January nights are full of starry delights, and we have so many hours to enjoy them, provided the weather cooperates. As 2026 kicks off, you can even begin your stargazing adventures as early as 5:30 p.m.

You really have to bundle up, but the show is worth it. I just love stargazing this time of year! What’s ironic is that on Jan. 4, Earth reaches perihelion, its minimum distance to the sun as it orbits our home star. So, even though Earth is over 1.5 million miles closer to the sun than average, we in the northern hemisphere don’t benefit. Our part of the globe is angled away from the sun’s strongest rays because of the tilt of the Earth’s axis.

We start the month with a whole lot of moonlight. The full moon is on the 3rd, and in many circles it’s traditionally known as the full wolf moon. Also, because it’s a little closer to Earth on average, the full moon this month is arbitrarily known as a “supermoon”. For sure, it’ll appear a little larger than usual and will really shut down serious stargazing with all its light. By mid-month, dark evening skies resume as the moon rises much later and wanes.

The Quadrantids meteor shower, one of the best of the year, peaks the night of Jan. 3-4 and will be visible after midnight. Usually, you might see up to 20 meteors or “shooting stars” an hour. Unfortunately, this year the Quadrantids will be overwhelmed with moonlight but you may see a few meteors, especially in the countryside.

(Mike Lynch)

We have only two planets available for viewing in the evening, Jupiter and Saturn, but they’re the best ones for viewing, in my opinion. You absolutely can’t miss Jupiter, the behemoth planet of the solar system, beaming away in the early evening eastern sky. By far, it’s the brightest star-like object in the sky, positioned in the constellation Gemini. On Jan. 3, Jupiter will be just to the lower left of the full moon in a very tight celestial hug! On Jan. 10, Jupiter reaches what astronomers call opposition. It’ll be available for viewing all night long, rising in the east at sunset and setting in the west around sunrise. The 88,000-mile-wide planet is also at its closest approach to Earth for 2026, only about 393 million miles away, which for Jupiter is considered close by. Through even a small telescope or a good pair of binoculars, you’ll easily see Jupiter’s four brightest moons appearing as faint stars dancing around Jupiter from night to night. With a telescope, you can also see Jupiter’s brightest cloud bands striping the huge planet. You might get a glimpse of the famous Great Red Spot, a storm that’s been raging on Jupiter for hundreds of years.

Saturn, while not nearly as bright as Jupiter, is also a great telescope target. As evening twilight fades, look for Saturn in the southern sky about halfway from the horizon to the overhead zenith. While it’s not all that bright, it’s the brightest star-like object in that neighborhood of the sky. As unassuming as it appears to the naked eye, it’s fantastic with even a small telescope. You should have no trouble seeing its ring system, although the angle between the planet and the ring system is still pretty narrow from our view on Earth. As 2026 progresses though, the angle will continue to slowly open up .

Throughout January, the absolute best stargazing in the early evening will be in the east-southeast. Not only will Jupiter light up that part of the heavens but there’ll be a barrage of bright stars that make up the magnificent winter constellations. My nickname for them is “Orion and his gang.” Orion is the most brilliant of the group, in the middle of the winter shiners.

At first glance, the mighty hunter Orion resembles a crooked bowtie, but without too much imagination, you can see how that bowtie resembles the torso of a massive man. Orion’s brightest stars are Rigel, which marks one of the hunter’s knees, and the red giant star Betelgeuse at his armpit. The three bright stars that make Orion’s belt are lined up perfectly and jump right out at you. Three fainter stars in a row just to the lower right of the belt form Orion’s sword. The middle star in the sword will appear fuzzy to the naked eye. That’s because it’s not a single star. It’s the Orion Nebula, a giant cloud of hydrogen gas giving birth to new stars. Even with a small telescope, it’s possible to see four newborn stars and maybe even a few more within the nebula.

Elsewhere in Orion’s gang is Auriga, the chariot driver with the bright star Capella. There’s also Taurus the Bull, with the little arrow pointing to the right that outlines the bull’s face and the bright reddish star Aldebaran marking the angry red eye of the beast. Not far away are the Pleiades, a beautiful shining star cluster that resembles a tiny Big Dipper. The Pleiades star cluster is made up of over one hundred young stars, probably less than 100 million years old. The Pleiades, also known as the “Seven Little Sisters,” are the daughters of the deposed god Atlas.

Rising in the low southeast is a really bright star, Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky at any time throughout the year. It’s not as bright as Jupiter but it’ll certainly get your attention! If you draw a line through Orion’s belt and extend it to the lower left, it will point right at Sirius, a star a little more than eight light-years away.

In the low northern sky, the Big Dipper appears to be nearly standing on its handle. The Big Dipper is not an official constellation but instead makes up the bright derriere and tail of Ursa Major. To the upper right of the Big Dipper is the Little Dipper hanging by its handle. Polaris, the North Star, shines at the end of the handle. The Little Dipper is also known as Ursa Minor, the Little Bear.

