Dec. 5
If you’re safe in your own home, it’s probably not something you think about very much. You can go about your business without being threatened, hurt, belittled or even killed by the very person who is supposed to treat you with the most love, dignity and respect. But far too many women and children in Minnesota live with (and sometimes die from) domestic violence. The St. Paul and Ramsey County Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (SPIP) exists to end that state of affairs. Their mission is twofold: They work to eliminate violence against victims and their children, but they also work to eliminate...
Nov. 25
There’s nothing like gathering with friends and family over a delicious holiday meal, warm and cozy in your home, festive candles ablaze. But it just so happens that cooking, heating and open flames – those staples of holiday atmosphere – are also the three leading causes of house fires in Minnesota. In fact, the time from Thanksgiving to New Year’s is often the busiest time for fires; last year, 11 people died in fires in November, December and January alone. The real tragedy of such fires is that they’re preventable. All it takes is a little planning and caution...
Nov. 18
The holidays are a time when we need to strike a balance. On one hand, we get to see family and friends we don’t see very often. It’s fun to sit down, maybe have some drinks together, and catch up. But if we then get behind the wheel, we can deprive another family of seeing their loved one at the holidays — or ever again. That was certainly the case for Barb Degnan, whose son Dan was killed by an impaired driver in a crash on Christmas Eve, 1992. He was just 20 years old...
Nov. 14
There’s no getting around it: Winter weather has definitely set in, and you’ve had the heat on for at least a couple of weeks. Staying warm is good, whether it’s from a furnace, fire in the fireplace, or space heater. But the very things that keep us cozy in the cold can endanger our lives. When the temperature drops, the number of fires spikes. Fortunately, like most fires, wintertime fires are mostly preventable if you just take a few precautions on the front end...