BY ELINA KOLSTAD As the teachers strike unfolded and the district appeared more interested in the visuals of negotiating than they were in trying to meet the teachers’ demands, my husband and I had several conversations marveling at how little the district seemed to care about its own school system…
BY CAM GORDON On March 10, supporters of the East Phillips Urban Farm project were celebrating. An 8-5 majority of the Minneapolis City Council had just approved a motion by 9th Ward Council Member Jason Chavez which rescinded the 2021 compromise that allowed the city to demolish the Roof Depot…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Chances are, if you know 10 people who consider themselves environmentalists or some version thereof (ecosocialist, ecofeminist, environmental anarchist, left-wing prepper) you will notice that they all have different approaches to their activism, and often different “takes” on what informs their beliefs, what matters the most,…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE So many changes, so few column inches What a year this has been for Lake Street! I have to warn you right at the start, there is no way we can cover everything new and different since April 2021 along South Minneapolis’s most vital street. It’s…
BY ELAINE KLAASSEN Disco T was a well-known DJ in Minneapolis. He died of brain cancer on Dec. 31, 2021. At his memorial event, on his birthday, Feb. 19, everyone spoke of him as a legend, an icon. He was beloved and admired. I knew him by his given name…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Closings in food and drink From Racket.com and other sources we learned that Tin Whiskers, one of the original artisanal Minnesota breweries, is closing this year. Buy up their inventory while you still can, if you’re a fan. From Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, we learn that 35-year Dinkytown…
BY LYDIA HOWELL The Ukrainian language demeaned as a dialect, “Little Russian,” or censored; a beloved folk musical instrument suppressed; prison or death for poets, artists and dissidents since the 1860s – all these things have been done to maintain Russian domination of Ukraine. Whether under czars or Soviets, from…
BY TONY BOUZA I’m given to hyperbole. Can’t seem to help it. “Best this,” “greatest that,” whatever. The U. S. has earned my devoted study. It has, to put it modestly, really lifted me out of certain defeat. No small feat. I owe this great country. So, what would a…
BY FLO GOLOD (with research and fact-checking by Dave Gutknecht) The day after Russian troops invaded the eastern border of Ukraine, my Facebook feed filled up with Ukrainian flags, “Solidarity with Ukraine” banners, and a meme of a dove pooping on Putin’s head (a weird inversion of that peace symbol).…
BY DAVID TILSEN The effort to cause fear and division under the guise of protecting Minneapolis residents from each other during the Derek Chauvin trial has now been revealed to be more extensive and more ongoing than we were told. A recent article in the MIT Technology Review outlines a…
The Lake Street Council announced it has awarded funds to 20 business owners and nonprofit organizations to help them rebuild and invest in property on Lake Street. “In 2020, Minneapolis and St. Paul sustained more than $500 million in damages,” said Allison Sharkey, executive director of the Lake Street Council.…
1854 Township 28N, Range 24W, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Note the wetlands on both sides of the Creek and at the west side of Rice Lake. The blank southeast corner is part of the Fort Snelling Military Reservation. The curlicue representation of the Creek is typical of older maps. The town…
BY TOM O’CONNELL “Curb cut: (noun, North American) A small ramp built into the curb of a sidewalk to make it easier for people using strollers or wheelchairs to pass from the sidewalk to the road.” – Lexico.com I never paid much attention to curb cuts until a few years…
BY ELINA KOLSTAD My daughter is home from school, as many children in Minneapolis are, because of the teachers strike. Every indication is that the district didn’t take the negotiations seriously. Neither my school board member nor Superintendent Ed Graff responded when I reached out to them as a concerned…
BY STEPHANIE FOX At first glance, the Children’s Theatre’s latest production, “Something Happened in Our Town,” seems to have been written for the Twin Cities, but it’s bigger than that. The plot revolves around two families, next-door neighbors. The Perkins family is Black, the Hartleys are white, and the play…
