Tag: verification

To place an obituary, please include the information from the obituary checklist below in an email to obits@pioneerpress. com. There is no option to place them through our website at this time. Feel free to contact our obituary desk at 651-228-5263 with any questions. General Information: Your full name, Address (City, State, Zip Code), Phone number, And an alternate phone number (if any) Obituary Specification: Name of Deceased, Obituary Text, A photo in a JPEG or PDF file is preferable, TIF and other files are accepted, we will contact you if there are any issues with the photo. Ad Run dates There is a discount for running more than one day, but this must be scheduled on the first run date to apply. If a photo is used, it must be used for both days for the discount to apply, contact us for more information. Policies: Verification of Death: In order to publish obituaries a name and phone number of funeral home/cremation society is required. We must contact the funeral home/cremation society handling the arrangements during their business hours to verify the death. If the body of the deceased has been donated to the University of Minnesota Anatomy Bequest Program, or a similar program, their phone number is required for verification. Please allow enough time to contact them especially during their limited weekend hours. A death certificate is also acceptable for this purpose but only one of these two options are necessary. Guestbook and Outside Websites: We are not allowed to reference other media sources with a guestbook or an obituary placed elsewhere when placing an obituary in print and online. We may place a website for a funeral home or a family email for contact instead; contact us with any questions regarding this matter. Obituary Process: Once your submission is completed, we will fax or email a proof for review prior to publication in the newspaper. This proof includes price and days the notice is scheduled to appear. Please review the proof carefully. We must be notified of errors or changes before the notice appears in the Pioneer Press based on each day’s deadlines. After publication, we will not be responsible for errors that may occur after final proofing. Online: Changes to an online obituary can be handled through the obituary desk. Call us with further questions. Payment Procedure: Pre-payment is required for all obituary notices prior to publication by the deadline specified below in our deadline schedule. Please call 651-228-5263 with your payment information after you have received the proof and approved its contents. Credit Card: Payment accepted by phone only due to PCI (Payment Card Industry) regulations EFT: Check by phone. Please provide your routing number and account number. Rates: The minimum charge is $162 for the first 12 lines. Every line after the first 12 is $12. If the ad is under 12 lines it will be charged the minimum rate of $162. Obituaries including more than 40 lines will receive a 7. 5% discount per line. On a second run date, receive a 20% discount off both the first and second placement. Place three obituaries and the third placement will be free of charge. Each photo published is $125 per day. For example: 2 photos in the paper on 2 days would be 4 photo charges at $500. Deadlines: Please follow deadline times to ensure your obituary is published on the day requested. Hours Deadline (no exceptions) Ad Photos MEMORIAM (NON-OBITUARY) REQUEST Unlike an obituary, Memoriam submissions are remembrances of a loved one who has passed. The rates for a memoriam differ from obituaries. Please call or email us for more memoriam information Please call 651-228-5280 for more information. HOURS: Monday Friday 8: 00AM 5: 00PM (CLOSED WEEKENDS and HOLIDAYS).
https://www.twincities.com/2025/11/25/mizutani-sam-darnold-jj-mccarthy-minnesota-vikings-quaterback-decision/

To place an obituary, please include the information from the obituary checklist below in an email to obits@pioneerpress. com. There is no option to place them through our website at this time. Feel free to contact our obituary desk at 651-228-5263 with any questions. General Information: Your full name, Address (City, State, Zip Code), Phone number, And an alternate phone number (if any) Obituary Specification: Name of Deceased, Obituary Text, A photo in a JPEG or PDF file is preferable, TIF and other files are accepted, we will contact you if there are any issues with the photo. Ad Run dates There is a discount for running more than one day, but this must be scheduled on the first run date to apply. If a photo is used, it must be used for both days for the discount to apply, contact us for more information. Policies: Verification of Death: In order to publish obituaries a name and phone number of funeral home/cremation society is required. We must contact the funeral home/cremation society handling the arrangements during their business hours to verify the death. If the body of the deceased has been donated to the University of Minnesota Anatomy Bequest Program, or a similar program, their phone number is required for verification. Please allow enough time to contact them especially during their limited weekend hours. A death certificate is also acceptable for this purpose but only one of these two options are necessary. Guestbook and Outside Websites: We are not allowed to reference other media sources with a guestbook or an obituary placed elsewhere when placing an obituary in print and online. We may place a website for a funeral home or a family email for contact instead; contact us with any questions regarding this matter. Obituary Process: Once your submission is completed, we will fax or email a proof for review prior to publication in the newspaper. This proof includes price and days the notice is scheduled to appear. Please review the proof carefully. We must be notified of errors or changes before the notice appears in the Pioneer Press based on each day’s deadlines. After publication, we will not be responsible for errors that may occur after final proofing. Online: Changes to an online obituary can be handled through the obituary desk. Call us with further questions. Payment Procedure: Pre-payment is required for all obituary notices prior to publication by the deadline specified below in our deadline schedule. Please call 651-228-5263 with your payment information after you have received the proof and approved its contents. Credit Card: Payment accepted by phone only due to PCI (Payment Card Industry) regulations EFT: Check by phone. Please provide your routing number and account number. Rates: The minimum charge is $162 for the first 12 lines. Every line after the first 12 is $12. If the ad is under 12 lines it will be charged the minimum rate of $162. Obituaries including more than 40 lines will receive a 7. 5% discount per line. On a second run date, receive a 20% discount off both the first and second placement. Place three obituaries and the third placement will be free of charge. Each photo published is $125 per day. For example: 2 photos in the paper on 2 days would be 4 photo charges at $500. Deadlines: Please follow deadline times to ensure your obituary is published on the day requested. Hours Deadline (no exceptions) Ad Photos MEMORIAM (NON-OBITUARY) REQUEST Unlike an obituary, Memoriam submissions are remembrances of a loved one who has passed. The rates for a memoriam differ from obituaries. Please call or email us for more memoriam information Please call 651-228-5280 for more information. HOURS: Monday Friday 8: 00AM 5: 00PM (CLOSED WEEKENDS and HOLIDAYS).
https://www.twincities.com/2025/11/23/sec-kristi-noem-hands-out-10000-bonus-checks-to-minnesota-tsa-workers-and-announces-increased-funding/

