Columnists

Regular Columnists

Ed Felien  •  Elaine Klaassen  •  Polly Mann  •  Tony Bouza  •  David Tilsen  •  Debra Keefer Ramage  •  Stephanie Fox  •  Johnny Hazard 

 


Violence interrupters were almost interrupted

  BY ED FELIEN At first, City Council Members Payne, Wonsley and Chavez moved to transfer some of the programs in the Neighborhood Safety Department to the county. There had been widespread public criticism of what seemed like mismanagement of funds. There was a whistleblower lawsuit last November that said a staff…

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US interventions in Latin America

BY JOHNNY HAZARD In progressive U.S. circles, there is a lot of talk about new Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s way of dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump and his repackaging of U.S. interventionism. Let’s look at some of that history and how it affects current Mexican reactions and responses, and…

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Will Trump appoint Bob Kroll US Marshall?

BY ED FELIEN In order to understand the full implications of Trump appointing Bob Kroll as U.S. Marshall, we need to review Hitler’s relationship with Ernst Rohm. Trump’s first wife, Ivana, said “The Donald” had a copy of Hitler’s speeches on his bedside table. He once asked his Chief of…

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Utilities Fail to Deliver We Can Do Better

BY CAM GORDON This month, the city council, mayor and two large utility companies are poised to sign agreements that will give CenterPoint and Xcel exclusive rights to be the city’s natural gas and electricity providers for 10 more years, with options to extend it another 10. When the gas…

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Summer Camps – More Choice than Ever Before

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Art, theater, circus, puppets, music Adventures in Cardboard (AIC) leads off our camp offerings in the arts category, although it could go in games or adventure as well. AIC was founded in 2012 in Powderhorn Park and has gathered a fanatic following, as evidenced by its…

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Park Board Notes

BY ED FELIEN Park Board arrogance on Lake Hiawatha plan The Park Board had a public hearing in January to ask for public comments on their plan for Lake Hiawatha. On their project page they said: “Groundwater Pumping Permit “Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has issued a Water Appropriations Permit…

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This is a Come to Jesus Moment for us all

BY ED FELIEN “Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason, and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness,” Trump, on election night. And Mike Johnson thinks he’s Moses: “Only God saw the path through the roiling sea.” And…

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Big Money & City Elections Ready or not…

BY CAM GORDON Another city election year is here. Campaigning has already started, and at least two independent political committees are already raising money to influence the results. Since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010 – which enabled unlimited expenditures by special interest groups – wealthy donors have been…

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Luigi Mangione

BY ED FELIEN From the Manifesto of Luigi Mangione: “A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has…

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