St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s no fun, no frills budget proposal calls for city department leaders to freeze most hiring and keep vacant positions unfilled. It’s a stiff request for the St. Paul Public Library system, which plans to cut four hours weekly from the Arlington Hills Public Library as a direct result.

The library budget proposal also funds security improvements to the Rondo Community Library, which would close during construction, and the remodel of the Hayden Heights Library.

Twice a week come January, the Arlington Hills Public Library would open at noon instead of 10 a.m., a direct response to losing the hourly equivalent of 1.3 librarians and custodians to vacancies and retirements. That adds up to about a $129,000 cut to the library system’s staffing budget.

The budget for substitute staffing also would be reduced $44,000, or 18%, equivalent to losing 34 hours of fill-in staffing per week throughout the library system, and a position in library operations will be repurposed from executive assistant to office assistant.

“I don’t want to reduce public services hours anywhere,” said Maureen Hartman, director of the St. Paul Public Library, addressing the St. Paul City Council on Wednesday as they convened as the city’s library board. “Nothing that I’m putting here on this list makes us happy, and yet these are some choices that we’re putting forward.”

Tough decisions

Forced to make tough decisions, Hartman said she queried staff and looked at circulation times and foot traffic to decide where to reduce hours, and found that Arlington Hills was busiest in the afternoons and evenings, or on select mornings when there’s a children’s story time.

That came as little consolation to council member Nelsie Yang, who said the city needs to prioritize keeping recreation centers and libraries open despite budget challenges.

“I am very opposed to the hour reductions here,” Yang said. “Not everybody who comes into the library comes and checks out books.”

“They’re there for a play space, as well. It serves many other purposes,” Yang added. “This is an area of the East Side where there are very high needs. It’s very, very shocking to see this be part of the proposal, and I’m very opposed to it.”

Rondo to shutter for security improvements

That’s not the only change in store for the library system, which will temporarily shutter the Rondo Community Library at Dale Street and University Avenue to make security improvements following a number of incidents that have put staff in conflict with unruly guests or young patrons.

The $793,000 project, to be funded by state public safety aid, will reconfigure the library’s entryway, relocate restrooms deeper into the building and move the service desk closer to the entrance.

A timeline has yet to be finalized, but during construction, which could get underway before the end of the year, books and services will be relocated to the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center on North Kent Street through a $100,000 lease.

“We’ve let our staff know that we may not need all of our staff at Hallie Q. Brown,” Hartman said. “All of our staff will remain employed. What that may mean is they may be temporarily working out of another library.”

Budget proposal

Carter’s overall city budget proposal, which was released last week, calls for a 5.3% increase to the city’s property tax levy. Yang said Wednesday that she wants to see that number drop further, though other members of the city council have said they appreciate that the proposed increase wasn’t larger.

The mayor opened budget season a year ago calling for a 7.9% increase, which the council reduced to 5.9% last December through an acrimonious process involving last-minute vetoes.

The library would operate next year on a $23.14 million budget, an approximate increase of $636,000, or 2.3%. That’s in addition to $4.26 million in special funding, which includes the state aid for work on the Rondo Library, among other projects.

For library materials, or the collections budget, the mayor’s proposed 2026 library budget includes $967,000 in general fund support, a reduction of $65,000 compared to 2025. That would be partially offset by up to about $40,000 in funding from the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library, which also is reflected in the special fund budget.

Funding to maintain the “Read Brave” student literacy program also would come from the special fund, backed by another one-time $20,000 donation from the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library. It’s unclear how the program will be funded after 2026, Hartman said.

Public safety incidents down

The library system drew 1.7 million visitors last year, a 10% increase over 2023. Numbers this year are trending a bit less as a result of a lengthy cybersecurity incident interrupting access to public-facing computers and other services, according to library officials. Including both its website and mobile app, the library system also drew 4.5 million online visitors last year, a 20% increase from 2023.

Hartman said reported public safety incidents throughout the library system are on track for a 40% reduction this year compared to 2024, in part due to monthly or bi-monthly staff training that is also becoming a standard part of onboarding new employees.

Six library “safety specialists” and a safety manager have been installed at hotspots, including the George Latimer Central Library and the Rondo, Rice Street and Sun Ray libraries.

Throughout 2026, the library system also plans to fully roll out a restorative practices initiative aimed at determining when and how to allow a patron who has violated codes of conduct back into a library building. Some staff have objected to managers calling the St. Paul police on youth misbehaving at the Rondo Library and other locations, even when some patrons call it necessary.

“Always the tension in our safety work is what is the line between (barring someone for unacceptable behavior) and ‘you’ve made a mistake, but we want to restore your library access,’” Hartman said.

