Inside the Daily Planet, 10/27/08

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THINGS PEOPLE SAY | Teens talk about voting by Monica, Karen and Aracelli • Monica, Karen and Aracelli have been working to register voters with Minnesota SOL (Strengthening Our Lives). Monica is 19 years old • I always thought politics was for old nerds. But, since I joined this group, I realize that we can make a difference.Views and Reviews: Special Monday Bonus SectionMovie note: Ridin’ nerdy by Emily Byers-Ferrian, TC Daily Planet • In her documentary Nerdcore Rising, director Negin Farsad trails the journey of Damian (a.k.a. MC Frontalot), Brandon, Sturgis and Gaby—four guys who got together and started producing a new kind of music that they decided to term Nerdcore. It’s rap that addresses subjects like computers, math, science, Magic the Gathering (if you have to ask, you’ll never know), Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica.Theater note: Salo saves a tedious Plague of Angels by Dwight Hobbes, TC Daily Planet • Mark St. Germain’s A Plague of Angels at Theatre in the Round, one of the Twin Cities’ best companies, is a good production that could’ve been better written and should’ve been better directed. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/26/08

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Readers, Writers, and BooksFor Peter Blau, 2008 brings both recognition and awards by Deb Pleasants, TC Daily Planet • If it’s true good things come in threes, then 2008 has been a banner year for Peter Blau.First, the year kicked off in January with the Daily Planet profiling Blau’s volunteer work as a creative writing instructor at Volunteers of America, Regional Correctional Center for Women. Next, members of the VOA administration decided to highlight Blau’s service by republishing (with author permission) the Daily Planet article in the VOA Board of Director’s annual report. That brought him to the attention of Mpls/St. Paul Magazine, which honored Blau (along with nine other volunteers and philanthropists) by placing him in their Volunteer Hall of Fame earlier this month. He and the other recipients each received a plaque as well as $1000 to be donated to a nonprofit agency of their choice. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/25/08

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THINGS PEOPLE SAY | Teens get out the vote by Diego and Danny, Minnesota SOL • Diego is fourteen years old. Danny is seventeen years old. They have been working to register voters with Minnesota SOL (Strengthening Our Lives). This is their story.Grand Rounds ‘missing link’ route approved by Jeremy Stratton, The Bridge • After a more than a year of plans, amended plans and often contentious debate with neighborhood residents, it appears a compromise has been reached on the route to fill in the “missing link” of the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway between St. Anthony Parkway in Northeast Minneapolis and East River Parkway in Southeast.U survey links high stress with low grades by Cody Zwiefelhofer, Minnesota Daily • Getting stressed out about that next exam might not be the best way to go about studying.NEW IN BLOGSKEEPING THE FAITH | Reporting on Molotov cocktails and government informants — or not by Mary Turck, 10/23/08 • The Strib and the PiPress give strangely different accounts of an RNC-related guilty plea.ARTS ORBIT | Oak Street Cinema to be demolished by Kayla Lafond • Minneapolis removes historic cinema from “do not demolish” list. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/24/08

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NEWS YOU CAN USE | Get in Orbit • Are you getting the weekly scoop? Subscribe to the Arts Orbit Weekly. Except for bacon at the Triple Rock, there’s no better freebie in the Twin Cities. The Arts Orbit newsletter offers weekly picks, convenient links to Daily Planet arts reviews, previews and reporting, and a new advice column: the Life of Cyn. Want to read a sample? Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/23/08

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NEWS YOU CAN USE | Composting in your own backyardTC Daily PlanetLast week’s article about curbside composting generated lots of interest. (Watch for another article on a pilot program in Linden Hills next week.) The comment below, posted by Diana Kennedy of Eureka Recycling, describes composting opportunities already in place in the Twin Cities, and offers help in setting up your own backyard composting.Views and ReviewsTheater note: Amazons and Their Men dramatizes the life of Leni Riefenstahlby Rebecca Collins, TC Daily PlanetAmazons and Their Men, a play by Jordan Harrison, is a richly-layered piece that involves bits and pieces of an imaginary screenplay, production notes, history, and a great deal of speculation. What’s being speculated about is the life and work of director Leni Riefenstahl (Triumph of the Will, Olympia), although the playwright notes that it is not a historical play.Deynn Hampton, Tadji Akhavan, and Steph Devine: Going from backup to first-stringby Dwight Hobbes, TC Daily PlanetBackup vocalists don’t get much glory. Fact is, though, they can make a big difference. Imagine the Rolling Stones’ classic “Gimme Shelter” without Claudia Linear belting her lungs out behind Mick Jagger. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/22/08

