By John LaForge In April, I reported on false assurances made by Xcel Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regarding the November 2022 leak from the Monticello nuclear reactor of some 829,000 gallons of cooling water containing a huge concentration of radioactive tritium (technically, 5.2 million picocuries per liter).…
BY DAVE GUTKNECHT The editor invited my comment on the recent advocacy by the UK prime minister and several former defense ministers of missile attacks into Russia, a threat that was avoided thanks to U.S. military voices of sanity. First, give credit to publishers who uphold the First Amendment and…
Big release party coming up for The Rope and their new album, “Nightbird,” at Mortimer’s on October 4. Their Gothic Post-Punk music is a shrill indictment of everything that’s wrong with what’s going on in the Land of the Free: Violence You want violence Well whaddya know Welcome to the hourly…
BY ED FELIEN The Museum of Russian Art has a charming exhibit of watercolors by Alexander Viazmensky in one of its backrooms. It’s all mushrooms. His detail, down to the specks of dirt clinging to the roots, is astonishing. The flyer advertising the show has on its cover (unsurprisingly) a photo of…
BY ED FELIEN About the middle of September, Todd Lipelt got called to serve as a juror in Hennepin County District Court. It was a horrific experience. He was rejected for a trial the first day, but he got picked for one the second day. The case was the State of…
BY STEPHANIE FOX The South Minneapolis neighborhood of East Phillips held its annual Harvest Moon Block Party on Sept. 21, an annual event where local community and civic organizations come together to give residents information on what is happening in their area, from local problems to possible solutions. Some groups…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Openings, closings and changes Forepaugh’s, the venerable fine dining place in St. Paul, has reopened in its original place, a mansion built by a guy named Forepaugh. Wife and husband duo Mary Slater and Tenzin Dechen have opened a new Lao cafe called Asian Duck…
BY KAY SCHROVEN This is the story of an industrious, Jewish, immigrant family who attains the American Dream, enjoys its many benefits and over time, experiences its fragility. This masterpiece, which won five Tony awards, including best play, was penned by renowned Italian writer Stefano Massini and adapted by Ben…
BY ED FELIEN I confess, I always kind of resented Joe Selvaggio. My best friend for almost twenty years, Tony Bouza, always said that I was his second favorite hero. I would ask him, “Who’s first?” He would always answer, “Joe Selvaggio.” But I had been publishing Southside Pride for…
BY ED FELIEN You see them standing by the side of the road and your heart breaks. They are begging for money, for shelter, for food. And, maybe, sometimes, they are begging for money for drugs. It’s gotten out of control at 46th and Hiawatha. Nicole M wrote on Nextdoor, “My…
BY KAY SCHROVEN While violent offenses in Hennepin County year to date have increased 5 percent over 2023, property offenses have decreased 6 percent, and auto thefts have decreased a strong 25 percent. Auto thefts are also down in Minneapolis year to date, with 3,895 this year (Aug. 5, 2024)…
BY CAM GORDON [Please see Editor’s Note at end of Cam’s Corner.] The Green Party of the United States held their convention in August and selected former Southsider, Rudolph “Butch” Ware III, to be their candidate for vice president in 2024. Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential candidate, announced Ware…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Housing nonprofits and land trusts Selby Avenue, like everything else, exists in the now, but unlike many other streets, Selby Avenue seems very conscious of its past and its future. Part of Selby Avenue’s past was the brutal destruction of a prosperous African-American community and neighborhood…
BY STEPHANIE FOX The City of Minneapolis was officially incorporated in 1856 with the Mississippi River as the center of what was to become an industrial powerhouse. By 1874, the city’s flourmills were feeding the nation and thousands of people began moving to the city for employment. By that year,…
BY STEPHANIE FOX Open Streets, the popular Minneapolis tradition of closing long thoroughfares for neighborhood celebrations, was started by the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition in 2009 as a way to show people how the city would look without cars. The group, now called Our Streets Minneapolis, organized the events together with…