At this year’s Nativity County Fair, a fundraising bonanza that could teach the city of St. Paul a thing or two about money, Kaohly Her was an affable attendee. She appeared unannounced, engaged, and forthright. One fellow told me he could have been knocked over with a feather, as she not only answered his questions but did so without cloying staff or factotums trying to hustle her away for a merry-go-round ride or something similarly safer than talking to an actual voter.

Her is not one of her pronouns—that’s her name.

State Rep. Kaohly Her will be St. Paul’s new mayor, the city’s 55th since Thomas R. Potts kicked us off in 1850. Everything has gone swimmingly. Her won smoothly and without contention. Mayor Melvin Carter was ramrod straight and dignified in his concession.

Her was once one of Carter’s policy advisers, of whom he had many. Perhaps Her can trim the heft from a mayor’s office that has grown preposterously bloated with too many assistants to the assistants. Pinch me, but by all accounts, Her is a detail person who embraces the unglamorous nitty-gritty of trying to make things work.

There is a more important reason to believe that Her is just what the doctor, or our city’s current condition, has ordered. She is 52. She fled Laos with her family 50 years ago. She spent time in refugee camps.

It has been reported that her family moved to Chicago, followed relatives to Wisconsin, and then joined Her’s maternal grandparents in St. Paul. The family prospered in St. Paul. Yes, prospered—as in did not wish to accept anything less. They bought houses for a dollar each under a city program and turned a profit. Her’s dad got a college degree. Kaohly went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

She had a 15-year career in the banking industry, living in Chicago and Maryland before returning to St. Paul after her second child was born. According to the Star Tribune, Her and her husband saved aggressively and invested in land and housing. She lives on Summit Avenue, and the family owns a hobby farm in Stillwater.

Pinch me.

In other words, Kaohly Her is not a professional activist. She has worked and succeeded in the real world. She believes others can as well. She is not a socialist. She apparently doesn’t recite a constant litany of despair, oppression, or victimization that she would intend for other people to pay for.

It’s easy to sense that she doesn’t suffer fools gladly or in any other way. Nobody, certainly in the last 50 years, has come into the mayor’s office with such a history of non-political success. She is heavily invested in the city as a homeowner.

She has to understand that St. Paul cannot survive the constant property-tax increases. She must understand that spending must be brought under control, that government not only must work, but that its employees must show up for work.

A fellow can really let the fantasy off the leash about that farm. That means that Her owns stuff and knows how to use stuff. They probably have a tractor and shovels and a lawn mower, pitchforks and a couple of ladders. She not only goes to the hardware store, but maybe even likes going to the hardware store. She is leading the life of a regular person.

This is actually a shock to the system. St. Paul and Minneapolis are governed by young people, some of whom haven’t done anything except attend gender-issue seminars and anti-police rallies.

And along comes a mayoral candidate who only got into the race in August, who saw her city in decline and decided to do something about it: encourage business growth of any size, trim spending, demand results and accountability from the people she puts in place, wave to a cop once in a while.

Happy days might not be here yet, but the city at least has a chance.

Joe Soucheray can be reached at jsoucheray@pioneerpress.com.

