Police believe a Ramsey County sheriff’s office squad car was hit by a bullet during an unrelated traffic stop Friday night in St. Paul.

During the 8:40 p.m. stop in the 1600 block of Maryland Avenue East, St. Paul police officers were assisting deputies when they heard gunfire, according to Nikki Muehlhausen, a St. Paul Police Department public information officer.

Police found a man with a single gunshot wound to his armpit in a nearby parking lot. He was taken to Regions Hospital with a gunshot wound believed to be non-life threatening and underwent surgery.

The shooter is believed to have fled the scene in a vehicle and an active search is underway.

“While it is very early into the investigation, it is believed that a Ramsey County squad was hit by a round. No RCSO deputies or SPPD officers were injured,” Muehlhausen said. “Right now, investigators do not believe the traffic stop is related to the shooting.”

 

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Amy Lindgren

In last week’s column I promoted the idea of stretching out a Bachelor’s degree beyond four years, to provide more time for internships or other “add-on” college experiences. My thinking, born of my own college tenure, is that the extra year or two won’t harm one’s career path nearly as much as the extra experiences will help.

So now let’s turn to internships. These can be excellent remedies for closing an experience gap for college students. Since college coursework is often theoretical in nature, internships can add the missing practical component that relates more closely to the workplace.

While extra years in college might not appeal to everyone, the benefit of extra internships is hard to overstate. However a student manages to fit them in, with internships it’s a case of the-more-the-merrier.

That could mean different internships each summer, or internships each school year, or even multiple internships at one time. If that sounds a little overboard, consider the benefits a directed work/learning experience can provide: Hands-on practice in a chosen field; the opportunity to explore different career paths; mentorship from an industry professional; potential income; work products to demonstrate in later interviews; networking contacts who could turn into colleagues; work references; school credit … it’s almost too many to list.

With so much to gain from a single internship, who wouldn’t want two or three or more? Here are some basics to understand if you’re going to pursue internships during college.

• 1. How to find an internship. For enrolled college students, it’s logical to start with your institution’s career department. This is often the first stop for outside organizations wishing to promote the internships they offer. If you’ve aligned yourself with a specific course of study, your department chair is also a likely resource.

For sources outside the college, check online internship boards and professional associations in your discipline, or consider contacting companies directly to ask if they take interns.

(To aid the search, remember that internships can go by different names, including externship, practicum and applied learning experience.)

• 2. How to structure an internship. Depending on the situation, the internship may already be structured, in which case you’ll need to confirm that the logistics will work for you. In more flexible situations, you might be choosing which days or how many hours to intern, or whether to pursue the internship on-site or remotely.

To help with these decisions, remember that networking is one of the benefits of the process — which is easier to do on-site. Hands-on learning with someone nearby for assistance is another reason to lean away from remote options when possible. In these cases, you may find that one or two full days each week works better than several half-days, in terms of commuting less.

• 3. How to afford an internship. There’s no doubt that being paid is preferable to volunteering — not to mention your budget may not accommodate training without a wage.

That said, if you can manage with a stipend, low wages, or no wages, you may find a broader range of opportunities. This will be especially true of internships you initiate by directly contacting companies of interest to you.

The truth is, internships can be costly for employers in terms of mentorship and other resources. While some states require payment, not every employer will be able to add a wage to the mix as well.

If you do go the no-pay route, a shorter, more intense burst of learning may be easier on your budget. Conversely, you might opt for just a few hours a week for a longer period, balanced by another internship or job with a paycheck attached.

• 4. How to ensure learning. Learning contracts are helpful here. Typically, they’ll state what the organization is committing to teach you while also outlining your responsibilities as the learner (for example, be punctual, dress appropriately, keep a learning log).

• 5. How to benefit from the internship. Of course, doing your best is the primary way to benefit from any learning experience. But internships are also great for providing work samples, portfolio pieces, résumé and LinkedIn entries, letters of recommendation and, sometimes, the gold standard: a job offer post-graduation.

The key to reaping these rewards is to keep them front of mind during and after each learning experience. If you keep great notes, introduce yourself to colleagues, and stay in touch after you leave, it won’t be long before you have both experience and a networking base envied by your “elders” in the field — exactly what you need to launch your career.

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Amy Lindgren owns a career consulting firm in St. Paul. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com.

The United States is known for its lovely national parks. But Canada – that place is like one big park. Nearly half of that huge country is covered by forest, most of it publicly owned and lots available for exploring.

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Folks who want to experience Canada’s wild should beeline to one of its famed preserves. And this month, National Geographic released a handy list of “10 national parks in Canada you need to visit,” with details on each place’s attractions and best seasons.

The “protection of natural spaces across the country is as Canadian as mounted police and maple syrup,” writes the magazine’s Heather Greenwood Davis. “All 10 provinces and three territories are represented within the National Park System. In total, there are 37 national parks, 11 national park preserves and 168 national historic sites.”

That all can feel overwhelming, Davis adds, but these “10 distinct parks are the perfect starter list to explore the world’s second-largest country.”

National Geographic’s essential national parks in Canada

1 Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia

2 Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland

3 Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, Quebec

4 Pukaskwa National Park, Ontario

5 Rouge National Urban Park, Ontario

6 Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan

7 Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site, Alberta

8 Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, British Columbia

9 Gwaii Haanas, British Columbia

10 Kluane National Park and Reserve, the Yukon

Source: nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/top-canada-national-parks

Daryl Davis, 67, started trying to talk white supremacists out of hating people like him when he was 10.

