Debra Keefer Ramage
Debra Keefer Ramage began writing freelance for Southside Pride in 2012, shortly after returning from a 13-year sojourn in England. She covers progressive politics, education, co-ops and neighborhoods. In 2017 she started doing Southside Pride’s restaurant review column, The Dish.
BY DEBRRA KEEFER RAMAGE Why I just could not write another dark and serious holiday article this year I reviewed the ten holiday pieces I have written for Southside Pride’s December issues since 2014. This year will be number eleven. Around about 2020, the tone of my writings got darker,…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Look to indigenous ways Although you will be reading this in December, or later, I wrote it in November, which is American Indian Heritage Month. I thought for that reason, plus the fact that the past few years has seen a great increase in availability of…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Openings and closings Some openings of note: I don’t know if this is something we didn’t know how much we needed or not, but a new place called L2 Tii Cup has opened in Uptown (27th and Hennepin) and they sell Boba cocktails and Taiwanese street…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Models of care – a constantly changing landscape. The last few editions of Gracefully have focused on people who remain independent when past the age of 65 or beyond, and ways to ensure you’re among them. We have a few more of those resources to share,…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The holiday smorgasbord Here we are again in beautiful November, with winter holidays just around the corner. And here is Southside Pride again to tell you what’s on, among both the traditional and the innovative, and even the downright weird. As per the last few years,…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Openings and closings. Du Nord Cocktail Room and Lagniappe opened about a month apart in the newly renovated Coliseum Building at Lake and 27th. Du Nord co-owners Chris and Shanelle Montana were a big part of the project to renovate and open The Coliseum, so…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE New school year, hot news items Our last Education column was out the first of March 2024 (so remember it was written in February.) Just days after that, many important education news items inundated the local media. So I’m going to cover most of that “in…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE What’s changed? And where can I eat? On 28th Avenue and 42nd Street, as everywhere, it’s fall. Kids back in school, lake beaches closed, air conditioners sent to the shop for their autumn tune-up and pumpkin-spice scents fill the air. Not a lot has changed since…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The future of the University neighborhood We’re going to start our look at Dinkytown by focusing on its neighborhood ecosystem. In 2023, the boards of four of the so-called University neighborhood associations (NAs), Marcy-Holmes (MHNA) which includes Dinkytown, Southeast Como (SECIA), Prospect Park (PPA) and Nicollet…
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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…
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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…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Chicago Avenue, from downtown to the city line Every year since 2020, when we check out this section of Chicago Avenue, we focus most sharply on George Floyd Square. And this piece will do the same, but let’s not start there. We sometimes overlook the things…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Lots of hot restaurant news! Lynette (3753 42nd Ave. S.) is open. This is the new restaurant, greatly anticipated, in the former Riverview Wine Bar space. Tender Lovin’ Chicks (2700 Lyndale Ave) is also open, the brick-and-mortar incarnation of a popular food truck. Two breweries will…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Two East Phillips institutions at Bloomington and Franklin Avenues One of the biggest stories about this summer on Bloomington Avenue is happening right at its northernmost point. This is the heart of the city’s Indigenous people’s community at the Minneapolis American Indian Center (MAIC). In May,…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The Wonderful Wedge Do you mean the neighborhood or the cooperative grocery store? I could mean both! But right now I mean the co-op. Although I’ve been a member of a different co-op for 33 years, my favorite co-op to shop is the Wedge (2105 Lyndale…
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