Columnists

Regular Columnists

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

 


Prophets and Losses

By Tony Bouza Erica, telling me a friend of ours—educated and sophisticated—had consulted a psychic, set me to thinking—after overcoming nausea. Psychics are clever scoundrels, preying upon our gullibility using their study of human nature. They observe the external (appearance, body language, etc.) and exploit our hopes and dreams. With…

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The double cross in Syria

BY ED FELIEN You have to wonder if there wasn’t another phone call that night. An earlier phone call from Putin, telling Trump if he withdrew American troops from Syria, Putin would personally keep the Russian Mafia bosses off Trump’s case for the casino bankruptcies. The Turkey dodge was just…

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Dinkytown: Still Positively 4th Street

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE 1 Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command. Dinkytown is the University of Minnesota, and the Dinkytown experience is quintessentially the student experience. Even if, like me, you first experienced Dinkytown as a fully grown adult almost a decade away from your own college…

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Trump downtown

BY ED FELIEN Thousands of people showed up at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis to tell our President, in the words of Mayor Frey, “Love Trumps Hate in Minneapolis.” The demonstrators were peaceful but determined. They stayed past midnight. There were minor confrontations and scuffles, but no one was…

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If you’re so rich, how come you’re not smart?

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE We have come to a point in late-stage capitalism where a lot of the so-called philanthropy vying for well-meaning control of our lives is so inept, so blinkered by ideology, that it has become its own opposite. “Philanthropy” contains two Greek root words that mean, respectively,…

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Myths and History

BY TONY BOUZA History is a mischievous goddess. Accounts are transmitted to us by flawed and often biased observers, and we are compelled to view it as gospel. In the trivial pursuit of a beknighted career, I was sometimes privileged to be a fly on the wall—observing events I otherwise…

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What’s up At Midtown Global Market

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE As a “consumer,” you have three broad things on offer from Midtown Global Market: It’s a place to eat and drink, it’s a place to shop and hang out, and it’s a place with numerous neighborhood-based events to attend. The eating and drinking might seem similar…

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Rising water levels mean rising frustration

BY STEPHANIE FOX As the Twin Cities faces its wettest year ever, as lakes in the City of Lakes are overflowing and Minnehaha Creek sends more and more water—50 to 80 million gallons—through the city, rising water tables are starting to cause significant problems for many living in the area.…

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Interesting places to visit on Selby Avenue

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE We took a leisurely weekend ramble eastward on Selby Avenue and discovered some delightful places to share. Of course, most Minneapolitans know Selby Avenue is there, a couple of blocks south of Marshall Avenue, which is your handy gateway to St. Paul if you live near…

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Development: with or without the neighborhood?

BY STEPHANIE FOX When the Minneapolis 6th Ward City Council Member Abdi Warsame and Mayor Jacob Frey announced the details on the city’s plans to build what they called an African village on a publicly-owned lot in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, the local reaction was shock and surprise. The announcement, made…

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