In his 2024 book, “The Klan Whisperer,” Davis, an R&B and blues pianist and guitarist, describes his encounters with Klan members and other racists during the past five decades. Over the years, more than 200 white supremacists have left their hate groups after meeting with him, according to Davis, who is Black and lives in Maryland.

As a young man, he played with a country and bluegrass band at the Silver Dollar Lounge in Frederick. Many of the patrons were “rough country types,” and “racial violence could erupt if Black men were present,” Davis wrote in his book. “Over time, I was accepted by the white patrons who didn’t perceive me as threatening. I became well-liked mostly because I was a musician.”

Eventually, Davis became friendly with a man named Hank, a Klansman who frequented the Silver Dollar. Every six weeks, Hank would show up with fellow Klansmen and Klanswomen to watch him perform.

“I would meet some of the Klan members on my break, while others did not want to meet me but would enjoy watching me and dancing to my music,” Davis wrote.

In an interview with The Baltimore Sun, Davis said the United States is at a crossroads regarding race relations. The conversation  has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you start doing your anti-racism work, what you call your pro-human work?

I was born in Chicago; my parents were from Virginia, and my father worked in the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service. So I grew up as a U.S. embassy kid, traveling around the world.

I attended a newly integrated school in Massachusetts in 1968. Several of my friends were in the Cub Scouts, and they invited me to join, and I did. We had a parade from Lexington to Concord to commemorate the ride of Paul Revere.

I was the only Black participant, and the streets were blocked off. The sidewalks were filled with white people walking, cheering, and having a good time. We reached a point in the parade route when suddenly I was getting pelted by rocks and bottles and soda pop cans, by a small group of spectators off to my right, on the sidewalk.

I looked over and saw a couple of kids and a couple of adults, who I assume were their parents. My scout leaders came running and covered me with their own bodies.

What did your parents say?

They asked me, ‘How did I get all scraped up?’ I told them exactly what had happened. For the first time in my life, my mother and father sat me down at age 10 and explained to me what racism was. When they were explaining it to me, I was incredulous; my 10-year-old brain could not process the idea that someone who had never seen me, spoken to me, or knew anything about me would want to hurt me for no other reason than the color of my skin. It just made no sense.

[That] was 1968, and Dr. [Martin Luther] King was assassinated, and every major city in this country burned to the ground. It was destruction and violence, all in the name of this new word I had learned. I formed this question in my mind: How can you hate me if you don’t even know me? For the next 57 years, I’ve been looking for the answer to that question.

What effect has the emergence of Donald Trump as a political figure and as president had on white hate groups?

Donald Trump did not invent racism. However, Donald Trump has given racists carte blanche to operate freely upon their ideology. Not everybody who voted for Donald Trump is a racist. But every racist voted for Donald Trump. And I would say that Donald Trump is the best thing that’s happened to this country. I don’t mean to say he’s a good person or that he’s done great things for the country. When I say he’s the best thing, he has brought racism to the forefront. Until him, people were trying to turn a blind eye to it. “Oh, we had a Black president, racism is over now.”

Because of Donald Trump, we can no longer turn a blind eye, because everywhere you look, it’s there. We can no longer ignore it. I see it as a wakeup call to this country if … wants to survive.”

How active are the KKK and other white supremacist groups in Maryland and the greater DMV area?

They are not very active in Maryland. Roger Kelly [the former Grand Dragon, or state leader, of the KKK in Maryland] had the largest Klan group in Maryland; he got out, and we became very good friends. He rethought his ideology based on a lot of things that I was telling him, and he left the Klan and shut it down. Then another fellow tried to pick up the mantle, and he got in some trouble and was quickly shut down in Sharpsburg. You have several chapters of the Klan in Virginia. I know those people. Delaware, there are a couple of chapters there.

Daryl Davis engages KKK members and has persuaded some to leave the organization and renounce their racist ideology. He is also a musician. His book, The Klan Whisperer, was published in 2024. (Lloyd Fox/Staff)

What do KKK members think of the Smithsonian Museum?

I took a KKK leader there around 2018 and showed him around. He thought it was fascinating. He thought it should have more Confederate history in it.

What types of jobs do people in white supremacist groups hold?

A Klansman, a Klanswoman, a white supremacist of any affiliation, whether neo-Nazi, Proud Boy, Patriot Front, whatever, is not stamped out of a standard cookie-cutter. They come from all walks of life, all socioeconomic backgrounds, and levels of education. They go from a third-grade dropout that you see on “Jerry Springer” or “Geraldo” throwing chairs on the stage, all the way to the president of the United States. President Warren G. Harding was sworn into the Ku Klux Klan in the green room of the White House. Harry Truman joined the Klan for a very short time. He got out and went on to become president. Hugo Black was in the Klan in Alabama when he got the Supreme Court appointment. Some work at the White House, some work pumping gas. Some are schoolteachers, people who work in grocery stores, or in a police department.

How do you get white supremacists to reconsider their beliefs?

Generally, I meet with them one-on-one, and I don’t like to say that I convert anybody. I will say that I am the impetus for them to convert themselves. You’ve heard the expression that one’s perception is one’s reality, and that’s so true. Whatever someone perceives becomes their reality. You cannot change someone’s reality. If you try to change it, you’ll get pushback. What you want to do is offer them a better perception or perceptions. And if one resonates with one of those perceptions, they will change their own reality.

Have a news tip? Contact Ruben Castaneda at 443-862-6133 or rucastaneda@baltsun.com.