BY ED FELIEN Jojo Rosenbaum was killed trying to talk Kyle Rittenhouse out of his gun. Anthony Huber was killed trying to knock away Rittenhouse’s gun with a skateboard. Michael Reinoehl was killed by the Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, a group organized by Erik Prince for Donald Trump.…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Fortunes on the part of Chicago Avenue south of 44th Street have been varied during the COVID-19 pandemic and the period of civil unrest in late May through mid-June. This area is mainly residential, with a concentrated commercial hub between 46th and 49th Streets. There is…
‘Black Boy’ by Richard Wright The first 24 years of my life were spent in the south—that is, the southern part of the United States: Arkansas. In our household of nine, we always had one Black servant. We called her the maid, but she really was the “jill of all…
BY ED FELIEN Around 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23, Kenosha police officers responded to a reported domestic when a woman called saying her boyfriend was present and was court-ordered not to be on the premises. Officer Rusten Sheskey and his partner tried to detain Jacob Blake. He resisted arrest. They…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Since May 25, 2020, Chicago Avenue in South Minneapolis will forever be associated in history with the “George Floyd uprising.” In fact, the exact location where the murder of Floyd occurred, 38th Street and Chicago Avenue South, is unofficially renamed George Floyd Square (and making that…
BY TONY BOUZA “What do you have to lose?” Thus Spake Zarathustra! Well, Sarah Palin, of revered memory, might have responded: “How’s it working out for ya?” The Wall—ah yes, a metaphor for all that is good and wholesome about this great country. China has its Great Wall—why shouldn’t we…
BY DAVE TILSEN The burning and looting is terrible. It alienates the workers, it causes pain and suffering to many, it makes life in the city more difficult, and it increases support for the police. These are questions that dominate all conversations. The burning and looting does amplify Trump’s messaging,…
Why were there riots in Minneapolis? The New Yorker magazine occasionally runs an article that is a barn burner. Years ago, it published a long article by John Hersey about the bombing of Hiroshima that fit the same category. There’s no way I could do justice to another New Yorker…
BY ED FELIEN Is the nightmare over? Have the plague and pestilence gone? Have we buried the dead? No, the nightmare is not over. The madman still runs the White House. The plague and pestilence have not gone because there is no leader to rid the land of plague and…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Similar to Highland Park, the Grand Avenue environs of St. Paul were less affected by the property violence associated with the uprisings about Justice for George Floyd. But not totally unaffected. One of our featured businesses had their much-anticipated reopening delayed because their windows were smashed…
Why were there riots in Minneapolis? The New Yorker magazine occasionally runs an article that is a barn burner. Years ago it published a long article by John Hersey about the bombing of Hiroshima that fit the same category. There’s no way I could do justice to another New Yorker…
BY ED FELIEN Council Member Phillipe Cunningham was quoted in a recent article in The New Yorker: “No one could say that we didn’t try reform. We tried every kind of reform.” I phoned his office. No one was there. I left a message: You say you’ve tried everything? How…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Lyndale Avenue South seems to be doing pretty well, all things considered. Lyndale is a long avenue, stretching from Brooklyn Center to Bloomington (the city, not the avenue). We are focusing on the segment from Franklin Avenue southward to about 60th Street. I found myself being…
Will Chinese tourists be banned in the U.S.? A July Minneapolis Star Tribune carried an article stating a ban on Chinese tourists is under consideration by the U.S. administration. Almost 3 million Chinese visited the U.S. in 2018, but the number has plummeted due to the corona virus. The presidential…
BY STEPHANIE FOX As talk about relocating the George Floyd memorial continues, the corner where he was killed by police has evolved to become less a place of mourning and more of a place of celebration—a celebration of community and a celebration of the memory of George Floyd. And, there…
