Columnists

Regular Columnists

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

 


Which side are we on?

BY DAVE TILSEN Hennepin County police are busting heads in North Dakota?  How did that happen?  Most of us have heard about the oil boom in North Dakota.  It has generated jobs, but also problems: “Boom Towns,” earthquakes, money for some people, exploitation for others. For the Indian People, who…

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Voter’s guide to the precinct caucuses

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE March 1, 2016, is Caucus Night in Minnesota. When it comes to presidential elections, Minnesota is not a “primary” state, so there won’t be a Democratic primary for you to vote in. The only way you can register your preference as to the nominee of the…

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Confessions of an unrepentant Maoist

I. How it all began (2015 August Riv, September PP, Nok) I remember when it happened. It was 1961. I had just started graduate school at the University of Minnesota. I was doing research for a history of theater seminar. I was assigned a report on the Abbey Theater and…

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Mitch and John

Mitch and John BY ED FELIEN It recently came out that the new Republican House Majority Whip Steve Scalise gave a speech to a David Duke group of white supremacists and neo-Nazis in 2002. Scalise claimed he had no idea what the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO) group stood…

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The search begins for a super-Super

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE It’s a funny old world. Back when R. T. Rybak was mayor of Minneapolis, he used to say he had the second hardest job in the city, next to Superintendent of Schools Bernadeia Johnson. “People care a lot about potholes, but they care a whole lot…

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Breakfasting with Alondra Cano

BY DAVID TILSEN In January, Alondra Cano officially started her new job as the council member representing the 9th Ward of Minneapolis. She said the work actually started the evening she was elected. Her phone began ringing and people began asking her to listen to them. As she started to…

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Vikings lawsuits summary

BY DAVID TILSEN For those who are confused, here is a quick summary of the various lawsuits to stop the stadium. In the Cohen, Woodruff, Ostrow lawsuit, they contended (correctly) that the stadium legislation requires the Vikings to pay for the parking ramp, and the city should not be selling…

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The Stadium Financing is unfair

BY DAVID TILSEN People have asked me a lot over the summer why I am trying to stop the new Vikings stadium. I have a few stock answers. One is that I have no objection to a new stadium, I just don’t think I should be forced to pay for…

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Minneapolis elections 2013 – how did we do?

BY DEB KEEFER RAMAGE Dave and Barb Tilsen and five other friends joined me at the Northbound Smokehouse Brewpub for an election post-mortem and to await the arrival of the Andrew Johnson campaign’s post-election gathering. We were all antsy until about 8:30, when results began to come in on our…

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March against racism

BY DAVID TILSEN On Thursday evening, Nov. 7, the Vikings will be hosting Washington at the Mall of America Field. People will be gathering in the Ancient Traders Post parking lot, 1113 E. Franklin Ave., near Maria’s Café, at 4:30 p.m.to peacefully march to the stadium and ask sports announcers…

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How did they kill Terrance Franklin?

How did they kill Terrance Franklin? BY ED FELIEN October 29, 2013 Text copyright © 2013 Ed Felien May 10, 2013. At about 1:30 pm Terrance Franklin and his friend, Anquanette Hollman, were sitting in a 2002 blue Chrysler PT Cruiser at the back of the apartment building at 2743…

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Meditation on disappointment

Southside Pride and Pulse, August 2007 What do you do with enormous disappointment? What do you do when you just couldn’t have something you really, really wanted. I don’t know. Rarely do I take big leaps—mostly to avoid disappointment, I suppose. But this time, since “I’m not getting any younger,…

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