BY LYDIA HOWELL It’s a strange time to be a progressive with a lifetime of doing anti-racism and police accountability activism and, now, seeing my city overwhelmed by crime. Conversations about Minneapolis ping-pong between right-wing screeds, “Minneapolis is a crime-ridden hellscape! Leave NOW!” to progressives asserting, “The real problem is…
BY DORIS OVERBY I read a sign recently that said: “You are our neighbors … no matter who you vote for, your skin color, where you are from, your faith or who you love. We will do all we can to be there for you.” The words reminded me of…
BY TONY BOUZA America has always spoken to me. Its powerful culture overwhelmed me on my arrival from Spain on Dec. 22, 1937, at nine and a half years old. I embraced the movies, songs, magazines, comic books, etc.—and unconsciously rejected everything I came from. And those voices? What follows…
BY CAM GORDON The role of public involvement has been questioned as the mayor and City Council move forward towards court agreements on racist policing practices. Last April 27, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) released a report that found probable cause that the city and its police department…
BY YOEL YOHANNES In the sweltering hours of a late summer’s evening, airplanes touch down in Havana’s José Martí International Airport and pull into gates, full of tourists and expatriates returning to see family. Past passport security and baggage claim, cigarette-smoking airport employees direct recent arrivals into the currency exchange…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Openings and closings A sad closing happened in late July but didn’t make it into the August Dish – Pie & Mighty on Chicago Avenue. We are so sorry to see them go. Another big favorite that closed recently, not so close to home, was Mort’s…
BY JOHNNY HAZARD Monterrey is an industrial city in the north of Mexico with, obviously, a large industrial working class and also one of the largest concentrations of wealthy people in Latin America. This summer, water shortages there have reached the point at which, while the wealthy suburb of San…
BY ED FELIEN Ian Young, in a Star Tribune editorial published Aug. 5, said, “Those commissioners voting to advance the nine-hole master plan are the ones who have done their homework and understand the reality of the issue.” Really? Young says any proposal to save Hiawatha Golf Course would “not…
If you’ve been following discussions about the Hiawatha Master Plan involving the lake and golf course, you can be forgiven for feeling a bit of déjà vu. That’s because some supposedly simple solutions keep being proposed as alternatives to an “expensive” master plan. You may have heard “do this one…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE An opening The long-vacant Viking Bar location on Riverside Avenue has finally attracted a new resident: TAMU Grill and Catering, with a Kenyan fusion menu. Owner George Ndege, aka Chef JoJo, was formerly known as both the host of KFAI’s African Rhythms and a caterer of…
BY KATHRYN KELLY On July 20, the Planning Committee of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board started the process of reconsidering the Hiawatha Golf Course Master Plan for the fourth time. This time Park Board President Meg Forney wasn’t going to let this initial vote fail, so her first act…
BY ED FELIEN [Ed Felien’s remarks to the Park Board on July 20] In a promotional video having something to do with the Hiawatha Plan, Michael Schroeder is shown saying, “My mission is to de-Wirthify the Minneapolis Park System.” The crown jewel of his plan is to turn the Hiawatha…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Retail shops on Bloomington Avenue Mercado Central, a nonprofit venue on the corner of Bloomington Avenue and Lake Street, contains several retail businesses. It serves as a business incubator specifically geared toward Latinos, as both business owners and customers. There has been some turnover among the…
BY TONY BOUZA The Floyd case is marvelously instructive for all the awful lessons it provides. A latter-day “Rashomon.” Racism is number one, but forgive me, not the issue that grabs me. I monitored the Chauvin-types very carefully through Internal Affairs and gave the others ample room for caution in…
BY CAM GORDON The mayor and City Council are moving quickly to restructure city government. Substantial ordinance amendments, which have yet to be shared with the public, could be approved by the end of August. The timeline presented by Mayor Jacob Frey in June called for the public hearing on…
