BY JOHN CHARLES WILSON Metro Transit has recently announced an initiative to get control of bad behavior on our transit system, especially on the light rail trains. The idea is to make the system more appealing to “choice” riders—that is, those who have a choice as to whether or not…
BY STEPHANIE FOX Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church in South Minneapolis, with a membership of 12,000, is the largest Lutheran Church in the country, perhaps in the world according to some accounts. It’s not the kind of church that actively courts controversy. Located on 50th Street in a liberal section of…
I was raised as a Methodist at a church in southwest Minneapolis and converted to Unitarianism about a decade and half ago. I know the mainline Protestant churches have struggled with GLBT issues recently (or GLOW, which I like more—the Gay/lesbian/or whatever label, which is even more open to others).…
BY LORENA PINTO As a native of Peru, I never imagined living in sub-zero temperatures, let alone walking snowy streets to provide outreach to sex trafficking survivors. But every week, staff from The Family Partnership’s PRIDE program and the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center (MIWRC) walk in the Phillips and…
BY ELINA KOLSTAD Many people support the Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan because they believe it will increase “affordable” housing in the city. Two arguments are put forward to support this claim. The first is that removing the requirement to provide off-street parking will reduce the cost for developers to build…
BY ED FELIEN Funding for neighborhood organizations has come mostly from the increased property taxes on downtown development. In 1989 the city gave developers a huge tax break to encourage development. Tax Increment Financing meant they would only have to pay property taxes on the value of the buildings they…
J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece “The Hobbit” will be playing at the Children’s Theatre Company until April 14. Go and see two hours of excitement in this adaptation written and directed by Greg Banks. Altogether the show is two hours, counting the 20-minute intermission, but I count it all as excitement.…
BY ED FELIEN Funding for neighborhood organizations has come mostly from the increased property taxes on downtown development. In 1989 the city gave developers a huge tax break to encourage development. Tax Increment Financing meant they would only have to pay property taxes on the value of the buildings they…
BY TERESA ENGSTROM Here I go again, banging my head against the brick wall that is the Minneapolis Park Board. Staff and commissioners all inclusive. I was totally gobsmacked at the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting held at Powderhorn Park Thursday night, March 7, 2019. The Park Board had the…
Spring Parade of Homes It’s time for the Spring Parade of Homes. Until March 31, you can tour 472 new homes Thursdays to Sundays from 12 to 6 p.m. It’s free except for four Dream Homes where you’ll be asked to pay a $5 admission at the door. Proceeds from…
WORDS & MUSIC BY LARRY LONG Beneath your coat and too long tie There’s a burning cross you can’t hide Instead of bridges you build walls All for you and none for all White sheets in the White House Everybody scream and shout White sheets in the White House Time…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Janaan Ahmed, a junior at Patrick Henry High School (PHHS) in Minneapolis, is the 2019 student at-large director on the Minneapolis School Board. The activism for which Ahmed became known, almost a full year before her selection as student representative, was as one of the point…
Congress passed a resolution last week condemning anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim hate speech, but more than 20 elected officials in Minneapolis condemned the original version of the Resolution that was meant to criticize Ilhan Omar for speaking out against Congress’ uncritical support of Israel. Ilan Omar was criticized for saying, “It’s…
The rich get richer A great deal of what I do when I write is to reduce word usage. For example, a small newsletter that I receive monthly contains so much information about the corporations that run this country. (No, they don’t govern it; they simply control those who do…
BY RICHARD TAYLOR Sometimes, the venue for a meeting can tell us a lot about its goals, such as the aborted one between President Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam. As Trump put it, “Vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. North Korea would be…
