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 DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The connection For the past decade or so, I have been thinking a lot, and acting – a bit less, but still acting – on ways to reduce my personal harm to the environment in the process of consumption. As the four “R”s tell us (reduce,…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The title of this article is meant to gently lead you into a dark place. If I had titled it “Dying During the Holidays” you probably would have skipped it, right? Sorry about that. But now that you’re here, let me explain. If you’re one of…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Restaurant news Have you heard of Goldbelly? I first heard of it last week, when I did a search to find where I could get good latkes without having to make or cook them myself. Of course, I meant to be searching for a local deli…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The case for a spiritual practice for good mental health In recent years, there has been a merging between the body of knowledge of spirituality and spiritual practice and that of mental health and wellness. In a way, they were never separate. After all, the root…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The difference a pandemic makes In contrast to last year, even though the pandemic is still very much in force, there are quite a lot of in-person events to attend to enjoy the holiday season this year – if you are so inclined, and if you…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Restaurant news – BIPOC owners on the rise In New York City and many other major metropolises, pizza sold by the slice is more common, and “slice shops” abound. They are pretty rare in the Twin Cities. Becoming less rare, but still a definite minority, are…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE I went back and read Southside Pride’s pieces on Dinkytown from the past few years. (You can do that too, if you go to our online version southsidepride.com and type Dinkytown into the search bar.) It was, with 20/20 hindsight (plus now we have 2021 hindsight…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE As we’ve mentioned in a previous year, it’s easy to see the small business hub at 28th Avenue and 42nd Street as a small town within the city, with 42nd Street being “Main Street” of the mythical town of Standish-Ericsson, or Stan-Eric for short. As usual,…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Midtown Global Market’s 2021 is faring better, slightly, than its 2020 did. There have been four or five vendors who have left the market, some for larger spaces elsewhere, and two or three new ones have moved in since we last visited. There has also been…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE New Secretary of Education At least we don’t have Betsy DeVos anymore! In March of this year the new Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, was appointed, and he couldn’t be any more of a refutation of DeVos if he had been designed by a computer that…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE More great cider! Last month The Dish 2.0 covered a couple of innovative cideries in Minneapolis, and we didn’t even mention Sociable Cider Werks! I apologize for that, and I am going to make up for it by telling you all the cool things Sociable has…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Selby Avenue’s hilly, bumpy history When Selby Avenue was first named on a map, in 1854, the site of the present Cathedral of Saint Paul (the fourth and final one to bear that name) was occupied by a 40-acre farm belonging to Jeremiah Selby. This land,…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE McRae Park is one of the friendliest parks, much beloved by its surrounding neighborhoods. It stands as a green and welcoming gateway to the business hub of Chicago and 48th and the southern parts of south Minneapolis beyond. Current use information for parks and rec centers…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Downtown at Chicago Avenue’s northern terminus, the venerable Guthrie Theater is cautiously reopening. I have really ambivalent feelings about entertainment happening while the pandemic is in the situation where there are no ICU beds available, and kids are having to go back to classes with nothing…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE New eating places and concepts and “new to me” Amazingly, new restaurants and cafes and food service “concepts” keep on opening. Three fairly recent openings, in descending order of grandness (which pretty much relates to price and that pampered, entitled feeling, but not necessarily to actual…
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