In St. Paul’s Midway, the long, nearly cart-less winter of every Cub customer’s discontent is finally over.

After weeks, if not months, of complaints about what appeared to be a near-complete lack of supermarket carts, the Cub at 1440 University Ave. W. recently rolled out dozens of the highly-in-demand wheeled wonders, which had dwindled down to little short of collector’s items. During the dry spell, the few customers who had scored carts would be approached by customers who had not as they bagged their groceries, leading to an awkward exchange near the cash register that looked a bit like panhandling.

Similar acts of desperation between the cart-wielding haves and cart-less have-nots unfolded in the supermarket lobby and parking lot.

“When I went shopping … I still couldn’t find a cart, and on the way out of the store an employee followed me to my car,” wrote a customer on Facebook on March 21. “That was kind of creepy. He wanted my cart, obviously.”

As winter wore on, customers approached store management for explanations and tried to find their way up the chain of command from there. Based in Providence, R.I., United Natural Foods, Inc. acquired Eden Prairie-based SuperValu, Inc., parent company to Cub, in 2018. On Feb. 14, a customer shared on Facebook a response from a store manager indicating that a concerned community member dropped off dozens of carts, and that Cub was looking to its sister store in Stillwater for more.

Still, the shortage continued.

The lean times fueled social media speculation that Cub did not intend to renew its lease in the Midway, a rumor that resurfaces online every few months, driven in part by Cub’s decisions in recent years to close its self check-out lanes and burrito bar and place cold medicine and other pharmacy items behind locked glass. Store managers and employees repeatedly denied that’s the case. Other rumors had it that the carts could be found at a nearby homeless encampment, or strewn about the Midway.

“I don’t typically delve into conspiracy theories, but I find myself fully immersed in this one,” wrote Don Allen on his blog, JournalOfABlackTeacher.Blogspot.com, on April 2. “The Cub Foods on University Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota, situated in the vibrant heart of Midway, has been eerily devoid of shopping carts for over a month now. How can you shop on a Sunday after church and not have a cart — and only two cashier lanes open?”

Another Facebook user wrote on March 30: “Just went to Midway Cub Foods around 11:30 this morning. No carts in the entry. No carts in the parking lot. Self checkout no longer being used. One checkout line open! Felt like a store on the verge of closure! Anyone hear or know if this location is closing?”

Wrote yet another Facebook user on April 1: “None of this would fly in neighborhoods with different demographics.”

Promising signs of grocery life have finally blossomed with the first buds of spring. In the past week, the Midway Cub has added more than 100 carts to replenish its stash, which a spokesperson said were pruned by cart scofflaws.

“At our location on University Avenue in St. Paul, we have encountered some issues with community members removing carts from our parking lot and not returning them,” said Kristen Jimenez, a spokesperson for United Natural Foods, Inc., or UNFI, in an email last Friday. “To address this, we recently added 100+ new shopping carts to this store’s inventory and are also working with the mayor’s office and our local police department to find ways to reduce theft of shopping carts as much as possible.”

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The circus act

My eyes were rolling to the back of my head as I struggled reading through the April 9 article detailing the issues of St. Paul’s rent-control ordinance. What a mess the voters of this city created by passing this ordinance back in 2021. This issue is further complicated now by these same voters having elected an incompetent mayor and city council, who are trying to figure out a way to attract investment while at the same time handcuffing landlords. What large developer or small businessperson would want to try to navigate through all the potential legal hurdles facing them as investors or landlords?

There are over a dozen newly proposed tenant protections noted in the article that are being sponsored by several city council members, as the mayor tries to scale back the rent control fiasco that he helped create. If you read the newly proposed tenant protections, the summary is a landlord must be able to stand on one leg while dancing a jig, juggling knives and reciting the alphabet backward. If they can accomplish the above, maybe, just maybe, they won’t get sued.

This circus act will continue to have a long run in downtown St. Paul until voters come to their senses and elect representatives with business sense and not community activists.

Kevin J. Kelly, St. Paul

 

What and who can we trust?

I read the recent article on the Stillwater teacher situation (“Four Stillwater teachers suspended for cheating on training program”). As a former high school teacher and adjunct professor what strikes me is the potential lack of ethics and integrity. Why that matters?  In our new world of AI, it matters greatly.

What and who can we trust? According to your article the union is characterizing this as miscommunication about the test being open-book and collaborative. I did a search and the test is neither open-book nor collaborative. The union saying that it is, that’s just disingenuous at best and casts a dark cloud over the profession.

