BY ELINA KOLSTAD There are encouraging signs on the affordable housing front. On Aug. 10, the city of Minneapolis agreed to send $5 million annually to the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA), a fivefold increase of the current funding level, for the preservation and production of affordable housing units. This…
BY ED FELIEN How to stage a coup: send wackos in to disrupt the government, then send in the military to restore order, then promise new elections. Trump got the first part right, but he couldn’t follow through. Once his loonies established chaos in Congress, Trump should have sent in…
BY STEPHANIE FOX In a Franklin Avenue strip mall devoted to serving members of the Minnesota Native American community is a quiet, shaded patio with a new addition – a Little Free Library. This particular library is unique to Minneapolis, filled with books written by Native American authors or with…
BY JOHNNY HAZARD “The government needs to decide if it’s on the side of the army or on the side of the truth.” – Parent of one of the disappeared students Sept. 26 marks the ninth anniversary of the forced disappearance of 43 education students of the Escuela Normal Raúl…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Openings, closings and pivots There are two Minneapolis closings to announce: Psycho Suzi’s tiki lounge cocktail club in Northeast Minneapolis, and the vegan restaurant Seed Cafe, attached to Modo Yoga on West Lake Street. Also, The Good Earth, a trailblazer in healthy dining when it opened…
BY ED FELIEN What follows is a discussion/debate between Dave Gutknecht and me about the Ukraine war. Dave was one of the first martyrs of the draft resistance movement in the 1970s in reaction to the war in Vietnam. He served two years in federal prison as a conscientious objector…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE I’ve known Sam for almost three years now. Even though electoral organizing is not my favorite thing or my highest priority, I thought his (and others) idea to start a Democratic Socialist Caucus (DSC) within the DFL was a good one, and I’ve been involved with…
BY ED FELIEN Summer is the time for reunions: for families, for high school and college graduates, and for prisoners released from prison for criminal political acts. Fifty years ago, the Minnesota Eight were released from prison for attempting to break into Selective Service offices and destroy draft card files…
BY KAY SCHROVEN Prostitution is said to be the oldest profession in the world and a “necessary evil.” It is a long-debated subject. Prostitution is legal in at least five countries including Finland, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Germany, and liberalized in Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Columbia and…
BY CAM GORDON Hopes are high for a new report that centers on strengthening safety beyond policing efforts with attention to prevention and restorative as well as alternative responses to crime and violence. Released on July 13 following a city press conference called by Mayor Jacob Frey, the “Minneapolis Safe…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Art, movies, games and Korean fried chicken Grand Avenue in St. Paul is known for trendy bars, popular restaurants and upscale retail, as well as dignified old apartment buildings mixed in with the single-family homes and duplexes that predominate. But there are other, less-apparent gems, some…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE When is a park not a park? The other day I noticed, not for the first time, a little one-square-block park at 42nd and Bloomington called Bancroft Meadows. But when I looked it up on the Park Board site, it wasn’t listed. This puzzled me and…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Flowers, edibles, coffee shops and fun events, some free! The big news on Lyndale Avenue has been the gradual opening of Hi Flora!, a unique market and eatery that is vegan, alcohol-free, and optionally enhanced with THC. Before it was fully open, Hi Flora! was open…
BY STEPHANIE FOX Open Streets is a Minneapolis tradition, a series of summer street festivals where, for an afternoon, neighborhood thoroughfares are blocked off to motorized traffic and open for pedestrians, bikes, skaters and skateboarders (and dogs on leashes). Organized by Our Streets Minneapolis, Open Streets is a program of…
BY RICHARD TAYLOR Our aim is to understand Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces and how it might affect prospects for peace. To do so we need to know about goals, troop strength, weapons, strategy and tactics. What we can’t possibly grasp but must somehow sense is the tens of thousands…
