Southside Pride

	Phillips/Powderhorn Nokomis Riverside
January 2008

Phillips/Powderhorn: Jan 2008

Where should I go to caucus on Feb. 5?

Caucus DFL! BY CHARLEY UNDERWOOD

camel

Esther Ouray, shown here riding a camel steadied by a guide, shares her experiences from a trip to the Middle East in an article this month. read more

2007 has been a depressing year for all of us, but perhaps worst for Democrats. Last November, we thought we would start seeing some changes. It didn’t happen. The war didn’t stop; it sped up. We didn’t get back civil liberties; we just made a few things legal that were illegal last year. The schools failed. The banks foreclosed on homes. The bridge fell. And the Democratic party suddenly decided that 60 percent was the new majority. The country is paralyzed and still afraid, and the Democratic Congress ended up less popular than even George Bush. Why, then, should a good progressive citi-zen go to the DFL precinct caucuses on February 5? The answer: Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. Paul Wellstone’s U.S. Senate seat, currently occupied by Norm Coleman, is up for grabs this year.

Caucus Republican! BY ED FELIEN

Charley Underwood makes an eloquent case in the adjoining column that the
Democrats have been a disaster this past year. As he says, they’ ve only made things worse— the Iraq war, civil liberties, etc. However, Charley believes Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer is reason enough to caucus with the Democrats. Jack is certainly the most progressive candidate running for U.S. Senate, but it seems he’s started too late and doesn t have much of a chance.

Neva Walker decides not to run in 61B—

Neva Walker is retiring from her MN House seat.

As of Jan. 3, two Southside politicians have officially announced their candidacy for the District 61B Minnesota House seat that is being vacated by retiring Rep. Neva Walker. They are Jeff Hayden, a provider support manager for the Hearth Connection, a Minneapolis-based organization that works to end homelessness, and Farheen Hakeem, an educator and community activist.

Click here for a list of articles for January 2008

Nokomis: Jan 2008

The future of Coldwater—
will it be part of a national park?

South Minneapolis residents can enjoy this view of a local treasure. See article on updates about the possible future of Coldwater Spring (Photo by Susu Jeffrey)

The future of Coldwater Spring, currently flowing at about 90,000 gallons a day, is in the hands of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI). Soon, the DOI will announce what public entity will “own” this 10,000-year-old spring. And whoever “owns” it could directly impact the future of the spring.

When Hwy. 55 was rerouted, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) promised “no adverse impact” to Coldwater Spring, which is losing more than 27,500 gallons daily since construction ended, according to MnDOT’s own measurements. In a huge bureaucracy, with multiple spokespeople, no one is accountable.

Innovative program tackles teen crime

Social programs put together by neighborhood associations in South Minneapolis to remedy juvenile crime are being overtaken by the City because their funding has been drastically cut or no longer exists.

Local group, AlliantACTION, stands against DU production

A faithful community of peacemakers in the Twin Cities has objected to the manufacture of war materials for many years, first at the Honeywell Corporation, and then at Alliant Techsystems (ATK is its stock market name), a spin-off from Honeywell. The group is committed to making an antiwar statement. Every Wednesday morning at 7 o’clock, rain or shine, this group, now called AlliantACTION, holds a vigil outside ATK in Edina. Occasionally some of the members hold demonstrations and carry out direct actions. Since 1996, when the vigils began at ATK, 699 people have been arrested and five have served jail time.

Click here for a list of articles for January 2008

Riverside: Jan 2008

The wild ride of the South Minneapolis real estate market


Skyrocketing prices, foreclosures, recession, what next?

Go to your local daily news-paper or turn on the television or radio news station on right now, and you’ ll probably find a story on the collapsing real estate market. There are wildly contradictory predictions about what will happen and what it all means.

None of these experts really knows for sure because the dou-ble helix of real estate and mort-gage lending has become so complex so quickly; it’ s impos-sible for anyone to truly under-stand all of it.

read more

Met Council must trim millions from LRT plans

Between now and Feb. 27, the date for a decision on plans for the proposed light rail project to link Minneapolis and St. Paul, the Metropolitan Council has to trim at least $150 million from its current $990 million design package.

Responsible for both design and construction of the proposed Central Corridor Light Rail Line, the Met Council heads the Central Corridor Project Team in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Hennepin and Ramsey counties, and the University of Minnesota. Depending on whether plans and funding can stay on track, soil will be broken for the project in 2010 and construction completed by 2014.

read more

Park board clips skating at Brackett

Budgets for neighborhood parks barely skate by


Neighborhood kids Jesse and Brandon skate at Matthews Park. (Photo by Dennis Geisinger)

“The Brackett Park ice rink has been closed,” confirmed Scott Vreeland, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board District 3 Commissioner, in an interview with Southside Pride.

“The commissioners originally considered closing one rink in each of its districts to kind of spread the pain around,” Vreeland said. “

Somehow that got translated into closing two rinks in each manager’s district, and I only have the two rinks in my district—Brackett Park and Powderhorn.”

Click here for a list of articles for January 2008