Monthly Archives: October 2025

HD66B, Law & Order, Opinion, St Paul, Veterans

St Paul Mayor’s Race is a Choice between More Darkness or the Light

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This is near MacKubin Street looking towards Dale St on Maryland Ave W

The above picture is  what is seen at night looking west a half block west of MacKubin on Maryland Ave West toward Dale St.

Getting a little closer to the Railroad Bridge near Kent St and Maryland Ave West.  There’s no light except for the occasional car that passes by.

This is near Sandstrom Windows near the Railroad Over pass at Kent St. Across the street is Marydale Park.
This photo is taken about a block west of Kent St at Danforth St walking East on Maryland Ave West.

Looking east near Danforth on Maryland Ave West.

The ability to keep the street lights on some city streets can pose a hazard to those driving a car, motorcycle, or a bike at night. Can you see the pillars of the overhead Railroad bridge? No?

8 Years of Mayor Melvin Carter III has produced Darkness

Took a walk down to Conny’s Creamy Cone on a Summer Night. The stark darkness between MacKubin St and Danforth St on Maryland Avenue is uncanny. I took the photos above.

This is not a recent occurrence. All throughout his tenure as what Mayor Carter says and what is, are two different things.

Nearby Marydale Park had it’s lights extinguished over at least a year or so. It seemed like there was no interest in turning the lights back on. There was a man living in the park that entire time. He lived near the raised railroad tracks in the park in a make shift shelter through a winter and a half. He moved his make shift shelter down to Lake Loeb the polluted lake in the middle of Marydale Park.

The benches and picnic tables and grills seem like they may have been new in the 1960s or even before that. Nearby Como Park has had updates nearly every year. Marydale Park not so much. They do have a Kato pitch there where you can see Hmong Americans kick a wicker ball like a cross between Hackey Sack and Volleyball.

There was a time during Mayor Carter’s second term that the lights around Lake Como and the walking trails around Como Park were not lit.  There were a lot of complaints but eventually their lights were turned back on but Marydale, not so much.

Copper thieves you say? Maybe it’s a lack of good paying jobs, or the good businesses have left the city that people have to resort to stealing catalytic converters or stealing copper wire from street lamps? The manufacturing base left a long time ago. Toro left, the 3M Headquarters relocated to just over the St Paul and Maplewood border and all it’s former plants are now parking lots.

Where’s that Billion Dollars worth of investment in St Paul Melvin Carter mentioned in the LWV Forum?

Downtown St Paul is a ghost town. Junkies and thugs hanging around bus stops looking to buy and sell drugs.

The Veterans Center in the US Bank building’s corner at Minnesota & 5th still has the stickers of the US Army, USMC, US Navy, US Coastguard, and the US Air Force on the windows but the center has been vacant for a very long time.

When was the last time there was a Parade down Rice Street or White Bear Avenue? When did we last have Official Fireworks on the 4th of July from the City of St Paul? In 2017 when Mayor Chris Coleman was mayor. Since then there hasn’t been enough money to do it.

Yet there’s money for college savings accounts, or savings accounts, or the $500 a month to a handful of people to study if Universal Basic Income can work here. There was also money to pay off medical debt of people who could probably get another person or company to pay it off. These are not functions of government. They are functions of Vote Buying. If we had a Law and Order MN Attorney General, Mayor Carter might be in prison for influencing the vote by giving money to people who otherwise might not vote.

Remember the 1% sales tax to fix roads in St Paul? Mayor Carter was bragging about using that money to re-sod a rec center.  The road construction in downtown St Paul looks like state money by Governor Walz.

Arcade, Dale St and soon to be the entire stretch of Rice street have or will get road diets. Main arteries that had 4 lanes of traffic will have 2 lanes and a seldom used middle lane. Maryland Avenue between Johnson Parkway and Greenbriar was supposed to be a 6 month trial but now it’s permanent and the road diet goes all the way down to Arkwright on Maryland Ave East.

Then there’s the threat to clear cut century old trees on Summit Avenue for a bike trail that isn’t needed. Adam Dullinger could be a project manager for that he seemed like he wanted to leave the company that he works at to making more bike lanes and connections. His comments at the LWV forum seemed like he wanted to work for Mayor Carter if he wins a 3rd term.

Max Sanders never asked a question about that project. A project the city can’t afford to do because we don’t have the money for it.