Don’t nocturnally hibernate. January stargazing is too good to miss.

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.

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After six years of homicides numbering at least 30 in St. Paul, there have been half as many this year.

The decrease is important, said St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry, but “I’m very hesitant to say any of this is good news. I’m never going to be happy until the number is zero.”

Fifteen people died in acts of violence as of Friday, the lowest number in a dozen years in St. Paul. There were 33 homicides in St. Paul last year.

Henry said officers and investigators’ work that’s led to reductions in homicides is focused on “identifying where people are at risk early on,” which includes recovering firearms, solving more nonfatal shootings, and looking for warning signs before domestic violence becomes deadly.

Three of this year’s homicides were women whose former or current romantic partner is charged with murder — and during each of the cases a young child or children were in the residence — and at least two other homicides were related to domestic violence.

Many of the other homicides were matters that “escalated up” to a level that doesn’t “warrant that type of response,” Henry said. “People getting overly upset and shooting or harming each other.”

Even with police and community groups trying to prevent violence, there are elements of luck, Henry said.

For nearly the first two months of this year, there were no homicides in St. Paul. And the first homicide by gun violence didn’t happen until May 28.

There were 63 homicides in Minneapolis as of Friday, compared with 76 throughout 2024, according to city data, a 17 percent decrease.

Minneapolis has matched the trend throughout the U.S., with the Council on Criminal Justice finding a 17 percent decline in homicides in 30 cities as of mid-2025 compared to the same time in 2024.

How pushing down nonfatal shootings reduces homicides

The St. Paul Police Department started a nonfatal shooting unit at the beginning of 2024, dedicating investigators to such cases. Previously, homicide investigators were assigned to both fatal and nonfatal assaults but focused their efforts on deadly cases. The clearance rate for nonfatal shootings had been 28 percent in 2022 and climbed to 61 percent this year.

The people most likely to commit gun violence are also the people most likely to be victims of gun violence, Henry said.

“When we start to go and intervene at that level, we’re catching people or plugging them in with resources before they’ve completed a murder,” he said.

As of Dec. 22, 73 people had been injured in shootings in St. Paul, compared to 191 during the same time period in 2022.

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Reports of shots fired without injuries have also plummeted: The department is on pace to take 1,023 reports this year, compared with 2,256 in 2022.

Other major crime categories have decreased, including robbery, burglary and carjackings. Vehicle thefts are fewer than half of what they were when Henry became police chief in November 2022. Fatal overdoses are trending down.

There has been an uptick in reports of sexual assaults this year. Because it’s such an underreported crime, Henry said he aims to have conversations with victim advocates to find out if the numbers are a result of more people reporting or if there have been more instances of such assaults.

Theft reports fell from about 8,200 in 2022 to fewer than 6,000 in 2023 and about 5,700 last year. This year, there have been approximately 5,900 reports.

A look at the victims and cases in St. Paul

Before 2019, when the homicide numbers started rising in St. Paul, the city averaged 17 homicides a year between 2010 and 2018. The lowest number in recent years was 13 homicides in 2014 and the last time there were 15 homicides was 2013.

In this year’s 15 St. Paul homicides, charges have been brought in all except one. In another case, a double homicide, police say two men shot and killed each other.

The Pioneer Press looked back at the people killed this year, and what police and prosecutors described in each case:

Sefiya Churiso Datu, 29

St. Paul police were investigating a fatal stabbing in the 400 block of Central Avenue on Feb. 26, 2025. Kedu Husen Buseri was later charged, accused of killing his wife, Sefiya Churiso Datu. (Courtesy of the St. Paul Police Department)

Police responded to a 911 call from Kedu Husen Buseri, 34, on Feb. 26, 2025. They found his wife, Datu, bleeding on the ground in the home where they stayed on Central Avenue near Western Avenue. The couple’s infant was on a bed nearby. Although officers found blood on the baby, the child was not injured.

Buseri had a small cut on one hand. “She cut me … I cut her,” authorities allege that Buseri said. An autopsy showed Datu had “multiple sharp force injuries to her head, face, neck, right ear, torso, arms, hands and back” and a deep wound to her neck.

During police questioning, Buseri said that he and his wife argued after he accused her of being unfaithful. When asked if he had killed his wife, Buseri said, “Yes,” according to the criminal complaint.

A judge found that due to Buseri’s mental illness or cognitive impairment, he was not legally competent to proceed in his murder case. The criminal case is suspended, though Buseri remains in custody. Buseri was civilly committed as mentally ill with civil court proceedings continuing.

Jay’Mier K. Givens, 19

Officers found Givens collapsed on Sixth Street near Birmingham Street, near an address he wasn’t connected with, the night of March 31. He’d been stabbed 22 times, with most of the wounds to his back and one to his neck.