Soucheray’s “Garage Logic” podcast can be heard at garagelogic.com.
https://www.twincities.com/2025/11/08/joe-soucheray-seems-mayor-to-be-kaohly-her-brings-regard-for-detail-and-private-success-pinch-me/

To place an obituary with the Pioneer Press, please email the required information to obits@pioneerpress.com. At this time, obituaries cannot be placed through our website. For questions, contact our obituary desk at 651-228-5263.

**Obituary Submission Checklist**

**General Information**
– Your full name
– Address (City, State, Zip Code)
– Phone number
– Alternate phone number (if any)

**Obituary Specification**
– Name of deceased
– Obituary text
– Photo (JPEG or PDF preferred; TIF and other formats accepted. We will contact you if there are any issues.)
– Ad run dates (Discounts available for multi-day placements—must be scheduled on the first run date. If a photo is used, it must run both days for the discount to apply. Contact us for more details.)

**Policies**

**Verification of Death**
– To publish obituaries, the name and phone number of the funeral home or cremation society handling arrangements is required. We will contact them during business hours to verify the death.
– If the body was donated for medical research (e.g., University of Minnesota Anatomy Bequest Program), their phone number is required for verification.
– A death certificate is also acceptable for this purpose; only one verification is necessary.
– Please allow adequate time, especially for weekend submissions due to limited hours.

**Guestbook and Website Policy**
– References to other media sources with a guestbook or obituary placed elsewhere are not allowed in print or online notices.
– We may include a funeral home website or a family email for contact. Contact us with any questions.

**Obituary Process**
– After submission, you’ll receive a proof by fax or email for review before publication. This proof includes the price and scheduled run dates.
– Review the proof carefully and notify us of errors or changes before the publication deadline.
– After publication, we cannot be responsible for errors not addressed during proofing.

**Online Obituaries**
– Changes to online obituaries can be made by contacting the obituary desk.

**Payment Procedure**
– Pre-payment is required prior to publication by the specified deadline.
– After you approve your proof, call 651-228-5263 with payment information.

**Accepted Payment Methods**
– Credit Card (phone only, per PCI regulations)
– Electronic Funds Transfer (check by phone; provide routing and account numbers)

**Rates**
– Minimum charge: $162 for the first 12 lines. Each additional line: $12.
– Under 12 lines: Minimum rate applies.
– Over 40 lines: 7.5% discount per line.
– Second run date: 20% discount off both placements.
– Place three obituaries: third placement free.
– Photo: $125 per day. E.g., two photos for two days = four photo charges ($500).

**Deadlines**
– Please adhere to deadline times to guarantee publication on your requested date.
– Office hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM (closed weekends and holidays).

**Memoriam Notices**
– Memoriams are remembrances, not obituaries. Rates differ from standard obituaries.
– For more information, call 651-228-5280 or email memoriams@pioneerpress.com.

—

# College Hockey Update: Injuries Shape Early Season Standings

OMAHA, Neb. — Significant injuries are impacting the early college hockey season, shaping pre-Christmas standings and testing teams’ depth.

**Key Injuries Across the Nation**
– **UND Fighting Hawks**: Josh Zakreski is out long-term after surgery.
– **Penn State**: Hobey Baker Award finalist Aiden Fink will be sidelined until the second semester.
– **St. Cloud State**: Top-pair defenseman Tanner Henricks will miss three months after an injury suffered in a collision with his own brother, Western Michigan forward Ty Henricks. Tanner was on Team USA’s radar for the World Junior Championship.
– **Western Michigan**: Defending NCAA champions are playing without NHL draft pick defensemen Joona Väisänen and Zack Sharp. While Sharp is nearing a return, Väisänen, a Pittsburgh Penguins pick, is expected to be out long-term.
– **Colorado College**: Philippe Blais-Savoie may return in 2–3 weeks, but Max Burkholder is out long-term.
– **Michigan**: Freshman Henry Mews, sixth in NCAA defensemen scoring, is out for the season.

Other teams are navigating shorter-term absences:
– **Boston University**: First-round pick Cole Eiserman is out.
– **Boston College**: Andre Gasseau and Oskar Jellvik are both sidelined.

**Minnesota Struggles with Depth**
The University of Minnesota, with only 14 forwards for the fourth straight season (including a Division-III transfer as the 14th forward), has seen the strategy backfire. Injuries to forwards Teddy Townsend, Tanner Ludtke, and August Falloon forced defenseman Axel Begley to play up front, while a blue-line injury to Cal Thomas thinned the defense.

Currently 2-7-1 ahead of their series with Notre Dame, the Gophers have struggled to generate offense; they’ve been held under 20 shots in each of five October games—matching the total from the previous five seasons.