The Maryland Supermarket has had 1000s of calls about shots fired, 2 murders, car accidents, speeding, and drug dealing. Oh you’re not suppose to bother the St Paul Police about guys selling drugs in handshake sales through car windows that drive up. A landlord nearby called to complain about the narcotics sold there and was told by the St Paul Police that he should stop bothering them unless there is a shooting. Interesting as they also have had a St Paul Police Camera Pole at that property all summer long. Is someone in Chief Axel Henry’s Police Force on the take? St Paul had that reputation about 100 yrs ago. The recent “Blue Surge” there is just a show, they aren’t serious about arresting any of the drug dealers there because there have been no arrests nor has the store been shut down either. The dealers will still hang around and then when the night comes on they are back to selling drugs. Wondering what Mayor Carter and Councilwoman Kim might say about that? The Fentanyl task force is being successful?

If you vote for any of the DFLers running in this race, there’s 4 of them, then you can expect more of the same you are voting for more darkness, or…

You can vote for Mike Hilborn the only REASONABLE choice in this election. He’s the light in the darkness like in the photo below.

This is near Sandstrom Windows near the Railroad Over pass at Kent St. Across the street is Marydale Park.

this post was not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. This is not an endorsement, it is a REASONABLE Suggestion to vote for the only sane choice in this election, Mike Hilborn, is very REASONABLE. The ideas of the others is very unreasonable, insane, and more of the same status quo. No one believes the claims of violent crime going down. They have just re-classified crimes or redefined them. If you disagree they will fine you when the City Fine Ballot question passes, so vote NO on that and to deny St Paul Public Schools more money for a school district with a declining enrollment because the schools are unsafe because the School Board removed SROs. Remember Devin Scott was murdered on their watch at Harding High School.  Also don’t rank your votes either. It should be 1 person 1 vote. — admin

2A, HD66B, Law & Order, Opinion, Politics, St Paul

St Paul Independent Mayor Candidate Mike Hilborn Interview with Fox 9 Oct 20th, 2025

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This interview was conducted by Fox 9 News on October 20, 2025 by Amy Hockert, the video is from Fox 9 Minneapolis-St Paul’s YouTube Channel. Amy Hockert calls Candidate Hilborn a Republican even though he is listed as being an independent. Mike Hilborn did run for office in 2024 for House District 65B where he lives in St Paul MN and was endorsed by SD 65 Republicans for office.

Recently, he talked about his campaign last year where he campaigned, knocked on doors and showed up to forums whereas his opponent the incumbent Rep Maria Isa Perez-Vega didn’t campaign as if she already knew the outcome before the race started. Mike Hilborn said “She did not show up to the two forums.  The forums were held.  I raised about $19,000.  Knocked on doors.  Had a meet and greet at McGovern’s.  Was on the radio and cable.  Put forth a full campaign.”  He said he did not do the normal “paper candidacy” that some candidates do. The League of Women Voters of St Paul likes to cancel forums at the convenience of the DFL candidates’ schedule.

We will list what questions are asked and when they are answered, so you can skip to a question you want to hear first. — admin

The interviewer Amy Hockert mentions the rules are Candidates can’t mention other candidates and they have 10 minutes total. All the same questions are asked of the other candidates with Candidate specific follow up questions. (We’re using the closed captioning to get the questions exact, and it’s delayed a half second or so, and the interviewer does some double starts of words). The square brackets are comments to clarify what the interviewer means or to set the record straight.

0:43 Amy Hockert introduces Mike Hilborn as a Republican

0:49 Mike Hilborn corrects her saying he is an Independent

2:02 Question 1: Public Safety & Policing: The Department of Justice is suing St Paul for it’s so-called Sanctuary City Policies which results in the release of dangerous criminals in the city. So when it comes to Federal Law Enforcement working in the city, Mike, what role does St Paul Police have?

2:17 Mike Hilborn

2:57 Question 2: As far as gun control goes, a group of Mayors from across the Metro, including St Paul, is asking state lawmakers to give individual cities the authority to make their own gun ordinances. They want to ban high capacity magazines and assault weapons. How do you feel about that? And would you join that group?

3:14 Mike Hilborn

3:31 Question 3: What would be your message to those? Because we’ve seen obviously out of the tragedy at Assumption [church shooting on August 27, 2025, Minneapolis MN], we’ve seen so many groups coming out to ask for this exact thing. We’ve seen doctors and faith leaders. We’ve seen clearly parents and family members those who lost loved ones in this. What would your message to them be in this?