Police later arrested Jeremy Joe Davila, 17, and a 14-year-old. Investigators interviewed the 14-year-old’s girlfriend, who told police that Givens threatened over Snapchat to kill her 1½-year-old son, according to a juvenile petition against Davila.

The 14-year-old told police that on March 31 — when he, Davila and Givens met up and were smoking marijuana — he asked Givens “why he said that stuff” about his girlfriend’s son, who he regarded as his “stepson.”

He said Givens pulled a knife on him. Davila, who the 14-year-old said always carried a knife, stabbed Givens and the younger teen also did, the petition said of his account.

Davila was certified to adult court and pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting murder on Dec. 5. He’s scheduled to be sentenced in January.

There isn’t public information about what happened to the younger teen after his arrest, due to his age.

Christine Morris, 33

Christine Morris (Courtesy of GoFundMe)

Morris was the mother of a 2-year-old and had her own catering business, Chrissy’s Authentic Jamaican Food.

About seven months before she was fatally stabbed at home on May 2, Morris told a friend that if she or her daughter ended up dead or missing, Joseph Davis would be the person responsible, according to a criminal complaint. She and Davis were the parents of the 2-year-old and lived together on Edmund Avenue near Farrington Street.

Davis, 34, was sentenced in 2023 for domestic assault against Morris and in 2024 for violating a domestic abuse no-contact order involving Morris.

A friend of Morris’ told police she was out with her the night before, and Davis was messaging Morris throughout the evening and accusing her of infidelity. Police responded to the couple’s home about 5:15 the next morning after Davis called a family member, saying he’d killed Morris, “he was sorry” and had left their child in the home, the complaint said. The child wasn’t physically injured.

A SWAT team arrested Davis at the apartment of a woman who said she’d met him on a dating app and they’d been talking for a month.

Davis has pleaded not guilty to murder.

A GoFundMe (gofund.me/b15a431bd) is raising funds for Morris’ daughter “for education, emotional support, basic living needs, or anything that can help ease the burden in the days, months, and years ahead.”

James Q. Baker, 20

St. Paul police investigate a shooting death in the 600 block of Stryker Avenue on May 28, 2025. (Courtesy of the St. Paul Police Department)

As police investigated the shooting of Baker on May 28 on Stryker Avenue near Morton Street, they learned there had been a domestic assault at the same apartment three days earlier. A woman said a man, who she referred to as her ex-boyfriend, had assaulted her.

A daughter of the woman said there was “a long history of domestic abuse between” the man and her mother, who “often has her sons intervene with (the man) instead of the police,” said a criminal complaint against the man.

On May 28, one of the woman’s sons discovered the man was back at her apartment and became upset. A short time later, three men knocked on the apartment door and tried to push their way in. They wore masks, though the woman recognized them, including one as her son. One of the other people, Baker, pushed his way inside.

The woman said she brought her revolver to the door during the early part of the incident. She said she fell over and the gun fell to the floor. She said the man must have picked up the gun and shot Baker, according to another complaint. She reported the man fled out the window.

Prosecutors did not charge the man with murder; he was charged with felony domestic assault and possession of a firearm by a person prohibited for having been convicted of a crime of violence. He pleaded guilty to the latter and the domestic assault case was dismissed.

The man’s attorney sought a downward departure in sentencing, writing in a court record that the man, “while resisting an armed home invasion by three people, momentarily possessed a firearm legally owned by his significant other.”

Baker’s mother wrote in a victim impact statement that her son “was taken (while) trying to help someone he cared for. … My son mattered, his life mattered.”

Over the objection of the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, which was seeking a longer sentence, the man was sentenced Dec. 19 to 360 days of house arrest, with credit for 40 days, and is allowed to leave for work. He was ordered to go through domestic violence programming.

Steffon Jennings, 37

Steffon T. Jennings (Courtesy of GoFundMe)

Jennings was fatally shot on his birthday on July 20 at a homeless encampment over a drug debt, according to a criminal complaint.

“He was a protector, a leader, a father of 4 with a beautiful soul, & truly a peacemaker,” his sister wrote on GoFundMe (gofund.me/64e24f4e0).

At the encampment in the area of East Maryland Avenue and Jackson Street, officers spoke to a man who said Jennings owed money to a group of three who had been selling fentanyl there for about a week. He said he saw the three running after the shooting.

Francisco Diaz-Xique, now 22, of Aitkin, Minn., has pleaded not guilty to murder, and his court case is ongoing.

James D. Thurber, 54

James D. Thurber with his grandchild. (Courtesy of the family)

Thurber’s daughter says he got to meet his only grandchild before he was killed, and he fell in love.

“He was actively trying to better not only himself but those around him,” Megan Fritz said. “It’s unfortunate and senseless that he didn’t get more time.”