Other struggling teams include:
– **Boston University (3-5-1) and Boston College (2-4-1)**, two of three Hockey East teams below .500.
– **Western Michigan**, conceding 10 goals in a series for the first time since December 2022.
– **Colorado College**, swept at home by Omaha.

The early season is highlighting the importance of roster depth, with teams relying on players who began the season as the 13th–15th forwards and 7th–9th defensemen.

—

## Player Spotlight: Ollie Josephson

UND freshman Ollie Josephson, a fourth-round pick of the Seattle Kraken, faced skepticism for leaving the Canadian Hockey League for college hockey. However, Josephson tallied four points last weekend against a top-10 team and was named the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s rookie of the week. He has played in all situations—5-on-5, power play, penalty kill, 6-on-5, and 3-on-3—demonstrating his readiness.

## Omaha’s Jersey Woes

Omaha wore home white jerseys on the road at Colorado College due to a lack of road jerseys, possibly lost when shipping containers fell into the sea off Long Beach, California. Road uniforms are being lettered, and the team hopes to have them ready for next week’s series at Minnesota Duluth.

## Brandon Holt’s SportsCenter Highlight

Brandon Holt, former Grand Forks Central defenseman and now a Maine senior, landed at No. 2 on ESPN’s SportsCenter after scoring an overtime winner vs. Boston University—then falling through the open door during his celebration. Holt has nine points in his last five games, trailing only two defensemen nationally in points.

—

## Quick Hits

– UND traveled to Omaha by bus this year, departing Wednesday and stopping in Sioux Falls for a 40-minute mall break. The team practiced at Ralph Engelstad Arena before leaving, and at Baxter Arena on Thursday, ending with a shootout won by the goaltenders for the first time this season.
– UND’s Josh Zakreski did not make the trip.
– UND commit Brock Schultz, a former East Grand Forks Senior High forward, was traded from Waterloo Black Hawks to Sioux Falls Stampede this week.
– UND commit Ethan MacKenzie now ranks second in scoring among Western Hockey League defensemen, trailing only future first-rounder Ryan Lin. MacKenzie (coming to UND next fall) has 20 points in 19 games.
– UND forward recruit Eli McKamey was Team Canada’s Player of the Game in their World Under-17 Challenge opener, impressive after missing most of last season due to injury.

—

For further updates and information, please contact the respective departments or check back for upcoming coverage.
https://www.twincities.com/2025/11/07/schlossman-college-hockey-major-injuries/

To place an obituary, please email the following information to obits@pioneerpress.com. At this time, obituary submissions cannot be made through our website. For any questions, feel free to contact our obituary desk at 651-228-5263.

**General Information Required:**
– Your full name
– Address (City, State, Zip Code)
– Phone number
– Alternate phone number (if available)

**Obituary Specifications:**
– Name of the deceased
– Obituary text
– Photo in JPEG or PDF format is preferable; TIF and other file types are accepted. We will contact you if there are any issues with the photo.
– Ad run dates
– Discounts are available for multi-day runs but must be scheduled at the first run date to apply.
– If a photo is included, it must be used on all days to qualify for the discount. Contact us for more information.

**Policies:**

*Verification of Death*
To publish an obituary, we require the name and phone number of the funeral home or cremation society handling the arrangements. We must contact them during business hours to verify the death.
– If the deceased’s body was donated to the University of Minnesota Anatomy Bequest Program or a similar program, provide their phone number for verification.
– Please allow sufficient time for us to contact them, especially during limited weekend hours.
– Alternatively, a death certificate is acceptable for verification; only one of these options is necessary.

*Guestbook and Outside Websites*
We cannot reference other media sources, guestbooks, or obituaries placed elsewhere in print or online. We may include a funeral home website or a family email for contact instead. Please contact us with any questions.

**Obituary Process:**
After submission, we will fax or email a proof for your review prior to publication. The proof includes pricing and scheduled appearance dates.
– Please review the proof carefully and notify us of any errors or changes before publication deadlines.
– We are not responsible for errors after final proofing and publication.
– Changes to online obituaries may be requested through the obituary desk.

**Payment Procedure:**
Pre-payment is required before publication by the specified deadlines. After approving the proof, please call 651-228-5263 to provide payment information.
– Payment by credit card is accepted by phone only due to PCI regulations.
– EFT payments can be made by phone; please provide routing and account numbers.

**Rates:**
– Minimum charge is $162 for the first 12 lines.
– Each additional line after the first 12 is $12. An ad under 12 lines is charged the minimum $162.
– Obituaries over 40 lines receive a 7.5% discount per line.
– A 20% discount applies to both first and second placements for a second run date.
– Place three obituaries and the third ad will be free.
– Each photo published costs $125 per day. For example, 2 photos run on 2 days equals 4 photo charges totaling $500.

