When Mark Khaopraseuth and Nia Rasavong learned their family-run restaurant would be leveled into a parking lot, the husband-and-wife co-owners decided there was one thing they would not do, and that was leave downtown St. Paul.

“It’s where everybody knows us,” said Rasavong, who bought the decades-old Ruam Mit Thai location at Seventh and St. Peter streets from a previous owner in 2018. The Thai and Laotian restaurant, known for its curries, stir fries, chicken satay skewers in peanut sauce and glass-noodle-stuffed chicken wings, was out of the building by the end of last August, not long before the Assumption Church tore down the structure as part of an expansion project.

Ruam Mit offers a variety of traditional Thai and Lao foods, including green papaya salad (front) and laab gai, made with ground chicken (rear) and served with soup and sticky rice, shown here on Nov. 10, 2022. (Jared Kaufman / Pioneer Press)

Ruam Mit Thai, a downtown staple since the late 1980s under three different sets of owners from two families, had been expected to make a quick transition to the old Dunn Brothers spot at Fifth and Wabasha St., which went vacant in the summer of 2020. Instead, after lengthy permitting, construction and supply chain delays, the couple threw open the doors for an official grand opening on Thursday afternoon, some 10 months after departing their previous locale.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, City Council Member Rebecca Noecker and a who’s who of visibly excited city employees were there to greet them.

“You took your time to put the details into this space,” said Carter, at the microphone, congratulating one of the latest arrivals to a downtown corridor that has struggled with some vacancies along Fifth Street in particular.

The restaurant, which received a $48,000 Neighborhood STAR grant to help with the transition, now operates out of the city-owned Infor/Lawson Commons building, sharing a relatively busy block on one side with the Amsterdam Bar and Hall and on the other with Starbucks and Chipotle.

Employees of Bremer Bank, who office in the same building a few levels up, and the St. Paul Port Authority, who had helped scout locations, also were on hand Wednesday to welcome their newest neighbors. The restaurant’s glassy storefront offers a clear view across Wabasha Street to the Osborn370 building, a former Ecolab office tower that has enjoyed a second life attracting start-ups, nonprofits and other private sector tenants.

Also present was Suthavilay Vongkhamdeng, daughter of Ruam Mit Thai founder Boonhao Suvanphim, who launched the restaurant at its original location in the Colonnade Apartments on St. Peter Street around 1989, only to die three years later, leaving his three daughters to carry on the family’s culinary legacy without him.

In 2018, when it became time to sell, Vongkhamdeng chose to pass the torch to Khaopraseuth, who had befriended her son during their years together at Dakota County Technical College.

“He’s just like my son,” she said on Wednesday, giving Ruam Mit Thai’s co-owner a warm hug.

Said Rasavong, “We’re proud to be part of St. Paul’s diversity in dining.”

The restaurant’s hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. See ruammitmn.com for more information.

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By LOLITA C. BALDOR (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and Britain struck 13 Houthi targets in several locations in Yemen on Thursday in response to a recent surge in attacks by the Iran-backed militia group on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, three U.S. officials said.

According to the officials, American and British fighter jets and U.S. ships hit a wide range of underground facilities, missile launchers, command and control sites, a Houthi vessel and other facilities. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide early details of an ongoing military operation.

Also struck by the U.S. were eight uncrewed aerial vehicles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen that were determined to be presenting a threat to American and coalition forces.

The strikes come a day after a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone went down in Yemen, and the Houthis released footage they said showed the aircraft being targeted with a surface-to-air missile in a desert region of Yemen’s central Marib province. It marked the third such downing this month alone.

Also earlier this week, missile attacks twice damaged a Marshall Islands-flagged, Greek-owned ship in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, with a private security firm saying radio traffic suggested the vessel took on water after being struck. While no group claimed responsibility, suspicion fell on the Houthis.

This is the fifth time that the U.S. and British militaries have conducted a combined operation against the Houthis since Jan. 12. But the U.S. also has been carrying out almost daily strikes to take out Houthi targets, including incoming missiles and drones aimed at ships, as well as weapons that were prepared to launch.

The U.S. F/A-18 fighter jets launched from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, officials said. Other U.S. warships in the region also participated.

The Houthis in recent months have stepped up attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, demanding that Israel end the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostage.

The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.

Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat.

U.S. warships, meanwhile, took out a number of missile launchers and drones targeting vessels in the region over the past week.

President Joe Biden and other senior leaders have repeatedly warned that the U.S. won’t tolerate the Houthi attacks against commercial shipping. But the counterattacks haven’t appeared to diminish the Houthis’ campaign against shipping in the region.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is asking for help locating a missing, vulnerable 18-year-old woman.

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Burton (Courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office)

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Burton has been missing since Tuesday when she left her house in Baytown Township in Washington County, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

Burton is described as being 4-feet-11-inches tall and weighing 260 pounds. She was last seen wearing a black or blue sweater and leggings. She is known to carry a purple or blue backpack and wear pink Nike shoes, officials said.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call 651-430-7825; callers can remain anonymous.

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Minnesota Republican Joe Fraser reversed himself on Thursday and said he would run in a U.S. Senate primary, pointing to concerns over the background of the GOP-endorsed candidate.

Earlier in May, Republicans gave a first-round endorsement of Royce White, a podcaster and former NBA player. But since then, there have been numerous reports on questionable campaign spending during a prior White campaign and more details coming to light about legal troubles he has faced.

Fraser, a Navy veteran and businessman making his first run for office, had earlier pledged to honor the state convention endorsement. He cited the problems in White’s past as justification to press ahead to an August primary.

Joe Fraser and Royce White (Courtesy of Fraser; Clint Austin / Forum News Service)

“When fewer than half of the elected delegates show up to the convention and signal their support for a candidate with a history of questionable conduct and serious charges leveled against him, it was no longer a question about party endorsement, but about the choice we, as a party, are offering Minnesotans who are desperately seeking new leadership,” Fraser wrote in the statement.

He went on to say, “Minnesotans deserve better.”

The winner will face DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar this fall.

Before his endorsement, the Republican Party qualified White’s candidacy with reservations.

White, who has not replied to MPR News inquiries, downplayed his legal issues at the endorsing convention.

“The same reservations they had about me would surely fall upon Donald Trump as well if he was running in this race,” White told the delegates.

Fraser said many people contacted him encouraging him to challenge White in the primary.

In his statement, Fraser suggested White could drag down other Minnesota Republican candidates if he’s the nominee against Klobuchar.

In a departure from standard practice, Klobuchar chose not to respond to White’s endorsement.

She could talk about her potential opponents this weekend in Duluth as Democrats will gather for their state convention. At the DFL convention on Saturday is a Senate endorsement. Klobuchar is in pursuit of a fourth term in the Senate.

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