Officers responded to the North End on July 13 and found Thurber on the ground, bleeding from a large laceration on his head. He was hospitalized in critical condition with a traumatic brain injury until he died Aug. 3.

A man told police that Thurber and Daniel Pen-mong Moua, now 21, used to do “scrapping” together before they had a falling-out, according to a criminal complaint.

A police search of the garage of Moua’s home in the 600 block of Hyacinth Avenue turned up a tire iron with dried blood on it inside a plastic bag, the complaint said. Moua, who is charged with murder, has pleaded not guilty and his case is ongoing.

Jeff S. Matson, 43

Jeff Matson, who enjoyed gardening, holds cucumbers from his and his fiancée’s garden. (Courtesy of the family)

Matson worked at CHS Field in St. Paul since its opening day in 2015. He was a “beer hawker,” running up and down the stands, greeting St. Paul Saints fans and making them laugh.

“His voice was recognizable to all who attended games and events at CHS Field,” said Derek Sharrer, Saints president.

Matson and his fiancée, Michelle Wefel, had recently moved from St. Paul’s Merriam Park to the East Side, and he took her bike on Aug. 7 to the Midway Saloon on University Avenue near Snelling Avenue.

A bar manager told investigators that bouncer Davarius Lamonte Clark, 29, and Matson argued because Matson brought his bike inside the business. The manager told Clark that Matson could keep his bike inside as long as Matson kept an eye on it.

Surveillance video also showed the two men arguing outside the bar. A criminal complaint said the video showed Clark holding a gun and Matson spitting on him. Matson was shot and died in surgery.

Matson was originally from Wilmar, graduated from the University of Minnesota and, although he lived in St. Paul, he wanted to be in Arizona, Wefel said.

He was interested in politics, history, adventuring through mountains, boating, gardening, bingo, movies, and playing and watching sports. He played tennis as often as he could and basketball when he wasn’t.

“He finally asked me to marry him, after eight years of being together,” Wefel said. “I’d say he was also a patient man, but most definitely, the kind that can’t be replaced.”

Clark pleaded not guilty to murder this month and his case is continuing.

Levon T. Washington

Levon T. Washington, 26, of Minneapolis, was fatally shot in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood on Aug. 16, 2025, police said. (Courtesy of St. Paul Police Department)

Kireice Plez-Sachet Williams, 24, is accused of shooting and injuring two people — a teen last December and another person in July, both in Minneapolis — before he was charged with fatally shooting Washington on Aug. 16 on Edmund Avenue near Farrington Street in St. Paul.

Williams was out of jail on bond in the first shooting and prosecutors charged him in the July shooting after he was already in custody for Washington’s homicide.

A witness identified the shooter as Williams. She said he came over and did a large amount of cocaine in front of everyone.

Another person said Washington and the shooter argued about “which side they were on” and Washington told him, “I don’t know you,” according to the criminal complaint. The shooter then said, “I’ll shoot you right now,” pulled out a firearm and shot him.

Williams has pleaded not guilty to murder and his court case is ongoing.

Melvin A. Martinez Altamirano, 33

A woman reported that she and Martinez Altamirano, of Madison, Wis., were on a first date. She said he got jealous after multiple men made advances on her, and they were kicked out of Cancun Night Club because he was upset.

Surveillance video showed she and Martinez Altamirano walked into the parking lot of the Blues Saloon on Rice Street near Wheelock Parkway. The building is used by the nightclub on weekends.

A security guard, Jose Eucario Conejo Marquez, stepped between them, punched Martinez Altamirano in the head, “closed in” and punched him again, according to a criminal complaint. Martinez Altamirano fell to the ground and was hospitalized with a brain bleed. He died the next day, Oct. 6.

Conejo Marquez, now 29, is charged with manslaughter. He hasn’t entered a plea and his next hearing is in January.

Lasean T. Williams, 28, and Lawrence A. Harris, 30

Police say Williams and Harris died in an apparent shootout early Oct. 31.

Harris was found shot on Front Avenue between Mackubin and Arundel streets. Meanwhile, someone drove Williams to a nearby fire station.

Williams and Harris, who police said knew each other, sustained multiple gunshot wounds.

“During an argument, two men pulled handguns on each other and fired, killing each other,” said Senior Cmdr. Wes Denning, who’s in charge of the homicide unit. “The confrontation was the result of somewhat of a love triangle.”

Derrick Lee White, 61

St. Paul Police investigate a death that occurred on the 1500 block of Westminster Street on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Courtesy of the St. Paul Police Department)

A woman called 911 on Nov. 14 and said she’d been attacked and had defended herself, according to search warrant affidavits. Police found White with a stab wound to his back and apparent injuries to his head in his apartment on Westminster Street near Arlington Avenue.

The 36-year-old who called 911, who Denning said was staying at the apartment, had cuts on her hands, two bite marks to her upper arm and an injury to her knee.

