BY POLLY MANN The New York Times headline of Dec. 14 read, “The Pentagon Is Not a Sacred Cow.” Of course it isn’t, and our readers know it and so do we, but for the Times to acknowledge that is like finding a shoveled path to navigate after a winter…
Editor’s note: An article by Joe Selvaggio, founder of Project for Pride in Living and MicroGrants, was published in the Nov. Nokomis and Dec. Phillips/Powderhorn and Riverside editions suggesting ways to solve the problem of poverty in Minnesota. Elaine Klaassen, managing editor of Southside Pride, responded to the article in…
BY ELAINE KLAASSEN Minnehaha Communion Lutheran Church (MCLC) has already been for years a place where non-members and strangers come to be buried and married (same-sex couples included). And for many years there have been regular AA, Al-Anon and Adoption Support groups that meet at the church. Community groups sometimes…
BY ED FELIEN Shocked! South Minneapolis was shocked to learn last month that Karen Clark and Susan Allen have both decided not to seek re-election in 2018. Clark was first elected in 1980. She’s served 19 terms. The Farmer-Labor Association decided to challenge the incumbent South Minneapolis State Senator Steve…
BY ELAINE KLAASSEN Dust to dust. Whatever. Life is hard. Fires, storms, early deaths, accidents, failures, let-downs, rejections, abandonments, wars. Life goes on. We make our chips and dip, fire up the pickup truck, shingle the roof and sew our wedding dresses. We still smile at the sunrise and hold hands at…
BY ED FELIEN First, let’s look at the facts. Leanne Tweeden wrote to Al Franken: “You forcibly kissed me without my consent, grabbed my breasts while I was sleeping and had someone take a photo of you doing it.” Tweeden agreed to rehearse a skit with Franken in which he…
BY ED FELIEN Jews were always revolting. When they revolted against the Persian King Nebuchadnezzar around 600 BC he carried the leaders of the rebellion off to Babylon. In exile for 70 years they studied in one of the great libraries of the ancient world and came up with their…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Kristi was dead, there was no doubt about that. Her passing was sudden and cruel, and it was also 35 years ago. But I only say there was no doubt that I wasn’t seeing a living but long-lost sister in the struggle to make it clear…
BY ED FELIEN In 1970 I was publishing Hundred Flowers, a weekly underground newspaper, an anti-war, anti-racist, early feminist, psychedelic fun rag that sold for a quarter. Some people were having a demonstration somewhere on Harriet Avenue protesting the demolition of houses to make room for a two-and-a-half story walk-up…
BY ELAINE KLAASSEN There’s a special place in heaven (or, at least in my heart) for people who make music a reality in the lives of children. Such people are found at St. Helena Catholic School, a PreK-8 in South Minneapolis. The music program at St. Helena isn’t what it…
BY TONY BOUZA The job sucks. The Chief is a psycho. We’re going to hell in a handbasket. Morale has never been lower. These are a few of the bromides that drive police thinking. Civilians, though, are looking at Atlantis and don’t know it. An unfathomable world, several fathoms deep.…
BY STEPHANIE FOX In December, Christmas takes over everything. Christmas music is everywhere, dozens of TV specials and shows have Christmas themes, decorations with Christmas themes fill homes, stores and the streets. Anything winter related becomes a symbol of Christmas, from toy soldiers to snowflakes to bells to stars to…
A wrongfully-convicted man’s vision During these depressing “Days of Trump” a little positive news is helpful. Therefore with anticipation I began to read the Oct. 6 New York Times article entitled “An Innocent Man Who Imagined the World as It Should Be.” His name was John Thompson, a resident of New…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Saturday and Sunday Brunch. For some people they are a special occasion, for others they’re just a way of life. Especially if you’re in the second category, you probably won’t want to spend a lot of time waiting, or spend more money than you need to.…
It’s good to open a discussion on poverty. I appreciate Joe Selvaggio’s article in that regard. However, his tone makes one think that he lives miles and miles from the people who find themselves, for many, many different reasons, without the means to survive. His deprecating tone is disturbing. And…
