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.


Bloomington Avenue reopenings and new openings

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Bloomington Avenue is looking OK these days. I love to see it, because a year ago, I wasn’t sure. Businesses along Bloomington tend to be either very small and/or creative and unusual. Eateries capitalized on being cozy and intimate, and had to pivot to takeout, which…

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Nicollet Avenue: What’s going on and on?

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE A year ago, we wrote in Southside Pride (southsidepride.com/2020/06/22/how-has-nicollet-avenue-fared-so-far/) about the massive damage to buildings and businesses near Lake and Nicollet, as determined protesters laid siege to, but did not succeed in destroying, the 5th Precinct police station. Here’s a list of the top five things…

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Minnehaha Ave. comeback

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Timing is everything in the newspaper game. Last year, the piece on Minnehaha Avenue’s ink was barely dry when, on 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd while being video-recorded by a teenage girl. Just before the end of the month of May,…

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What’s going on on 34th Avenue these days?

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE We last visited 34th Avenue South when the pandemic was just starting to bite, but also patio dining was beginning, and we didn’t know that a year or more of illness, death, economic turmoil and uncertainty was ahead. Also ahead, just, was the murder of George…

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