BY ED FELIEN There’s a lot you can do if you’re a City Council member in Minneapolis. Someone came to me while I was on the Council and told me they were being evicted from their apartment because the landlord hadn’t paid the utilities. They thought they should be able…
BY DAVE TILSEN April 7, at the American Indian Center on Franklin Avenue, there was a large turnout, a very diverse crowd, many East African folks, lots of Native Americans, some Latinos. A friendly crowd, but I sensed an undercurrent of tension. Not racial tension exactly, but partially, political tension.…
BY ED FELIEN The Minneapolis City Council Housing Policy and Development Committee will hold a public hearing on May 2 to allow “public verbal input pertaining to the Draft 2018 Consolidated Action Plan (CAP).” Your participation is important. The city is required by HUD to listen to you and pass…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE March was a dizzyingly busy month for Twin Cities progressives, and it’s going to get even more intense in April and May. Even though admittedly the DFL cannot always claim to be progressive, still a lot of progressive folk can be found there, especially in March…
BY ED FELIEN We’ll be fighting in the streets With our children at our feet And the morals that they worship will be gone And the men who spurred us on Sit in judgment of all the wrong They decide and the shotgun sings the song I’ll tip my hat…
BY CAROL BECKER The City of Minneapolis is updating its Comprehensive Plan to change the zoning for single family homes to allow for up to four units of housing on a single house lot from Lowry Avenue North to 38th Street. Currently, higher density housing is zoned along transit corridors,…
On Monday, April 16, the Minneapolis City Council will be voting on the proposed rehire of Velma Korbel as head of the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission (CRC). There are numerous reasons why Ms. Korbel is not capable of heading this important city department. As director of the CRC, Korbel oversees…
BY TONY BOUZA In August and in October 2017, I wrote essays on the Justine Damond shooting in Minneapolis in these pages. I called it murder and criticized the mayor, police chief and prosecutor. The first two are gone—not, I’m confident, as a result, but following a vague chiasma of…
BY LYDIA HOWELL After Sept. 11, legislators didn’t hesitate to act. War, expanding surveillance—national security! Ignoring civil liberties—like jailing 1,000 Muslim men without charges—public safety! Yet, for homegrown gun violence, lawmakers and police are strangely inert. Local police were alerted by concerned people or called to the Florida school shooter’s…
BY STEPHANIE FOX At the corner of Bloomington and Lake Street is Mercado Central, recognizable by the bright blue awning above the doors and the always-crowded parking lot. The stores, restaurants and other businesses reflect a vibrant, flourishing marketplace. If you come to the Mercado on weekends you will have…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Zen Box 612-332-3936 602 Washington Ave. S. Minneapolis MN 55415 zenbox.com Before there was Zen Box Izakaya, there was a much smaller lunch place in the Minneapolis skyway called simply Zen Box. They sold Japanese-style lunch to go—bento— which is the Japanese name for a lunchbox—not…
BY JOHN CHARLES WILSON Running on, running on empty Running on, running blind Running on, running into the sun But I’m running behind –Jackson Browne This month is the quarterly schedule change at Metro Transit. Unfortunately, or fortunately, as you may see it, there aren’t many changes this time around…
BY ELAINE KLAASSEN War is waging and we picture the children, 4 years old, 8, 10, 12. It is dark, they’re hungry. Anything could happen tomorrow. There is nothing to count on. They have to believe that somewhere a great big unseen father, or mother, looks out for them. They…
BY DEANNA BOSS Maybe based on 5th District Commissioner Steffanie Musich’s suggestion you might think I’m referring to planting more native grasses to combat the flooding at Lake Nokomis. I’m not. I’m talking about the grassroots efforts led by neighbors Joan Soholt (Lake Nokomis) and Jerry Mullin (Lake Hiawatha) that…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE In an article about another cemetery, local journalist Andy Sturdevant remarked that in his opinion, “The most profound meeting of public space and private lives is in our cemeteries.” And indeed, it turns out that a major inspiration for noted 19th century landscape architect Frederick Law…
