By now, you’ve heard of #Grapegate. But, if you’ve been living in a snow bank, here’s a quick update.On Nov. 18, the esteemed New York Times ran a piece called The United States of Thanksgiving; 50 States (and D.C. and Puerto Rico). Food writers at the Times apparently “scoured the nation for recipes that evoke each of the 50 states,” and published each one along with photos of the foods and complete recipes.Some were hits. For Alabama it was Oyster Dressing. Continue Reading
When a University of Minnesota student got arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct, instead of finding himself in front of a judge, he found himself in front of Bill and Susan Engel.
In a report about Minnesota Jobs Coalition chair Ben Golnik’s new job as executive director of the Minnesota House Republican caucus, Minnesota Public Radio’s Catherine Richert reported in Monday’s article, Golnik to direct House Republican Caucus:
Golnik is leaving his post as chairman of the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, an independent political group that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars ushering in the Republican majority to the Minnesota House. Republicans won in nearly every district the group invested in. . . . Continue Reading
The MN Child Protection League Action PAC [CPLActionPAC] issued an action alert to their current followers concerning the Transgender Athletic Policy coming up for a vote on December 4, 2014. They claim that the Minnesota State High School League [MSHSL] is not listening to “you” and have urged their members to call the MSHSL and regurgitate their tired talking points to oppose the policy.The alert continues to state, “They [children] should not be used as tools of aggressive special interest groups with dangerous agendas that will harm children.” Based on their past lobbying efforts, this appears to be what the CPLActionPAC is, an aggressive special interest group putting our children in harms way, particularly those in the LGBT community.On September 26th, 2014 the CPLActionPAC in MN spent approximately $37,000.00 on a full page ad in the Sunday Sports section of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The headline blared “A male wants to shower beside your 14-year old daughter…Are you OK with that?” and intentionally created a controversial debate in Minnesota concerning transgender student athletes competing in K-12 sports and urged the public to attend the October 1st meeting to oppose the new policy of inclusion.Executive Direct, David Stead of the Minnesota State High School League [MSHSL] stated that the current policy draft was constructed borrowing the best practices from the 32 states that have already past a similar policy regarding transgender student athletes. The policy is an inclusive document that basically allows transgender athletes to participate in sports while their privacy is protected. Although the ad was debunked line-by-line, there were 55 people signed up to speak, but due to time constraints, approximately 40 made it to the podium. Continue Reading
Pearl Lindstrom, the owner of the south Minneapolis home recently added to the National Register of Historic Places has died at the age of 92. A call to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner today confirmed Lindstrom’s death was reported with their office. The cause of death, time of death and other details are pending an official investigation.Lindstrom lived in the little house on the corner of 4600 Columbus Avenue South in Minneapolis for over 50 years. She was thrust into the spotlight last summer because of renewed interest in the story of the Lee Family, the home’s previous owners.In 1931, Arthur, wife Ethel, and daughter Mary Lee were met with racial animosity and strife as an African-American family integrating an all-white neighborhood. As we previously reported, renewed interest in the Lees’ story begain to gain traction, according to the Star Tribune, after a 2001 publication of research by law Professor Ann Juergens.Arthur Lee, a World War I veteran and a postal worker, found solace and protection for his family from other veterans and co-workers, many of whom were white. Continue Reading
Last month, October 13, 2014, it was my pleasure to participate in a celebration at the Minneapolis American Indian Center. The occasion was the resolution passed by the Minneapolis City Council to have as a co-name, “Indigenous Peoples Day,” for what white U.S. society has celebrated as Columbus Day.This is a Community Voices submission and is moderated but not edited. The opinions expressed by Community Voices contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the TC Daily Planet.Why do I rejoice at this name change? Columbus may have been a hero to U.S. Euro-Americans, particularly to Italian-Americans, however, Columbus is not a hero to not only the Indigenous Peoples of the U.S., but also to the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. Columbus used dogs trained to disembowel Native peoples when they fled. Continue Reading
The Minnesota Senate Rural Rask Force is holding meetings at the state capitol in St. Paul that are listed on the senate’s calendar, being briefed by public officials and representative of powerful special interests about a legislative agenda, and receiving handouts about that testimony. Continue Reading