The woman reported that White had threatened her with a handgun, and officials found a gun in his pants.

Police have presented the case to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office to make a determination about whether the woman acted in self-defense or if she should be charged, Denning said.

Tarik H. Hassan, 32

Tarik H. Hassan (Courtesy of the family)

Hassan’s mother said he was taken from them too soon.

“He had the biggest heart and kindest soul, and was always there to lend a helping hand to anyone who needed it,” Sheryl Hassan said. “He had an amazing ability to make anyone smile. He touched so many lives with his love, humor, friendship, and fierce loyalty to all he loved.”

A witness reported that Hassan tried to calm a friend, Spencer Curtis McAloney, for more than an hour — McAloney was on drugs and paranoid — before McAloney shot him Nov. 30 at an apartment on Victoria Street near Englewood Avenue, according to a criminal complaint.

Michael D. Tucker, 49

Tucker was found shot in the street on Case Avenue near Edgerton Street on Dec. 4, after he received a call and went outside.

Investigators identified a vehicle that had been seen driving around the neighborhood. It was registered to a man who was going through a divorce with Ryshaun Rhodes, 36, the complaint said.

Rhodes later told police that Tucker offered her a way “to make easy money,” which she needed due to the divorce and losing her job. Tucker agreed to buy $700 in cocaine from Rhodes, but said he he needed to step away to try a sample first, according to the complaint.

Tucker returned, complained about the quality, and she said he tried to steal the rest of the cocaine.

Rhodes’ brother, Derek Alonzo Mitchell, told police he was in the back of her vehicle and emerged, after which he shot Tucker, the complaint said.

In an earlier statement to police, Rhodes said Tucker had brandished a handgun and she had been the one to pull her own gun and shoot Tucker.

The siblings were both recently charged with aiding and abetting murder.

Shaniya D. Thompson, 29

Shaniya D. Thompson (Courtesy of GoFundMe)

Thompson’s sister said she was “a devoted mother of five beautiful children whose lives have been forever changed.”

She and Wesley B. Koboi had children together and he showed up for one child’s  birthday on Dec. 11. He is charged with shooting Thompson in her apartment on Broadway Street near downtown and close to Interstates 94/35E and East Seventh Street.

“These children witnessed the unthinkable, and now they are left not only grieving their mother but also facing trauma that no child should ever endure,” sister Shayna Jason wrote on GoFundMe (gofund.me/93e3c75b4).

Koboi, 33, told the children they were going to leave, and drove them to Grand Rapids, Mich., where his mother lives. He and the children arrived the morning of Dec. 12 and he departed soon after, leaving the children with his mom.

Investigators learned through federal law enforcement officers that Koboi crossed the border into Canada on foot from Michigan late Dec. 12, according to a criminal complaint. He had booked a flight to Mexico.

Toronto police took Koboi into custody at a Toronto airport on Dec. 16. Extradition information wasn’t listed in his court file as of Friday.

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In 2025, as we have done for several years now, we feature our readers’ pets at the end of the Morning Report newsletter on weekdays.

This pet corner, typically called the Daily Doggo or the Daily Meow, is a favorite for many of our subscribers.

“I scroll to it every morning to start my day on a positive note!” writes Beth, a regular reader and contributor.

So, to wrap up the year with that positivity, we are sharing some of the more than 260 pet photos (and wildlife!) we received from readers in 2025.

To sign up for the Morning Report, a free newsletter that curates our headlines for you every morning by email, follow the prompts at twincities.com/newsletters. We also encourage readers to sign up for First Edition, an early version of our newsletter, as well as Scoreboard, our new sports newsletter.

A style note: Because we publish only first names of our readers in the pet corner, we continue that tradition here.

January: Staying warm

Doodles was featured in the Morning Report, a Pioneer Press newsletter, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Courtesy of Kathy)

The pet photos in our newsletter document the passing of the seasons here in Minnesota, including this photo of Doodles, one of the 16 cats we featured in the Morning Report in January (along with seven dogs).

“Her favorite spot to stay warm is directly on this heat register,” wrote Kathy of White Bear Lake.

February: Waiting for spring

Sasha was featured in the Morning Report, a Pioneer Press newsletter, on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (Courtesy of Cindy)

By February, many of us are growing weary of winter. But houseplants can help brighten our spirits — such as orchids.

“It might be cold outside, but eight-year-old Sasha is thinking spring while enjoying the sun beside the orchids,” Cindy wrote.

The Morning Report pet corner helps chase away the winter doldrums, too, especially in February, when we featured 17 cats and eight dogs in the newsletter.

“I always enjoy the pet photos and stories,” Cindy told us. “They brighten the day.”

March: Waiting for baseball

Charlie, waiting for baseball season, was featured in the Morning Report, a Pioneer Press newsletter, on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (Courtesy of Susan)

In March, as we wrote about 15 cats and seven dogs, we were still waiting … not only for spring, but for baseball season!

