BY ED FELIEN From the forests and the prairies, From the great lakes of the Northland, From the land of the Ojibways, From the land of the Dacotahs, Ye who love the haunts of Nature, Love the sunshine of the meadow, Love the shadow of the forest, Love the wind…
BY ED FELIEN When Mark Dayton called it “The People’s Stadium,” he knew from reading Orwell’s “Animal Farm” that all people are equal, but some people are more equal than others. Ticket prices for the Super Bowl will probably reach $5,000. Not a price that a lot of lesser equal…
BY ED FELIEN “America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.” —Oscar Wilde And the Minneapolis Police Department seems to want the worst of both of those worlds. Our police officers seem to kill our citizens with barbaric indifference, and the administration creates…
BY ED FELIEN “Dear landlord Please don’t put a price on my soul” –Bob Dylan, 1967 In 1974 the vacancy rate for rental housing in Minneapolis was 3%. Rents had gone up 35% on the West Bank in the city-supported Cedar-Riverside Towers and 15% around Loring Park. Poor people were…
BY ED FELIEN What is this guy thinking? Raj Bunnag makes monsters come alive and leap off the page at you, and he uses pen and ink, black on white printmaking and wood block carvings to create a horror that seems lurking behind the public manners of everyday life. The…
BY ED FELIEN Shocked! South Minneapolis was shocked to learn last month that Karen Clark and Susan Allen have both decided not to seek re-election in 2018. Clark was first elected in 1980. She’s served 19 terms. The Farmer-Labor Association decided to challenge the incumbent South Minneapolis State Senator Steve…
BY ED FELIEN First, let’s look at the facts. Leanne Tweeden wrote to Al Franken: “You forcibly kissed me without my consent, grabbed my breasts while I was sleeping and had someone take a photo of you doing it.” Tweeden agreed to rehearse a skit with Franken in which he…
BY ED FELIEN Jews were always revolting. When they revolted against the Persian King Nebuchadnezzar around 600 BC he carried the leaders of the rebellion off to Babylon. In exile for 70 years they studied in one of the great libraries of the ancient world and came up with their…
BY ED FELIEN In 1970 I was publishing Hundred Flowers, a weekly underground newspaper, an anti-war, anti-racist, early feminist, psychedelic fun rag that sold for a quarter. Some people were having a demonstration somewhere on Harriet Avenue protesting the demolition of houses to make room for a two-and-a-half story walk-up…
BY ED FELIEN First, let’s look at the facts. Leanne Tweeden wrote to Al Franken: “You forcibly kissed me without my consent, grabbed my breasts while I was sleeping and had someone take a photo of you doing it.” Tweeden agreed to rehearse a skit with Franken in which he kisses her. This was…
BY ED FELIEN This is the interregnum—that period between regimes, when the new government begins to organize themselves and the old government packs up and leaves. The new City Council will be deciding who will be president, who will be majority leader and who will head up the various committees.…
BY ED FELIEN First, let’s look at the facts. Leanne Tweeden wrote to Al Franken: “You forcibly kissed me without my consent, grabbed my breasts while I was sleeping and had someone take a photo of you doing it.” Tweeden agreed to rehearse a skit with Franken in which he kisses her. This was…
BY ED FELIEN Congratulations to Jacob Frey on winning the mayor’s race. He ran a marathon and made it look like a sprint. He’s charming and he has infectious energy. He promises to be the most accessible mayor, ever. He even published his cell phone number on campaign posters: 612-968-4443.…
Mayor Ray Dehn City Council Ward 6: Mohamud Noor Ward 8: Andrea Jenkins Ward 9: Alondra Cano Ward 12: Andrew Johnson Park Board At-Large Meg Forney, Mike Derus, Charlie Casserly Park Board District 3 Charles Exner or Abdi Gurhan Mohamed Park Board District 5 Bill Shroyer
There are hundreds of tributes to Bruce Bacon on his Facebook page. Southside Pride offers the following memories. ED FELIEN wrote: Carol Hogard, my wife, says Bruce was one of the first farm-to-table organic farmers. Many of the area restaurants bought his basil, so we’ve all of us in South…
Columns by Ed Felien