**Deadlines:**
Please adhere strictly to deadline times to ensure publication on the requested date.

**Memoriam (Non-Obituary) Requests:**
Unlike obituaries, memoriam submissions are remembrances of a loved one. Rates differ. Please call 651-228-5280 or email memoriams@pioneerpress.com for more information.

**Hours:** Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Closed weekends and holidays).

—

**Gerrymandering and Its Political Impact**

The gerrymandering doom spiral is gaining downward momentum as expected. Virginia is poised to become the second state, after California, where Democrats seek to undo reforms that removed partisan control from redistricting.

In response to Republican power grabs in other states—especially Texas, where the GOP initiated nationwide partisan conflicts this summer to protect its slim House majority—Democrats currently hold six of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats, reflecting the state’s evenly divided electorate.

By calling a special session, Democrats aim to gain an additional two or three districts through aggressive map redrawing.

California’s redistricting effort will be decided by voters through a special ballot initiative on November 4. Democrats there, who consider themselves defenders of democracy, argue that the only acceptable response to Texas’s “election rigging” is to rig elections themselves. Polls indicate that more than 60% of likely voters support this logic, making Proposition 50 appear likely to pass.

Last month, North Carolina Republicans pushed through a map expected to help their party gain one more seat in next year’s midterms. Missouri Republicans did the same earlier.

Despite confident claims by partisan analysts about redistricting’s effect on Congress’s balance, the outcome remains uncertain. Texas’s efforts might not yield enough seats to stop a possible Democratic wave, nor is a Democratic wave guaranteed, even if historically typical.

Recent political trends suggest caution, especially as young Hispanic and African American men have increasingly moved toward Republicans.

Texas’s mid-decade gerrymandering could backfire on the GOP, considering California is more solidly blue than Texas is red. It could also result in a wash, with broader political trends playing a larger role.

There is also potential for voter backlash against overt partisanship, which could boost Democrats in Texas, where competitive gubernatorial and Senate races loom.

Ultimately, the biggest losers in these changes are voters. By the midterms next year, there will be fewer competitive districts where candidates must genuinely appeal to Americans, particularly independents.

Credit goes to Republican legislators in Indiana and Kansas who have resisted national pressure to gerrymander their states—at least for now. It is unfortunate that many others, including Democrats in Virginia, compromise principles for perceived short-term partisan gain.

— The Washington Post
https://www.twincities.com/2025/11/02/other-voices-gerrymanderings-slippery-slope/

**How to Place an Obituary with Pioneer Press**

To place an obituary, please send an email including the necessary information (detailed below) to **obits@pioneerpress.com**. At this time, there is no option to submit obituaries through our website.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our obituary desk at **651-228-5263**.

—

### General Information Required
– Your full name
– Address (City, State, Zip Code)
– Phone number
– Alternate phone number (if any)

—

### Obituary Specifications
– Name of the deceased
– Obituary text
– A photo file (JPEG or PDF preferred; TIF and other formats accepted). We will contact you if there are any issues with the photo.
– Ad run dates

*Note:* There is a discount for running the obituary more than one day, but this must be scheduled at the time of the first run. If a photo is included, it must be used on all days to qualify for the discount. Please contact us for more information.

—

### Policies

#### Verification of Death
To publish obituaries, the name and phone number of the funeral home or cremation society handling the arrangements is required. We must contact them during business hours to verify the death.

– If the deceased’s body was donated to the University of Minnesota Anatomy Bequest Program or a similar program, their contact number is required for verification.
– Please allow extra time for contact, especially during limited weekend hours.
– A death certificate is also acceptable for verification (only one of these two options is necessary).

#### Guestbook and Outside Websites
We do **not** allow references to other media sources with guestbooks or obituaries placed elsewhere when submitting notices for print and online. Instead, we may include a funeral home website or family email contact. Please contact us if you have questions about this.

—

### Obituary Process
Once your submission is complete, we will fax or email you a proof prior to newspaper publication. The proof will include pricing and scheduled publication dates.

– Please review the proof carefully.
– Notify us of any errors or changes **before** the obituary appears, adhering to daily deadlines.
– We are not responsible for errors after the final proofing or post-publication corrections.

For changes to an online obituary after publication, please contact the obituary desk.

—

### Payment Procedure
Pre-payment is required before publication and must be made by the specified deadline.

– After you receive and approve the proof, call **651-228-5263** to provide your payment details.
– Payments accepted by phone only due to PCI (Payment Card Industry) regulations.

**Payment methods include:**
– Credit card (by phone only)
– Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) by phone (please provide routing and account numbers)

—

### Rates
– Minimum charge: $162 for up to 12 lines.
– Each additional line (beyond 12 lines) is $12 per line.
– Obituaries over 40 lines receive a 7.5% discount per line.
– Second run date: 20% discount on both placements.
– Place three obituaries, and the third placement is free of charge.
– Each photo published is $125 per day. For example, 2 photos run for 2 days equals 4 photo charges totaling $500.