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Music note: Afternoon delight at the Walkerby Jon Behm, TC Daily PlanetMinneapolis label Afternoon Records turned five years old last Thursday and celebrated the fact by showcasing three of its most promising bands in a free concert at the Walker Art Museum. The lineup of Now, Now Every Children, Crescent Moon is in Big Trouble, and We All Have Hooks for Hands was a perfect indication of the level of talent the fledgling label has produced since founder Ian Anderson launched it in his senior year of high school.Researcher to speak on Wal-Mart, human rightsby Staff, Workday MinnesotaA researcher with Human Rights Watch will discuss “Discounting Worker’s Rights in the U.S.: The Wal-Mart Effect” Thursday at the University of Minnesota.Central Corridor takes huge step with FTA applicationby Jeremy Stratton, The BridgeAfter 19 months of preliminary engineering, the Metropolitan Council submitted its 4,000-page application on Sept. 5 for federal approval to enter into the final design phase of the Central Corridor Light-Rail Transit (LRT) line.She plays with clayby Theresa Bernard, Minnesota Women’s PressLayl McDill goes to work every day in a studio filled with colorful things. With a skylight but no windows in her corner studio space in northeast Minneapolis, she sees bright ocean blues and grass greens in the packages upon packages of polymer clay bricks on her worktables. When mixed together, they form unique patterns of objects like saffron stars or the crimson feathers of a phoenix. Continue Reading

Oregon workers ratify new contract at plant owned by Minnesota-based investment firm

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Following a solidarity campaign that drew support from Minnesota unions, workers in Halsey, Oregon, approved a new, six-year contract with Cascade Pacific Pulp, a paper mill purchased in June by a Minnesota-based private equity investment firm. Members of United Steelworkers Local 1189 ratified the contract Thursday after first rejecting the company’s “last best and final offer” Oct. 9 and threatening to strike, reported Fernie Mirelez, a representative of USW District 12. When negotiations resumed Tuesday, Mirelez reported, union negotiators were “very successful in not only improving the package, but getting it front-loaded as well.” The company, said Mirelez, “knew they weren’t dealing with just a small local in Halsey, Oregon, but with allies throughout out the country.” Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/20/08

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NEWS YOU CAN USE | You can save trees by Kathy Magnuson, Minnesota Women’s Press • Do you ever aspire to great and noble tasks? Then you share something in common with Helen Keller. She said, “I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.”Underground corn mazes and walls that grab you: The Soap Factory’s Haunted Basement by Melissa Slachetka, TC Daily Planet • The Soap Factory gallery is very industrial-looking; in fact, it used to actually be a soap factory. Once again this year, in the gallery’s 100-year-old basement filled with soap vats and old elevator shafts, there is a haunted house. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/18/08

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THINGS PEOPLE SAY | Getting real about energy by staff, TC Daily Planet • We asked local leaders to respond to the presidential debate. Read the whole story here. Carl Nelson of the Green Institute criticized the lack of focus on energy efficiency and conservation.St. Paul Disparity Study shows discrimination still occurring by Anna Pratt, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder • As the City of St. Paul moves forward with plans to establish a newly-merged Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity (DHREEO), a key part of its charge will be to foster minority and female participation on City projects. Continue Reading

Candidates for the Minnesota state legislature

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The General Election is Tuesday, Nov. 4. We do not have the space or time to give you background information on all the candidates that will be on the ballot, but we thought we could give you background information on the legislative candidates running in our community. In 61A, the incumbent, DFLer Karen Clark, will be facing a challenge from Republican S. Andrew Sheppard. In 62B, there is a three-way race to fill the vacant seat left by the retirement of Neva Walker. Continue Reading