Police are investigating a fatal early-morning shooting in St. Paul’s Lexington-Hamline neighborhood.

Officers responded to a report from a 911 caller about shots fired and a person on the ground just before 12:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 1200 block of University Avenue near Griggs Street. They found a man lying in the back of an apartment building. He had apparent gunshot injuries, according to police.

St. Paul Fire medics pronounced the man dead at the scene.

Officers were looking for witnesses, and police were processing the area for evidence. “Investigators are currently doing the hard work of trying to determine the circumstances of this case, and who is responsible,” Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman, said early Tuesday morning.

No one was under arrest as of Tuesday afternoon. Investigators are asking anyone with information to call them at 651-266-5650.

Police said they will release the victim’s name after the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office confirms his identity.

Tuesday’s homicide was the 19th of the year in the city. There were 24 homicides as of this time last year.

The St. Paul Police Department counts 18 homicides this year because the department’s records are for cases investigated by the city’s police department. Another homicide in St. Paul this year was investigated by Metro Transit Police.

— Mara H. Gottfried

Teen shot outside school; boy arrested

A 14-year-old boy was shot and wounded outside a high school in St. Paul on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Police responded at 1:20 p.m. to Washington Technology Magnet School, off Rice Street and Arlington Avenue, on a report of shots fired. They didn’t find evidence of a shooting or victim, and spoke with witnesses to try to determine what happened, said Alyssa Arcand, a St. Paul police spokeswoman.

Officers later found a teen who had an apparent gunshot injury to his leg. St. Paul Fire Department medics evaluated him for an injury that wasn’t considered life-threatening, according to Arcand.

Police arrested a 16-year-old boy and he was brought to the Ramsey County Juvenile Detention Center, Arcand said.

The shooting happened in the school’s parking lot while school was in session, Principals Elias Oguz and Melinda McBride wrote in a letter to parents. The school went into “secure” protocol, which means students or staff who are outside are brought inside. The school’s entrances remained locked, the principals wrote.

After-school athletics at the school were canceled Tuesday.

Police said they’re investigating the circumstances of the shooting.

— Mara H. Gottfried

I-94 project brings more traffic changes

A series of traffic shifts and ramp closures on Interstate 94 between Oakdale and Woodbury will begin Wednesday as the final stage of pavement resurfacing starts, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Construction crews will reduce eastbound I-94 between Minnesota 120/Century Avenue and Woodbury Drive/Keats Avenue to a single lane at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The closure will run until early Thursday morning when the freeway opens up to three lanes until October.

Also starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, eastbound I-94 ramps to and from Radio Drive/Inwood Avenue and to and from Woodbury Drive/Keats Avenue will be closed until Saturday morning while construction crews pave the road that connects the ramps.

The final closure includes the ramp from northbound Interstate 494 to eastbound I-94 and the ramp from eastbound I-94 to southbound I-494. MnDOT expects these interchange ramps to reopen in the middle of October.

Several ramps will be reopening this week. The eastbound I-94 to northbound Interstate 694 and southbound I-494 to eastbound I-94 ramps will reopen to traffic at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Also, the Tamarack Road to southbound I-494 and northbound I-494 to Tamarack Road ramps are projected to reopen by Friday.

All construction projects are weather dependent and subject to change at any time.

— Maddie Robinson

Puzzle features new City Hall artwork

A new piece of artwork featuring the city of Cottage Grove was unveiled over the weekend.

The painting, by folk artist Eric Dowdle, has been turned into a puzzle and is available for purchase, city officials said.

City officials commissioned the $75,000 artwork “to capture the past and present of the community,” officials said in a statement. It was funded through the city’s Economic Development Authority.

Famous faces and places who shaped the community are featured in the painting, including Boondocks, The Rush, the Cottage View Drive-In theater, the Historic Furber Farm, Cedarhurst, the Strawberry Fest Ferris Wheel, Shepard Farm, the city’s Ice Arena and Mayor Myron Bailey and the rest of the Cottage Grove City Council.

Dowdle, who lives in Lindon, Utah, said he “gained a deep appreciation for the history, places and people of Cottage Grove … during the process of creating this painting. It was my goal to capture what makes it such a special place to live.”

Dowdle’s painting and

a wooden puzzle showing Dowdle’s artwork will be displayed at Cottage Grove City Hall.

Puzzles are available to purchase at City Hall in 500- or 1,000-piece sets; the price is $28 and $30, respectively. The puzzle sales will help the city recover the cost of the painting, said City Administrator Jennifer Levitt.

Puzzles also can be purchased online at cottagegrovestore.com.

— Mary Divine

8 finalists selected in street sweeper naming

Eight names have been picked as finalists in this fall’s “Name-a-Street-Sweeper” contest sponsored by the city of Woodbury, the South Washington Watershed District and the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District.

The finalists are: Sweep Dreams, Sweep Caroline, Sweep Dogg, Luke Stormwater, Little Bo Sweep, Meryl Sweep, Sweepwood Mac, Sweepheart and SWIFFTY.

Residents can go online to vote for their favorite name; one submittal is allowed per email address. Voting ends Monday.

The winning name will be featured on the new street sweeper, which will join Obi-Wan Cleanobi, the winner of last year’s contest, in helping clean the streets and keeping debris, dirt, leaves and grass clippings from entering the city’s wetlands and lakes.

To vote, go to https://www.woodburymn.gov/1260/Name-a-Street-Sweeper-Contest.

— Mary Divine

Barn fancier keynoting historical society event

Jim Lammers, the author of “Barns of the St. Croix Valley: An Architect’s Sketchbook,” will be the featured speaker at the Washington County Historical Society’s fall membership dinner meeting on Sept. 26.

Lammers will discuss his book, which features 200 sketches, diagrams and maps of the many and varied barns located in the St Croix River Valley.

Lammers, a retired architect, taught at the University of Minnesota for 18

years and was a guest lecturer at Iowa State University. He currently teaches travel sketching at the Marine Mills Folk Art School in Marine on St Croix.

The meeting will take place at the Stillwater Event Center, 1910 S. Greeley St., Stillwater, beginning with a 5:30 p.m. social hour. A sit-down dinner, catered by Scheel’s Catering, will begin at 6:30 p.m.; a short meeting will be at 7:30 p.m.

Cost is $25 for society members and $30 for nonmembers. Books will be available for purchase at the event.

Reservations are required; call 651-439-2298 or go to wchsmn.org online.

— Mary Divine

Minnesota Sinfonia’s last concerts are set

The final two Minnesota Sinfonia concerts will take place Oct. 18 and 20.

Last October, the chamber orchestra’s board of directors announced the nonprofit would shut down in January 2025. The two upcoming concerts will serve as the group’s farewell to audiences. Music in the Schools performances and related materials will continue to be available to school districts free of charge into the winter of 2025. At the time of dissolution, any remaining assets will be distributed pursuant to the sinfonia’s articles and bylaws and any applicable nonprofit laws.

The free concerts will feature Sergei Prokovief’s Overture on Hebrew Themes, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 35 in D major and Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3. Each concert will be followed by an open reception.

The Oct. 18 performance will take place at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s First Covenant Church.

On Oct. 20, the group’s final public concert will happen at 2 p.m. at the Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis.

The sinfonia was founded by conductor Jay Fishman in 1989, who has also spent the past 36 years as artistic director. His idea was to create a professional orchestra that would perform free concerts to ensure live classical music was available in underserved and low-income communities in Minnesota.

From its founding, the orchestra has performed more than 1,600 concerts for more than 500,000 attendees.

For more information, see mnsinfonia.org.

— Ross Raihala