Reporting on race and immigration in an election year
The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder and La Prensa de Minnesota and the Twin Cities Daily Planet join in inviting you to become part of this community conversation on race. Come to talk or come to listen. Tuesday, June 17
4-6 p.m.
First floor public meeting room
Family & Children’s Service
4123 E. Lake St., Minneapolis, MN 55406
HEADLINES
A different doomsday in Darfur, Minnesota
By Doug McGill, TC Daily Planet
Every once in a while, someone in this tiny speck of a prairie town catches sight of a “Save Darfur!” poster in a magazine or a newspaper, or on the flickering TV at the Darfur Lounge on main street.
Deep secret: Military waste remains a Lake Superior mystery
by Tom Elko, Minnesota Monitor
A mystery lies scattered on the silty bottom of Lake Superior a few miles from Duluth Harbor. On seven occasions between 1959 and 1962, U.S. Army contractors dumped more than 1,400 steel barrels of classified material from Honeywell operations at the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP) in Arden Hills into the cold waters Lake Superior. The dumping solved two problems for the Army — how to dispose of the waste economically and how to keep the contents secret.
And you thought the highways were bad?
by Conrad deFiebre, Minnesota 2020
Of Minnesota’s 132,000 miles of streets and roads, only about 12,000 are part of the state and interstate trunk highway system that gets the bulk of state and federal transportation funds. Most of the rest of the motor vehicle network is owned and maintained by counties, cities and townships and largely supported by property taxes — $1.2 billion worth in 2005, the latest year figures are available.
A focus on college at Somali Education Night
by Justin Schell, TC Daily Planet
Last Friday night, over 80 attended the seventh annual Somali Education Night. The focus this year was specifically on higher education, to have “students exposed to the university,” according to event coordinator Mahamoud Wardere. Representatives from five colleges were present to give information and answer questions about their respective colleges.
INSIDE THE DAILY PLANET
Juneteenth Shades of Diversity event comes to town again
by Anna Otieno, Mshale
Last year Andre Sims of MN Inside Out organized the 1st Annual Juneteenth Shades of Diversity event at the 601 Graves Hotel in Minneapolis, MN.
Park Board accepts ads to raise funds
by Dennis Geisinger, Southside Pride
During its June 4 regular meeting, the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board (MPRB) approved some $2.9 million from state bonding for restoration of the Minnehaha Falls area. The money will be used in addition to $1.6 million from the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) to restore the Lower Glen in Minnehaha Park after time and erosion have ravaged the walls of the bridge that spans the falls and banks and walking trails downstream. The $3.5 million dollar restoration will be part of a proposed $5 million restoration for Minnehaha Park, according to the Board.
A grand finale
by Nick Busse, Session Weekly
They did it.
After weeks of tense negotiations that seemed sometimes to teeter on the brink of collapse, “a handshake and spreadsheets,” in the words of Gov. Tim Pawlenty, were all it took to bring the 2008 legislative session to a timely and successful close.
Workforce center offers hope to jobseekers
by Dennis Geisinger, Southside Pride
“Employers need you. There is an employer out there who will be lucky to get you,” is the message job hunters were given during May’s open house at the Minnesota WorkForce Center at Lake and Chicago.
NEW IN VOICES
An Obama landslide?
by Tom Heuerman, Special to the TC Daily Planet
Approximately half the states may be competitive in November’s presidential election. Barack Obama plans a 50 state campaign to take advantage of changed demographics, superior fund-raising, and his unmatched ground organization. A landslide Obama victory is possible.
NEW IN BLOGS
Signal Interference: Tuning into the meaning of “Corporate Media”
Rich Broderick 6/10/2008 • There was an awkward moment at the end of “Minnesota Model: Countering Corporate Media,” a panel discussion at this weekend’s National Conference on Media Reform.
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