Obituary at Willwerscheid Funeral Home & Cremation Service, written by her children: After 85 years of a courageously led life, the world lost a beautiful and well-loved person. On February 21, 2023, our mom Patty died peacefully at her home in St. Paul, a place from which, despite otherwise gentle encouragement…
BY DAVE GUTKNECHT In the January online edition of Southside Pride, the editor generously published my response to his pro-war editorials: https://southsidepride.com/2023/01/28/a-response-to-sspride-ukraine-columns/. Since then, U.S. war aims have only become clearer, thanks in part to investigative journalism outside the mainstream. The U.S. helped sabotage Ukraine negotiations, then sabotaged critical infrastructure of Germany…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE By the time you read this, Eat Street Crossing should actually be open. I have mentioned it before, and it’s been actively under development (and construction) since last summer. There is a grand opening advertised for Saturday, March 4. If you like either Bebe Zito or…
ANALYSIS BY JORDAN KUSHNER AND JANET NYE On the Minneapolis Issues Forum, Jordan Kushner offered a master class on the consequences of a prosecuting attorney lying to a judge: “[There is] repeated insistence that Moriarty’s office should have asked for continuance before dismissing the case – most likely not realistic. The…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Arts and creativity camps ArtStart (artstart.org) is an innovative arts nonprofit in St. Paul that combines artmaking with art appreciation, cultural studies, history and – recycling? (See ArtScraps on their website.) Registration is open now for summer programs, which center on studying and being inspired by…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Unlike most of my peer group, I did not grow up with pets to a large degree. My mother was afraid of dogs, and she believed that cats and dogs were both, along with every other type of non-human animal, filthy and unlovable. Although fortunately I…
BY STEPHANIE FOX The latest production at the Children’s Theatre is “Locomotion,” a story about an 11-year-old Black boy, Lonnie, who is coping with loss and upheaval in his life. The story shifts back and forth between the present and Lonnie’s memories, both good and bad. He is living in…
Journal entry on CaringBridge by Connie John (Polly’s daughter)— Jan. 19, 2023 It is just over a week ago that I woke up about 4 a.m. and heard Mom wheezing. I got up to see how she was doing. Mostly after the stroke when she could not be trusted to…
BY BEN R. On Tuesday, seven members of the Minneapolis City Council showed how hollow their platitudes regarding equity in the city and concerns about environmental racism were as they voted to approve the demolition of the Roof Depot building in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis. Since 2014, the East…
BY LYDIA HOWELL The world generates 400 million metric tons of plastic waste every year, according to a United Nations report. Hennepin County is signing up community partners and individuals for their February Plastic-Free Challenge, with plenty of practical information to help you choose changes in your everyday life. Where…
BY ULLA NILSEN AND MN350 Minnesota is now on track to provide 100% clean electricity by 2040, but are we using it? You have probably heard of the Inflation Reduction Act (or IRA), the biggest investment the United States has ever made toward transitioning to a clean energy future. While…
BY CAM GORDON The future of Hiawatha Golf Course took an interesting turn this January when the city’s Historic Preservation Commission and the Park Board weighed in on its past. Both formally responded to a nomination submitted last year to add the golf course to the National Register of Historic…
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…
BY JOHN RYKHUS JR. Go east on the I-94 freeway and jump off onto Highway 29 near Elk Mound, Wisconsin, toward Green Bay. At Chippewa Falls take a hard left onto Highway 178 and then you will see something. Rolling fields are tree-lined with green forest. After crossing O’Neil Creek…
Pat Welna Pat Welna died on Jan. 17. She was 93. She was the last of the second generation to run Welna Hardware on Bloomington Avenue. She was funny and always cheerful, and she made you feel special even if you acted like an idiot with a plumbing problem. She…
