OUR STORIES | Emilia Gonzalez Avalos: Fasting to affirm ‘American values of family, immigration and hard work’

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Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, the director of advocacy and community engagement for Navigate MN, recently went to Washington, DC to join in the Fast for Families outside the Capitol. We talked to Gonzalez Avalos (who was also part of the TC Daily Planet’s fall Media Skills Fellows cohort) on her return:What is the Fast for Families?It is an action outside the Capitol building that was aimed to make pressure on the House of Representatives to bring the [immigration reform] bill to a vote. It was an action supported mostly by the SEIU [and also joined in and supported by] wide variety of groups from all over the country … so that people could create awareness of family separation and of the emotional traumas on children, and of the numbers of deportations with no criminal cases, no criminal backgrounds.The Fast was really a reaffirmation of American values of family, immigration, and hard work.From Facebook: “Day 2 has come to an end. Caffeine withdrawal is throwing me a curve. Continue Reading

On the Alzheimer’s road

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You know how when you are dieting, it seems like every place you look, there’s news about diets? I wish I were dieting — because wherever I look, there’s news about Alzheimer’s. Along with my sisters and brothers, I’m shuttling back and forth to my parents’ home this week, making sure that my mom has someone with her as she copes with the increasing toll of my father’s Alzheimer’s disease, which will soon put him in a skilled nursing facility. I know we are one family among a multitude, but I also know that each family’s experience of the vicious progression of the disease is unique, and uniquely painful.BBC reported December 4 that dementia cases, including Alzheimer’s, are set to triple worldwide by 2050, going from 44 million people today to 135 people living with the disease by 2050. As more people live longer, more will be living longer with Alzheimer’s and other dementia. Rather than being a disease of rich countries, it will be a disease of everyone, with more than 90 million in poor and middle-income countries that lack the capacity to offer assistance to patients and families.The numbers come from the Alzheimer Disease International organization, which advocates for more money for research on prevention and treatment. Continue Reading

Fall Media Forum: ‘Do good, important work’ in real world to succeed in social media

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“If you exist in the real world and do good, important work, THAT’s how you get followers,” said Guante in keynote of Fall Media Forum. For the story – check out Storify below, which we added to and built throughout the day.Some memorable quotes from the day: Guante: “Do good work, write good articles, get out in the community and build relationships with people – everything else is secondary. Everything else will follow that.”Karyssa Jackson: “If you’re not a member of the community that you’re trying to reach – why do you want to reach them? And are they going to benefit from it?”Alfred Walking Bull: “It sounds cheesy, but I go back to the traditions of storytelling.” Deanna Cummings: “Work is about leaving the people we work with better off – not about propping up the nonprofit.”[If you don’t see the Storify photos and comments below, please refresh your browser window.][<a href=”//storify.com/tcdailyplanet/getting-the-word-out-fall-media-forum” target=”_blank”>View the story “Getting the Word Out: Fall Media Forum” on Storify</a>]
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St. Paul: Fixed gear bikes, raw denim and the number one hipster zip code

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I would be super-excited about St. Paul’s new status, if being excited weren’t so darned un-cool. I’m not sure what the really hip reaction to our fair city’s new recognition is, but the press release from the mayor’s office must come close to the properly ironic reaction:SAINT PAUL – Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and local hipsters today reacted to Saint Paul’s Lowertown neighborhood’s new designation as America’s top hipster zip code. The designation was established by RealtyTrac, which analyzed hipster markets. “While the precise definition of hipsters is elusive —which is likely just how they want it — there’s no doubt the culture surrounding the hipster lifestyle has a major impact on local real estate markets, and mostly in a positive way,” the study said.“I couldn’t be more proud that our efforts to create a cool, but not too outwardly cool, vibrant but not too showy, and modern but also retro-feeling culture in our Lowertown area has really worked,” Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said. “I might even buy some oversized chunky eye glasses and a fixed-gear bike.”“That’s old news, my friends and I knew that way back in like 2011,” said Jamie Hipster while perusing a rack of sized 28 x 29 jeans at the Black/Blue shop in neighboring Cathedral Hill neighborhood.“I don’t think there’s anything I can really say,” said Saint Paul’s Director of Hipster Recruitment, Joe Spencer, who promptly cracked open a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon to celebrate the distinction. However, with light rail soon to open, the growing popularity of restaurants like the Bulldog, Barrio, and Buttered Tin, and the new Lowertown ballpark and refurbished Union Depot, Lowertown business owners and residents expect to attract normal, everyday people, too.For those of you on the other side of the river, here’s a brief look at some of the hip icons of Lowertown and nearby zip codes, via Storify.  [If you don’t see the Storify photos and comments below, please refresh your browser window.][<a href=”//storify.com/tcdailyplanet/55101-top-hipster-zip-code” target=”_blank”>View the story “55101 — top hipster zip code” on Storify</a>] Continue Reading

OUR STORIES | Jose Luis Morales: ‘I love my community’

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Jose Luis Morales was born in Nicaragua and grew up during the Sandinista revolution. He participated in the literacy brigades, teaching reaing and writing to others, and later worked as director of media for the Sistema Nacional de Publicidad, including radio work. After a change of government in 1990, he worked in publishing and sales and graphic design until moving to Minnesota in 2001.

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OUR STORIES | Debra Stone — Representing North Minneapolis

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“For us on the North side, we are always pissed off at the media because they say crap about the north side,” said Debra Stone. “I never thought of myself as a journalist until I was accepted into this media skills class. I was hung up on the fact that a journalist gets a MA degree from Medill and Columbia and you have to have all of these credentials and get accepted into this small, elite little group.”

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ST. PAUL NOTES | Big plans for BRT on Snelling Avenue

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Although Snelling Avenue doesn’t have the first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) running yet, the Met Council is already making plans to expand the line. A November 14 press release said that the council would evaluate “a future extension of A Line (Snelling Avenue) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) from Rosedale Center in Roseville north to the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP) property in Arden Hills.”

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