Twin Cities

As a life-long Twin Cities resident, I can say that Christopher Reynolds' article "Minnesota's Grand Old Party" [Aug. 24] is the best summary of Twin Cities hot spots I have ever seen. I will print out his article and give it to visitors I know for years to come. Good work! Chris Dolan St. Paul, Minn.

Goodbye, David Kahn. Hello, Flip Saunders. Again. The Minnesota Timberwolves announced Thursday that owner Glen Taylor will not pick up the option for next season on Kahn's contract as president of basketball operations. Three people with knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press that Taylor has agreed on a deal to hire Saunders as Kahn's replacement. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Saunders will be a part-owner of the team. Saunders coached the Timberwolves from 1995 to 2005, and his reputation in the Twin Cities only grew when the team cratered after his exit.

This lake-studded city, with its enviable park system and good schools, enjoys a reputation as a civic-minded metropolis that works. But as Mayor Don Fraser steps aside after 14 years of mostly prosperous, stable times, the campaign to take his place has painted a different picture--of a city, just like others, beset by crime, racial division and a shrinking middle class.

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England - After what took place here Friday in the second round of the British Open, one might theorize that Brandt Snedeker can walk on water. His golf swing isn't bad, either. But let's not deviate from the real heroes at this Royal Lytham & St. Annes layout. Sure, Snedeker mastered the 206 bunkers in the best way possible. He didn't land in any of them. That takes more luck than genius, which Snedeker acknowledged. And sure, Snedeker's 66-64-130 tied Nick Faldo's 1992 British Open record for the best 36-hole start, but Faldo's ego could use a little jolt, anyway.

The short, stocky, bearded, good-natured mayor of St. Paul, Minn., George Latimer, got together with the governor, the owner of the Minnesota Twins and the mayor of that other "Twin" city at something of a fun-raising rally last week at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, site of the upcoming baseball All-Star Game.

After seven years of boom times, the twin-city border crossing known as the two Laredos had already begun hurting from this year's economic slowdown. Then came the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and suddenly this city and Laredo on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande are reeling. Truck traffic has flattened after a decade of double-digit growth.

Wide receiver Buster Rhymes of the Minnesota Vikings is being treated for chemical dependency for the second time in six months, Twin Cities newspapers reported.

A rapidly developing storm system spawned tornadoes, funnel clouds and hail Sunday as it swept from west-central Minnesota through the Twin Cities area. Tornadoes and funnel clouds were reported in several counties west of Minneapolis, and 72-mph wind was reported in St. Paul. There were isolated reports of damage, including trees toppled in the Twin Cities area, but no immediate reports of serious injuries.

As a Minnesota expatriate, the objective review of Minneapolis (Beyer and Rabey, Oct. 6) missed one salient point: Minneapolis has a twin sister by the name of Saint Paul. The latter has substantial character and charm, and the two cities often are hard to distinguish from one another, having a synergistic effect on the high quality of conservative, clean life in the tale of the Twin Cities. MILT GOLDSTEIN Irvine

An autistic man who disappeared a week ago from a Grantsburg camp for the disabled and who relies on medication after a kidney transplant was found alive in the woods, authorities said. Keith Kennedy, 25, of Shoreview, Minn., was weakened but safe. He was flown to the University of Minnesota hospital in the Twin Cities. Searchers had feared that Kennedy, who can speak only four words, might suffer a medical crisis without the anti-rejection drugs he has taken since his transplant in 1995.

The New England Patriots traded seven-time Pro Bowl receiver Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday for a third-round draft pick. "He is a tremendous competitor and was an integral member of the Vikings organization," Vikings Coach Brad Childress said in a statement. "Once again, ownership was completely supportive of our efforts to add a valuable football player to our team. I know the entire organization is thrilled to welcome him back to the Twin Cities. " The Vikings play at the New York Jets on Monday night, and they are only 3 1/2 weeks away from an Oct. 31 game at Foxborough, Mass.

MetroTwin.com pairs two great travel hubs, New York and London. Whether you're traveling to one of them for the first or fourth time, you'll find new things to do and restaurants to try offered by local experts who know their turf. The site is run by British Airways, but I didn't get a sense that this affected the information. What's hot: The "Twinning Places" feature takes one location or attraction from one city and pairs it with its across-the-pond counterpart.

If all had gone according to plan, California Republicans would have been rubbing elbows with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the swank Nicollet Island Pavilion in Minneapolis. But the Governator, who supports the McCain-Palin GOP presidential ticket, was a no-show. Citing wrangling over the budget as his priority -- putting state first -- the governor stayed in Sacramento. To help delegates to the Republican National Convention suffering from possible Arnold withdrawal, state party officials handed out DVDs of movies that Schwarzenegger starred in over the years, including "Conan," "Terminator 3," "Junior" and "Kindergarten Cop."

Hurricane Gustav rained on the Republicans' parade Sunday, dampening the mood among delegates from states on the Gulf Coast and far away. Many long-planned welcoming receptions went on -- subdued by several notches -- at bars, hotels and ballrooms around the Twin Cities on Sunday night, as delegates adjusted to the new and unexpectedly somber tone. "There's disappointment from this standpoint: Most people came with the expectation of a celebratory convention," said Philip Bryan, spokesman for the Alabama Republican Party.

As a life-long Twin Cities resident, I can say that Christopher Reynolds' article "Minnesota's Grand Old Party" [Aug. 24] is the best summary of Twin Cities hot spots I have ever seen. I will print out his article and give it to visitors I know for years to come. Good work! Chris Dolan St. Paul, Minn.

So, you're a straight-talking political maverick, you're coming to town and you want everybody's full attention. Sorry, Mr. Ventura. Your 15 minutes are up. But welcome, Sen. John McCain. As Republicans prepare to gather here a week from today to nominate you as their presidential candidate, allow me to draw upon nearly five full days of boots-on-the-ground experience to offer a few Twin Cities visitor tips. The natives are known as St. Paulites and Minneapolitans.

About a thousand protesters descended on the small community of Postville, decrying the raid of a meatpacking plant that led to the arrest of nearly 400 residents and calling for a change in federal immigration policies. Postville, a town of about 2,200 in the northeastern part of the state, was pushed to the forefront of a national debate when federal immigration officials raided Agriprocessors -- the nation's biggest kosher meatpacking plant -- in May in the largest raid of its kind in the U.S. Most of those arrested were Guatemalan and Mexican nationals.

About a thousand protesters descended on the small community of Postville, decrying the raid of a meatpacking plant that led to the arrest of nearly 400 residents and calling for a change in federal immigration policies. Postville, a town of about 2,200 in the northeastern part of the state, was pushed to the forefront of a national debate when federal immigration officials raided Agriprocessors -- the nation's biggest kosher meatpacking plant -- in May in the largest raid of its kind in the U.S. Most of those arrested were Guatemalan and Mexican nationals.

An autistic man who disappeared a week ago from a Grantsburg camp for the disabled and who relies on medication after a kidney transplant was found alive in the woods, authorities said. Keith Kennedy, 25, of Shoreview, Minn., was weakened but safe. He was flown to the University of Minnesota hospital in the Twin Cities. Searchers had feared that Kennedy, who can speak only four words, might suffer a medical crisis without the anti-rejection drugs he has taken since his transplant in 1995.