Getting your taxes on — where to find free tax help

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Do you know anybody who likes filing tax returns? Okay, maybe the EZ form is fine if you have just employer and no fancy stuff. But what if might be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, or even the Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled?If your household income is less than $50,000 ($30,000 for individuals), you’re in luck.Well — maybe you’re not exactly lucky, but at least you might be able to get free help in filing your tax return.The IRS has an easy tool to find volunteer tax preparers, just a click away.Click here to see a description of VITA (the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program on the IRS website. <http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Free-Tax-Return-Preparation-for-You-by-Volunteers>Click here and fill in your zip code to find the nearest volunteer site. <http://irs.treasury.gov/freetaxprep/>If you want help, call now — appointment times fill up and the April 15 filing deadline is coming fast. Continue Reading

E-DEMOCRACY | Potholes in St. Paul

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March 22 – Jim Mork: Clear signs of pothole patching on Cretin. So the city must be out taking care of business. Need to swing by Cleveland to see if the worst stretch has gotten any attention.March 23 – Jim Mork: After seeing patched craters on Cretin, I drove northward on Cleveland to Grand. Nope. The pavement is in even worse condition since the last time. Continue Reading

Minneapolis Public School budget — How will it impact your school?

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Minneapolis Public Schools is working on a new budget for 2013-2014, with substantial cuts. The budget figures are taken from the 2013-14 proposed budget allocations published by MPS, and from the 2012-2013 School and Department Allocation Spreadsheet. Some schools are getting cuts — others are getting increases. Want to know how your school stacks up in the first budget round of 2013-2014? Click on the dot that represents your school on the map below. The red dots show schools that are getting budget cuts, and the green dots are schools that are getting increases. SOUTHWEST HIGH – ERROR IN MAP: There’s one error in the map – created via Google Fusion – and we can’t get it to change. Thanks to an alert reader for pointing out that the map places Southwest High in the Northwest corner of the city. Continue Reading

Look Who’s Knockin’ — Money and conscience

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“The land belongs to itself. If anything we belong to it…we borrow our lives from it.” Planting in the DustMore than 25 years ago, I drove around Minnesota with Laura Clark, as she performed “Planting in the Dust.” The play, written by Nancy Paddock, focused on a young couple at the beginning of their career struggling with an ethical dilemma: whether to adopt agricultural conservation practices that would preserve the land, but at the risk of losing money needed to keep the farm. The play was an early production of the Land Stewardship project, a focus on agricultural ethics and conservation. This weekend — March 22 and 23 — a new play by Land Stewardship organizer Doug Nopar focuses on an ethical dilemma faced by farmers at the end of their career: whether to get top dollar for the farm and ensure their own financial security, or take less money  and help the next generation get started farming for the sake of the community.”Look Who’s Knockin'” is a one-act play, intentionally short enough to allow time for discussion afterwards, and structured to invite conversation. Continue Reading

Liberian immigration status extended for 18 months

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On March 15, President Obama extended the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) status of thousands of Liberian residents of the United States for 18 months. through October Many Liberians have lived in the United States since 1991 under a series of special grants of temporary status.According to the White House memorandum:”Since 1991, the United States has provided safe haven for Liberians who were forced to flee their country as a result of armed conflict and widespread civil strife, in part through granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The armed conflict ended in 2003 and conditions improved such that TPS ended effective October 1, 2007. President Bush then deferred the enforced departure of the Liberians originally granted TPS. I extended that grant of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) to March 31, 2013. Continue Reading

Renting, from rats to riches

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I remember paying $65 a month rent for one of my first apartments, which I shared with a 70-something-year-old nun named Sister Mary Edward. We also shared the apartment, involuntarily, with several very large rats, who did not pay rent, but enthusiastically gobbled up all the D-Con we could afford to feed them. I don’t know how much that Chicago apartment costs today, but shocking Minnesota rental figures just hit my in-box this week, courtesy of the Minnesota Housing Partnership.According to MHP’s research, the fair market rent for “a safe, modest two-bedroom apartment” in the Twin Cities is $920. That’s lower than the average rental, reported by Apartment Ratings as $1100 for a two-bedroom apartment.A “safe, modest two-bedroom apartment” is probably a lot better than my 45-years-ago rat trap, with its 6×8 foot bedrooms and an on-again, off-again space heater in the living room. Then again — it should be. Continue Reading

Who is Mikkel Beckmen, new Heading Home Hennepin director?

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After serving as director of St. Stephen’s human services programs, and working on homeless issues for more than 22 years in several different organizations, Mikkel Beckmen was named the head of the Office of Homelessness in Hennepin County (including Heading Home Hennepin) on March 8. Last year, Beckmen told the TC Daily Planet:“When I was a freshman in high school there were no homeless shelters in Minneapolis.  There were a couple skid row missions.  But it really is a recent phenomenon and it’s created through the mismatch of resources with housing availability. Continue Reading

St. Paul sinkhole opens on Raymond Avenue

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Looks more like a pothole than the fearsome Florida sinkhole that has been in the headlines recently  — but that’s a good thing. St. Paul’s most recent sinkhole opened Friday night on Raymond Avenue, in the block north of Hampden Park Co-op. The city has close the street until repairs can be made: it may look small, but any sinkholes are serious business. For more on St. Continue Reading

Crime and controversy in St. Paul

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Reactions to a recent TC Daily Planet article (St. Paul Challenge: “Love the house. Hate the neighborhood.”) have been passionate. The article began with the story of a resident concerned about shootings on his block. In Facebook and E-Democracy posts, some readers expressed anger at the article:This is the WORST article I have ever read!!!.I am offended by the cheap shot title and opening paragraph of the article “Love the home, hate the neighborhood.” Continue Reading