—

### Deadlines
Please adhere strictly to deadline times to ensure publication on your requested day.

**Hours:** Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Closed weekends and holidays).

—

### Memoriam (Non-Obituary) Requests
Memoriam submissions are remembrances of loved ones and are priced differently than obituaries.

For more information regarding memoriam ads, please call **651-228-5280** or email us.

—

Thank you for choosing Pioneer Press to honor your loved one’s memory.
https://www.twincities.com/2025/11/02/today-in-history-november-2-howard-hughes-takes-spruce-goose-on-its-only-flight/

To place an obituary, please include the information from the obituary checklist below in an email to obits@pioneerpress.com. There is no option to place obituaries through our website. Feel free to contact our obituary desk at 651-228-5263 with any questions.

**General Information:**
– Your full name
– Address (City, State, Zip Code)
– Phone number
– Alternate phone number (if any)

**Obituary Specifications:**
– Name of Deceased
– Obituary Text
– A photo in a JPEG or PDF file is preferable; TIF and other files are accepted. We will contact you if there are any issues with the photo.
– Ad Run Dates

There is a discount for running more than one day, but this must be scheduled on the first run date to apply. If a photo is used, it must be used for both days for the discount to apply. Please contact us for more information.

**Policies:**

**Verification of Death:**
To publish obituaries, a name and phone number of the funeral home or cremation society handling the arrangements is required. We must contact them during their business hours to verify the death.

If the deceased’s body has been donated to the University of Minnesota Anatomy Bequest Program or a similar program, their phone number is required for verification. Please allow enough time to contact them, especially during limited weekend hours.

A death certificate is also acceptable for this purpose. Only one of these two options is necessary.

**Guestbook and Outside Websites:**
We are not allowed to reference other media sources with a guestbook or an obituary placed elsewhere when placing an obituary both in print and online. However, we may place a website for a funeral home or a family email for contact instead. Please contact us with any questions regarding this matter.

**Obituary Process:**
Once your submission is complete, we will fax or email a proof for your review prior to publication. This proof will include pricing and the scheduled days the notice will appear.

Please review the proof carefully and notify us of any errors or changes before the notice appears in the Pioneer Press, based on each day’s deadlines. After publication, we will not be responsible for errors that occur after final proofing.

**Online:**
Changes to an online obituary can be handled through the obituary desk. Call us with further questions.

**Payment Procedure:**
Pre-payment is required for all obituary notices prior to publication by the deadlines specified in our schedule.

After you receive the proof and approve its contents, please call 651-228-5263 with your payment information.

**Payment methods:**
– Credit Card: Payment accepted by phone only due to PCI (Payment Card Industry) regulations.
– EFT: Check by phone (Please provide routing and account number).
– Cash: Accepted at our front counter Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM.

**Rates:**
– Minimum charge: $162 for the first 10 lines.
– Every line after the first 10 is $12.20.
– If the ad is under 10 lines, it will be charged the minimum rate of $162.
– On a second run date, lines are $8.20 per line starting with the first line.
– For example, if the first run date was 20 lines, the cost would be $164.
– Each photo published is $125 per day. For example, 2 photos in the paper on 2 days would be 4 photo charges at $500.

**Deadlines:**
Please follow deadline times carefully to ensure your obituary is published on the requested day.

**Hours and Deadline (No Exceptions):**
– Ad Photos
– Please inquire for specific deadline times.

**Memoriam (Non-Obituary) Requests:**
Unlike an obituary, Memoriam submissions are remembrances of a loved one who has passed. The rates for a memoriam differ from obituaries.

Please call or email us for more information:
Phone: 651-228-5280
Email: memoriams@pioneerpress.com

**Office Hours:**
Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
(Closed on weekends and holidays)
https://www.twincities.com/2025/10/29/japan-us-defense/

When Brandi Carlile woke up in an unfamiliar barn one morning last fall, she was a little lost, more than a little hungover, and feeling unexpectedly, profoundly alone. She had arrived the day after her final Joni Jam, the epic series of concerts that Carlile had helped orchestrate at the Hollywood Bowl with the long-elusive Joni Mitchell, one of her longtime heroes, alongside a constellation of rock and pop luminaries.

The performances capped a period of incandescent ascent for Carlile, the singer-songwriter with the golden-ranging voice, 11 Grammys, and a sideline as an icon whisperer. Her musical idols—Sir Elton John among them—were now her regular-phone-call besties. She had a devoted wife and two daughters, a family compound stuffed with loved ones, and an acclaimed supergroup.

