Courageous heARTS

BY DORIS OVERBY On a stroll down a stretch of emerging 38th Street businesses this August, I stepped into Courageous heARTS, a youth-led nonprofit art studio at 2235 E. 38th St., and discovered teen artists selling their work during their organization’s summer “Show and Sell Pop-Up” art sale. Nothing inspires…

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Where do we park?

BY ELINA KOLSTAD Years ago, my husband and I stayed with some family friends in Saint-Etienne in France. They live in an apartment built before the advent of car culture, so when they were going to show us some regional attractions, George walked a couple of blocks to the parking…

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Should transit be free?

BY JOHN CHARLES WILSON The Twin Cities Transit Riders’ Union (TRU) has been recently advocating that Metro Transit quit charging fares and become a free service, like the public library. In this column, I would like to discuss the pros and cons of free transit. First of all, free transit…

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Listening to Commissioner Conley

BY AMY BLUMENSHINE County Commissioners Angela Conley and Irene Fernando, a new “Squad” of women of color, are pushing the county to seriously step up to address the needs of the public. The Hennepin County Board, made up of seven commissioners, approves the second largest government budget in the state.…

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What really happened to American Socialism?

BY HARVEY WASSERMAN Despite the corporate hype, Democratic Socialism and Social Democracy are deeply rooted in the mainstream of our nation’s history. The lie that they’re “foreign ideologies” starts with the fascist assault Woodrow Wilson waged against them during and after World War I. Their marginalization today by corporate Democrats…

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Climate activists Trick or Treat Cargill

Minnesotans stage a “funeral for the Earth” at the home of David MacLennan, CEO of agribusiness giant Cargill, for complicity in Amazon fires In the pursuit of profits, Cargill facilitates the destruction of the Amazon for soy and beef production. Across huge expanses of the Brazilian Amazon and the adjacent…

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Burt Berlowe RIP

BY AMY BLUMENSHINE Burt Berlowe’s chair was empty as his colleagues gathered for the monthly meeting of the Peace and Social Justice Writer’s Group. Burt had passed away that afternoon, Oct. 28, from consequences stemming from his most recent fall. As a candle was lit and libations were poured, those…

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The double cross in Syria

BY ED FELIEN You have to wonder if there wasn’t another phone call that night. An earlier phone call from Putin, telling Trump if he withdrew American troops from Syria, Putin would personally keep the Russian Mafia bosses off Trump’s case for the casino bankruptcies. The Turkey dodge was just…

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Dinkytown: Still Positively 4th Street

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE 1 Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command. Dinkytown is the University of Minnesota, and the Dinkytown experience is quintessentially the student experience. Even if, like me, you first experienced Dinkytown as a fully grown adult almost a decade away from your own college…

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Frankenstein: Two Centuries

Presented by Ghoulish Delights Performed by The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society celebrates two hundred years of Frankenstein with two original stories inspired by Mary Shelley’s iconic tale, each written and performed in the style of a classic radio series, including commercials, live music…

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Do we need more cops?

BY ED FELIEN Do we need more cops? Yes, and no. Yes, we need a greater police presence downtown and on Lake Street and Franklin Avenue. It is intolerable that violent gangs are beating and robbing people in broad daylight downtown. This has to stop. When Tony Bouza was chief…

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Communities near East 42nd Street

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Last Thursday we went to a Community Meal at Roosevelt High School, just north of 42nd Street on 28th Avenue South. I mainly know Roosevelt High as my caucusing and voting place. Also, I know a woman who was until recently employed there, and a key…

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