But in the new world of AI teachers have to know and teach the right moral and ethical standards. There’s a bigger story here about our society and where we are headed.  Or perhaps, maybe we have arrived.

Burgess Harrison, St. Paul

 

‘Boys will be boys’

I read with interest “Tariffs expose rift in Trump’s inner circle of advisors” (Pioneer Press April 9 edition). This story covers the rancorous recent exchanges between Trump’s lead lieutenant Elon Musk and his top trade advisor Peter Navarro. (It may be remembered that Navarro is a devout Trump loyalist who went to jail rather than testify before the January 6 Committee.) Musk posted on X that Navarro is a “moron” who is “dumber than a sack of bricks.” He later referred to Navarro with a disgusting and childish slur, “Peter Retarrdo.”

As the story relates, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed the exchange, saying “Boys will be boys…” This is the first instance in which I have agreed with Leavitt; this country is indeed being run by children.

Peter Langworthy, St. Paul

 

Malfunction

Tariffs are put on hold. But tariffs don’t even begin to address the mess Trump and his administration have made for the American people. What about the people laid off? What about the people deported illegally? What about the United States’ relations with the rest of the world? What about what has been done to the disenfranchised? What about food prices? What about the harm done to businesses, farmers and everyday workers? What about the grants to colleges, schools, universities, researchers and others? And on and on …

So great, my 401K looked better than it did yesterday. There are too many people hurting to feel good about that. Just removing tariffs is nothing compared to all the damage that has been done by an uncaring malfunctioning administration.

Judy Horn, Lake Elmo

 

A cruel hoax

Donald Trump handed Joe Biden an economy that was predicted to lead to a recession in Biden’s term. A recession never came to fruition and the economy grew by virtually all measures save inflation. The Wall Street Journal and The Economist touted the health of the Biden economy, saying the winner of the 2024 election would be inheriting a healthy economy, one that was the envy of the world. The Wall Street Journal went further, judging Kamala Harris’ economic plan for the next four years to be far superior to Trump’s proposal.

What we have seen so far from Donald Trump is reminiscent of the first term where he left office adding to our national debt by trillions of dollars. His promise to correct inflation and end the Ukrainian-Russian War have not come to fruition, but he has rattled the tariff sword to where he has tanked Wall Street investments to the tune of a $6 trillion dollar loss. His DOGE cuts have caused additional pain to American’s lives in the name of efficiency. He is unlikely to find the kind of money he is looking for needed to pay for his tax plan that is designed, at its heart, to benefit the wealthiest individuals and companies in America. What kind of cruel, self-inflicted, economic hoax has he unleashed?

Pete Boelter, North Branch

 

Representing the people, not the president

A letter writer rightly criticizes the Trump Administration’s refusal to return a man mistakenly deported to an El Salvador prison.  However, the writer goes on to say this: “Attorney General Pam Bondi cannot be faulted in suspending (Department of Justice attorney) Reuveni” for admitting in court that the deportation was a mistake. “Short of breaking the law and possibly being unethical, attorneys have an obligation to support their clients …”.

The problem is, Donald Trump is not the client of the Department of Justice. The American people are the clients of the DOJ. Trump would like you to believe that the DOJ works for him, but it doesn’t.  Under our Constitution, the sovereign is the people, not the president. The Congress represents the sovereign, i.e. the people, in the laws it enacts. The president, and agencies within the executive branch including the DOJ, are tasked with executing those laws, and the courts are charged with interpreting those laws, all in the name of the people.

This distinguishes the USA as a self-governing nation, as opposed to Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Hungary and Turkey.

Matt Gilson, St. Paul

 

Dog owners fall short

When you drive your dog to a nature trail or the river and take them for a walk, bring a clean bio-degradable doggie waste bag with you. Pick it up after use and dispose of it properly, please. Too many are left behind, I find myself picking up too many of them..

My dog and I would appreciate it. Thanks!

Sue Schultz, Stillwater 

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Today is Tuesday, April 15, the 105th day of 2025. There are 260 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On April 15, 1912, the British luxury liner RMS Titanic sunk in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland just over two and a half hours after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage. Over 1,500 people died; 710 survived.

Also on this date:

In 1865, Abraham Lincoln died after being shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater the previous evening; Andrew Johnson was sworn in as the 17th president hours later.

