misdemeanor violating a domestic abuse no-contact order. At his December 2023 plea hearing, he asserted that he was the one who brought the loaded firearm into the car the day the boy was shot.

Burkhalter received a stayed 1½-year prison sentence and three years of probation in March 2024. He had served 89 days in jail.

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The biggest reason the Vikings enter the 2025 NFL Draft with a limited number of picks at their disposal is because general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah traded most of them away while navigating the 2024 NFL Draft.

Not that he regrets what he did.

Asked about the pair of trades he executed last year that ultimately cost the Vikings a pick in the second round, third round, and fourth round this year, he replied, “I know exactly why we did those things at the time.”

The trade with the the Houston Texans, which cost the Vikings a pick in the second round this year, allowed them to move up from No. 42 to No. 23, and provided them with some optionality before they ultimately selected Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

The trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars, which cost the Vikings a pick in the third round and fourth round this year, allowed them to move up from No. 23 to the No. 17, and put them in position to select Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner.

Both players are extremely talented and expected to be foundational pieces for the Vikings.

“Those are all things that went into the calculus,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We feel good about that exact approach and that thought process.”

How will it impact strategy heading into the 2025 NFL Draft? That remain to be seen.

Unless the Vikings make a trade of some sort, they will only have a pick in the first round (No. 24), third round (No. 97 pick), fifth round (No. 139), and sixth round (No. 187). That lack of ammo seemed to impact the intentionality with which they approached free agency, unafraid to pay a premium to make sure they addressed their weaknesses.

“We were able to do a lot of different things that really sets us up for the draft,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We want to be in a place where we’re proactive instead of reactive.”

Though many are suggesting that the Vikings make a trade that allows them to move back from No. 24 while acquiring more picks in the process, they could also decide to stay put and take the best player available.

“You have to earn the right to be the type of team that drafts for impact and not need,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We’re able to do that with what we did in free agency and some of the things we’ve done the past couple of years here.”

In the meantime, the Vikings are simply making sure they have things in order so they’re ready to go whenever they’re on the clock.

“We try to make sure our board is correct in terms of how we view things,” Adofo-Mensah said. “If we’re picking No. 24, we’d better have 24 names that we’re willing to stand up and clap (for) and feel great about. That’s first and foremost. The foundation of how we build this thing.”

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The Lakers only have one true center in their rotation — Jaxson Hayes, a career-long reserve who starts for Los Angeles but generally plays less than 20 minutes a game.

And he’s certainly not a member of the Lakers’ best five-man grouping. Included in that collection is LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith. That’s a lineup that features ample shot creation, scoring and enough length — everyone but Reaves features a wing span of 7 feet or better — to be bothersome defensively.

It’s the type of lineup that would figure to give Minnesota problems, but the Wolves potentially have one large advantage in that spot — specifically, the center spot. And large is exactly how Rudy Gobert has played over the final quarter of the season.

Over the past 11 games of the regular season Gobert averaged 18.5 points and 14.5 rebounds for Minnesota as he dominated physically overmatched opponents.

After the center got off to a slow start to the season, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch believes Gobert may have been in a “lower gear” to open the campaign after consecutive summers spent playing international basketball. He said Gobert told the team before and after the all-star break that he knew what needed to happen to return to playing to his potential.

And he’s done just that.

“I just think, you know, I got in a little groove by trying to be more aggressive, try to really set the tone for this team,” Gobert said. “And obviously the importance of the moment and importance of every single game down the stretch, I think, probably allowed me to play at an even higher level.”

The Lakers are certainly better than any team Minnesota saw in that span, but even 80% of Gobert’s his end-of-season production would go a long way toward the Wolves winning the first-round series that starts Saturday in Los Angeles.

Can he reach that? Not if you listen to national podcast conversations, which suggest that Gobert will struggle against the Lakers’ “small-ball” approach and force Finch to look for alternative lineup options.

Never mind that Gobert has been serviceable this season in isolation defense, per NBA.com. He allows 0.99 points per possession in such spots. And while that’s certainly up from the 0.73 ppp he allowed a year ago, even the number surrendered this year is better than, say, the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama. Many players have tried and failed to size Gobert up on the perimeter.

“Some of these narratives are cheap. They’re easy. They grab a hold of them and just spin them all the time,” Finch said. “But if you study what’s really going on, what the numbers might say, or being true to yourself in a lot of ways and trusting in why that’s been good to you, then I think there’s a lot of value in that.”

Why does perception veer so far from reality? Because anecdotes reverberate in the minds of all. There were playoff games during his time in Utah in which Gobert was “exploited” by opposing five-out lineups where he had to sprint out to shooters — Terance Mann and Maxi Kleber come to mind — then rush back to the paint to prevent layups.

Then, of course, there’s the end of Game 2 of last year’s Western Conference Finals, when Doncic got Gobert on a switch and buried a difficult step-back triple in his face to give the Mavericks a 2-0 series lead. When that moment appeared in Doncic’s tribute video this month in his post-trade return to Dallas, the star admitted he got emotional.

Gobert noted his detractors have probably seen that clip “a thousand times.”

“So did I,” he said. “But, you know, this is one clip amongst a lot of other defensive possessions. That’s why I know a lot of people don’t like the numbers, but … I mean, over a long period of time the numbers speak more than the eye test.

“You know it’s going to be up to us to be able to be consistent with our approach. … I’m very likely to be crossed over. Very likely people are going to hit some tough shots over me, and then I might get dunked on. All this stuff might happen, but let’s see what happens over the course of hundreds and hundreds of possessions.”

Gobert noted he doesn’t have try to rewrite any narratives. The center has reached the point in his career where he is comfortable and confident in who he is and how he impacts winning. “I’m really worried about setting the tone, being myself and letting the game take care of itself,” he said.

Protect the paint. Grab rebounds. Finish at the rim. Make the right plays when the ball comes your way. If Gobert checks all of those boxes, he’ll be an integral part of Minnesota’s success in the series, regardless of which lineups the Lakers trot out.

“Rudy’s going to have to be huge, I think he knows that. I think he’s prepared himself for this for the last couple months,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said. “He’s really worked himself into great shape. He looked really good the last few weeks of the season, and we know we’re going to have to utilize him a lot, whether that’s him in the dunker or in the post or underneath the rim, lob threat or crashing the glass.”

And, Conley noted, on defense against any group.

“The whole point, I think, in the playoffs and basketball and anything is to try to force the other team to adapt to you,” Gobert said, “and not the other way around.”

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