Jim Buchta –

With office vacancy on the rise across the metro to more than 22% and companies issuing stricter return-to-office mandates, there's a growing sense of urgency to figure out what works and what doesn't for today's offices. (Opolja/Dreamstime/TNS)

What’s going to get employees back to the office? A golf simulator alone won’t cut it

September 10, 2024 at 3:41 p.m.

During the pandemic, many offices were used primarily for collaboration and culture building. Employee surveys now show having space dedicated to “heads down” productivity has become a top priority for...

Boy critically injured after being tossed from Mall of America balcony said to be back in school and ‘walking perfectly’

November 24, 2019 at 2:39 p.m.

More than seven months after being thrown from a balcony at the Mall of America, a 5-year-old boy is back in school and walking without a limp. The kindergartner, identified...

Chayse Buchta, left, and Justin Buchta, right, after navigating the Duckie inflatable kayak through a set of rapids.

Call of the Colorado River leads to a family pilgrimage

August 23, 2019 at 3:31 p.m.

"Whoa, that's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life," my 9-year-old nephew Deegan whispered, staring at a night sky that was pitch black and dotted with starlight....

Homeowners, still cautious, choose moderate remodeling

May 23, 2019 at 8:26 a.m.

Chris and Jennifer Roman loved everything about the handsome Tudor-style house in Minneapolis, so they bought it within hours when it hit the market. Never mind that the kitchen had...

Homeowners, still cautious, choose moderate remodeling

May 22, 2019 at 11:07 a.m.

Chris and Jennifer Roman loved everything about the handsome Tudor-style house in Minneapolis, so they bought it within hours when it hit the market. Never mind that the kitchen had...

An insider’s view of surviving a short sale

May 13, 2019 at 4:47 p.m.

Chris Willette became a short-sale expert the hard way: He did his own. Almost three years ago, the Edina (Minn.) Realty sales agent found himself in the unenviable position of...

Newly minted agents roll the dice on real estate

May 22, 2019 at 10:48 a.m.

Jerome Ryan was a senior architect who designed high-rise condos. Beth Reilly has worked for a big Fortune 500 company. Gary Judson is a former marketing manager who's getting his...

The Petit Trianon, a stone chateau built by Louis XV for his mistress, Madame de Pompadour. Louis XVI later gave it to Marie-Antoinette, which Schork said was the first time a queen owned something in her own name. She adored it because it gave her refuge from the court, he said, and during her reign she increasingly spent time there.

The keys to Versailles

August 23, 2019 at 9:49 a.m.

In the gilded bedroom where three of France's greatest queens rested their powdered heads and bore numerous prodigy, I stepped through a door cleverly concealed in a wall covered with...

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