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In 1947, Jackie Robinson, baseball’s first Black major league player of the modern era, made his official debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on opening day at Ebbets Field. (The Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves, 5-3.)

In 1955, Ray Kroc opened the first franchised McDonald’s restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.

In 1974, members of the Symbionese Liberation Army held up a branch of the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco; a member of the group was SLA kidnap victim Patricia Hearst. (Hearst later said she had been forced to participate in the robbery.)

In 1989, a crush of soccer fans at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, caused 97 deaths and over 760 injuries.

In 2013, two bombs made from pressure cookers exploded at the Boston Marathon finish line, killing two women and an 8-year-old boy and injuring more than 260.

In 2019, fire swept across the top of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral during renovation work on the landmark structure; the blaze collapsed the cathedral’s spire and spread to one of its iconic rectangular towers. (The cathedral was restored and reopened to the public in December 2024.)

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Claudia Cardinale is 87.
Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Cooper is 69.
Olympic track & field gold medalist Evelyn Ashford is 68.
Actor-screenwriter Emma Thompson is 66.
Singer Samantha Fox is 59.
Olympic swimming gold medalist Dara Torres is 58.
Singer Luis Fonsi is 47.
Country singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton is 47.
Actor Luke Evans is 46.
Actor-writer Seth Rogen is 43.
Actor Alice Braga is 42.
Singer-songwriter Margo Price is 42.
Actor Samira Wiley is 38.
Actor Emma Watson is 35.
Actor Maisie Williams is 28.

Minnesota farmers are bracing themselves while planning for the 2025 crop year after experiencing declining net farm incomes in 2024.

According to new data from the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State, the median net farm income for Minnesota farms statewide dropped to $21,964 in 2024 — the lowest level this century. Farm incomes have dropped significantly since 2022, leaving many farmers in a challenging financial position.

“We saw not only challenged prices, but also challenged yields given a very wet planting season and then just the challenges that then developed during the year with some drier conditions towards the end of the year,” said Pauline Van Nurden, economist at the University of Minnesota Extension’s Center for Farm Financial Management.

Van Nurden said the hope is that crops can get planted on time this spring, without abnormally high rainfall or floods keeping farmers from planting.

“Hopefully, we’ll see a more normal spring where crops can get planted in a timely fashion,” she said. “There certainly is uncertainty out there, and there’s just a lot of factors at play that feed into that. I think farmers are pushing the pencil to their own personal numbers and trying to make the right decisions for their farming operation.”

Crop producers experienced some of the most financial difficulties in 2024, according to the report. The median net farm income for crop producers was nearly at zero dollars. They lost about 25% of working capital last year and dipped into cash reserves to make loan payments.

Cash crop sale prices reduced 20% or more for major crops in Minnesota. The outlook for 2025 doesn’t look much better, with many producers facing negative margins and challenges in securing yearly financing.

Livestock, dairy and beef producers had a better financial year, though. Livestock producers saw improved profitability across all types of livestock operations in the state due to lower feed costs and higher livestock commodity pricing.

Dairy and beef producers also experienced improved profitability. Diversified farms fared better financially than specialized crop farms in 2024.

The latest U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Income Forecast predicts an increase in net cash farm income for this year, and relief is expected from supplemental and ad hoc disaster relief government program assistance.

Despite this, farm profitability in 2025 in Minnesota is still uncertain with tariffs, high interest rates and general economic conditions.

Van Nurden said many growers and producers are preparing for the cyclical nature of profitability on their farming operations and are navigating the agricultural landscape the best they can, though the stress isn’t easy on them. She adds it’s important that there are options available and that it’s not all “doom and gloom.”

“I always like to remind people of some of the options and some things that growers and farmers can do to manage through situations like this,” she said. “So digging into the cost of production for their specific farming operation, the crops, the livestock they’re growing, looking at opportunities to trim expenses just even a little bit can make a difference. Taking advantage of marketing opportunities, and just having a plan, and monitoring that plan throughout the year, and then just adjusting as needed.”

The report includes data representing about 13% of the state’s farms with gross incomes over $250,000 annually, with 2,198 participants in the Minnesota State Farm Business Management programs and 115 members of the Southwest Farm Business Management Association.

Farmers who are struggling with stress, anxiety and depression are also encouraged to contact the Minnesota Agricultural Mental Health Specialists who offer free mental health services. The Minnesota Farm & Rural Helpline provides free, confidential counseling 24/7 at 833-600-2670 or by texting FARMSTRESS to 898211.

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