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Fringe review: ‘Dearest Mother,’ about famed MN poet, feels uninspired and poorly written

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Avoid“Dearest Mother” purports to examine “love and control” through poet John Berryman’s correspondence with his mother. Ultimately, Kelly Lamphear-Dash’s dispassionate play fails to offer any substantive insight into Berryman’s relationships or work, let alone illuminate broader themes. Actor Max Sjöberg is a convincing Berryman, but the Pulitzer winner’s letters are read by Berryman’s mother, played by Susan Chambers, who delivers lines with the stilted choppiness of a freshman struggling to recite Shakespeare. As narrator and Berryman’s wife, actress Molly Ryman’s empathetic performance cannot salvage Lamphear-Dash’s stiff, encyclopedic writing. The real Berryman once wrote, “Life, friends, is boring.” Sadly, “Dearest Mother” takes this literally.Presented by Juggling Act Productions at Augsburg Studio; 8:30 p.m. Aug. 7, 7 p.m. Aug. 9 (with ASL interpretation), 10 p.m. Aug. 10, 5:30 p.m. Aug 13Still unsure of what to see? Check out all our Fringe reviews here.The Minnesota Fring...

Fringe review: ‘Float,’ funny and insightful, lets a skilled physical performer shine

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Must seePhysical theater artist Juliana Frick plays the well-written character Myra van Gloov, an overly self-important wellness guru who punctuates sentences with “Blessings!” and can’t recognize her own role in her life’s problems until it’s too late. Frick’s mostly one-woman show (an unnamed narrator comes and goes) is funny and insightful, and she’s a skilled circus clown-style performer who has strong command of the stage when she’s the only one on it. “Float” occasionally becomes unmoored into abstraction, which helps underscore its worthwhile question: What does true groundedness look like? Let this show stick in your brain as you untangle it; it’ll grow on you.Presented by Juliana Frick at Augsburg Mainstage; 7 p.m. Aug. 7 (with audio description available), 10 p.m. Aug. 9, 8:30 p.m. Aug. 11, 1 p.m. Aug. 12Still unsure of what to see? Check out all our Fringe reviews here.The Minnesota Fringe Festival turns 30 this year, presenting 101 hourlong stage acts from Aug. 3-1...

5 things to know this Monday, August 7

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- It's Monday again, folks. The start of the work week will also bring some unsettled weather, according to Meteorologist, Jill Szwed. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! An Amsterdam woman was arrested on Sunday following a shooting at Veteran’s Park that left one person hospitalized. Meanwhile, State Route 5 near Amsterdam is now open east and westbound after a train derailment closed down the lanes for several days. These stories, and more, are covered in your five things to know this Monday morning. 1. Amsterdam woman arrested in Veteran’s Park shootingAn Amsterdam woman was arrested on Sunday following a shooting at Veteran’s Park that left one person hospitalized. Josefina Baret-Araujo, 36, faces multiple charges.2. Troy Police investigating 4th Street shootingThe Troy Police Department announced they are investigating a shooting that occurred on August 4. One victim sustained a non-life-threatening i...

Man locks himself in bathroom after gas station break-in

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS - A bizarre break-in early Mon day morning at a gas station in the Forest Park southeast neighborhood.That's on South Vandeventer Avenue at Gratiot. The manager told FOX 2 that a man broke into the store around 12:30 a.m. and locked himself in the bathroom. Shots fired at Hollywood Casino, woman arrested The manager called police who took the man into custody. They explained that the suspect was having some mental issues.

Opinion: John Echohawk stood up and made the world a better place

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Young John Echohawk felt no particular call to destiny in the spring of 1967, when he graduated from the University of New Mexico. Even when he won a scholarship under a federal program to fund law school for Native Americans, he didn’t see himself as bearing the collective hopes of the nation’s indigenous people.“I didn’t know exactly what I would end up doing,” he recalls. “Maybe I was going to be a rich lawyer, I don’t know.”That quickly changed, when Echohawk discovered there was a rich body of law in place, dating back to the country’s beginnings, to protect the rights of Native Americans. If he could use the law as a tool to better their lives, Echohawk was all in.“That,” he said, “became my dream.”The American Bar Association is honoring the fruits of that dream, naming Echohawk the winner of this year’s Thurgood Marshall Award, in recognition of a lifetime of work advancing the civil rights, liberties and general well being of indigenous Americans.Through his leadership of t...