Hartman said she planned to present more on the library safety strategy to the city council’s public safety committee in September.

Major construction and enhancements

Meanwhile, major renovations or rebuilds of three libraries are on the horizon.

Construction of a new, $10.4 million Hamline-Midway Library on Minnehaha Avenue has been underway for months, with an opening expected by the end of 2026. With about $3.5 million in funding falling into place from the city’s Capital Improvement Budget, the remodel of the Hayden Heights Library will begin next year.

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The Capital Improvement Budget proposes $784,000 to be put toward the $11.2 million renovation of the Riverview Library in 2027, on top of funds already in hand, but that still leaves about a $9 million budget gap before construction can begin. Work could, in theory, run from 2027 or 2028 into 2029.

The library system has selected a vendor for the creation of design standards for new “Play and Learn” interactive learning services in all locations, with enhancements coming to the Sun Ray Library next year.

With its remaining American Rescue Plan Act dollars, the library system plans to complete a $1.25 million RFID-related modernization project by the end of 2026. Technology enhancements to the Merriam Park and Rice Street libraries will be completed later this year.

There are few things in life as reliable as Cheryl Reeve coaching the Lynx into the WNBA playoffs.

Since being hired as the head coach in 2010, Reeve has vacationed during the postseason twice — once in her debut season and the other in 2022, when All-Star forward Napheesa Collier missed the majority of the season while pregnant. Otherwise, when the leaves are starting to turn in Minnesota, Reeve is presiding over a championship contender.

Minnesota Lynx guard DiJonai Carrington (3) and head coach Cheryl Reeve talk during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Indiana Fever, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

The consistency of success makes it easy to take Reeve’s coaching for granted. Despite the Lynx wrapping up the WNBA’s best record in two weeks before season’s end, the Associated Press voted Reeve’s opposition in the first round, Golden State’s Natalie Nakase, for its Coach of the Year award.

Game 1 of the first-round series with the Valkyries starts at noon Sunday at Target Center.

What shouldn’t be overlooked about this Lynx season is it represents something nearly unprecedented in basketball. Rarely has a coach in the modern era — on the men’s or women’s side — reinvented themselves with the same franchise after the end of one dynasty to rise to the top again.

Most times, when a coach returns to the peak, it does so with another team the way Phil Jackson did with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, or Brian Agler with the Seattle Storm and Los Angeles Sparks.

One comparison to Reeve may be former Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who won championships 15 years apart. But he still had Hall of Famer Tim Duncan on the floor for his title runs. There are no players left over from Reeve’s Lynx dynasty, four WNBA titles from 2011-17. I

In fact, after last week’s induction ceremony, four of the starters are in the Naismith Hall of Fame and another, Rebekkah Brunson, is on the coaching staff. Reeve was able to rebuild a championship-level contender around Collier, an MVP contender this season, and a group of veteran players who aren’t likely to someday have busts next to Maya Moore, Sylvia Fowles, Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen.

This group, which took the New York Liberty down to the final possession of the WNBA Finals last year, has relied on complimentary skillsets, interconnectedness and Reeve’s complete schematic overhaul from the dynastic days.

“The expectations are still the same, but how she goes about things changes throughout the years,” said Whalen, an assistant on Reeve’s staff.

One way in which Reeve has adapted is by leaning into the modern style of play, with a reliance on ball movement and 3-point shots. This year, the Lynx made the second most 3s per game, hitting the highest percentage (37.8%) of attempts from beyond the arc. They created their looks from deep with an unselfish style, registering assists on 72.6% of field goal makes, second-best in the league.

During their last championship run in 2017, the Lynx moved the ball effectively, but they ranked eighth of 12 teams in 3-point attempts (16.1).

The emphasis on ball movement has multiple players posting some of their best career seasons. Collier became only the second player in WNBA history to record a season in which he shot north of 50% from the field, 40% from 3-point range and 90% from the free-throw line. Key starters Courtney Williams and Alanna Smith set career highs in win shares, and guard Kayla McBride finished second in the WNBA in total 3-point makes.

“One of the first conversations she had with me was, she said, ‘We probably don’t have to talk much because I trust in you that you’re going to do the right thing,” Smith said. “That was before I even started training camp. When you have that confidence instilled in you from Day 1, it only helps elevate you.”

Bench players thrived, as well, with Sixth Player of the Year hopeful Natisha Hideman tying her career best in points per game, and forward Jess Shepard leading the league by shooting 63.8% from the field.

The Lynx’s head coach has also changed with the times.

