SUNDAY, May 4
HEADLINES
Muslim Marine meets prejudice at home
by Julia N. Opoti, TC Daily Planet
It all began with a column in the Star Tribune. Katherine Kersten started by asking whether taxpayers were paying for a religious public school, and, in a later column, concluded that they were. The press coverage resulted in school officials receiving threatening calls and emails with death threats.
Fighting cynicism, over breakfast
by Jennifer Holder, TC Daily Planet
Looking out at the crowd seated for breakfast in the atrium of Mercado Central, U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison complimented his colleague, Minneapolis alderman Gary Schiff, on the wisdom of bringing his constituents together in that setting. “We need such spaces to discuss the issues we are passionate about,” said Ellison.
May Day parade aims to provoke political discourse
by Hilary Brueck, Minnesota Daily
Look down – the first crop of mushrooms is already popping up. Their earthy, flesh-colored fungal spores are rooting into the cool earth. Some are eating toxins out of the soil, connecting the earth to the air.
Minnesota researcher claims Focus on the Family misrepresented his work
by Andy Birkey, Minnesota Monitor
Professor Gary Remafedi, M.D., of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota called on James Dobson of Focus on the Family to correct “gross misrepresentations” of his research in a letter sent to the religious right group on Wednesday. Remafedi is the latest in a long line of researchers who have demanded that Dobson and Focus on the Family correct inaccurate references to their research, citations that are often used to create a false and negative impression of gays and lesbians.
Progressive property tax reform
by Jeff Van Wychen, Minnesota 2020
Minnesota’s property tax is regressive, meaning that a disproportionate share of the property tax burden falls upon those with the least ability to pay. In recent years, both the amount of statewide property taxes and the degree of property tax regressivity have increased, contributing to the overall growth in tax regressivity in Minnesota.
INSIDE THE DAILY PLANET
Theater note: Jesus returns…to Minneapolis
by Jean Gabler and Georgia Fisher, TC Daily Planet
Jean: I have never attended a protest, I have never lived in a commune, I haven’t been to San Francisco, and I had never seen Jesus Christ Superstar.
Readers, Writers and Books
‘Riding Shotgun’
by Sun Yung Shin, Minnesota Women’s Press
Motherhood is not for the faint of heart-and neither is being a daughter. Thanks to a new collection of essays, “Riding Shotgun: Women Write About Their Mothers,” readers now have the opportunity to explore this in more depth.
The Gardener’s Bedside Reader
by Roxanne Bergeron, The Bridge
As patches of ground resurface from the snowy winter, and Minnesotans begin to poke around their gardens and whisper to slumbering bulbs and buds to arise, The Gardener’s Bedside Reader is a reminder that spring is not just a promise or a wish.
The lit mags that could
by Stephanie Wilbur Ash, MN Artists
Writer Stephanie Wilbur Ash investigates the persistent proliferation of homegrown lit mag publishers–from online ‘zines to emerging and established print publications.
NEW IN VOICES
Opposition to Obama intensifies
by Matthew Little, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
A candidate in a political contest must find it very frustrating to discover that he has two enemies to fight simultaneously — the opposition party and the principle opponent of his own party. That seems to be the situation Barack Obama finds himself in.
NEW IN BLOGS
Archdiocese: Pro-choice speaker can’t talk about torture at Minneapolis church
by Paul Schmelzer, Eyeteeth
Dr. Steven Miles, an internationally known expert on medical complicity in torture at places like Abu Ghraib (and professor at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Bioethics), was scheduled to speak at St. Joan of Arc Church in Minneapolis before tomorrow’s mass. But when the anti-choice lobbying group Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life got wind of it, they called on the Catholic archdiocese to shut it down. They did — on grounds that, while Miles’ work on torture is exemplary, he doesn’t toe the church’s pro-life line.
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