Representative Karen Clark recently spent the afternoon at a YouthBuild site operated by Tree Trust and its partners Urban Homeworks and the Minnesota Internship Center charter school. A longtime supporter of the YouthBuild program, which provides paid training for at-risk youth and young adults, Representative Clark visited a duplex at 2216 Elliott Ave. S. in the Phillips-Ventura neighborhood, which she represents. Tree Trust YouthBuild crew members will renovate and refurbish the duplex’s three-bedroom upper unit. Eventually, Urban Homeworks will lease the apartment to low-income residents at affordable rates.

New state health "reform" law destroys patient privacy in the name of improving care

by Ed Felien
published August 4 08

Should your medical records be protected from prying eyes? Huge majorities of Americans think so. According to a Gallup Poll, 92 percent of Americans oppose government agencies looking at their medical records without their permission, and 82 percent oppose insurance companies pawing through their records without their permission. Sixty-seven percent even oppose researchers looking at their records without their consent.

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July Crime Update

By DENNIS GEISINGER

Larceny theft, the non-violent property crime that is often forgotten or ignored in the community's overall concern over crime, remains No.1 in the reported number of offenses cited in the most recent crime statistics released by the Minneapolis Police Department and Southside neighborhoods in the 3rd Precinct are notable for having the highest number of reported larceny offenses in the city.

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Federal mediators want
to get involved in protest plans

by Dennis Geisinger
published August 4 '08

"He said, 'We're not here to spy on you. Is that what you think?’ ” recalled local activist Cheri Honkala about her follow-up phone conversation this month with U.S. Justice Dept. conciliation specialist Kenith Bergeron.

Bergeron had called Honkala at Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC) headquarters on July 3 to ask if her group would be willing to participate in training to mitigate what he saw as possible violence during PPEHRC's planned "March for Our Lives" at September's Republican Convention in St. Paul.

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Click here for a list of articles for August 2008

If you like Improvised Explosive Devices, senseless violence, torture and extraordinary rendition, if you can say, "To heck with habeas corpus!" then The Dark Knight and the war in Iraq are just made for you.

Minnesota Sen. Sandy Rummel (DFL-White Bear Lake), chief author of the Minnesota phthalate legislation, said the national bill is “the right way to move ahead to achieve comprehensive reform of our nation’s out-of-date system for regulating chemicals in our consumer products.”

Congress bans toxic chemicals,
Pawlenty vetoed same legislation

by Dennis Geisinger
published August 11 08

At the end of July, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act which, if signed by President Bush, will create first-ever national standards for the toxic chemicals lead and phthalates in children's products.

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City reviews final NRP report

by Dennis Geisinger
published Aug 11 '08

On July 24, the Neighbor-hood Revitalization Program (NRP) Work Group presented its final report to the Minneapolis City Council’s Committee of the Whole. The “Framework for the Future” report outlines a proposal for the future governance, focus and funding of the NRP.

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Click here for a list of articles for August 2008