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NO TRAVEL ADVISORY STILL IN EFFECT IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA

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At 6:30 a.m. The Minnesota Department of Transportation advised no travel on the following highways in northwest Minnesota due to drifting snow and low visibility.

  • Highway 1- Thief River Falls to North Dakota border
  • Highway 2- Crookston to East Grand Forks
  • Highway 9- Highway 2 to Borup
  • Highway 11- Karlstad to North Dakota border
  • Highway 59- Thief River Falls to Canadian border
  • Highway 75- Crookston to Canadian border
  • Highway 175- Highway 59 to North Dakota border
  • Highway 200- Ada to North Dakota border
  • Highway 220- Highway 2 to Highway 11

 

This No Travel Advisory is still in effect. No Travel Advised means that the roadway has deteriorated and/or visibility has been reduced to the point that it is very dangerous to travel. Motorists are advised not to travel in these areas until conditions improve.

For additional tips on safe winter driving, go to mndot.gov/workzone/winter.html.

For real-time traffic and travel information in Minnesota, visit www.511mn.org or get the free smartphone app at Google Play or the App Store.

We will update you once the No Travel Advisory has been lifted.

The post NO TRAVEL ADVISORY STILL IN EFFECT IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA appeared first on KROX.

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Sister Joan LaCoursiere (Hiltrudis) – Obit

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Sister Joan LaCoursiere (Hiltrudis), age 100, died on January 29, 2022, at Villa Saint Vincent, Crookston. The Benedictine Sisters elected Sister Joan as their seventh prioress of Mount Saint Benedict from 1985-1989.

Sister Joan LaCoursiere was born in Terrebonne to Paul and Sophie (Violette) LaCoursiere in a family of two brothers and five sisters. Sister Joan grew up in a family steeped in French-Canadian culture and the Catholic faith. Sister Joan learned manual labor on the family farm, especially as a shepherdess with her sister, Elma.

She followed her sister, Sister Cuthbert, into the monastic community at Mount Saint Benedict. When she received the Benedictine habit as a novice, she became known as Sister Hiltrudis. Later, when the sisters returned to their baptismal names she took the name “Sister Joan.”

When asked what brought her to Mount Saint Benedict, Sister Joan replied, “I was about five years old when Sister Cuthbert, my sister, spent two weeks vacationing on our farm near Dorothy, MN. I admired and loved her very much, and I wanted to emulate her. . . . Had it not been for Sister Cuthbert, I would not have considered coming to Mount Saint Benedict.”

After her novitiate Sister Joan was assigned to be a teacher. She taught in Mahnomen, Lefor, ND, Crookston, and East Grand Forks. In Crookston, she was the principal at the Cathedral and the assistant principal at Mount Saint Benedict High School, and in East Grand Forks, she was the principal at Sacred Heart High School. Students loved Sister Joan, and she conveyed, “One of the joys of teaching is to have students return to visit and express appreciation.”

After many years in education, Sister Joan undertook another ministry –pastoral coordinator in Fertile and Mentor, MN. She enjoyed teaching scripture, visiting homes, counseling, and providing spiritual direction to those who asked for it.

As prioress of the community, Sister Joan faced many challenges, including diminishing membership and closing some ministries. Nevertheless, she drew from prayer the strength to make peaceful and patient responses to people and events she encountered. She is remembered affectionately by her sisters as having supported them through this period and encouraging new life in the community.

When her term ended, Sister Joan went to work at Care and Share, a homeless shelter where she taught scripture and established the Adult Learning Center. After retiring from this ministry, Sister Joan became the pastoral care coordinator for aging sisters at the Mount. When Sister Joan left this ministry, she became the guest mistress for the Mount. Eventually, she moved to the Summit and the Villa, a long-term care facility.

Sister Joan shared, “As I reflect on my monastic life, I believe that I am most grateful to God and the Community for the opportunities I’ve been given to grow in my monastic life, not only educationally, but most of all spiritually.” Sister Joan was loved and respected by the Sisters of Saint Benedict.

“The sister who most influenced my life is Sister Marcella. . . (who) found in me talents and potential for growth which I never knew existed.”

Sister Joan wrote, “The Gospel text which appeals to me is Mark 4:45-51— The Storm at Sea. No matter what storms come into my life, I need only to go to Him. . . and He will always take time to listen, and above all bring me His PEACE.”

Sister Joan’s deepest desire was to “give my all to the community as long as I can and to be able to say at the end of my life with Saint Paul:  ‘I have run the race! I have kept the faith!’ Now I am awaiting eternal happiness with God and his angels and saints.”

Sister Joan is preceded in death by her parents, Paul Joseph and Sophie Marie Violette LaCoursiere, and siblings: Sister Cuthbert, Emery, Viola, Lorena, Elma Mildred, Victor, and Beulah LaCoursiere. She is survived by many nieces and nephews, her care companion, Sister Karen Violette, and the Sisters of Saint Benedict, Crookston.

The private Mass of Christian Burial celebrating Sister Joan’s life will be held on Thursday, February 3, 2022, at 2:00, p.m. in Sacred Heart Chapel at Mount Saint Benedict Monastery with the Most Reverend Andrew Cozzens presiding and the Very Reverend Timothy McGee as homilist. The funeral will be livestreamed by going to Sister Joan’s obituary page at www.stenshoelhouske.com and clicking on the prompt to watch.

Gifts in memory of Sister Joan may be given to Mount Saint Benedict Foundation.

