BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The business and cultural scene along East 38th Street, a personal favorite east-west connector and not just because I live near it, remains lively but in a healthy way. There have been some beloved mainstays that went under—notably Southside Farm Store. I will kind of miss…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Some of us were deterred on April 15 from attending the Anti-War Rally by the crazy blizzard that hit us on the 14th and lasted three or more days. But not everyone! Our Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America comrade Andy Guthrie was there and filed…
BY ED FELIEN There’s a lot you can do if you’re a City Council member in Minneapolis. Someone came to me while I was on the Council and told me they were being evicted from their apartment because the landlord hadn’t paid the utilities. They thought they should be able…
BY ED FELIEN We’ll be fighting in the streets With our children at our feet And the morals that they worship will be gone And the men who spurred us on Sit in judgment of all the wrong They decide and the shotgun sings the song I’ll tip my hat…
BY TONY BOUZA In August and in October 2017, I wrote essays on the Justine Damond shooting in Minneapolis in these pages. I called it murder and criticized the mayor, police chief and prosecutor. The first two are gone—not, I’m confident, as a result, but following a vague chiasma of…
BY LYDIA HOWELL After Sept. 11, legislators didn’t hesitate to act. War, expanding surveillance—national security! Ignoring civil liberties—like jailing 1,000 Muslim men without charges—public safety! Yet, for homegrown gun violence, lawmakers and police are strangely inert. Local police were alerted by concerned people or called to the Florida school shooter’s…
BY STEPHANIE FOX At the corner of Bloomington and Lake Street is Mercado Central, recognizable by the bright blue awning above the doors and the always-crowded parking lot. The stores, restaurants and other businesses reflect a vibrant, flourishing marketplace. If you come to the Mercado on weekends you will have…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Zen Box 612-332-3936 602 Washington Ave. S. Minneapolis MN 55415 zenbox.com Before there was Zen Box Izakaya, there was a much smaller lunch place in the Minneapolis skyway called simply Zen Box. They sold Japanese-style lunch to go—bento— which is the Japanese name for a lunchbox—not…
BY JOHN CHARLES WILSON Running on, running on empty Running on, running blind Running on, running into the sun But I’m running behind –Jackson Browne This month is the quarterly schedule change at Metro Transit. Unfortunately, or fortunately, as you may see it, there aren’t many changes this time around…
BY ELAINE KLAASSEN War is waging and we picture the children, 4 years old, 8, 10, 12. It is dark, they’re hungry. Anything could happen tomorrow. There is nothing to count on. They have to believe that somewhere a great big unseen father, or mother, looks out for them. They…
BY MICHAEL LIVINGTON The Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC), a coalition of peace and anti-war groups in the Twin Cities, is organizing a protest on Sunday, April 15, as part of national spring anti-war actions taking place around the U.S. The demonstration begins at 1:30 p.m. with a gathering at…
BY DAVE TILSEN On March 10 the delegates selected at precinct caucuses gathered on a cold wintry Saturday. About 450 of us from the Central, Powderhorn, Corcoran, Phillips and Whittier neighborhoods made it over to the Justice Page Middle School to endorse candidates for state legislature, elect party officers, and…
BY CAROL BECKER The City of Minneapolis is updating its Comprehensive Plan to change the zoning for single family homes to allow for up to four units of housing on a single house lot from Lowry Avenue North to 38th Street. Currently, higher density housing is zoned along transit corridors,…
BY JOHN KARRIGAN I have not written about birds for several months because there have been very few birds in the park lately. Hopefully there will be a big change soon—as always, we’ll have to wait and see. Despite the absence of small (or song-) birds, there is still activity…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE March was a dizzyingly busy month for Twin Cities progressives, and it’s going to get even more intense in April and May. Even though admittedly the DFL cannot always claim to be progressive, still a lot of progressive folk can be found there, especially in March…
