BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone,” Joni Mitchell famously sang. I have been thinking about the many local delights that are gone, or may be soon. In 2016 I was still working for Heart of the Beast Theatre. We put on “La Natividad”…
“We are in pain, don’t choke us.” —Ira Azhakh BY KAY SCHROVEN Despite ambitious efforts by the city and a Neighborhood Action Plan to reimagine Lake Street, Ira is not hopeful. After 40 years in the car business in the 4500 block of East Lake Street, he has closed. Before…
BY TONY BOUZA On Nov. 28, 2020, The New York Times reported the discovery of a 12-foot steel monolith in the desert called Red Rock Country, Utah. It described it as evocative of Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” In that film primates howl around an unexplained monolith.…
BY KATHRYN KELLY Results of the latest Minneapolis Park Board survey on the Hiawatha Golf Course Master Plan have, again, shown that a HUGE majority of respondents do not support a plan that has, so far, cost over $870,000. The responses have been compiled and quantified in a best effort…
Dear Tony Bouza, I enjoy your columns and respect your expertise and vision as both a police chief and a commentator. I have several suggestions to make for reform of the Minneapolis Police Department. First, I would like to see the City of Minneapolis require police officers to live in…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE First, let us consider the staggering array of online workouts available these days, especially those geared toward seniors who might have mobility issues. Chair workouts and zero-impact aerobics (ZIP) dominate the list. There are stand-alone companies like GrowYoung Fitness (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQn6LXA4_2c), along with the Ys, private health…
The Nokomis East Neighborhood Association (NENA) is supporting a new resident-led initiative: Nokomis East Neighbor-to-Neighbor Communication Project. The project will assess the level of neighbor-to-neighbor communication preparedness in Nokomis East and will implement three communication strategies: Strategy 1) Establish a temporary online communication tool (a Slack workspace) run by trained…
‘Capitalism in the 21st century’ Years ago, I read a glowing review of Thomas Piketty’s book “Capitalism in the 21st Century” and I tried to read it. I read about a fourth of the first chapter and gave up. Now he’s written a new book, but I know better than…
DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE I just finished reading “The Plague” (in translation) by Albert Camus. I didn’t consciously do it as a preparation for writing this, but it had that salutary effect. I say salutary because it’s not an easy or pleasurable read, whether you happen to be in a pandemic…
BY TONY BOUZA A bromide—a crisis can be an opportunity. Can we even see the possibilities behind such inane assertions? The deafening effects of samplers result in comas. I am driven to the NYPD by its size, prominence, utility as a universal example and my own tortured and loving relationship…
BY ELINA KOLSTAD The Minneapolis City Council just approved a “Tiny House Village” to be constructed inside a warehouse in the North Loop to serve as a transition center for homeless people from encampments to a more permanent situation. I am heartened to see steps being taken to address the…
BY LEANNA SARTIN Hip-hop has its roots in the South Bronx of NYC. Its message has evolved over time. Once offshoring started, it left its whimsy. Sugar Hill Gang was one of the first rap albums that was happy and cheery. Slowly, the manufacturing, canneries, textiles and auto-making industries left.…
BY KATHRYN KELLY A public data request to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board reveals how much money has been spent, so far, on the Hiawatha Golf Course Master Plan. What is the number as of October 2020? $871,759.29 The Park Board is closing in on spending One Million Dollars…
Thank you for the article on Medicare in the recent opinion page of Southside Pride. A basic good general overview. However, the section on Medicare Advantage was not accurate. Not surprising since false and misleading information of the wonders of Medicare Advantage are everywhere. It is not Medicare. It is…
BY TONY BOUZA I was in my 20s during the McCarthy years—roughly the early ’50s. Communist hysteria. Traitors everywhere and a reckless and audacious national figure attacked such supreme patriots as George G. Marshall (of the Plan) and the architect of not just World War II victories, but World War…
