BY ED FELIEN Our ancient mothers and fathers spent a lot of time looking at the sun and the moon. They marked when the sun would be highest in the sky and when it would be lowest. They noted the days halfway between the darkness and the light, and they…
BY TONY BOUZA The days of our lives are numbered. But, short of suicide, we don’t know what that number is. My best estimate would be 26,645 days (73 X 365). So, what to make of it? As I think on it a very few items stand out—triumphs and disasters.…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Closings downtown, openings in South Minneapolis After all the hopeful hype last month about the downtown Minneapolis restaurant scene being back, the two most notable closings in mid-October were downtown. One was trendy and “of this decade” – Seven Steak, Sushi and Rooftop, which has apparently…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The density dilemma In a piece titled “Will density save Dinkytown?” Tina Nguyen for Twin Cities Business magazine examines the impact of 6,000 additional multifamily housing units in less than 10 years, as Dinkytown and other neighborhoods surrounding the University campus undergo massive development booms. These…
BY ED FELIEN If you’re concerned about Republicans taking the House in November, there are a couple of races where your contribution could make a difference. Angie Craig seems pretty safe. The 538 polls on Oct. 10 say she’s ahead by almost six points. Everyone is assuming the Supreme Court’s…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Stan-Eric, then and now This year we’re looking back into the history of the Standish neighborhood and this small business hub. Perhaps we should just go ahead and say the Standish-Ericsson neighborhood. At some point we should officially change the name to “Standish and Ericsson,” in…
BY ED FELIEN Goran (the G is pronounced as a Y) Gustav-Wrathall is taking direct action to calm 32nd Street around Powderhorn Park. He’s created his own little traffic circle that forces cars to slow down to go around it. He puts it up every night at 6 p.m. and…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The MFT 59 strike aftermath, parts 1 – 4 In March of 2022, as you probably remember, Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) teachers, represented by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers or MFT 59, and Education Support Professionals (ESPs, represented by ESP 59) went out on a historic…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Change in the air at the Market This time last year, things were different at Midtown Global Market (MGM). There were more vacant spaces, and there was an atmosphere of worry among many of the vendors. Since that time, grants have come in, plans have been…
BY ED FELIEN Why is it important to vote for Keith Ellison? Because he’s doing what’s necessary and right, and he’s being punished for it. He’s getting attacked for being soft on crime in the midst of a crime wave. But the attorney general doesn’t prosecute crimes. That’s the job…
BY TONY BOUZA Managing a police department is not nuclear science or even brain surgery. It is about managing—i.e., Why are we here? What are we supposed to do? And how best to do it, cheaply? Capitalism at its purest. So why is it so damnably difficult to get them…
BY CAM GORDON In what is likely a response to the unusually low number of officers in the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and the recommendation by the mayor’s Community Safety Work Group to “strengthen MPD’s recruitment and hiring process,” the mayor is recommending spending $740,000 on an internship program for…
BY LYDIA HOWELL As 29,000 students return to in-person learning, COVID-19 has exposed undeniable challenges for the nine-member Minneapolis school board. On Nov. 8, voters will elect two at-large (city-wide) seats and three district seats. The board faces a teacher shortage, budget deficits and continued concerns about less than half…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Many new openings to celebrate There are so many restaurants and things opening lately. First up, a plethora of fancy places to eat lunch in downtown Minneapolis (dinner too, in some cases). Several publications have heralded “the return of downtown,” especially the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Rondo – reconnect or reparations, or both? St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood was the center of the Black community in the Minneapolis–St. Paul region for much of the 20th century. The intact Rondo neighborhood was economically active, social and self-supportive. The core of Rondo was demolished between…
