BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE We attended the Open Streets on Franklin Avenue a couple of weeks ago and man, there were a LOT of scooters. Scooters were a novelty rarely seen just last year at Open Streets. During my one-week visit to Atlanta this year in early August, that city…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE (Yeah, we’re hoping to sell this piece to BuzzFeed later.) But seriously, this is no joke. We were calmly and methodically doing our research to spotlight two upmarket small businesses and three long-standing nonprofits on Chicago Avenue when—BOOM!—one of the nonprofits, a 17-year-old, high-visibility presence…
BY STEPHANIE FOX Everett’s Food and Meats is a small neighborhood grocery store in the heart of South Minneapolis. It’s been there forever. As with many little grocery stores, you can get your standard items—chips and dips, beans, rice, frozen dinners and a small selection of fresh produce. You can…
BY TONY BOUZA There is no doubt in my mind that the most vital institution in America is a free press. Period. And the responsibility of the Fourth Estate? Dig for and report the truth. I tried hard to lead my life as a public servant in service to that…
BY JIM TJEPKEMA Now is the time to gather on the shores of Gichi-gami—Lake Superior—and raise our voices so that Governor Walz, our state agencies, and all Minnesotans can hear. This gathering, titled The Gichi-gami Gathering to Stop Line 3, will be held in Duluth on Sept. 28 from 1…
BY KATHRYN KELLY We keep hearing that the pumping at Hiawatha Golf Course is bad. But why? Let’s turn this idea on its head and ask why is this pumping necessary? Why is Hiawatha Golf Course pumping so much water; where is all of this water coming from? Lake Hiawatha…
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 JOHN CHARLES WILSON It’s that time of year again: The State Fair is upon us, and after that, those of us who are between the ages of 6 and 18 get to go back to prison for the next nine months. It’s also time for one of the four…
Unfair Remuneration The Star Tribune recently ran an article entitled “Worker pay stagnates as it soars for CEOs.” It would be great if on its publication that situation could be rectified, but no way is that going to happen! The organization responsible for the report, the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute,…
BY LUCIA WILKES SMITH “Sometimes they show us the ‘one-fingered peace sign’.” That’s the way Sister Brigid McDonald describes the nasty gesture made by some people who drive past a peace vigil. Brigid and her sisters—Kate, Jane and Rita—are Catholic nuns who were subjects of the History Theatre’s dramatic production…
BY ELINA KOLSTAD Recent discussions of policy, specifically the 2040 Plan in Minneapolis, have discussed the fact that we have severe racial disparities that we need to deal with as a city. This is encouraging in that the first step to dealing with a problem is to recognize that you…
BY ELAINE KLAASSEN Along with most of my friends, I wish to reduce my carbon footprint. My environmentally-friendly friends and I think if we live sustainably we can somehow alleviate and mitigate the climate heat that is exponentially encompassing the entire planet. (You know, the hotter it gets, the hotter…
The Women’s Prison Book Project (WPBP) is celebrating its 25th year in operation on Oct. 12, 2019. The project has sent requested books to women in prison and, for the past several years, to transgender prisoners locked up nationwide within America’s criminal justice system of mass incarceration. For our commemoration,…
Jimmy and Lorraine: A Musing is a meditation on the American political climate of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s through the eyes of two of the most significant artists of the time, James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry. Using text from journals, letters, interviews, and more, Wilks brings Baldwin and…
BY ED FELIEN First, I want to thank the friends and supporters who came downtown to see me try to slay the dragon. The judge asked me why I was doing this. If you don’t like the decisions they make, then there are elections. I said, these elected officials took…
