Economy

It’s nearly impossible to travel through Minneapolis and not witness the remains of the foreclosure crisis. Entire streets are left empty and dark. Historic homes have been turned into picked-apart skeletons. And as one foreclosure unfolds, its seeds take root in neighboring homes and streets, causing home prices to plummet and the mortgage mess to accelerate. The problem is especially visible on the city’s North side, where more than 800 homes are on the city’s vacant properties list. MORE »

Back in 2002, House Majority Leader Tim Pawlenty and Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe were gearing up for runs for the governor’s office. However, a looming budget deficit anticipated for the upcoming biennium was a liability for both leaders. Neither man wanted to run for the state’s highest office with the state’s long-term budget deep in the red. MORE »

by Jay Gabler •

At the end of a long hallway at the Brian Coyle Community Center in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, a small room is lined with shelves and a commercial refrigerator. On the shelves, cans of lima beans sit aside boxes of mac’n’cheese and plastic bags of East Indian spices.

Every day when the food shelf closes, the metal shelves are bare. The next morning, workers restock them again from a diminishing supply across the hallway. MORE »

Denise Harris is truly thankful this year, as are her volunteers and staff. More importantly, her North Minneapolis Meals on Wheels (NMMOW) clients are thankful because the longtime organization, which started in 1973, is still delivering hot meals to their doors each day. MORE »

Not all Minnesotans can share in this, but for most of us the greatest cause for celebration this Thanksgiving is having a job.

That is the dark cloud hanging over this Thanksgiving week as we prepare to gather on Thursday for our annual celebration to give thanks. It is a dark cloud hanging over Friday as well, the day after Thanksgiving when the annual holiday gift-buying season usually has its unofficial start. MORE »

The effects of the global economic recession have edged into daily life, in ways as small as a television commercial urging viewers to stay in and cook (and buy salmon fillets) instead of going out to dinner. On a grander scale, several Wisconsin school districts invested in securities that crashed, costing them millions, and now face dire budget decisions. In Minneapolis, city government has not yet been faced with the need to make significant cuts, but some small changes have been made and more may be around the corner. MORE »

With the credit market tightening and banks requiring bailouts, the opportunities for small businesses to receive financial support are becoming increasingly difficult to find. MORE »