BY ED FELIEN Mike Hazard probably wrote the best obituary for Dahnn. It’s on Facebook: Dhann Polnau reveled in puppetry. Daniel Polnau was Dan Dan the Puppet Man, Magick Man, Decolonizer of Darkness, Wizard’s Magician, a weirdo, a saint, and a fabricator of tall tales of the highest caliber, a…
BY ED FELIEN “Hey, all of Minneapolis, Mayday is happening,” says Jason Heisler. He organized a fundraiser at Palmer’s Bar: “Feb 2. Noon – 9 p.m., The Super Puppet Bowl. Several bands, a Palmer’s puppet show, raffle, silent auction, contraptions, street performers, T-shirts, and special guests.” David Senn wrote…
BY ELAINE KLAASSEN Tom Dickinson is a multi-faceted person who lives in the Powderhorn neighborhood. Friends and neighbors know him as a concert pianist, a Buddhist (Kwan Um School of Zen), an activist (WAMM committee Tackling Torture at the Top), a cat-lover, and/or as the founder and president of an…
BY TONY BOUZA I had lunch the other day with a bright, educated liberal. He fulminated over the Left’s excesses, going overboard on race, etc., etc. I disagreed with him vehemently. We have made progress: 1619-1865: slavery; 1865-1965: Jim Crow; 1965-present: incarceration. White society uses its cops to keep blacks…
BY ISABELLA MORDEN-WHEELDON Curvy Girls is a global network of peer-led support groups for girls up to age 18 suffering from scoliosis. For those unfamiliar with the condition, scoliosis is a lateral curvature of the spine that tends to occur in girls during adolescence. Treatments usually involve a plastic back…
California Fires I find that in order to understand the news behind the news I usually have to seek sources beyond the usual sources. Thus, mainstream media too often glosses over information vital for real understanding. The recent fires in California are an example. In November 2018 a spark from…
BY ELINA KOLSTAD As we enter a new decade, Australia is burning, and in Minneapolis two fires killed residents in affordable housing units in recent months. While bush fires are a common occurrence in Australia, climate scientists have long warned that fires would get worse and here we are. The…
BY JOHN CHARLES WILSON This is the 50th year since public ownership of transit began in the Twin Cities. As such, I find it appropriate to go over the past decades and how the MTC (later MCTO and finally Metro Transit) has performed, and what should be in store in…
BY JOE HESLA If you rent in Minneapolis, times are bad and getting worse. Since the light rail and the phase 2 of the Greenway were completed in 2004, a lot of market rate (read gentrification) apartment buildings have been built along both corridors. Three examples: The Station 38 apartment…
BY ED FELIEN Minnehaha Senior Living, an assisted-living community located in South Minneapolis, has recently added a new library for its tenants and dedicated it to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the poet famous for writing “The Song of Hiawatha.” Doug Ernst, a local historian and Longfellow reenactment presenter, came to Minnehaha…
BY AMY BLUMENSHINE As the drums beat once more to rev up the nation for war with Iran, the moral, religious and psychological consequences get little consideration. As a deacon called by the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) to address the suffering of military veterans and their families, I…
Sunday, Feb. 16, 7 p.m. St. Joan of Arc gym 4537 Third Ave. S., Mpls. Thomasina Petrus presents a concert for Black History Month: “Are We There Yet? Tales from the American Journey.” Thomasina leads a group of musicians and actors in an evening of music and stories, with special…
BY TRACY MCCORMICK The Minneapolis Public School District is weeks away from unrolling three models as part of their Comprehensive District Design. They have said that 60 percent of students (14,000 kids) will move schools under the boundary changes they have considered, and, as director Kim Ellison shared at a…
BY ED FELIEN The New French Bakery is closing its retail store at 26th and 26th. Hillary Oppmann of the Seward Civic and Commerce Association says, “The good news is the business itself is not closing, just the retail outlet. The company will continue to make their frozen breads…
Wednesday, February 12, 7 p.m. 3800 42nd Avenue South in Minneapolis Admission is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. This one-time screening of a one-of-a-kind film about a unique musician and a legendary band is another in a series of special events hosted in recent years by the Riverview…