3:53 Mike Hilborn

4:24 Question 4: Let’s talk about the Economy. What are 2 things you would do to revitalize the downtown? We’ll talk about 1 short term right away and then another in the next year or two. What would you be looking at if you had to narrow it down?

4:39 Mike Hilborn

5:49 Question 5: As long as you brought it up. Homelessness, encampments, these are issues that cities like St Paul are facing right now. What specifically would you do as it pertains to encampments and homelessness, to try to find solutions that are humane, also reasonable? We have to worry about budgets, right? When you’re mayor, what are some of the things that you would do specifically?

6:14 Mike Hilborn

7:00 Question 6: Mike tell me a little bit more about your experience as a business owner. I read somewhere sort of a second chance [employer], business owner is what you are described as by one by one outlet. What does that mean?

7:13 Mike Hilborn

9:04 Question 7: I want to address the cyberattack that shut down the city services and threatened to do more damage if a ransom wasn’t paid. Which the city said it wasn’t. Where does cyber security fall on your list of priorities? And then how much are you willing to spend to bolster it?

9:21 Mike Hilborn

10:06 Question 8: St Paul is a Blue City you’re in a primarily blue state. So what makes you believe that you are somebody who can break through and have people vote for an independent candidate in this case?

10:27 Mike Hilborn

We’re posting this interview between Amy Hockert (at no time does she introduce herself) and St Paul Mayor Candidate Mike Hilborn. This is a courtesy for St Paul Voters. Mike Hilborn was not endorsed by the Republican Party of Minnesota, he is the only candidate who is not for the polices that have failed the businesses, and the residents of St Paul. The other candidates want more government involvement which will mean more expensive government and more of your income. We suggest you vote for him and no one else. There is no one else in this race for which Republican Voters can choose from who want to lower taxes and make St Paul an affordable place to live.

This post wasn’t authorized by Mike Hilborn nor any candidates committee. HD 66B Republicans are from the Areas near Lake Como, the neighborhood of North End north of Maryland Avenue, and the Near East Side out to Arcade St of St Paul Minnesota — Admin

St Paul, Uncategorized

Conny’s Creamy Cone Closes for the Season October 18th 2025

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Conny’s Creamy Cone closes for the Season at the end of business on Saturday October 18th. They usually reopen for the season in March of the new year.

Conny’s Creamy Cone always has a line during the summer.

Every year the opening of Conny’s Creamy Cone is waited upon with baited breath. It is quite possible that the weather might be snowy, cold enough that your soft serve ice cream cone won’t melt in the sub freezing weather, but it’s the first promise of Spring in the North End Neighborhood of Saint Paul Minnesota.

At the Southwest Corner of the Dale St North and Maryland Ave West intersection, Conny’s Creamy Cone has been serving up soft serve in 32 flavors, and Flurries (like DQ Blizzards except there’s more stuff in them than DQ puts in Blizzards). They have almost everything DQ has except it is cheaper, and the line is longer in the Summertime than any of the nearby DQs.

Conny’s Menu

Conny’s Creamy Cone Full Menu click link

Below is a partial menu. Conny’s does sell burgers, hot dogs, and other treats besides what is below here.

Flurries: Banana Cream Pie, Banana Split, Brownie, Butterfinger, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough,  Chocolate Covered Cherry, French Silk Pie, Fudge Nut, German Chocolate, Green Mint, Heath, M&M, Mocha, Nerds Candy, Oreo, Pina Colada, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Sea Salt Caramel, S’Mores, Snickers, Strawberry-Banana, Turtle

Small: $5.49, Medium: $6.49, Large: $7.49, Extras Add $1.09

Malts/Shakes: Blueberry, Butterscotch, Banana, Caramel, Chocolate, Green Mint, Hot Fudge, Marshmallow, Mocha, Pineapple, Raspberry, Strawberry, Strawberry-Banana, Vanilla

Small: $4.69, Medium: $5.69, Large: $6.69

Dip Cones:  Chocolate, Butterscotch, Cherry, Dip of the Week, Crunch (the Flavored Cones can’t be dipped as they are too soft) 

Cone Cost: Baby/Pup $2.79, Small $3.29, Medium $3.89, Large $4.59, Waffle Cone $4.59 (2025 Prices)

Cheese Curds: $5.25 (more than what you get at the State Fair)

31 Flavors of Soft Serve

Some people try to do the cycle of trying every flavor of Soft Serve Conny’s has during the summer. It’s hard to do when you’re on a diet. With limited parking around it you can park a block or two away and get some exercise to work off a dip cone, Flurry, or a flavored cone.

