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.
DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE OK, so admittedly this has not been such a celebratory year. This time a year ago we were stunned (most of us) by the election results and dreading the year to come. It could have been worse, but it was still pretty hard. The hurricanes and earthquakes…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE I thought I was going to have to write something anodyne and pedestrian this time around, due to the dearth of scandals and uproar in the Minneapolis school system. Well, I thought, no one is howling for Ed Graff’s head, there are no school board elections…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The Dish visited two casual but popular Mexican restaurants for Part One (la Primera Parte) of our Mexican food exploration and rating report. The first, Dominguez Family Restaurant, is in South Minneapolis and is a full-service restaurant with beer and wine. The second, Andale Taqueria y…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Last year we suggested that there is a virtual small town called Stan-Eric, taken from the identifier of the e-democracy email list for Standish-Ericsson neighborhood. And 28th Avenue is that town’s main street. For most of this town’s virtual life, the commercial corner at East 42nd…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The amazing growth and emerging political relevance of Democratic Socialists of America has been covered by much of the mainstream media, including publications like LA Times, The Guardian, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Rolling Stone; networks like CNN and CBS; and online media like HuffPost…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Matt Clayton is describing how things are now at J. Selby’s, which is buzzing around us even though it’s their Sunday “quiet hour” from 2 to 3 p.m. when the kitchen changes from brunch to dinner and you can only order drinks and dessert. But to…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Creamery Co-op Cafe 2601 E. Franklin Ave. Minneapolis Food co-ops may not come to mind as your first choice when looking for a place to eat where you don’t have to do the dishes. But that should maybe change. Seward Co-op offers not one but three…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The shopping and dining node around Chicago Avenue and 48th Street is one of the best in South Minneapolis, with lots of choices in food, drink, merchandise and services. To tell of all your dining, drinking and recreation options here would take more space than we…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue is a little world of its own. There is a strange mixture in the businesses there, a clash between the quotidian and the exotic, the aspirational and the gritty. It’s not all art and food, but there are…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Grand Avenue is widely thought to hold some of the best shopping and dining venues in Saint Paul. Grand Avenue starts in the west near the gates of St. Thomas University, and stretches eastward several miles, passing by the Macalester campus in the Mac-Groveland neighborhood, going…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE This year Franklin Avenue’s Open Streets celebration will be on Aug. 27, at the usual times: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The boundaries of the Franklin Avenue festival are Portland Avenue in the west and 32nd Avenue in the east (four blocks longer than last year).…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE On Treehouse Records’ web page there is a little tagline that says “The World’s Last Record Store.” I suspect this dates from the dark days of waning fortunes for record stores, before the Great Vinyl Resurgence of 2009. (I just made that up, but it’s vaguely…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Although primarily a residential avenue, Bloomington Avenue has a plethora of small businesses, quite a few of them dedicated to wellness of one kind or another. There are also a few venerable but unconventional churches on or near Bloomington, which adds up to many varied resources…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE This year Franklin Avenue’s Open Streets celebration will be on Sunday, Aug. 27, at the usual times: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The boundaries of the Franklin Avenue festival are Portland Avenue in the west and 32nd Avenue in the east (four blocks longer than last…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The automobile, specifically the Ford automobile (and truck) for good or ill, built Highland Park. This fact was amply reflected in the Ford-only Car Show that was a feature of the recent 2017 Highland Fest. But, you know, they don’t make Fords in Highland Park any…
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