Inspired
June 14, 2019
Monica Gail.

Why more millennials should consider a financial planner

Twin Cities financial planner Monica Eckberg shares her philosophy on how young people should save money.
Inspired
June 14, 2019
The 'Friday Boys' of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Minnetonka (from left) Sandy Erickson, Glen Hohenstein, Phil Brusius, Knute Gilbertson, Ed Sorebo, G

Minnetonka's gray-haired Friday Boys are church's worker bees — and BFFs

For 18 years, the Boys have been showing up on Friday mornings at the Minnetonka campus of Bethlehem Lutheran to tackle odd jobs.
Inspired
June 10, 2019
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter kissed his father, Melvin Carter Jr., at a prayer service. The elder Carter founded SOS.

Retired St. Paul cop Melvin Carter Jr. helps young black men rewrite their script

Sgt. Carter, father of St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, is the founder and executive director of Save Our Sons.
Inspired
June 7, 2019
Volunteer Tom Belting visited after he served rib dinners to guests Dolores Schmeidel, left, and Mary Jo Mileski at Loaves & Fishes' Hopkins location.

Innovative app helps Minnesota companies get leftover food to folks in need

Across the metro, the app is helping boost the number of companies able to find a home for extra food.
Inspired
June 7, 2019
Robin White helps Stephen Spielberg,84 browse through the books she has set out at Knollwood Place Apartments. Spielberg, a retired mathematician is a

Seniors read, then recycle, with Green Books' free used-books outreach

Green Books has given away about 148,000 books so far.
Inspired
May 31, 2019
Kamarra Johnson meets with attorney Barbara White, right, an attorney with Target Corp. during an eviction expungement legal clinic. Johnson is trying

Minnesota lawyers' dedication to pro bono work has made the state a national leader

Deeply rooted sense of justice drives Minnesota's vigorous pro bono work.
Inspired
May 31, 2019
Robert Napoleon Steele lost 19 years of his life to drugs and alcohol. Now clean, he runs a busy shoe shine shop in Minneapolis.

Mpls. shoe rehab owner can repair anything, including the broken man he once was

Meet the skyway's Lazarus of Leather.
Inspired
May 31, 2019
Nicole M. LaVoi

Colleges courted to increase women head coaches over the next 5 years

The Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport has released its annual report card to document progress, or lack thereof.
Inspired
May 31, 2019
John Walker, 68, and his mother Carolyn, 90, of Visalia, hug each other after John Walker arrived Wednesday, May 15, 2019, from a three-day trip to Wa

Emotional Vietnam vets receive warm, and much delayed, welcome and thanks

Decades after a divisive war, Vietnam vets find a warm welcome.
Inspired
May 31, 2019
E-sports gamer David Carter of Drexel Hill has about 850,000 followers on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. He does his filming of esports vid

Growing up in poverty, 'IPodKing' now has money and a million online followers

Looking for a way out of poverty, airport bagger found it in gaming.
Inspired
May 25, 2019
Former student project manager and current mentor Griffen Peck shows the heating pipes that take advantage of the excess steam from the Minneosta Zoo,

Students at Apple Valley's School of Environmental Studies win gold for green

The school is believed to be the first in the world to be certified under LEED 4.1 as an existing building — trickier to accomplish than for buildings certified under new construction.
Inspired
May 25, 2019
Mary Latham, right, was especially moved by the story of Julie Dombo, of Kansas, a shooting victim who received mechanical limbs from a stranger. Domb

A quest to collect stories of kindness has driven her to 39 states (and counting)

Mary Latham's remarkable cross-country road trip collecting stories of kindness in every state, including Minnesota, will be turned into a book.
Inspired
May 24, 2019
Kindness club

Elk River fifth-graders combat bullying by adding kindness to the curriculum

Elementary school kids start their own club to stymie bullying and promote kindness.
Inspired
May 23, 2019
Chao Tao Moua looked over the brussels sprout harvester that mechanical engineering students at the University of St. Thomas created that picks buds o

University of St. Thomas students develop Brussels sprouts trimmer for Hmong farmers

The device will save time harvesting the crop and make it financially viable.
Inspired
May 23, 2019

Gifted with diabetic alert dog, 10-year-old pays it forward for another girl

After getting a diabetic alert dog, 10-year-old duplicates the gesture.
Inspired
May 21, 2019
Hazel Norris, 3, plays in her basement at home in Otsego on Wednesday, May 1, 2019.

Minnesota toddler living with daily seizures finds second family in team of nurses

A super team of in-home nurses has become a second family to a brave young girl who's beset by seizures.
Inspired
May 17, 2019
Kaycee Stanley, founder of Reel Hope, a faith-based non-profit that makes short videos of children in foster care to help them get placed.

Minnesota project uses video stories to find forever families for kids in foster care

Meet Kaycee Stanley, the woman behind the Robbinsdale-based nonprofit the Reel Hope Project.
Inspired
May 17, 2019
Melinda Kassandra Lopez, 18, stayed focused in her quest for dual degrees.

Minn. student will graduate with high school diploma — and nursing degree

For Melinda Kassandra Lopez, this is only the next step in a long-term plan of becoming a sub-specialist in pediatric surgical gynecology.
Inspired
May 17, 2019
Krista Uderman, left and her daughter Brooklyn pour paint into a bucket for Janet Nelson's porch.]
TONY SAUNDERS ° anthony.saunders@startribune.c

'Christmas' comes early for Chaska residents in need of home and lawn care

Christmas comes early to Carver County, as neighbors help neighbors with home repairs and lawn work.
Inspired
May 17, 2019
Volunteers from Humble Design Irais Ibarra, left, and Kim Hannay put finishing touches at a bathroom and bedroom of Sheronna Ragin-Winters, 38, during

Homeless Chicago mother gets new start with TV-style home makeover

Formerly homeless mother gets fresh start with TV-style makeover.

Variety

Entertainment, arts and lifestyle news, commentary and features, including things to do and reviews from Minneapolis, St. Paul and Twin Cities venues.