BY ED FELIEN In ancient China, the state apparatus was 3,000 years old when the student revolts on May 4, 1919, began the Nationalist revolution that eventually overthrew the emperor. The bureaucracy was so far removed from the people that they spoke a different language. They had contempt for the…
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 KAY SCHROVEN During the week of Nov. 9-13, the first Southside Summit, hosted by the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association (PPNA) and sponsored by the Graves Foundation, took place (virtually). It was a meeting of the minds from a number of organizations involved in enhancing and improving our communities. As…
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 SARAH MARTIN Lee Ross, a lifelong activist and longtime Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), member died at the age of 94 on Monday, Nov. 16. Lee was the youngest of three children born to parents from Tsarist Russia. Her parents moved first to Paris and the French Riviera before…
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…
BY KAY SCHROVEN Newton’s First Law of Motion, sometimes called the Law of Inertia, goes like this: An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion. When I think about rebuilding Lake Street, I think about this law. Perhaps the longer the rubble sits,…
Expert panelists will connect with community leaders virtually to share insight, inspiration and direct action that can further key community solutions beyond trials, crises and elections. On Nov. 9, 11 and 13, the first annual Southside Summit will bring together a slate of expert panelists and community leaders to share…
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.…
