“It’s easier to fool someone than to persuade them that they’ve been fooled.” Most Americans, asked whether they support empire and imperial behavior, would say no. They don’t think we live in it—notwithstanding over 800 U.S. military bases around the globe and a trillion-dollar military budget, a constant state of…
As a Minneapolis resident and an arborist with 30 years in the tree care profession, I want to offer some deeper context to the issues raised in Cam Gordon’s Nov. 8 article on emerald ash borer and insecticide treatments. I ask fellow community members not to assume ill intent of…
I worked for the Minneapolis Park Board forestry department in the late ‘70s on a takedown crew with Dutch elm disease at its peak. This is where I heard the sound of the chainsaw singing the song of death for the elm trees. Now I’m a retired arborist who ran…
BY ED FELIEN What follows is a discussion/debate between Dave Gutknecht and me about the Ukraine war. Dave was one of the first martyrs of the draft resistance movement in the 1970s in reaction to the war in Vietnam. He served two years in federal prison as a conscientious objector…
The Minnesota Legislature is poised to consider a bill that would bring Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) statewide in a measured, thoughtful manner. Minnesota is ready to take this step, and I encourage our South Minneapolis representatives to push it forward. Minneapolis is one of over 60 jurisdictions across the country…
I read Cam Gordon’s take on rent “control” [“Competing options for rent control,” Jan. 2, 2023]. Now I have more questions than I did prior to reading it. The options Cam wrote about are vague; they contain no specific examples of how an option would affect renters and developers/owners. Wouldn’t…
Dear Chief Bouza, I love reading your monthly articles in the Southside Pride neighborhood paper! You will remember me from 35 years ago, while you were chief. I beat a ticket, with your help! The temp was 20 degrees below zero. I had just gotten my car jump started, then…
BY ED FELIEN, PUBLISHER Bill Cottrell wrote to me, “What a one-sided newspaper you operate and write for. I am disappointed with your clear bias and lack of any effort to present a fair and impartial paper.” So I invited Bill to write 300 words to present his point of…
I want to respond to (and ask a question of) Carin Peterson in their letter to the editor dated Aug. 8, 2022. In this letter, Peterson expressed frustration at the city’s Hennepin Avenue redevelopment plan which “turns Hennepin into nothing more than a commuter line.” Peterson insists bike lanes have…
If the city is designing an avenue for the future, then why is it not including electric car charging stations? That is but one question we should be asking as this egregious project is being rammed down the throats of businesses along Hennepin Avenue. Businesses who neither want, need nor…
I am a former recruit to the Minneapolis Police Academy. My family and friends did not want me to work for Minneapolis and I was skeptical. The MPD is internationally known for being a terrible department. After meeting with Chief Arradondo, I was convinced that the community needed me. I…
The DFL Senior Caucus seems to believe that the ability to drive and park a personal vehicle wherever and whenever one pleases is an inalienable right granted to every motorist. In the last issue of this paper, Patricia Kelly, Board Chair of the Minneapolis DFL Senior Caucus, alleged that a…
Through this tumultuous year in Minneapolis Public Schools, an opportunity for real change has emerged through five open seats on the MPS school board. Voting for three of these open seats can be directly impacted by the readers of this local newspaper: former MPS math teacher Lori Norvell running for…
This letter is written in response to the statement that Walz running for governor in 2022 would be helpful to Democrats. Many Minnesotans will not vote for Walz again. I’ll first note the many voters he lost after his state police froze 640+ anti-police brutality protestors that cold November night…
The Jones Day law firm is the fifth largest law firm in the United States. They mostly represent large corporations, but in the last election they represented the Trump campaign in lawsuits trying to overturn the election results. Jones Day has virtually taken over the government of our city, working…