Go, Twins!

“This is Charlie, my 3-year-old Springerdoodle, modeling his Christmas present,” wrote Susan. “He is not crazy about wearing clothes but he looks so darn cute wearing his Twins gear!”

April: Holiday photos

Mac, a Golden Retriever, was featured in the Morning Report, a Pioneer Press newsletter, on Monday, April 20, 2025. (Courtesy of Ellen)

As spring begins to bloom, our pets embrace the holidays, or at least willingly pose for spring photos.

“Once again here is our sweet Golden Retriever, Mac, sitting proudly for his Easter pictures!” wrote Ellen. “Hopefully he will find his basket … Happy Easter and happy spring!”

Mac, who makes regular appearances in the Morning Report, was one of 10 dogs, 12 cats and one rabbit we featured in the newsletter in April.

May: Long-distance pets

We featured Scott and Lowla in the Morning Report, a Pioneer Press newsletter, on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Courtesy of Scott)

Not all of our readers live in Minnesota anymore, or year-round. This is how we get to see photos of pets from places ranging from Switzerland to Arizona.

“We recently moved from the Twin Cities to the Tucson, Arizona area,” Scott wrote. “Wasn’t sure how our wire-haired Dachshund, Lowla, would do in the new climate. We just got our golf cart last week and she is absolutely loving riding around in it. Here’s a picture of Lowla living her best life, going for a golf cart ride in her new desert home!”

Of the 14 cats, 12 dogs and one skunk we featured in the Morning Report in May, Lowla was the only desert dog!

June: Memorial Mondays

We featured Ken’s memorial for Tobey in the Morning Report, a Pioneer Press newsletter, on Monday, June 16, 2025. (Courtesy of Ken)

On Memorial Mondays, we remember pets who have passed away. This includes Tobey, one of nine cats and 17 dogs we featured in June.

“With great sadness, my beloved Tobey passed away in my arms on Memorial Day 2025,” wrote Ken, a regular Morning Report contributor.

Ken rescued Tobey when he was in desperate need of a friend.

“Just before his 11th birthday in 2016, his original mom had to be admitted into an assisted living facility and could only take one cat,” Ken explains. “In one fell swoop, Tobey lost his mom, his brother, his house, and everything he knew and was surrendered to the Nevada Humane Society where he was traumatized being alone.”

Despite the hissing, Ken brought Tobey home. It worked out for both of them.

“Tobey was my constant shadow, always wanting to be where I was, and rewarding me with loud purrs and kisses several ties a day as he would climb onto my desk, then into my lap to let me know that he was happy,” Ken says. “He had chosen me as his last person to love and trust for which I will be eternally grateful and always love him.”

July: A beautiful view

Harley, adopted through Twin Cities Rescue at Petco in Highland Park, was featured in the Morning Report, a Pioneer Press newsletter, on Thursday, July 31, 2025. (Courtesy of Shawn)

Summer provides a great window view for the cats of Minnesota, including Harley, one of two cats and five dogs we featured in July’s pet corner.

“Harley, one of our new rescue cats, posed so nicely I thought I’d send it along,” Shawn wrote. “We adopted Harley and his brother Rocket when Kit-Kit, our beloved cat, passed away at age 20. Both Harley and Rocket love perching on high places. This window in the new breakfast nook is a favorite of theirs.”

Shawn told us that Harley and Rocket were adopted through Twin Cities Pet Rescue at Petco on Ford Parkway in Highland Park. See animals available now to adopt or foster and get info on volunteering and more at twincitiespetrescue.org.

August: Vintage pets

Jake was featured in the Morning Report, a Pioneer Press newsletter, on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. (Courtesy of Wendy)

We started a new feature in the pet corner this year: vintage pets.

Jake was one of 14 dogs and 13 cats we featured in our weekday newsletter in August.

“Our Poodle, Jake, back in the early 1970s (could have been late 1960s),” Wendy wrote. “He loved the car and the camera (I am the youngest child, and I swear there are more pictures of the dog than me). In the car, he could sit on the door frame, with my Dad in the car, waiting for Mom who was shopping. He was a great traveler, asleep in the front seat, with his head on Mom’s lap, until the blinker was on, then he was up and alert.”

September: Puppies!

Louie was featured in the Morning Report, a Pioneer Press newsletter, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Courtesy of Jeannie)

It’s always fun to find readers’ photos of kittens and puppies waiting for us in our inbox. This is how we met Louie, one of the 10 dogs (and 19 cats and one doe) we featured in the newsletter in September.

