BY ED FELIEN First, let’s look at the facts. Leanne Tweeden wrote to Al Franken: “You forcibly kissed me without my consent, grabbed my breasts while I was sleeping and had someone take a photo of you doing it.” Tweeden agreed to rehearse a skit with Franken in which he kisses her. This was…
It’s good to open a discussion on poverty. I appreciate Joe Selvaggio’s article (Southside Pride November Nokomis and December Phillips/Powderhorn) in that regard. However, his tone makes one think that he lives miles and miles from the people who find themselves, for many, many different reasons, without the means to…
Worldwide hunger It’s happening right now—day after day—hunger is threatening the lives of 20 million people according to the U.N. Of course they’re not Americans. We wouldn’t stand for it. It’s one thing that could produce a drastic decline in the military budget if we voters forced officeholders to legislate for…
BY ED FELIEN This is the interregnum—that period between regimes, when the new government begins to organize themselves and the old government packs up and leaves. The new City Council will be deciding who will be president, who will be majority leader and who will head up the various committees.…
At its Dec. 2 General Membership Meeting, Our Revolution Twin Cities agreed to six priorities for the new City Council: 1. Policing: Make $50 million of the police budget contingent on them voluntarily adopting a civilian review board to review cases of misconduct whose recommendations would be implemented in every…
BY ED FELIEN Congratulations to Jacob Frey on winning the mayor’s race. He ran a marathon and made it look like a sprint. He’s charming and he has infectious energy. He promises to be the most accessible mayor, ever. He even published his cell phone number on campaign posters: 612-968-4443.…
BY JOE SELVAGGIO Upon reading the amazing book “Amazing MN” by Lee Lynch, I found myself smug and proud of my adoptive state, Minnesota. Fact after fact, picture after picture evoked, “Wow, I’m lucky to live here.” We have invested wisely in literacy and education, recreational sites, arts, sports teams…
BY TONY BOUZA On these very pages, on more than one occasion, I pleaded for the one thing I felt America needed most. I even wrote a book about the subject, and the result? Silence. I begged the President to convene a National Commission on the issue—and a black president—for…
BY COOPER In late July I was able to see the 2017 Biennale in Venice, Italy. The Biennale is a grand gathering of work by artists from all around the world. There are two sections, the Arsenale and the Giardini, each with more pieces of art than you could see…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Am I the only person who has this dilemma? You wake up one morning to realize that you just don’t have enough food in the house for a proper breakfast, but you have a super-busy killer day ahead of you. You jump in your car and…
DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE OK, so admittedly this has not been such a celebratory year. This time a year ago we were stunned (most of us) by the election results and dreading the year to come. It could have been worse, but it was still pretty hard. The hurricanes and earthquakes…
BY ED FELIEN Before the Open Meeting Law, politicians decided destinies in smoke-filled rooms. Of course, that was also before the laws against smoking indoors. After the election, I was invited by Louis DeMars to a meeting at the Leamington Hotel to organize city government: free food, free booze, lots…
BY ED FELIEN Hiawatha Golf Course got a stay of execution. The Park Board rescinded its motion to stop pumping at Hiawatha Golf Course in three years and moved the date up to five years. So, now, in five years, the Park Board will ask the Department of Natural Resources…
BY ELAINE KLAASSEN Cultural Uniqueness of Trinity Lutheran Congregation When I talked with Jane Buckley-Farlee, co-pastor of Trinity Lutheran Congregation, we discovered she had been at that church as long as I’ve been at Southside Pride—21 years. I’ve been reporting on religious groups, mostly churches, during all this time; overall,…
BY ED FELIEN We like Ray Dehn for mayor. We think he understands the problems we face in Minneapolis: “Centuries of over-policing and misconduct have created a fundamental distrust of police by people of color and indigenous communities (POCI)”; “Every person deserves to live in a safe, quality, affordable home.…
