Ward 8 election postmortem – Letter to the Editor

Why do you think Keith Ellison and Ilhan Omar endorsed Andrea Jenkins over the DFL-endorsed Soren Stevenson? It’s surprising because they have both benefited from DFL endorsement as did Soren Stevenson in this campaign. He lost by only 38 votes. Jenkins’ opponent Soren Stevenson refused to meet with the Star…

Continue reading

U.S. imperial behavior – Letter to the Editor

“It’s easier to fool someone than to persuade them that they’ve been fooled.” Most Americans, asked whether they support empire and imperial behavior, would say no. They don’t think we live in it—notwithstanding over 800 U.S. military bases around the globe and a trillion-dollar military budget, a constant state of…

Continue reading

We need a stronger democracy to shut down the HERC

BY DANIEL COLTEN SCHMIDT Right now, Minneapolitans are demanding more participation in governance, particularly in the cases of environmental justice. In May of 2023, the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) was able to secure community participation in the redevelopment of the Roof Depot building. Now our attention must shift to…

Continue reading

Trying to understand

BY JORDAN KUSHNER The political establishment nationally and locally has fallen into lockstep in its unquestioning support for anything Israel does. The military attack by Palestinian militants breaching the supposedly secure fence locking them into Gaza on Oct. 7, which included mass killings and hostage takings of noncombatants, has sparked…

Continue reading

Are tree treatments worth the risks?

BY CAM GORDON For over a decade, green insects called emerald ash borers (EAB) have been killing ash trees throughout Minneapolis. This fall the City Council appears ready to shift its policy in favor of using pesticides to combat the tree infestations – and it is mostly for financial reasons.…

Continue reading

How to do it gracefully

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Breaking it down This edition of “Gracefully” will focus on what elders, especially those living solo, need in order to thrive, and ways to satisfy those needs with resources available in south Minneapolis. We’re breaking down the needs into five categories; they’re not the usual categories,…

Continue reading

Small business street parking is one man’s concern

BY STEPHANIE FOX You may not know Phil Vandervaart personally, but you know his work. He has been a Twin Cities professional sign painter since 1983, creating artistic and imaginative signage for hundreds of small businesses in Minneapolis since moving here from Chicago. Some of his works include Palmer’s Bar,…

Continue reading

Why did HCMC undercut patient well-being?

BY DIANE J. PETERSON AND JOHN KOLSTAD Although one normally perceives hospitals, and the doctors who work in them, to be dedicated to the overall health of patients being served, HCMC (Hennepin County Medical Center) revealed that it compromised that ideal in May by lobbying against a bill intended to…

Continue reading

March in Mexico against Israeli aggression

BY JOHNNY HAZARD On Saturday, Oct. 28, I walked in the march against Israeli aggression in Mexico City. It was the second march to be held here since the events of Oct. 7 and the Israeli reprisals. Between 2,000 and 4,000 people marched from the Ángel de la Independencia (near…

Continue reading

Ukraine Chronicles

BY DAVE GUTKNECHT Here’s NATO and some of the U.S. imperial agenda: expansion to Russia’s borders and now in Africa, wars in Serbia, Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan’s nearly one million dead almost forgotten already. Sixty years ago, the lesson of the Cuban missile crisis was not that we faced down…

Continue reading

Marty and Martha Roth

A fond remembrance by Ed Felien My earliest memory of double dating with Marty and Martha was taking our kids (in strollers) to the Minnesota State Fair. Jennifer lost her pacifier and Marty wondered what archeologists a thousand years from now would make of it. That was almost 60 years…

Continue reading