The mourning of Mother Earth You, unfeeling creatures Who call yourselves human, You, fleeting bubbles of reason, Accidental parasites of time, You, filthy microbes of cancer, Ephemera of invincible eternity, You, who try to fill your vanity With abominable crimes, You, insensible butchers of animals, Notorious destroyers of pastures, You,…
BY ED FELIEN April. “When April the sweet showers fall And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all The veins are bathed in liquor of such power As brings about the engendering of the flowers.” —Chaucer “April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE I got addicted to a computer game called Onnect. Before I deleted it in exasperation, I was playing it an hour a day or more. I loved this game, but not enough to pay for it, so I had to watch some really annoying ads over…
BY ED FELIEN Twenty years ago, Marty and Martha Roth used to write reviews of films and theater for Southside Pride, and their son, David, used to go to First Avenue. Now David works for KTCA and has produced a 60-minute documentary of what First Avenue meant to his generation.…
BY STEPHANIE FOX On March 16, in response to a rising number of COVID-19 virus cases, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey declared a local public health emergency, closing or limiting access to bars and restaurants except for take-out orders and delivery, until April 1. The same day, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz…
BY ISABELA ESCALONA A coalition of labor unions, religious leaders and social justice organizations held a panel as part of a Week of Action on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at Shir Tikvah Synagogue. Rabbi Arielle Lekach-Rosenberg led the participants in a traditional Jewish covenant ceremony where elected officials joined in the…
BY SARAH MARTIN This past month, Venezuela’s President Nicholas Maduro wrote a letter to the people of the world denouncing the latest, treacherous U.S. escalation against that country. When the U.S. government should be entirely focused on the health and safety of U.S. citizens, the Trump administration has once again…
BY TONY BOUZA “That Tony Bouza, he sure is full of himself, isn’t he?” Thus, did a wonderful old lady describe me to her companion as they left a talk I’d given. “You enter a room, big, loud and aggressive and suck the air out.” Thus, did a group of…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Normally, our focus on East Lake Street would include a couple of diverse dining experiences, a quirky little retail shop or two, maybe a race, festival or sports event, or some theaters, music venues or art galleries. In any case, you would be enticed to get…
BY ELINA KOLSTAD Well shit, this is scary. Every day we hear about more cases of the virus in Minnesota. In our community, employees at Seward Co-op’s Franklin store and Mayday Café have tested positive. Museums, schools and retail stores are closed. Grocery stores are still open, but shelves…
BY JAMES ROBB, MD FCAP [Editor’s note: The following article and letter, both written in February 2020, are shared here in the spirit of providing common sense solutions to preventing disease transmission, as well as information on symptoms, testing, and treatment of COVID-19. Please see the CDC website at www.cdc.gov,…
BY STEPHANIE FOX In May of last year, the City Council of Minneapolis announced that there would be new guidelines for funding neighborhood associations. The old guidelines, deciding how much funding a specific neighborhood association would receive, were based on neighborhood size, racial mix and livability, determined by crime statistics…
BY ED FELIEN Sen. Susan Collins justified her vote by stating that the president had learned a “pretty big lesson” from impeachment and that he would be “much more cautious in the future.” City Council President Lisa Bender said, “I think our policy changes in the police department, leadership changes,…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE In Summer Camp world as well as in School Year world, STEM, the acronym for all technical things (Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) has been merged with the arts to become STEAM. Although I haven’t found anything labeled as a STEAM camp, there is hardly an arts camp that doesn’t…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Whew! I hardly know where to start. On March 10, a coalition of pissed-off parents marched to demand Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) go back to the drawing board on their Comprehensive District Design (CDD) and this time consult meaningfully and in advance with the community, especially…