31 Flavors of Conny’s Soft Serve: Amaretto, Apricot, Banana, Blackberry, Black Cherry, Blueberry, Butter Pecan, Cake Batter, Caramel, Cheesecake, Coconut, Coffee, Cotton Candy, German Chocolate, Irish Cream, Key Lime, Lemon, Mango, Maplenut, Mint, Orange, Peach, Peanut Butter, Pina Colada, Pistachio, Pumpkin, Raspberry, Rum, S’Mores, Strawberry, Tutti Fruiti

Cone Cost: Baby $3.58, Small $4.08, Medium $4.68, Large $5.18, Waffle Cone $5.38

Conny’s Under New Management–Her Nephew

You may have wondered about the origins of Conny’s and have stumbled upon this letter to the editor from Conny’s nephew Thomas McCullough, from November 4, 2020, “An October like no other.” 

Thomas McCullough explains in his letter to the editor that his Aunt Conny McCullough, bought Creamy Cone 25 years prior to then (that would be 1995). He says she bought it not to become rich, or to open up franchises, but to own a place that would provide joy to the community from a friendly face at an affordable price.  Prior to purchasing the shop, Thomas worked for about 10 years there and it was a great place to work as Conny was someone who cared about her employees. She understood the flexible schedules of the employees and knew their birthdays to give them the day off without them asking her.

Conny closed the shop for her last October in 2020. Thomas’ first opening was in March 2021

Never Closed for Covid

During the time of Covid lockdowns, Conny’s Creamy Cone never closed down. Since they are strictly a take out eatery they were allowed to stay open. One can only imagine they were still providing joy to their customers as there wasn’t much joy for people to look to during those dark times.

We thank them for that.  We like to support the area businesses inside and on the edges of HD 66B, so we gather the menus of area restaurants and bring them to the Republican Caucuses in the Minnesota State House & Senate. It isn’t hard to get them to go to Conny’s, many of them already knew of its existence.

Conny McCollough’s dream of bringing joy to St Paul, and surrounding suburbs from a friendly face at an affordable price has been realized.

Thank you.

This post was not authorized by anyone, nor do we get any sort of compensation for posting it. ~~ admin

Family

2025 #ProLifeSunday Friends & Colleagues Day October 19th

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Why Celebrate a day for Friends & Colleagues?

On an average day you spend a third of your day with your colleagues at work and friends give you advice and give you some breathing space in forms of athletic outings or fun activities. Let’s face it not everyone is married and friends are the life line for many single people. Paul had Barnabas, and Jesus had 12 main disciples who were friends and also his colleagues.

Life would be so bland without your friends. So why not say thank you to them for enriching your life?

Charles Schultz the cartoonist who created the Comic Strip, “Peanuts,” was from St Paul MN.

Nationally there are only 3 recognized holidays that bolster the love and admiration of the family: Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Grandparents Day. We are the party of Judeo-Christian Family Values. We want to bring attention to the parts of the family that are often forgotten. In July we celebrated Aunts & Uncles, in August we celebrated Brothers Sisters & Cousins, and now we are celebrating our Friends and Colleagues–that other family we spend a third of our day with.

Why on the 3rd Sunday of October?

Well, because we can; but to have at least a full month since Grandparents Day to get ready. Also because the 2nd Sunday is closest to Columbus Day.

Colleagues are at work who share the load of a project. They know you almost as well as your family knows you. They challenge you to do your very best in the work you do. They chip in your contribution for pizza on occasion when they see you are coming up short. Work would be more stressful without good colleagues.

This article was reposted by permission from saintpaulrepublicans.us which has been running this holiday since 2017. It is not the SPRCC, but used to post for them prior to 2014. This was recently reposted on their site on October 6, 2025.

One of the benefits of getting involved in you local party unit is you can network with so many interesting people, locally in your neighborhood, you city, county, state, and sometimes at the national level. You can cement some really lasting friendships with people. So this #ProLifeSunday, call up your friends and co-workers and thank them for a lasting contribution to your life. — admin