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 Senate District 63 has only one incumbent, Rep. Emma Greenman of 63B, who was endorsed by acclamation. Running for Senate to replace retiring Sen. Patricia Torres Ray is Zaynab Mohamed, who was also previously endorsed by Twin Cities DSA, among others. Mohamed was endorsed without major…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Cedar Avenue – geography and history, with a side trip to Somalia Geographically, Cedar Avenue is a lot longer than you might think. Its northern terminus is now at Seven Corners where it ends in a T-intersection with Washington Avenue South. But at one time, what…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE No, we’re not telling you WHO to vote for, this article is literally about HOW to vote. The primary ballot composition involves a few caveats to ensure you don’t spoil your ballot. No doubt you will get this spiel when you go to the polls, but…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Openings and closings It seems like the great wave of closings that plagued 2020 and 2021 is finally tapering off. There is only one south Minneapolis closing to announce, but it’s sad because we enjoyed announcing the opening and then had to follow up with a…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE More updates on the Kmart site Yes, the old Kmart was supposed to be torn down by now. But then, following the George Floyd uprising, we had to tear down not one but two burned-out post offices instead, and the building was reconfigured to a double…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Some of us were delegates, some of us were alternates, and some of us were “volunteers.” Some of the alternates got upgraded to delegate. Some of us were officers in the newly formed political committee – the Democratic Socialist Caucus. (No official connection to the DFL,…
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Closings and one new location Hi, local food lovers. We’re being hyper-local this month right up to the restaurant review, which is … well, it’s still in Minnesota anyway. We’ll start with places closing, because that’s sad and we want to get it out of the way. Hot Indian, inventor…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE “Well,” I tweeted, “now I can cross ‘being manhandled at a DFL convention’ off my bucket list.” I didn’t mean to be vague tweeting, but I was still trying to sort out exactly what had gone down and how I felt about it. It all began…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Closings – a nearby Aldi, Dumpling, Glass Endeavors Several months ago, Aldi closed their store in the Hi-Lake Shopping Center. Ever since the Aldi opened in part of the former Rainbow Foods space at Lake and Minnehaha, there had been two Aldis in easy walking distance…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Groceries and bakeries – Oxendale’s and Asa’s Bakery May is finally here and it’s time to shine some sunlight on 34th Avenue and 50th Street and its nearby businesses and organizations. Let’s start with getting some groceries in. Oxendale’s is a small local chain with one…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE There have been a number of significant changes along East 38th Street in the past year. We only have space to tell of some of them. Let’s visit the places on 38th starting at Nicollet Avenue South and moving eastward toward 42nd Avenue South. Nicollet Avenue…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Openings, reopenings, closings, reclosings Just kidding. Well, not really. It is like that sometimes. Anyway, two that have recently closed or announced imminent closing are Grand Catch on Grand Avenue in St. Paul and Dumpling on Minnehaha Avenue. One that will have just reopened by publishing…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE To me, Al Hildenbrand was one of a score or so of people who joined Walker Church during the 13 years (1998 through 2011) when I was in England. I knew him first just as the person who had taken on the role of the opening…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE I made a quick visit to the south Minneapolis end of Chicago Avenue just as we were emerging from a long and, for me, very isolating winter. I had let my car battery die, and had sort of lost the will to drive, which meant I…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Chances are, if you know 10 people who consider themselves environmentalists or some version thereof (ecosocialist, ecofeminist, environmental anarchist, left-wing prepper) you will notice that they all have different approaches to their activism, and often different “takes” on what informs their beliefs, what matters the most,…
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