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Julene Lind, from Nicollet Hardware on 38th Street, aong with her husband, Steve Rosch, and their son Sam, delivered 10,000 socks to St. Stephen’s Homeless Shelter at 22nd Street and 3rd Avenue South on Friday, May 14. Most people don’t realize that socks are a precious commodity for homeless people. Without private transportation, and often without money to afford public
transportation, they might walk three to seven miles a day. Paul Seifert, the operations director at the shelter, says, “A person may remember he
promised a son or daughter that he would come to their birthday party in St.
Paul and, without any other means of getting there, he might have to walk to
get there. People donate shoes but not socks. If you’re homeless you can’t
change your socks every day. If they get wet, the socks slip and cause
blisters. Not all the guys that are homeless are troubled, but all of them
need socks.” If you want to make a donation to St. Stephen’s Homeless
Shelter contact Paul Seifert at 612-870-2297 |
Celebration of life and community at 18th Avenue
BY AIMEE MCADAMS
 On a recent summery evening, the 18th Avenue Green Community Garden (on 18th Ave. and 33rd St.) was host to a celebration of life, friendship and community. Friends and family, neighbors new and old, came together to celebrate the lives and memories of four beloved community members who had passed away. The 35 to 40 people shared food, memories, and planted two cherry trees in honor of Eliza Erickson, Danny Drinkwine, Bob Gunderson and Tony Ramos.
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Israelis attack aid flotilla
BY ED FELIEN
 On Tuesday, June 1, more than 200 peace and justice activists met in front of Senator Klobuchar’s office at 1200 Washington Ave. S. to protest the
Israeli attack on the flotilla of ships that was making its way to Gaza. They marched and bannered traffic from 4 to 6 p.m. About 20 people went inside to talk with Klobuchar’s state director, John Kavanagh. He took more than three pages of notes and was very attentive.
At about that time Congressman Keith Ellison released a statement regarding the Flotilla Incident: “I am deeply shocked and saddened by reports that at least nine civilians have been killed, with dozens more injured, in a raid as Israeli armed forces intercepted a convoy carrying humanitarian supplies and construction materials to the people of Gaza.
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Bush: the gift that keeps on giving
BY ED FELIEN
He gave us the war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, an economic collapse, tax cuts for the wealthy that bankrupted the Treasury, and, now, we can credit him with giving us the greatest man-made ecological disaster in history.
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Still searching for the Saw-whet Owl
BY JOHN KARRIGAN
 I am still nowhere close to seeing the usual number of songbird migrants this spring so I will start with something completely different, as Monty Python would say. On May Day morning (that is, In the Heart of the Beast May Day, May 2 — the important May Day), a deer was near the southwest corner of the park and seen by various people. There have been a few additional reports of deer in the area since then.
Frogs had their usual noisy mating orgy
in the middle of the month and are quite quiet now. And, I saw a Painted Turtle laying eggs near the southwest shore of the lake on May 24. The new Powderhorn 365 book has a very good turtle-laying-egg photo, along with quite a few bird and nature photos, and many more photos of people, events and a plethora of other day-to-day
happenings that make this a unique and photogenic neighborhood.
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When mortgage servicers don’t play fair, everyone suffers
BY S. P. FOX
Architect Jaclyn Khoury bought her condo in 2006, but last year, like many in her profession, she was laid off from her job. Six months later, still unemployed and running out of savings, and with her beloved condo worth less than she had paid for it, she looked to her bank hoping to sell it in a short sale.
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Dr. Green says goodbye and welcomes new superintendent
BY DR. BILL GREEN
 June can be a bittersweet time for many of us at the Minneapolis Public Schools. Our students wrap up the school year, and a mixture of sadness and excitement is in the air. Our principals, teachers and all staff are proud of the accomplishments our students have made. Our schools are all hosting annual celebrations, carnivals, performances, recognition activities and commencement ceremonies. A special congratulations to our graduating seniors who are ready to tackle the “real world.”
June 30 will be my last day as Superintendent of Schools and I feel mixed emotions myself. Serving the Minneapolis Public Schools’ tudents, staff and
community has been one of the greatest honors of my life.
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What is Harry Brown trying to tell us
BY ED FELIEN
 It was 95 degrees and I thought I’d take the afternoon off and slip into an air-conditioned theater and watch Michael Caine romp through “Harry Brown.” It was a ghastly mistake.
It’s a horror, a pastiche. It has all the sophistication of “Reefer Madness” in its treatment of drugs. The heroes and villains have the character depth of Batman and Robin. And the “Death Wish” plot is a recycled revenge tragedy that went out of date with the death of Queen Elizabeth I.
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Welcome to Franklin Avenue
BY ED FELIEN
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Rowdy girls on Franklin Avenue in 1929 during Prohibition
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It wasn’t so long ago that Franklin Avenue was the Skid Row of Minneapolis. It was a dangerous place with wall-to-wall bars and liquor stores. Today it looks sleek and modern and as safe as a suburban shopping mall.
Perhaps the one event that changed the character of Franklin Avenue and made improved development possible was the elimination of the Liquor Patrol Limits by the City Council in 1975. This gradually moved all the liquor stores and bars off Franklin to other neighborhoods throughout the city.
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The origins of Islam: Ramadan
BY BARNABY DEVITT
Long before Mohammed and Islam, Ramadan was the name of the ninth month in the Arabic calendar. The name meant intense heat, scorched earth and little food. It is tempting to believe that, like the Christians with Lent, the ancient Middle Eastern tribes made a virtue out of necessity. Just as the Christian faith proscribes fasting for 40 days at the end of winter—when rations were low and there was no possibility of growing new crops—it seems reasonable to assume that in the Middle East fasting was proscribed during the intense heat of summer when crops could not grow. Further, it made sense to eat only before dawn and after sunset, and it is possible that the conventions of Islamic Ramadan came out of this practice.
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Juneteenth
BY BROTHER LOVE
 On June 19, 1865, slaves in Galveston, Texas, celebrated the delayed news of freedom. Their impromptu celebrations spawned the folk festival known today as Juneteenth.
Since 1866 descendants of former slaves have gathered yearly to celebrate.
The ethnic holiday celebrates the Emancipation Proclamation and Proclamation #3, two documents that announced that slaves were free. Juneteenth is the retelling of the legends of how the celebration got its name and why the news was late getting to Texas.
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New living centers going up!
BY DICK SAUNDERS
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Waters Senior Living of Minnehaha |
Two living centers valued at nearly $25 million have been started in the Corcoran-Midtown neighborhood, the largest affordable housing boost in that area in a decade.
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The “Icky Awards”—Who are the greediest?
BY JIM HIGHTOWER
This coveted corporate prize goes to the group of CEOs whose performances in the past 12 months exhibit the best combination of greediness, goofiness and grossness.
Of course, top Wall Street Bankers were heavily favored to win the 2010 Icky hands-down, having claimed the prize for two years running and continuing to perform at a breathtaking level of hubris and narcissism. Their assertion early this year that they "deserved" the $140 billion in executive bonuses they grabbed for themselves was a stunner, causing even some of Wall Street's former chieftains to gag at the excess. They looked like sure winners.
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June 2010 