She was, in almost every respect, at the top of the mountain: “I had done everything,” she said. “Twenty-five years of career-development work, in five or six years.” And yet, she was also at “a breaking point, where I realized I had sort of totally forgotten how to stand on my own two feet.”

In that rural refuge in upstate New York, she wrote a poem that captured her mood: “Why is it heroic to untether? / How is alone some holy grail?” It was a song. And a midlife crisis. The verses became “Returning to Myself,” the title track off her new album, due Oct. 24.

She started it with Aaron Dessner of The National—the man with the barn studio—the first time they’d worked together, and he later pulled in his pal Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. The result is a sound that pinpricks her usual plaintive guitars and orchestral strings with occasional distortion and delay.

Except for one song, she is the only vocalist; the background harmonies are just her protean voice, stacked on top of itself. The project and the new collaborators “put me in a really permissive space, sonically,” she said. “But it didn’t feel new. It felt really old. Like back to my very beginnings, when I first started writing songs, and the way I first felt living outside of Seattle.”

At 44, Carlile, who grew up and still lives in rural Washington, has been a bandleader for more than a quarter-century; the symbiosis of writing with her bandmates, particularly twin guitarists Phil and Tim Hanseroth, was ingrained. This record, she started on her own, to tunnel into her story herself.

It is, in her words, a turning-point album, modeled after Lucinda Williams’s “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road,” or Emmylou Harris’ “Wrecking Ball.” It has the luster and confidence of an artist realizing her prime, finding memory and maturity in the lyrics.

“I’m not scared at all about what people think about the album,” she said. “I’m way past that, and I’ve never felt that way before putting out music.”

We were lounging, one recent afternoon, in a greenroom at Electric Lady, the storied Greenwich Village recording studio, where Carlile had just played her album for invited guests. Sipping an espresso martini and rife with anecdotes, she mouthed the words and pounded along to the beats (“I know every drum fill, every tom hit”).

Cross-legged from her club chair, she nonchalantly seduced the whole audience. Later, when she had at last been pried by her wife, Catherine Shepherd, from greeting everyone in the room, Carlile plopped onto a couch and put her feet, in white Chucks, up.

She wore jeans and a Valentino tweed jacket, decorated with stylist-supplied pins and one of her own: a tiny silver guitar with working strings, a gift from John. When she removed the blazer, she morphed from rock star into real-life Brandi Carlile, complete with a hole in her T-shirt.

When she was younger, Carlile said, she had “tunnel vision. I couldn’t even carry on a conversation with you unless we were talking about music and my ambition. But now it’s really diversified. I feel like I’m a more balanced and centered woman, at this age.”

In a nearly two-hour conversation, I saw them both: the far-reaching artist, with a bestselling memoir, who has built a brand and multiple music festivals propelling herself creatively; and the local Pacific Northwest mother (her daughters are 7 and 11) who lives near the elementary school she attended, relishes grocery shopping and cooking, and spends as much of her time as possible on the water, crabbing, shrimping, and catching rockfish and halibut.

(She may be knuckle-deep in fish guts, but her boat is named Captain Fantastic, à la John’s 1975 album.)

In neither case is she a loner; she and her bandmates, who have married into her and her wife’s families, live in a bohemian utopia of communal child-rearing and music-making, yards apart in the wooded foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

Carlile has refused to pave the path leading to her home, “because,” she said, “that sound of car wheels on a gravel road means somebody’s coming. And whatever’s happening in the day, it’s about to change.”

That made her solo foray all the more rare, and at least at the beginning unsettling for her. But lyrically, it worked. “It was just coming, all fully formed like she’s tapping into some ancient thread of consciousness,” said Dessner, a go-to for cinematic, emotionally driven compositions, and a regular producer for Taylor Swift since “Folklore.”

“Musically, for me, it’s always really interesting when people are in transition,” he added. Carlile had long been on his wish list.

“She’s incredibly personable and magnetic, but she also has these legitimate artistic gifts,” he said. “She’s just one of those singular voices in music.”

In the studio and out, he found her unusually open. “A lot of artists are more cagey,” he said. “Brandi is very much about community and building connections.”

One of her sparks was attending Lilith Fair, Sarah McLachlan’s all-women music fest, as a teenager. It inspired Girls Just Wanna, an annual weekend-long showcase of female and nonbinary artists—many of them queer—that Carlile has programmed in Mexico since 2019.

(Between her band and her friends, “I travel there every year with 28 kids,” Carlile said. “Their sunscreen will never be topped up more.”)

McLachlan, who performed in 2024, called it “a well-run, inclusive, joyous festival.”

“Her ability to manage so much at once with such grace is inspiring,” she said of Carlile.

Outside of her own career-making songs like “The Joke,” an anthemic ballad for the persecuted, and “The Story,” a soaring love song, Carlile is known for her collaborations as a vocalist and producer.

