Copyright St. Paul Pioneer Press
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) Please submit your memoriam ad to memoriams@pioneerpress.com or call 651-228-5280. By RIO YAMAT and JOSH FUNK, Associated Press Air travelers could face more frustration as busy U.S. airports need to meet a higher Federal Aviation Administration target for reducing flights Tuesday after already canceling thousands to scale back demands on the nation’s aviation system during the government shutdown. The FAA ordered domestic airlines last week to drop 4% of their flights at 40 major U.S. airports, saying absences and signs of stress among traffic controllers made it imperative to act in the name of public safety. After already canceling more than 7,900 since Friday, the goal for cutting flights is set to rise to 6% on Tuesday and again to 10% on Friday. More than 1,100 flights were canceled Tuesday, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks air travel disruptions. It was unclear exactly how many additional flights would need to be canceled for the day. The average cancellation rate over the last few days already exceeded the FAA’s requirement, according to aviation analytics company Cirium. The FAA also expanded its flight restrictions Monday, barring business jets and many private flights from using a dozen airports already under commercial flight limits. However, controller shortages continued to lead to flight delays, including one of about five hours for arriving flights Monday evening at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, where wintry weather added to staffing-related disruptions earlier in the day. The FAA warned that staffing at over a dozen towers and control centers could delay planes departing for Phoenix, San Diego, the New York area and Houston, among other cities. Freezing weather in parts of the country on Tuesday could cause further delays and cancellations. The Senate passed legislation Monday to reopen the government, but the bill still needs to clear the House and final passage could be days away. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made clear last week that flight cuts will remain until the FAA sees staffing levels stabilize at its air traffic control facilities. Many planes also aren’t where they’re supposed to be, which could slow the airlines’ return to normal operations even after the FAA lifts the order, said Mike Taylor, who leads research on airports and airlines at J.D. Power. Todd Walker said he missed his mom’s 80th birthday when his flight was canceled over the weekend. “All of this has real negative consequences for millions of Americans, and it’s 100% unnecessary and avoidable,” he said. The FAA had come under criticism after its original order only applied to a very small subsection of private planes. But some want to see even more done. Patriotic Millionaires, a group of wealthy Americans pushing for more progressive taxes, is calling for all private jets to be grounded during the shutdown. “Rich people are taking their joyrides while average Americans don’t make it to grandma’s bedside in time,” said Erica Payne, its founder and president. She added that none of its members that still fly private have reported cancellations or delays since the FAA’s order took effect. Tuesday marks the second missed payday for controllers. Some have started calling out of work, citing stress and the need to take on second jobs. It’s unclear how quickly controllers might be paid once the shutdown ends — it took more than two months to receive full back pay after the 35-day shutdown that ended in 2019, said Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. President Donald Trump took to social media on Monday to pressure controllers to “get back to work, NOW!!!” He called for a $10,000 bonus for those who’ve stayed on the job and suggested docking pay for those who haven’t. Daniels said the shutdown has made controllers’ demanding jobs even more stressful, leading to fatigue and increased risks. He said the number who are retiring or quitting is “growing” by the day. Yamat reported from Las Vegas and Funk from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Ken Sweet, Wyatte Grantham-Philips and Michael R. Sisak in New York; Stephen Groves and Kevin Freking in Washington; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
