March 2012
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“We paid the price to be here. Allow us to rest in honor with our deceased...”
– Retired Col. Chuechou Tchang, arguing in favor of a law that would allow Hmong-American and Lao-American veterans to be laid to rest in Minnesota Veterans Ceremony.
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“Reach them out. Somalis will feel honored if you tell them you will come and...”
– Counselor Ali Kofiro helps to bridge cultural gaps between Somali-Americans and Minneapolis schools.
February 2012
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OPINION | The "Right to Work" amendment: Unfair,...
Legislators have introduced a constitutional amendment that would put this language on the November 2012 ballot:
“Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to guarantee all citizens the individual freedom to decide to join or not join a labor union, and to pay or not pay dues to a labor union?”
The misleading ballot question, however, doesn’t inform voters about what’s really going to happen...
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“Instead of tackling the serious issues facing our schools, these bills will make...”
– Tom Dooher, president of teaching union Education Minnesota. The Minnesota Senate passed a bill Monday that would eliminate the “last in, first out” policy that determines which teachers are laid off first at K-12 schools.
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CORRECTION | U.S. Bank NOT involved in Bobby Hull,...
Yesterday we republished an article and video from The Uptake, one of our media partners, that was headlined, “A tale of two US Bank-Occupy foreclosures raises racial questions.” That headline and the article were in error.
Tom Joyce, Senior Vice President and Director of Public Relations at U.S. Bancorp, called me today to tell me that this article was in error and to express anger...
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The poverty line is being raised 3%. →
The cost of living, though, just went up 11%.
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“Approximately 11% of the voting population does not carry a photo ID that meets...”
– The Minnesota League of Women Voters, arguing that the GOP’s proposed Voter ID law should not be passed. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie has proposed an alternative. Can it pass?
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“Hispanic, Asian and Native American students [in charter schools] were roughly...”
– A new study finds that charter schools aren’t delivering promised gains, and are contributing to the continuing segregation of Minnesota schools.
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Can Minneapolis Public Schools succeed without... →
Is journalism a legitimate nonprofit activity?
The IRS is still undecided, a fact that most directly affects startup would-be nonprofit news operations, but might eventually have implications for established 501(c)3s like the Twin Cities Daily Planet, MinnPost, and MPR. One Chicago nonprofit news outfit is going under, in part because the IRS’s uncertainty caused a potential funder to get cold feet.
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St. Paul's first elected lesbian is currently in... →
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“This is basically criminalizing being poor.”
– Ebony Harris, a North Minneapolis mother of four, testifying before the Minnesota Legislature against proposed funding cuts for human-service programs that feed and support the poor.
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Who's watching the kids in Minnesota?
Who’s watching the kids? Not the Republicans in the legislature. Instead, they are proposing shortening the time of eligibility for the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) assistance, cuts in the income level for eligibility, and punitive restrictions and requirements. Cynthia Boyd details some of the issues of “Welfare Reform 2.0,”including one telling example:
Amanda...
“He’s indispensable to the Somali community in Minnesota. For many students, it...”
– Al Jazeera reporter Abdi Aynte on Abdikadir Adan Xiito, a mathematician, mentor, and moral force in the Somali-Minnesotan community.
Join associate editor Jay Gabler on Wednesday for...
Barry Casselman has covered national and presidential politics since 1972. One of the pioneers of the neighborhood newspaper movement in Minnesota, he edited and published Many Corners from the Minneapolis West Bank from 1973 to 1986. Since that time, he has contributed to many national publications. He is also a widely-published poet and short story writer.
12:00-1:00 PM, Wednesday, February...
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“Today’s Dakota People of Minnesota see these U.S. Presidents as haters,...”
– Chris Mato Nunpa
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Minneapolis South High students protest Arizona...
South High students are taking a stand against Arizona’s controversial statute 15-112 by staging various actions that call attention to the ban on ethnic studies that was enacted at the beginning of this year. In what social studies teacher Rob Panning-Miller called one of the most meaningful learning experiences students have had this year.
Arizona’s Statute 15-112 forbids schools to include...
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A decrease in Hennepin County violent crimes over...
For the fifth consecutive year, fewer violent crimes were committed in Hennepin County—with a 6 percent decrease from 2010 to 2011.
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Minnesota redistricting: Who's safe, who's not,...
