BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Inspo is not a tropical fish, like Nemo. Inspo = “inspiration” in millennial slang. Thanks for attending my tiny Ted Talk. In the throes of winter, even in the supposedly hopeful post-solstice part, it’s kind of hard to think about redecorating, remodeling, or (shudder) moving to…
BY ELAINE KLAASSEN Steve Floyd (not related to George Floyd) has been taking Black youth from South Minneapolis on trips to Africa since the early ’90s. Floyd feels that traveling to Africa is one thing that really works to help them heal from the effects of slavery throughout their history.…
BY KAY SCHROVEN The Lake Street Council (LSC), a nonprofit organization, has been around since the late 1960s. It was formed to support businesses that remained on the Lake Street corridor as the escape from the urban landscape to the suburbs continued. This exodus began in the first half of…
BY TONY BOUZA My very unscholarly appreciation of history includes the bromide that great civilizations implode through moral rot rather than outside challenges. As the saying goes, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.” I agree. A recent case illustrated the point.…
BY CAM GORDON The rent control debate is heating up. With the city’s rent stabilization workgroup completing its work in December, it now falls to the City Council to approve a policy and draft an ordinance if we are to have rent stabilization in Minneapolis. On Dec. 13, the 25-member…
BY WILLIAM BURLESON Much has been written about the former White Castle on the corner of 33rd and Lyndale in South Minneapolis. It is certainly a curiosity. Something about it says it doesn’t belong there, this prefab fast-food restaurant in a largely residential neighborhood on a shady tree-lined street. It…
BY ED FELIEN Kyrsten Sinema: Sinema’s great moment of fame came when she emerged as one of the principal architects of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. She suffers under the self-aggrandizing delusion that without her it wouldn’t have passed. It was a budget bill. It only needed 50 votes plus Kamala…
Dear Chief Bouza, I love reading your monthly articles in the Southside Pride neighborhood paper! You will remember me from 35 years ago, while you were chief. I beat a ticket, with your help! The temp was 20 degrees below zero. I had just gotten my car jump started, then…
BY ED FELIEN What just happened? Did we get hit with an inflationary spiral that skyrocketed prices just before the election and then calmed down just before Christmas? It seems evident that a rise in gas prices began the action. This was caused—it was widely reported and believed—by the Saudis…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Because I am not a member of the American Swedish Institute, I had to shell out an extra five bucks for my ticket to the annual ASI lutefisk dinner, which was held on Nov. 20 this year. The things I do for journalism. And maybe for…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Nine years of thinking about winter holidays This will be my personal ninth Holiday article in Southside Pride. I seem to take longer to write these than any other pieces I write, whether that’s because of or despite the fact that I feel somewhat ambivalent about…
BY TOM ABELES The area around the intersection at 38th and Chicago has achieved a stasis after the death of George Floyd. There are numerous major issues that need resolution. The most recent one to surface is the agreement of the city to purchase the former Speedway station and to…
BY TONY BOUZA A wag, name forgotten, on his deathbed, said, “If this is dying, I don’t think much of it,” and died. This will be my last column. Another wag (they abound) said, “Every hero becomes a bore at the end.” The fat lady has sung. The publisher has…
BY CAM GORDON Hopes are high that when city leaders and the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis begin contract negotiations this fall, the process will be more open to scrutiny and input than it has been in the past. In November, the City Council approved a settlement agreement related to…
BY LYDIA HOWELL This holiday season, cultural wish lists embrace tradition—with unexpected twists. See beloved fiction transformed for the stage. Explore rituals from Nordic to African American. Discover how accessible the fine arts can be. Family outings, date night or “experience gifts” are all possibilities. Theater classics The Guthrie Theater…
