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…
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.…
PRESS RELEASE FROM NOAH J. McCOURT Noah J. McCourt, a disability advocate with autism and developmental coordination disorder, used to enjoy taking strolls around the Twin Cities. No longer. Now he fears for his safety because every day he is dodging scooters traveling at high speeds down the sidewalk. Several…
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…
BY STEPHANIE FOX Jake Reber is a man on a mission, focused on a campaign to get his city government to come up with solutions to fight the rising crime rate in South Minneapolis. Earlier this year, he started talking with his neighbors, hearing about their personal experiences with property…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Affordable Housing Something has to be done about the ever-increasing gap between the poor and rich, especially as it relates to the availability of affordable housing for those who need it. The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports that in no state in the union can a full-time worker earning…
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…
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…
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…
BY ELINA KOLSTAD As Minneapolis becomes increasingly urban, more of our residents will live in apartments with little access to green space. The dynamic and rhythms of our city will change drastically. The great changes we are about to face could also be seen as a chance to see possibility…
BY LAURA HALL Meena Natarajan, the artistic and executive director of Pangea World Theater, greeted me warmly outside their offices on Lake Street. She then guided me to the neighboring coffee and tea shop where we spent the next hour discussing Pangea’s ambitious artistic mission: a mission, as stated on…
