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.
Debra Keefer Ramage
Saving the Earth like we mean it – Part II
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE You probably did not guess when you read my “Saving the Earth like we mean it” piece a year ago (https://southsidepride.com/2020/04/13/saving-the-earth-like-we-mean-it/) that it was only Part I of an ongoing exhortation. Even worse, this is the agitprop equivalent of a good-cop-bad-cop routine, and last year was…
Second COVID Spring on Lake Street
The Page Amendment; educators’ solidarity; COVID-19 and safe reopening of schools
Summer camps 2021: some in-person, a lot of virtual options
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The state of the COVID-19 pandemic is still pretty uncertain for summer 2021. Therefore, not surprisingly, there are more virtual options than ever before available. But there are still some in-person day camps and even residential traditional camps. There is actually a huge variety of choices,…
Our beloved companions – animals and us in the COVID times
Cam Gordon convenes Housing Forum
Celebrating Valentine’s Day in the 2021 Weirds
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE 2020 is gone but the Weirds are definitely lingering on. As February rolls in and we congratulate ourselves on surviving the first full month of what could be another very stressful year, we acknowledge two things—one, we’re just past the one-year anniversary of the first publicized…
How to make your indoors brighter and your outdoors cozier: lessons from afar for the pandemic winter
2020’s two great losses in local journalism
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Throughout this pandemic, we have been noting businesses in various categories that have closed for good (and a few brave souls who opened businesses!).We’ve noted the impact on restaurants, breweries, retail and services, both vital (like groceries and pharmacies) and not so vital but still pretty…
The art of winter wellness
Holidays are holy
Some inspirational folks who are aging gracefully; plus, explosion of senior workouts online
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE First, let us consider the staggering array of online workouts available these days, especially those geared toward seniors who might have mobility issues. Chair workouts and zero-impact aerobics (ZIP) dominate the list. There are stand-alone companies like GrowYoung Fitness (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQn6LXA4_2c), along with the Ys, private health…
How to observe holidays in the 2020 Weirds
Dinkytown in the 2020 Weirds
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Dinkytown, as you know, is not like other neighborhoods. It’s not even like other college campus-adjacent neighborhoods such as those in St. Paul, or in smaller college towns. So Dinkytown’s response to things like the COVID pandemic is also a little bit different. Dinkytown, with its…