She has duetted with a pantheon of rock, country, folk, and pop stars, including John; “Who Believes in Angels?,” their album together, was released in April.

In 2019, as a producer, she helped coax rabble-rousing country star Tanya Tucker into a comeback record. It won two Grammys, including best country album.

When Carlile gets involved with an artist she loves, “I’m obsessed,” she said. “I see the whole path, from the first downbeat to the Grammy.”

(She is the rare artist for whom having a big Grammy night six albums deep into her career proved trajectory-changing.)

Producing a record for the country singer Brandy Clark, she said, “I would stay up, beat myself up at night,” worrying about Clark and “how she does interviews and whether or not she gives herself enough credit as a songwriter.”

(Their admonishing crooner, “Dear Insecurity,” also won a Grammy last year.)

Carlile’s most notable pairing has been with Mitchell, the 81-year-old folk legend. When they met, six or so years ago, Carlile said that Mitchell, who was recovering from a debilitating 2015 brain aneurysm, seemed to believe that culture had passed her by—that music fans “didn’t appreciate” her, Carlile said.

“Not just that, but they didn’t even like her.” That misinterpretation was enough, Carlile said, to galvanize her into arranging what became an astonishing run of performances hailing Mitchell, who sang, robustly and delightedly, from her throne-like chair.

It was, Carlile said, “me getting the front-row seat to a miracle.”

It ended because it had to; Mitchell’s music is such a draw, Carlile said, that if the concerts didn’t stop, “I would just do that.”

But Mitchell herself was onto other things, like her paintings and a planned biopic.

“The less she wants to do it,” Carlile said of the Joni Jams, “the happier I am for her.” She still visits, when she has the fortitude.

“Joni will drink your ass under the table,” Carlile vowed. “She’s really burly; people don’t know.”

On “Returning to Myself,” there’s a sweet and funny, sax-spiked ode to her, called “Joni,” that celebrates her as “a wild woman.”

(One of Mitchell’s favorite places to party, Carlile said, is around a tombstone she owns in Hollywood—she’ll turn up there with a picnic of sandwiches and Champagne to dance, with friends, on her own grave.)

When Carlile played her the song, she said, Mitchell only laughed in unexpected places.

“And when it was over, she just said, ‘You [expletive].’ But she was beaming.”

The Hanseroth twins, who are 50 and have been inseparably working with Carlile since she was 18, had no expectation that they would be making another album so soon after the Elton and Joni trains stopped.

Shepherding all those other projects, alongside her own career, Carlile “just seemed really spent,” Tim Hanseroth said, in a joint phone interview with his brother.

Then again, he added, “she operates at a high level of performance, not like the rest of us do. She’s kind of a machine that way.”

Onstage, though, she can still be walloped by emotions.

“When I first walked out onstage at Madison Square Garden, I cried,” she said.

In the listening session, the achingly tender “You Without Me,” about the moment a parent realizes their child’s fledgling independence, made me weep.

“About half the time when I sing it, I have to, like, go to another place,” she said. “And if I look out and I see another woman crying while I’m singing it, it’s like, that’s it.”

(The track had originally appeared on her album with John, and he suggested it for this one. “Get that [expletive] banjo off!” he demanded, of the song it replaced.)

When Carlile emerged from Long Pond, Dessner’s studio, with a clutch of nearly finished songs, she and her band high-tailed it to Los Angeles, where they worked with producer Andrew Watt, who’d also done the Carlile-John LP.

He and the introspective Dessner have almost comically opposing vibes.

“You don’t ever have to worry about what’s on his mind,” Tim Hanseroth said of Watt. “It’s coming out of his mouth half a second later which is great.”

Vernon’s drop-ins provided the finishing magic.

The first day, “He was wearing an Emmylou Harris ‘Wrecking Ball’ T-shirt,” Carlile said. “It was a sign.”

She described his contributions as “otherworldly.”

She is so glued to the material that she has, unusually, not been able to let it go.

The galvanizing political rocker “Church & State” had a spoken-word recitation from Thomas Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists. Performing it at the Red Rocks amphitheater in Colorado last month, she screamed that part.

“I decided I liked that better. So now I’m going to go in and record over the talking bit, and have it be screaming.”

(The crowd loved it.)

In “Returning to Myself,” Carlile wonders aloud about what it means to be solitary, asking, “Is it evolving turning inward?”

She made her exploration. What did she conclude? “I don’t think so,” she said. “I do think it is essential to learn how to be steady in yourself.”

But “aloneness is not necessary to find yourself.”

It’s just one starting point.
https://www.twincities.com/2025/10/26/brandi-carlile-climbed-musics-peak-then-she-had-to-start-over/