Soucheray: The good priests deserve better archbishops
By Joe Soucheray
jsoucheray@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 06/07/2014 09:10:36 AM CDT | UPDATED: ABOUT 8 HOURS AGO

The average parish priest is a working stiff who is on call 24 hours a day. They hear confessions, celebrate Mass, visit the sick, write sermons, lead prayer groups, organize fall festivals, collect money to stoke the boiler, and, generally speaking, don't have two nickels to rub together for a golf game.

Some of these working stiffs go off the rails and commit sins against humanity, but certainly not the majority of them. Why, given the weakness of their leaders, their bosses, it is a miracle of the church that these working stiffs even still have a ship to run.

Archbishop John Nienstedt has been absolutely worthless in meeting the crimes against humanity -- the abuse of children -- square in the face. He thought everything had been taken care of by his predecessor, Harry Flynn, who was a gregarious guy out in public, to the point where you could feel comfortable calling him "Arch," because maybe you saw him at the next table at The Lexington and you picked up his check.

Now, Flynn's testimony has been made public and it is sad to realize that he is just as worthless as Nienstedt in facing up to the priests who have gone off the rails, the priests who are giving the average parish working stiff a bad name.

For millions of Americans, it’s as much of a summertime tradition as 4th of July fireworks, cookouts, and disastrous family vacations: a trip to the state fair. More than 170 years after the first state fair in Syracuse, N.Y., these massive outdoor gatherings continue to be hot tickets; the top 10 state fairs alone drew more than 12 million visitors last year.

And what’s not to love? State fairs are annual outdoor celebrations of Americana—places where the young and old can meet to enjoy rides, livestock competitions, live music, arts and crafts contests, and deep-fried everything-but-the-kitchen-sink concoctions that make their cardiologists weep.

Here’s a quick look at some of the biggest, most enticing state fairs out there. If you happen to live in one of these states, consider yourself lucky and go. And if you don’t, the great thing about state fairs is that they allow outsiders too!

St. Paul man who shot teen outside store acted in self-defense, prosecutor says
By Tad Vezner
tvezner@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 06/05/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT | UPDATED: ABOUT 17 HOURS AGO

The Ramsey County attorney's office won't press charges against a St. Paul man who shot and wounded another man in a grocery store parking lot last month, saying the shooting was in self-defense.

On the evening of May 21, Bee Thao, 21, shot Keyonte Thompson, 19, also of St. Paul, outside Rainbow Foods at 892 Arcade St. Thompson, shot in the torso, survived after being taken to Regions Hospital.

Thao, who remained at the scene, was detained but not arrested.

A witness sitting in a car in the parking lot told police she saw Bee Thao come out of the store with a woman and child, with Thompson following them. The witness said she saw Thompson punch Thao in the face, before Thao pushed back with one hand, pulled out a handgun and shot him.

Last of Original Group of Navajo Code Talkers Dies
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The last of the 29 Navajos who developed a code that stumped the Japanese during World War II has died.

Chester Nez, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, died Wednesday morning of kidney failure, said Judy Avila, who helped Nez write his memoirs. He was 93.

Before hundreds of men from the Navajo Nation became Code Talkers, 29 Navajos were recruited to develop the code based on the then-unwritten Navajo language. Nez was in 10th grade when he enlisted, keeping his decision a secret from his family and lying about his age, as did many others.

"It's one of the greatest parts of history that we used our own native language during World War II," Nez told The Associated Press in 2010. "We're very proud of it."