After a weekend of tuning up for the big event, St. Paul officially celebrates St. Patrick’s Day on Monday.

The celebration of Irish pride includes a noon parade that begins in downtown’s Rice Park and travels down Fifth Street before concluding at Mears Park in Lowertown.

Revelers can attend the “Post-Parade Craic” from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at CHS Field, 360 N. Broadway St. Live music, food, Guinness and samples of Baileys and Keeper’s Heart will be available.

The Landmark Center will also be hosting the Irish Arts Minnesota St. Patrick’s Day Irish Celebration from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 75 W. Fifth St. Celtic music, entertainment and authentic vendors will be on hand.

Many St. Paul bars and restaurants also have special events planned Monday.

In downtown, there St. Patty’s at 1881 Eating House. Corned beef sandwiches, Guinness Dogs and bar drinks will be served from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Union Depot restaurant at 214 E. Fourth St. And the Amsterdam Bar and Hall will also host St. Patrick’s Day with DJ Izzie P from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 6 W. Sixth St.

— Staff report

Man fatally struck walking on bridge

A 46-year-old St. Paul man was fatally struck while walking in traffic on the Lafayette Bridge early Saturday morning in St. Paul, authorities said.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol:

At about 2:13 a.m. Saturday, Mark Anthony Todd, 62, of Cottage Grove, was driving a 2012 Subaru Forester south on U.S. 52 at Alabama Street when his vehicle struck a pedestrian on the south end of the bridge over the Mississippi River.

Cher Vang, 46, was walking in the roadway when he was fatally struck, the State Patrol said.

Todd was not injured in the crash. It wasn’t clear why Vang was walking in the traffic lanes on the bridge, and the incident remains under investigation by the State Patrol.

— Kristi Miller

Walz backing Carlbom for DFL leadership post

The Minnesota DFL will elect a new party leader at the end of March following chairman Ken Martin’s move to the national stage in February.

Richard Carlbom, deputy chief of staff for Gov. Tim Walz, has emerged as a top candidate for the role, which will be filled in an election on March 29, according to the DFL. During the State Central Committee Business Conference at Edina High School, members of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer-Labor Party are set to elect several internal DFL party positions, including chair, vice chair, secretary and treasurer.

Carlbom told Forum News last week that after Martin was elected chair of the Democratic National Committee on Feb. 1, people started reaching out to him, encouraging him to step into the state party role.

“I made a commitment to Gov. Walz to serve four years as his deputy chief of staff,” Carlbom said.

But Carlbom said that after several conversations with family, he realized he could be of service to the party by running. He decided to throw his hat into the ring, with an endorsement from Walz.

Carlbom started as a college Democrat at St. John’s University and worked on the 2002 campaign for the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone. In 2004, he was elected mayor of St. Joseph, where he served two terms.

Carlbom began working for Walz’s U.S. House reelection campaign in 2008 before moving on to head the successful “Minnesota United for All Families” campaign against a Republican-backed 2012 constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota.

Reflecting on November’s general election, when Democrats lost the presidency and three blue seats flipped red in the Minnesota House, Carlbom said Democrats first and foremost need to begin organizing earlier, but also need to be more “curious” rather than telling voters what to think.

“Democrats need to acknowledge that voters have begun to think about us as people who tell them what to think, rather than being curious about what they’re facing,” he said. “We have to demonstrate that that curiosity means that we want to understand, ultimately, how we can be partners with voters and improve the lives of Minnesotans.”

— Forum News Service