The post Sister Joan LaCoursiere (Hiltrudis) – Obit appeared first on KROX.

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Spotify to direct listeners to correct COVID-19 information; will add ‘content advisory’ warnings to podcasts discussing the pandemic

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Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has announced that the platform will direct listeners to correct Covid-19 information on any and all podcasts discussing the pandemic. The announcement comes in the wake of the company losing billions in market value, after musicians including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removed their music from the platform in protest at podcasters such as Joe Rogan sharing misinformation to millions of listeners.

Ek released a statement outlining the streaming platform’s plan to battle misinformation on the podcasts it hosts. Content advisories will be added to any podcast that discusses coronavirus directing users to a website that “provides easy access to data-driven facts, up-to-date information as shared by scientists, physicians, academics and public health authorities around the world, as well as links to trusted sources.” Spotify also revealed guidlines for creators to the public for the first time, saying that creators cannot publish “content that promotes dangerous false or dangerous deceptive medical information that may cause offline harm or poses a direct threat to public health.” 

When announcing his decision to pull his music from the platform, Neil Young singled out Rogan and a conversation he had with cardiologist Dr Peter McCullough and immunologist/virologist Dr Robert Malone on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Rogan’s podcast is downloaded an average of 11 million times per episode and is exclusive to Spotify as part of a $100 million deal the company has with Rogan.  In an Instagram video published on Monday, Rogan issued a statement about the controversy, saying “I’m not trying to promote misinformation, I’m not trying to be controversial. I’ve never tried to do anything with this podcast other than just talk to people and have interesting conversations.”  Rogan added he will do his best “try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people’s perspectives, so we can maybe find a better point of view.”

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Mike Pence’s former chief of staff Marc Short testifies in January 6 investigation

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Former Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, testified before the House select committee investigating January 6 last week in response to a subpoena; a sign that Pence’s team is cooperating with the probe.  According to sources, Short testified before the select committee in person last Wednesday in a lengthy session. Short had previously supplied a limited number of documents that were subpoenaed by the committee, including a memo from Trump aide Johnny McEntee comparing Trump to Thomas Jefferson.

Short was with Pence at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and participated in a critical White House meeting on January 4, 2021.  He is a potentially crucial witness in the committee’s investigation in determining if then-President Donald Trump and his allies tried to convince Pence not to certify the presidential election.

Short’s testimony comes as the panel still does not know whether Pence himself will testify. While the committee has had informal discussions with Pence’s legal team, sources say that Pence would prefer aides like Short act as the former vice president’s “proxy” so Pence himself does not have to appear.

Former President still blames Pence for not trying to overturn the election results in Congress — and Pence has faced a backlash from Trump’s base for his role on January 6. Short was with Pence at the Capitol on January 6 when rioters were chanting “hang Mike Pence” and Trump tweeted, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.” Short was also at Pence’s side in the Oval Office for a pivotal January 4 meeting when Trump and attorney John Eastman tried to convince Pence that he could overturn the presidential election results in Congress on January 6.

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David Letterman to guest on ‘Late Night’ for 40th anniversary

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David Letterman will be dropping by as a guest Feb. 1 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of NBC’s Late Night. Letterman was the original Late Night host who launched the after-hours franchise in 1982, before eventually moving over to the Late Show on CBS.

Late Night’s current host Seth Meyers announced the news in a video, saying: “The 40th anniversary is next Tuesday, and to celebrate, my guest that evening will be the man who started it all, David Letterman.” Meyers added, “Now that is a show that would make college-age Seth Meyers very happy. Also, current Seth Meyers.”

Letterman moved to CBS in 1993 following the hiring of Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show.  Late Night has been hosted by Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, and Meyers throughout the show’s 40-year history.

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Today’s Hoda Kotb and Joel Schiffman end their engagement after 8 years together

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Today show host Hoda Kotb and Joel Schiffman have ended their engagement, breaking up after eight years together. The former couple were engaged in November 2019, and will continue to co-parent their daughters, 4-year-old Haley and 2-year-old Hope.

The 57-year-old Kotb shared on ‘Today With Hoda & Jenna’:  “People have written in and asked why I wasn’t wearing my engagement ring. Joel and I have had, we’ve had a lot of prayerful and really meaningful conversations over the holidays, and we decided that we’re better as friends and parents then we are as an engaged couple.  We decided that we are going to start this New Year and begin it on our new path, as loving parents to our adorable, delightful children and as friends. It’s not like something happened. They say that sometimes relationships are meant to be there for a reason or a season or for a lifetime, and I feel like ours was meant to be there for a season.”

Kotb added: “This is weird and awkward. I really was struggling with this. I was like, ‘What do I say, how do I say it?’ But I feel like often we share the joyous pieces of our life… and then the difficult part sometimes you want to forget about. You want to erase them, you don’t want to share them because that’s not part of a pretty picture. But I think a lot of women know what this feels like in this moment, to be changing course in life. And I feel really brave in this moment, I really do.”   Speaking of Schiffman, Kotb said: “He’s a great guy. He’s a very kind and loving person, and I feel privileged to have spent eight years with him.”

In October 2020, Kotb shared she was considering adopting a third child with Schiffman. When announcing her breakup, however, Kotb did not mention whether she and Schiffman are still planning on going forward with another adoption.

Hoda Kotb, Joel Schiffman Split After 8 Years Together: ‘Better as Friends’

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