“I’d like to introduce you to little Louie, the Cavapoo puppy,” Jeannie wrote in August. “Breeds: King Charles Cavalier and Poodle. Weighing in at a wee-but-mighty three pounds, nine ounces. Age: 3.5 months old. Family: Matt, Jeannie and Clay; Dozer (75-pound Black Lab). Foxy (52-pound Australian Cattle Dog mix). Instagram: @ourfriendlouie. Favorite places in town: The Dabbler Depot on West Seventh Street, the patio of Saint Paul Brewing and the patio of Dark Horse in Lowertown.”

October: Wildlife photos

We featured these deer in the Morning Report newsletter on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (Courtesy of Lori)

In addition to pets, we also feature readers’ wildlife photos in the Morning Report.

“Since we can also share our wildlife pictures, here is my Daily Deer photo!” wrote Lori of Columbus, Minn. “Just hanging around enjoying the apples and salt block.”

In addition to the deer, we published photos of nine cats, 15 dogs and two rabbits in the Morning Report in October.

November: Gratitude

Dilly was featured in the Morning Report, a Pioneer Press newsletter, on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025 — Thanksgiving. (Courtesy of Jack and Suzie)

We are thankful for our pets all year long, but especially in November as Thanksgiving helps us focus on gratitude. In November’s Morning Report, we featured 16 dogs and eight cats, including Dilly.

“This is Dill Pickle aka Dilly,” Jack and Suzie wrote. “She was immediately cuddly at the Humane Society, but we quickly realized that was all a show when she made it to her forever home. She’s a fierce and successful hunter, has more energy than a wall socket (particularly between 3 a.m. to 5 a.m.) and a love to play fetch down a flight of stairs. She has become more cuddly, as the temperatures drop, with a heated blanket. We’re incredibly lucky to have such a smart and playful little one in our lives, she’s given us many laughs and some eyebrow raises already in her short time home.”

December: Waiting for a home

Jazzie and Ringo are waiting for their furr-ever homes through No Kitten Left Behind-MN. (Courtesy of No Kitten Left Behind-MN)

Throughout the year, we feature pets who have been adopted through rescues as well as rescued pets who are still waiting for families. In December, we let readers know that Jazzie and Ringo were still waiting for their furr-ever home.

“Jazzie and Ringo arrived at my home as tiny babies from a cat colony,” wrote Amy, a foster parent with No Kitten Left Behind-MN. “They’ve grown into gorgeous 1-year-old tabbies who add love and laughter to our lives. Ringo is a total snuggle-bug and Jazzie, more cautious, is a little scientist who studies the world around her. They are well-behaved but we also have a blast every evening when it’s time for the thundering zoomies. These sweet kitties are waiting for their own forever home.”

If you want to help bring this bonded pair home this holiday season, search for Jazzie and Ringo on the Petfinder page of No Kitten Left Behind-MN or visit the nonprofit’s Facebook page. at facebook.com/nokittenleftbehind.mn.

Holiday photos

Brian, a Morning Report reader, sent us this holiday photo of Hank, Mila and Bauer that was taken by their mom, Jamie, and featured in our newsletter on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Courtesy of Jamie)

We love receiving holiday photos of readers’ pets, especially when they are all dressed up like Brian and Jamie’s dogs.

“These three are ready for Christmas!” Brian wrote. “Hank is the 2-year-old Labradoodle on the left, Bauer is the 11-month-old Bernadoodle on the right and Mila is the 11-year-old Lab front and center!! Our three boys are grown and out of the house so the puppies replaced them to keep the chaos in the house.”

So happy holidays, readers, and thank you for sharing your pets with us all year long — and for reading our newsletters!

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Welcome to the 21st edition of the Sidney Awards. Every year, I give out extremely nonlucrative prizes, in honor of philosopher Sidney Hook, celebrating some of the best nonfiction essays of the year, especially the ones published in medium-size and small magazines. I figure this is a good time to take a step back from the Trump circus and read some broader reflections on life. The Sidneys are here to help.

‘The River House Broke …”

The first Sidney goes to Aaron Parsley’s “The River House Broke. We Rushed in the River” in the Texas Monthly. It’s an account of the July 4 flood of the Guadalupe River that killed all those children at Camp Mystic. His extended family had gathered at their house on the Guadalupe, and he describes what happened minute by minute, as the waters rise, as they seek to escape and as they get dumped into the surging river as the house disintegrates. Here’s Parsley’s description of one moment:

“I latched onto a tree with branches large enough to support me and pulled myself out of the water. My breathing was frantic but my mind was focused. I considered the possibility of death. I thought, If I survive, I’ll be the only one. I contemplated life without my husband, my dad, my sister, her family. How could the kids survive what I’d just endured? I felt fear, of course, but it wasn’t as intense as the terror I’d felt inside the house. In the kitchen, I had feared the unknown, what might happen if we were swept away. Now I experienced a moment when acceptance somehow repressed the fear of dying, of losing the people I love the most, of whatever else this catastrophe had in store.”

