Merriam LexHam SnellHam

The idea of a Peace Island conference came to me, whole, in the middle of a meal. Shortly after the announcement of Saint Paul as the location of the Republican National Convention (RNC), September 1-4, I wrote “peace island” on a napkin scrap, and lost it. But the idea festered—an undeclared recession, war without end, and 15,000 media people coming to town looking for a story. MORE »

Eyes can glaze over fast during a Legislative session, with dollars measured in millions — quantities most of us aren’t used to dealing with. Last year, 4.5 of those millions went to the St. Paul Port Authority to study power options for Rock-Tenn’s cardboard recycling operation in the Midway, which needs a new power source after Xcel Energy closed its steam generator. MORE »

Mixed Blood Theatre’s final play of the 2007-8 season is Uruguayan playwright Jacobo Langsner’s Esperando la Carroza. The satirical play, performed in Spanish with English supertitles, is Mixed Blood’s 10th annual bilingual production. These annual productions bring in approximately 5,000 Spanish-learning students from around Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa each year. MORE »

Last night I stopped at the Cambodian Chinese restaurant, Kim Huoy Chor, a block west of Snelling on University. It was an Embers back some decades. I was on my own and brought in the Atlantic Monthly to read while working my way through the more than satisfactory buffet. All you can eat plus a drink for under $10 including tax. Not the super-shiny mass production buffets that seem to be popping up in malls around the area. So shoot me, I like all you can eat, even if it gets kinda soggy sometimes. MORE »