Two men died in an accidental fire Sunday afternoon when a space heater tipped over and caught fire near the door leading out of a detached garage, blocking their escape, fire officials said.

The fire was reported about 12:30 p.m. Sunday in the 1800 block of Sims Avenue in St. Paul in a detached garage, said Jeremiah Melquist, assistant fire chief for the St. Paul Fire Department, who gave the following information about the fire.

One of the victims was the son of the house owner and lived in the garage off and on.

The other man who died has not yet been identified.

While the investigation is ongoing, preliminary information indicates that the fire was accidental and is believed to have been caused when one of two space heaters the men plugged in tipped over, igniting a blaze near the door and blocking their escape route.

The two deaths are the first two fire fatalities of 2025 in St. Paul.

— Kristi Miller

St. Paul

Youth jobs program announces honors

Right Track, the city of St. Paul’s youth employment and training program, announced two employee and supervisor awards and launched its upcoming employer engagement efforts Wednesday.

Right Track aims to increase the city’s workforce by providing career-readiness opportunities and work experience for St. Paul youth, ages 14 to 21, who live in a ”cost-burdened household or have a barrier to employment,” according to the award announcement. Each year, the program recognizes employers and supervisors of the year.

“Opening doors for our youth to explore different careers is key to shaping our future workforce,” St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter stated in the release.

The Capitol Region Watershed District was named the 2024 Employer of the Year. The award “recognizes employer partners who have gone above and beyond to provide meaningful experiences for Right Track interns.”

Awards for Supervisors of the Year, which were nominated by Right Track interns, went to Edmundo Lijo of the St. Paul City’s attorneys office; Marney Lofgren, Salvation Army Eastside program director; and Pam Sarne, Ever-Green Energy Senior Vice President of Accounting.

In 2024 more than 1,100 youths gained internship experiences in varying industries, including in Mayor Melvin Carter’s and City Council offices, according to the release. Right Track is seeking employer partners to provide future internship experiences. Contact Nardos Tesfalidet at Nardos.tesfalidet@ci.stpaul.mn.us. Applications are due March 14.

Summer 2025 internship applications for youth ages 14-21 are also open.

— Talia McWright

Crookston, Minn.

Crookston Times newspaper folds

The closure of a rural community’s 140-year-old newspaper is the result of lack of staff, according to its interim editor and the ownership company’s CEO.

The Crookston Times, founded in 1885, published its last edition Friday. Interim Editor Jeff Gulley said the newspaper’s final publication featured a note from the publisher, CherryRoad Media CEO Jeremy Gulban.

“It’s sad, it really is,” he said. “I like the community. I wasn’t there very often, but there’s some good people there, and I feel bad for them that they’ve lost their paper, because when we bought it, it was a good paper, a really good paper. But that’s the way it goes.”

The Times posted the closing announcement on its Facebook page Thursday, thanking customers and the community for working with it. The newspaper was acquired by CherryRoad Media alongside six other Minnesota newspapers Jan. 1, 2022. At the time, there were two editorial employees, but since they left in early 2023, the paper has struggled to find employees, even freelancers.

CherryRoad and the Times tried to set up a community engagement liaison, Gulban said, to engage with businesses and find stories, but it didn’t lead to any additional subscribers or revenue.

About two weeks ago, the company looked at the state of things and decided to close.

“It really depends on if people in the community are going to step up to work at and support local newspapers. If there’s not, there’s not much you can do to keep one going,” Gulban said.

—Forum News Service

Midwest

Survey: Manufacturers optimistic about 2025

The regional manufacturing sector contracted last year, but manufacturers are optimistic about 2025, according to a new survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

“Just over half of the manufacturers that we surveyed last year told us that their orders were down in the last year … which is a pretty, pretty large portion,” said Joe Mahon, regional outreach director at the Minneapolis Fed.

Profits and employment at the manufacturing firms also tracked downward.

The nearly 500 survey respondents were sampled from several Midwestern states in the Minneapolis Fed’s district, but most are based in Minnesota, where, Mahon said, the bulk of the manufacturing firms in the region are from.

Despite the sector’s contraction last year, respondents expect a strong rebound in 2025. Nearly half said they expect an increase in orders. And about 40 percent of respondents said they expect to raise prices.

Mahon said the survey went out at the end of last year, after the presidential election but before President Donald Trump’s executive orders on tariffs. A few noted strong concerns about tariffs in the comments section but tariffs weren’t a focus of the survey.

“All of these policies are still sort of hypothetical at this point,” said Mahon.

— MPR News