When Reeve won her last title with Moore, Augustus, Fowles, Whalen and Brunson, social media was just starting to take hold, and Moore’s shoe deal with Nike was about as far as branding went. Now players put much more emphasis on sharing their personal lives with fans. That has been highlighted this year by Williams and Hiedeman’s popular Twitch stream Stud Budz, which was recently featured in Vogue magazine.

“They keep telling me that Cheryl wasn’t like this before me and (Hiedeman) got here,” Williams said.. “I don’t even really know the Cheryl that they’re talking about because they said Cheryl changed once we got here.”

McBride, who arrived in 2021 as the dynasty was coming to an end, confirmed that things have changed quite a bit with Reeve’s approach to players.

“It’s with the times. The players who are here, it’s a different vibe,” McBride said. “Those first three years she was still very strict from the dynasty times. …That’s not a knock, she’s just opened up. And I think it takes a special type of coach to be able to adjust to the players around you, and our players are different from players she’s coached before.”

That doesn’t mean Reeve has gotten softer when it comes to pushing players on the court, or calling them out after a game. Last week following a loss that meant nothing in the standings, Reeve snarked, “We haven’t played defense in about a month.”

But McBride says Reeve wouldn’t have built two squads over separate decades that are competing for championships by going easy on her players.

“The accountability, it’s kind of a lost art,” McBride said. “It’s very old school in that she holds everyone to the same standard, it doesn’t matter if you’re the MVP or if you are just coming in as a rookie.”

To open the postseason, the Lynx face off with expansion Golden State, a team they beat in all four regular-season matchups. Sunday’s opener begins their playoff journey with an aim for Reeve to win another championship outside of the dynasty.

“She’s our anchor, she’s our leader,” McBride said. “It’s really, really special what she’s doing, and we just want to continue to make it special.”

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Bruce Helmer and Peg Webb

Money isn’t only a matter of arithmetic. It is deeply tied to how we feel about our lives and our futures. Even investors who pride themselves on rational decisions know that fear, excitement or uncertainty can often enter the picture.

Recent surveys reflect this unease. The University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment fell to 58.6 in August, signaling growing concern about inflation and economic stability. At the same time, Americans now say it takes $840,000 to feel financially “comfortable” — a sharp increase from last year, according to Charles Schwab’s most recent Modern Wealth Survey. These benchmarks tell us less about balance sheets and more about psychology: Comfort is harder to grasp, even as asset values and income rise.

Why our emotions shape financial outcomes

Behavioral finance has shown for decades that the greatest risk to long-term success is often our own behavior. Markets fluctuate, but it’s the way we react, selling in panic, chasing performance, or freezing up that undermines progress.

Some of the most common patterns include:

• Loss aversion. Losses weigh roughly twice as heavily as gains, making it painful to hold steady in a downturn (Tversky and Kahneman,1979).

• Mental accounting. We treat identical dollars differently depending on the “bucket” they are in (a bonus, say, or a refund or savings) which can lead to inconsistent decisions.

• Status quo bias. We stick with outdated allocations or policies simply because change feels riskier than inertia.

• Present bias. Immediate gratification often outweighs long-term goals, creating a constant tension between saving and spending.

• Mood effects. Stress or overconfidence distorts risk perception and influences decisions far more than spreadsheets.

Moving from academic theory to action

There is a way to frame the challenge of managing these biases in personal terms: every financial decision has a feeling attached to it. Before acting, it helps to name the driver. Is it fear, pride, or the desire to keep up? Identifying emotion makes it easier to separate genuine needs from less-essential wishes.

We always encourage our clients to broaden their definition of wealth. Assets on a statement matter, but so do time, health, skills, and relationships. Money should be viewed as a tool to protect and expand those forms of wealth.

Relationships add another layer of complexity. Disagreements between spouses, awkward conversations with friends, or mismatched expectations with a new partner can all magnify financial stress. Honest communication can reduce emotional charge and make planning feel collaborative rather than confrontational.

Setting guardrails can help quiet your emotions

Awareness alone is not enough. Putting structures in place keeps emotions from steering decisions off course. A few that work in practice:

• Pause before acting. A 72-hour delay on emotional money moves often prevents regrettable choices.

• Automate the important. Automatic savings, debt payments, and portfolio rebalancing reduce the influence of mood swings.

• Label your goals. Rename vague “buckets” into specific purposes, e.g., a “five-year house fund” or “sleep-at-night cash.” Labels bring clarity which can make trade-offs easier.

• Audit your defaults. Replace one outdated choice, whether it is a 401(k) allocation that has moved from your ideal target, or an unused subscription, with something more intentional.

• Convert anxiety into action. When stress builds, channel it into one tangible step: raise contributions, rebalance, or schedule a review. Taking action can restore a sense of control.

