COMMUNITY VOICES | In honor of a snowy forecast, May 1, 2013

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Hello, stranger. After a flash of recognition, my brain flips through series of snapshots to identify you. The back of my mind has a habit of registering snapshots of people like drugstore passport photos and paper-clipping them to a place or a time or a routine. On days like today, another part of my brain takes over to sort through all of the possible contexts and open the right mental dossier. Do I know you from the coffee shop? Continue Reading

MN VOICES | Billie Young – Grand lady of Grand Avenue

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“I think everyone feels that they want to make where they live a better place.” In this matter-of-fact tone, Billie Young explained her life-long history of community involvement. Never content to just sit at home and do nothing, Young’s commitment to working to improve the community around her seems almost as natural as breathing. 

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Local music, global peace: Nonviolent Peaceforce hosts fourth annual benefit concert

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“It’s not just [about] the money.” This is not the phrase that one would expect to hear to describe a fundraising event, but Ann Warner of Nonviolent Peaceforce means it sincerely. “We have this important international organization right in our midst. … We’ve got to bring that out in a better fashion.” 
With one of their main offices located in Minneapolis and the other in Brussels, Belgium, Nonviolent Peaceforce is both local and international.  But despite having local roots, said Warner, the organization is not well known in the Twin Cities. Continue Reading