After redistricting, Michele Bachmann no longer lives in the Sixth Congressional District. No problem: she’s going to run for Congress in the Sixth again anyway. The law doesn’t say you have to live in the district you represent in Congress. (Who knew?)
Since she spent months claiming and proclaiming her Iowa roots, maybe she could run for Congress there? Oh, wait — even...
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“With so much else that needs to be done, for both our infrastructure and our...”
– Today from the Dept. of As If You Didn’t Already Have Enough to Worry About: America has 4,000 deficient dams.
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The more I witness the Presidential race, the more I am drawn back to my visits last fall with two of Minnesota’s most enduring and beloved statesmen, Walter Mondale and Al Quie.
By happenstance, we came together on separate occasions and did not discuss politics as such but just chatted similar to the visits in Tuesdays With Morrie.
Both men have common backgrounds, education, and views of...
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“The bills aren’t dead yet, not at all.”
– Rebecca Jeschke, a spokeswoman for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, referring to SOPA, PIPA, and other digital anti-piracy laws.
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“I had one student who came in. I was teaching math, and math is one of those...”
– Alleen Brown talks with Kim Ellison, the newest Minneapolis School Board member.
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“You can’t pave over history, but they are trying to.”
– Katherine Shaffer-Wishner, who is among the Dinkytown residents concerned that rising rents are pricing small businesses out of the neighborhood.
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“Photo ID would bring America back to the days of poll taxes that prevented...”
– Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), one of many black leaders protesting proposed voter ID laws, which they say are unnecessary and will disproportionately affect African-American voters.
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“Watching an 8th grader really step up and thinking back to where they were as a...”
– Educator Dudley Voigt, who connects Twin Cities youth with musical theater.
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E-Democracy shoots for 10,000 in St. Paul
With the help of an unprecedentedthree-year, $625,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, E-Democracy will try to enroll 10,000 St. Paul residents in its neighborhood forums. Steve Clift, who founded the on-line E-Democracy forums in 1994, is excited about the opportunity to more than triple current St. Paul forum membership. Clift said that 10,000 members would represent 10...
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At the Bright Moon Cafe at the corner of Cedar...
Hashi’s home is the sun-drenched Somali port city of Kismayo, where year-round blue skies, lush vegetation and sugar-white beaches would normally qualify it as among the most stunningly beautiful cities in the Horn of Africa.
Except that today, Kismayo is located on the most active front line of Somalia’s torturously complicated civil war, which has been raging for 20 years and is now escalating...
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It's time to pick a school.
Parents of pre-schoolers, middle-schoolers and every-schooler in-between have until the end of the month to decide which school their child will attend. It’s a big decision. These days, folks are saying even a single teacher can change the trajectory of a child’s education. So what does a school do? And how do we know a good one from a bad one?
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“My people, to be integrated—to that they will never accept that.”
– Musa Farah, director of Ubah Medical Academy, one of the public charter schools that enroll a third of Somali students in the Twin Cities.
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Writers are people too
No one ever said being a writer was a way to make friends. In fact, if you’re one of those people that thinks, “Man, I just have way too many friends,” might I suggest a career in writing, which will inevitably lead to people you like being mad at you, and you questioning whether people are being nice to you because they like you or because they want you to write nice things about them.
This...
“Look at what this board did. It’s an utter failure of leadership.”
– Lynell Mickelsen of Put Kids First, describing Minneapolis School Board members who sent a letter on Minneapolis Federation of Teachers letterhead
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“Local control is needed for every dang school district in this state!”
– Strong words are being thrown in the state legislature.
Not just Old MacDonald: Minnesota conference...
“The highlight clearly was that this is a immigrant farmers’ conference; its their conference,” said Glen Hill, the executive director for Minnesota Food Association. “They are represented, feel comfortable, speak and share, and they feel empowered.”
Nearly 500 people came registered for the Seventh Annual Immigrant and Minority Farmers Conference. According to Joci Tilson, assistant...
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What education does Minnesota need?
When Steven Rosenstone, chancellor of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, spoke last week at the Compass annual meeting, he could have been mistaken for a Chamber of Commerce representative. I don’t mean that as a compliment.
Rosenstone emphasized the need for “aligning academic programs with business needs” and for “a better understanding of the precise workforce...