To place an obituary, please send an email including the following information to [email protected]. Please note, obituaries cannot be submitted through our website. For any questions, feel free to contact our obituary desk at 651-228-5263.
**General Information:**
– Your full name
– Address (City, State, Zip Code)
– Phone number
– Alternate phone number (if available)
**Obituary Specifications:**
– Name of the deceased
– Obituary text
– A photo in JPEG or PDF format is preferred; TIF and other formats may be accepted. We will contact you if there are any issues with the photo.
– Desired ad run dates
There is a discount available for running obituaries for more than one day; however, this must be scheduled at the time of the first run date. If a photo is included, it must be used on each day for the discount to apply. Contact us for more details.
**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 will 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 phone number is required for verification. Please allow enough time to contact these programs, especially during limited weekend hours.
Alternatively, a death certificate can be submitted for verification. Only one of these two verification methods is necessary.
**Guestbook and Outside Websites:**
We do not allow references to other media sources, guestbooks, or obituaries placed elsewhere when placing an obituary in our print and online editions. Funeral home websites or a family email address for contact are permitted. Contact us if you have questions about this.
**Obituary Process:**
Once your submission is completed, we will fax or email a proof for your review before publication. The proof will include the price and the scheduled days for the notice to appear. Please review it carefully and notify us of any errors or changes before the deadlines for publication. We cannot correct errors after the notice has appeared in the Pioneer Press.
**Online Changes:**
Changes to an online obituary can be handled through our obituary desk. Contact us with any questions.
**Payment Procedure:**
Pre-payment is required before publication, according to the deadline schedule. After receiving and approving the proof, please call 651-228-5263 to provide your payment information.
– **Credit Cards:** Payment accepted by phone only, due to PCI regulations.
– **EFT:** Payment by phone using routing and account numbers.
– **Cash:** Accepted at our front counter Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM.
**Rates:**
– Minimum charge: $162 for the first 10 lines.
– Each additional line after the first 10 costs $12.20 per line.
– If under 10 lines, the minimum $162 applies.
– On a second run date, each line costs $8.20 starting with the first line.
– Each photo published costs $125 per day.
For example:
If your first run ad is 20 lines, the cost would be $164. Two photos published for two days would result in four photo charges totaling $500.
**Deadlines:**
Please adhere to the deadline times to ensure your obituary is published on the requested date. No exceptions.
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### MEMORIAM (Non-Obituary) Request
Memoriam submissions are remembrances for loved ones who have passed and have different rates than obituaries. For more information or to submit a memoriam, please call 651-228-5280 or email [email protected].
**Hours:**
Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Closed weekends and holidays)
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### Lawsuit Over Federal Grant Conditions
The city of St. Paul has joined Minneapolis, Ramsey County, Chicago, Denver, Boston, and other jurisdictions in a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration. The suit challenges “unlawful and unrelated conditions” placed on more than $100 million in public safety and disaster grants.
Filed in federal court in Illinois and led by Chicago, the case revolves around grants administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). These grants support fire department staffing, port and transit security, flood prevention, and counter-terrorism efforts.
St. Paul faces the loss of $4 million in pending or awarded funds, including grants that cover about half the staffing in its Emergency Management department.
“St. Paul families and businesses pay billions in federal taxes,” said St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter. “We deserve support in a crisis, not a government that weaponizes government aid.”
**Administration Demands on DEI Initiatives**
According to the lawsuit, the Trump administration has required local governments to abandon diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and comply with related executive orders to qualify for these grants.
The lawsuit seeks to prevent DHS and FEMA from using these essential funds as leverage for unrelated political agendas. Plaintiffs argue the conditions are unconstitutional and exceed executive authority, falling outside congressional authorization.
“Congress has made federal funding of state and local governments’ emergency-management operations an essential linchpin in the systems that secure the nation,” states the lawsuit. “Without that funding, people across the country will face greater risk of suffering and death from disasters.”
Plaintiffs include St. Paul, Minneapolis, Ramsey County, Baltimore, Boston, Denver, New York City, and New Haven, Connecticut.
**“Force Multiplier” at Risk**
The lawsuit highlights that through mutual aid agreements, these agencies support neighboring cities and jurisdictions, acting as a “force multiplier” potentially threatened by these grant restrictions.
St. Paul allocates approximately $2.5 million annually from DHS funds to support firefighting equipment and training, emergency response, paramedic training, and terrorism prevention.
Currently, St. Paul’s Emergency Management department holds $2.7 million in active DHS grants, with an additional $804,000 pending. The city has applied for $3.09 million more and anticipates applying for $2.3 million within the next year.
Federal grants cover five of the nine city employees in the Emergency Management department and their equipment and training.
“These resources are life-saving investments,” said Rick Schute, St. Paul’s Emergency Management director. “We cannot afford to compromise our ability to respond swiftly and effectively to emergencies.”
**Disaster Relief Funds**
The city received approximately $1.03 million in FEMA disaster relief funds for the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 and 2021, and $1.25 million for flood relief at Hidden Falls in 2019. Recent downtown river flooding in 2023 and 2024 did not qualify for FEMA relief.
This lawsuit forms part of ongoing legal challenges involving the Trump administration and various governments over access to federal funding. In a recent case, a federal judge in Rhode Island blocked the administration from conditioning disaster aid on cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
https://www.twincities.com/2025/10/21/st-paul-joins-cities-lawsuit-against-100m-threat-to-emergency-grants/