Opinion: The Colorado Option is not working

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

The charade that the Colorado Option would supply healthcare savings and benefits for consumers is tumbling down like a house of cards. This always happens with flawed ideas from government bureaucrats when they fail to listen to business and consumer stakeholders, along with ignoring sound fiscal policy. It just never works out as proposed. The “brilliant” idea looks drastically different when it meets consumer reality. This is where we are today with the Colorado Option.The Colorado Option plan was designed by bureaucrats to offer consumers lots of benefits at reduced rates. Insurance carriers were forced by legal mandate to offer the Colorado Option at lower rates than private plans. The ruse of this force was thought to be that it would lower the rates of the private plans. The public option premiums were legislated to decrease by 5% in the first year, 10% in the second, and 15% by year three.The Colorado Option is the state government-backed health insurance plan created by the...

Colorado school vaccination rates drop again, erasing years of progress

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

More than one in 10 Colorado kindergarteners hasn’t had all of their required shots, erasing pre-pandemic gains in getting children immunized.The percentage of Colorado kindergarteners who’d received their vaccinations declined in the previous two school years, but was still slightly higher than it had been in 2018. Now, that progress has been undone, and older children were actually slightly less likely to be vaccinated in fall 2022 than they were four years earlier.Vaccination rates were up slightly for children in preschool and child care, though.About 88% of kindergarteners, 92% of all school-aged children and 96% of those in preschool or day care were up to date on their vaccines during the 2022-2023 school year, state health officials said. Kindergartners showed a 5.2% decrease in compliance, and all school-aged children a 2.2% decrease, over the 2021-2022 school year.Child care centers tend to be strict about vaccine compliance, and consequently have higher rates,...

“Lessons in Chemistry” and more short reviews from readers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Editor’s note: The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. Sure, you could read advertising blurbs on Amazon, but wouldn’t you be more likely to believe a neighbor with no skin in the game over a corporation being fed words by publishers? So in this new series, we are sharing these mini-reviews with you. Have any to offer? Email [email protected].“Inheritance,” by Dani Shapiro (Knopf)“Inheritance,” by Dani Shapiro (Knopf)Even though this is a story of one woman’s search for her birth father, it reads like a well-crafted mystery. While it did take a huge suspension of disbelief to accept how quickly the narrator found her birth father’s family, “Inheritance” does raise some interesting questions about not only what makes a family (i.e., DNA or love) but also about privacy vs. intrusiveness issues related to DNA tes...

Looking for a way to use all that zucchini? Try this chocolate cake | Opinion

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems).Related ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | A sheet-pan chicken for corn season Restaurants, Food and Drink | Five Weeknight Dishes: Herby orzo with a bright topping Restaurants, Food and Drink | This 3-ingredient ice cream recipe tastes like home and hope Restaurants, Food and Drink | Recipe: Make lamb kofta, a spicy Middle Eastern meat served inside pita bread Restaurants, Food and Drink | There’s a pesto miracle waiting in your freezer It’s a rite of summer for many Coloradans, that vegetable-induced panic: What to do with all the zucchini in your garden?You’ve already dug out that old zucchini bread recipe, cleverly thinking you’ll gift your coworkers an...

Cold plunging is a hot trend in Colorado. Here’s where to try it.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

A plunge into ice-cold water might sound like just the thing on a hot summer day, but there’s more to the art of cold plunging than that. Hot springs and sports recovery centers are offering cold plunges as a therapeutic activity, while fans are doing the same at home or in groups.In fact, the Global Wellness Institute noted in its 2023 Hot Springs Trends report that, “The benefits of hot-cold contrast bathing have been widely recognized and is now almost universal in hot springs across the globe.”Jim Mikula, senior vice president for WorldSprings, the company behind Iron Mountain Hot Springs in Glenwood Springs, says the institute “led the charge” by promoting hot springs and cold plunges — also referred to as contrast bathing — starting 20 years ago.But “in the last four years it’s become really popular,” he said. “You feel refreshed, have more energy, and can almost see better when you go from the hot water to the cold.”The institute explains the benefits this w...