‘The Brother I Lost’

In “The Brother I Lost” for The Dispatch, Megan McArdle notes that the abortion debate goes round and round, like a bad carnival ride. But McArdle’s perspective deepened when her mother confessed on her deathbed that she had had a child out of wedlock and had given the boy up for adoption. The unplanned pregnancy derailed her mother’s entire life and made her fervently in favor of abortion rights.

McArdle sought out the brother she never knew, finding only that he had died and learning nothing about his life. She wondered: If she had a button that would magically erase her brother’s life so her mother could have lived a more fulfilling one, would she push it? This essay won’t change your mind on abortion, but it will ground the philosophic issues in the context of real lives and real choices.

‘Steam Networks’

I used to play Little League next to the ConEd power plant off 14th Street in Manhattan. I knew nothing about the technological marvel I was making throwing errors in front of. Jamie Rumbelow’s essay “Steam Networks” in Works in Progress magazine is a fascinating tour through the steam heating system that keeps many New Yorkers warm. Before centralized steam, many New Yorkers burned wood. But 85% of the heat generated this way is wasted up the chimney. Wood produces so many pollutants that every hour that you sit in a room with wood burning in the fireplace shortens your life span by 18 minutes. Today New York’s system consumes nearly two Olympic swimming pools’ worth of water per hour to produce enough steam. Moscow’s system extends over 10,000 miles of pipes.

‘When I Lost My Intuition’

Ronald W. Dworkin is an anesthesiologist who went on a vacation, and when he got back in the operating room, he found he could no longer make snap decisions. In “When I Lost My Intuition” in Aeon he describes suddenly being plagued by self-doubt when forced to make judgments that he once could navigate with agility. The essay reveals how many of the decisions we like to think are based on expertise and pure reason really depend on going with our gut. He quotes violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who also once lost his intuition: “When we are faced with 10 different factors, all acting upon each other and among them creating some astronomical total of variables, reason is defeated and only intuition can cope.” Dworkin’s patients will be happy to know he eventually got his intuition back.

‘Why Aren’t Smart People Happier?’

In Experimental History, his Substack, Adam Mastroianni asks a basic question in an essay called “Why Aren’t Smart People Happier?” Intelligence helps people solve problems and understand situations, so smart people should be leading happier lives, but they are not. He says it’s because we too narrowly define intelligence. We give people multiple-choice tests in reading, math, history and language, and we think we are identifying people who have general intelligence that helps them think through a wide array of domains.

But in reality, all these different tests are measuring only one ability: the ability to think through defined problems. These are problems with stable relationships among the variables, there’s no disagreement about when the problems have been solved, and the correct answers are the same for all people. But life, he continues, is largely about undefined problems. How do I get my kid to stop crying? Should I be a dancer or a dentist? How should I live? In these problems there is no stable set of rules to find the right answer. One person’s right answer might be another person’s wrong answer. We need a word for people who are really good at solving undefined problems.

‘We Live Like Royalty and Don’t Know It’

Charles C. Mann’s essay “We Live Like Royalty and Don’t Know It” from The New Atlantis reminds us that Thomas Jefferson “was rich and sophisticated, but his life was closer to the lives of people in the Iron Age than it was to ours.” Jefferson lived in a world of horse-drawn carriages, yellow fever and high infant mortality, but the big difference, Mann argues, is that while Jefferson didn’t even have a reliable water source for his house, most Americans get to live within systems that provide us with abundant food, water, energy and health care. Mann wrote a series for The New Atlantis on how these systems work, which will make you feel grateful for the things you may take for granted.

‘The Tune of Things’

Yale University poet Christian Wiman is one of my favorite essayists. His essay “The Tune of Things” in Harper’s Magazine walks us through some spooky phenomena. “Trees can anticipate, cooperate and remember, in the ordinary sense of those terms,” he writes. He continues: “Some people revived from apparent death report confirmable details they could not possibly have observed, at times far from their bodies. Cut a flatworm’s head off and it will not only regrow a new one but remember things only the lopped-off head had learned.”

Across the essay he mentions some more: Ninety-five percent of the past century’s Nobel Prize-winning physicists believed in God. If no one is watching, a photon behaves as a wave, but if someone is watching, it behaves as a particle. When scientists in the Canary Islands shot one entangled photon, it behaved as a wave. Then they went to a different island and shot another entangled photon, and it behaved as a particle. When they returned to check on the first photon, they found it had gone back in time and acted as a particle.

Wiman is saying the world is a lot more mystical and more fluid than we think. When you acknowledge that fluidity, some of our inherited dualisms don’t make sense — between reason and imagination, mind and body, belief and unbelief, consciousness and unconsciousness, even past and future. The kind of thinking you need to understand the ineffable flow of spooky reality is not contained in the linear, logical, machinelike process we call rationalism. Perhaps the kind of thinking we need to understand a fluid world is radically different, a kind of thinking artificial intelligence will never master.

David Brooks writes a column for the New York Times.

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