Wealth beyond the numbers

Despite the headlines, most Americans already report feeling wealthy in the areas that matter most. Eight in 10 say they feel rich in relationships, happiness, and time, according to the Schwab study. This suggests that while money fuels opportunity, it is not the sole measure of a well-lived life.

Financial wellbeing, then, is not about reaching a fixed number. It is about aligning money with values, setting boundaries against emotional impulses, and remembering that true wealth extends beyond what markets deliver.

Emotions and money may appear to be inseparable. Emotions can cloud judgment or serve as useful signals depending on how we respond. By naming the feelings behind financial choices, setting up guardrails against impulsive behavior, and broadening our sense of what it means to be wealthy, we can quiet some of the anxiety and focus on building lives that are not just financially secure but genuinely fulfilling.

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The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Bruce Helmer and Peg Webb are financial advisers at Wealth Enhancement Group and co-hosts of “Your Money” on WCCO 830 AM on Sunday mornings. Email Bruce and Peg at yourmoney@wealthenhancement.com. Advisory services offered through Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC, a registered investment adviser and affiliate of Wealth Enhancement Group.

 

For the opening concert of its 2025/2026 season, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra welcomes the return of former artistic partner Thomas Zehetmair, an Austrian violinist-turned-conductor, who in recent years has broadened his artistry to include composing.

The program traces a path from Zehetmair’s contemporary turbulence back through the romantic reconciliation of Johannes Brahms’s last orchestral work to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s final symphony.

To start things off, the SPCO performs a new string orchestra arrangement of Zehetmair’s 2023 string trio, Passacaglia, Burlesque and Choral. It opens with a slurry beginning, a blurred mass of repeated tone chords built from adjacent notes on a musical scale that evoke eerie disorder.

In time, these dissonant chords start to sound more musical, even as they change in rhythm and tempo, before Zehetmair introduces a sly pizzicato and more strident accented rhythms.

After a pause, the composition takes on a searching quality, as the melody travels from one instrument to the next, including a compelling viola solo performed by principal viola Maiya Papach, eventually fading out to nothing, leaving the audience suspended in uneasy quiet.

The work’s last movement, which in his intro Zehetmair noted derives from a theme Mozart used in his “Jupiter” Symphony going back to the 12th century, takes on a cacophonous tumult, swelling, hovering, and exploring strange rhythms, and lopsided, sloppy bliss.

From Zehetmair’s searching dissonances, the SPCO moved into Brahms’ Double Concerto, performed by concertmaster Steven Copes and principal cello Julie Albers. Brahms wrote the double concerto — a rare form at the time — for his former friend, Joseph Joachim, as a way to make amends, as well as his frequent collaborator Robert Hausmann. The music allows room for each of the soloists to shine, as well as be in dialogue with the larger orchestra. It often carries a cheerful feeling, with wonderful textures.

After the orchestra launches in with a full flaring sound, the cello takes the lead on a sweet, almost pensive solo. The woodwinds dash in for a moment before the violin arrives, leaping across scales before the orchestra returns with a celebratory flair. The first movement has ample opportunity for Copes and Albers to demonstrate not only their own skill as separate musicians but also an easy camaraderie that comes from years as colleagues.

In the second movement, warmth prevails: woodwinds interject tenderly while violin and cello shadow each other in playful turns. The finale opens with a sneaky cello solo answered by a mischievous violin line. The music feels like a murder mystery caper, propelled by urgency yet never losing its lightness.

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After Brahms’s resplendent dialogue, the SPCO turned to Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter,” his last and most monumental symphony. Zehetmair breathed with the musicians as he conducted, guiding the ensemble with physical clarity rather than showmanship. The opening Allegro vacillates between punchy jabs and fluttery gaiety. The Andante cantabile offers benevolence tinged with shadow, its harmonies turning suddenly ominous.

The Menuetto: Allegretto takes the shape of a dance, its courtly pulse enlivened by fanciful woodwind slides that seem to tumble over each other. You can hear the slide-and-step pattern like footsteps on a ballroom floor. The finale arrives like crashes of thunder and lightning, shifting between forceful and delicate moments. Zehetmair’s arms fly as he leads the orchestra toward its stormy finish.

Opening weekend

Who: St. Paul Chamber Orchestra

What: Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony with Thomas Zehetmair

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13; 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14

Where: The Ordway, 345 Washington St., St. Paul

Tickets: $0-$70

Accessibility: ordway.org/visit/accessibility/

Capsule: Former SPCO Artistic Partner Thomas Zehetmair returns to conduct Brahms, Beethoven, and his own work.