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MURDER: Man blamed for woman’s overdose PAGE 6A
Playwright relives Holocaust history in upcoming arts center production BY DEBRA NEUTKENS EDITOR
Her story began in a Chicago bookstore in 1966. Celeste Raspanti was a Franciscan nun who was accompanying another sister to a doctor's appointment. Nuns always traveled in twos, she noted. Drawn to the poetry section at the Madison Avenue store, Raspanti picked up a book entitled, “I Never Saw Another Butterfly.” It
survivor: a girl called Raja. "At that moment, I knew I had my play," recalled the 88-year-old Raspanti, an English literature professor and playwright who borrowed money from her mother to buy the $4 book. Hence her journey began to find Raja Englander Lodinova and tell the story of the 15,000 Jewish children who passed through the
changed her life. Listed among the book's drawings and poems were the names of the artists — Jewish children who were imprisoned by the Nazis in Czechoslovakia's Terezin ghetto. Most did not survive. As Raspanti looked down the list of names in the book, one by one the listing ended with the child's date of death and the words "perished at Auschwitz." Until she came to the name of a
SEE PLAYWRIGHT, PAGE 8A
DEBRA NEUTKENS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Playwright and former nun Celeste Raspanti reads from the book “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” to an audience at the White Bear Center for the Arts Feb. 8. In 1967, she adapted the book into a play about children of the Holocaust.
Transportation ‘Hunger Games’: Bike trail shut out for funding Lake, question why the project is a perennial loser for grant money. “You would think an almost two-decades-old Met Council-approved program would get what it needs to complete it and move on. But it did not,” he said. Had the Vento project received the funding, money would not have been available until 2020, Brooks added. He noted that a conversation with parks department head Scott Yonke indicated the county will make $1 million available over the next few years to allow land acquisition or preparation to have the trail site ready when federal money does arrive. So there is still hope. County Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt said the funding denial was “disappointing but not disheartening.” “We’re looking at other options to move this forward,” she said after the request failed. “I know we will be successful. This is our first time out with TAB. We will try again.”
BY DEBRA NEUTKENS EDITOR
PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
White Bear Lake hosts “Holes 4 Heroes” Above: Gilliam Decker watches while his son Landon, 6, waits for a nibble while ice fishing during the “Holes 4 Heroes Ice Fishing Tournament” Saturday, Feb. 11. It was the first time White Bear Lake hosted the tournament, held for members of the armed forces and their families. At left: Colleen Ryder shows Fishing for Life board member Todd Lindley the 3.25 -pound walleye she just caught (and released). Organizers said that more than 400 anglers registered for the event.
RAMSEY COUNTY — It’s back to the drawing board for Parks and Recreation Department staff after a funding request to extend the Bruce Vento Regional Trail was denied. About $4.1 million was requested through the Metropolitan Council to build a trail from Buerkle Road to the Highway 96/Lake Avenue intersection in White Bear Lake. The project was one of 39 in the multi-use trails and bikeways category that applied for federal funding in 2016. Ramsey County Communications Associate Alisha Seifert explained that projects receive funding based on an application score from the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) and funds availability. The Bruce Vento extension received scores that placed it in the middle of those 39 projects. Unfortunately, there was only enough funding to approve the top 10 scores, she said. Trail advocates like Mike Brooks, head of NE Communities Bike Walk in White Bear
SEE VENTO TRAIL, PAGE 8A
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