BY STEPHANIE FOX The original plans were for a huge ceremony and celebration to mark the literal groundbreaking at the Friendship Academy of the Arts site in March. But the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 virus made large gatherings and public celebrations impossible. Instead, the groundbreaking ceremony on April 17…
BY NATHAN HOUSE Three nurses working in the Twin Cities chatted with Southside Pride about their experiences working in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Presently, obtaining adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) remains a challenge for some, while for others, facing pay cuts continues to be a major stressor. For many…
BY ED FELIEN Well, since my baby left me Well, I found a new place to dwell Well, it’s down at the end of Lonely Street At Heartbreak Hotel —Elvis There are lots of reasons for homelessness. More than half of all working adults in America are a paycheck away…
BY ELAINE KLAASSEN Instead of spending their day-off on desperately needed rest and self-care, Twin Cities nurses staged an informational picket in front of United Hospital in St. Paul, demanding “nurse protections” and protesting “United’s retaliation against workers for trying to protect themselves from the COVID-19 virus.” In the early…
BY ELINA KOLSTAD Many hoped that our city’s 2040 Plan would be a solution to our affordable housing crisis, the idea being that an increase in housing stock would drive down prices through the market pressures of supply and demand. In the wake of this global pandemic, any weakness in…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE As you may have noticed, for the duration of the pandemic, including the gradual “reopening,” the rebound if any, the aftermath, and the recovery, all neighborhood focus articles will concentrate on pandemic news. So, for East 38th Street, we’ll start with the Nicollet and East 38th…
BY ED FELIEN On April 29, the Minneapolis City Council agreed to begin paying out more than a million dollars to stop the civil trial of Officer Lucas Peterson, charged with the wrongful death of Terrance Franklin. I couldn’t resist writing to the Council: “Your refusal to hold Lucas Peterson…
BY ED FELIEN If you read (and, you’re reading this) you probably spend a lot of time on the internet these days. There’s a lot of wonderful stuff out there. Here are some things I found recently … But first, what is it you miss most about social isolation? Isn’t…
BY TONY BOUZA It is a bromide and cliché that crises present opportunities—but these are honored mostly in being ignored. The comfortable status quo. The public understands and supports drastic action in a pandemic. The MPD could abandon two-person squads and answer twice the 911 calls—even with a virus-ravaged force.…
BY ELAINE KLAASSEN What happens to a child who has been on his own in the world since the age of 5—in the midst of an African civil war? What does he learn? How does he see the world? How does he heal himself from indescribable horrors? Paul Deng Kur,…
Elizabeth Blanchette, communications and marketing manager at Plymouth Congregational Church, writes the following: There are only a few food shelves in the metro area that have been able to remain open during this time of pandemic. Our own Groveland is one of those few, steadfast and committed in its work…
Imprisonment I’m fascinated with jails. I certainly don’t want to be in jail and I must say that my reaction when I was once jailed was far from fascination. At that time, it was wishing that the other inmates would stop talking so loud, depriving me of sleep. It was…
BY SHAWNE FITZGERALD Longtime South Minneapolis activists Dick and Dorothy Pitheon died this past month. Dick was 87 and Dorothy, 82. Dick was a lifelong Powderhorn resident, and Dorothy, a Faribault native, came to Powderhorn when she was 16 to attend Holy Angels. Dick was a graduate of Holy Name…
BY KATHRYN KELLY The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s (MPRB) latest Hiawatha Golf Course Master Plan is another example of pie-in-the-sky ideas with little ability to pay for them. And it lacks answers for many of the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) requests. And, since the CAC has been disbanded by…
BY ELAINE KLAASSEN During this period of time when most of us are not anywhere near the coronavirus, yet closer than we think, we are watching and waiting and wishing the best for our family, friends and neighbors. Finding ways to get through the gloom and worry of this time,…
