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 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…
BY KATHRYN KELLY Why won’t the city of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board care for their own residents? Since the 1940s, people in the southeastern portion of South Minneapolis have suffered from storm water problems, and the city of Minneapolis and the Park Board have failed to…
“Raise Your Voice, Silica Dust & Molten Iron” first appeared in the March 2022 edition of the alley community newspaper. It is reprinted here by permission. By Peter Molenaar Upon retiring from Smith Foundry, this writer undertook distribution of the Alley to the various agencies and businesses of the Phillips…
BY ELINA KOLSTAD The Minneapolis Police Department has once again killed a young Black man, practically in his sleep, when officers served a “no-knock” warrant – a type of warrant the voters of Minneapolis had been led to believe was banned by Mayor Frey. How did this happen? In spite…
BY LYDIA HOWELL It is estimated that 25% to 50% of people killed by police were in a mental health crisis. Despite Mayor Frey’s promises, diverting such calls away from police remains disorganized. Since 2005, COPE (Community Outreach for Psychiatric Emergencies) responds 24/7. You can reach them at (612) 596-1223.…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The big story In a deliberately coordinated effort, MFT59 and MFT59-ESP, representing teachers and other professionals in the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) respectively, and SPFE (SPFT 28) representing both sections in St. Paul Public Schools (SPPS), filed “intent to strike” paperwork on Wednesday, Feb. 23. As…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Now we know what’s going where Augustine’s was A new restaurant under development by a couple with a recognized track record of great restaurants has been announced for the space on Selby Avenue in St. Paul previously occupied by the French bistro Augustine’s. Kalsada, which means…
BY ERIC SKOGLUND I saw the kindness of middle school boys make a grandmother cry. It happened on a hockey rink, at a pickup game at Hiawatha School Park a few hours before the Cincinnati Bengals would win a football game and advance to the Super Bowl. Pickup hockey is…
BY CAM GORDON On Feb. 2, the City Council received a report on police department staffing that recommends steps the mayor and Council could take to improve public safety in Minneapolis. The $170,000 study grew out of a City Council directive from 2019 and its results are reminiscent of the…
BY TONY BOUZA The Greeks were the finest expression of civilization ever. Why? Because they made their citizens better humans. How? By cautioning against hubris (pride) and avoiding hamartia (the critical flaw). The antidote? Merciless introspection. Oedipus was the toughest, smartest, most admirable—yet, came a cropper, wandering blindly in the…
BY ALLISTER ROSE “We have evidence that extremist agitators were hijacking protests to pursue their own separate and violent agendas.” – William Barr, The Wall Street Journal, 7/28/20 The video In the spring of 2020 we saw the images: a tall, white man dressed in black, wearing a gas mask,…
