Inside the Daily Planet, 9/12/08

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NEWS YOU CAN USE | Celebrate Mexican Independence Day/El Grito de Independencía! by Mary Turck, TC Daily Planet • Celebrate Mexican Independence Day this weekend, in Minneapolis and St. Paul!Theater note: Babe hits the pin by Lydia Howell, TC Daily Planet • It was nothing less than a stroke of genius for lesbian playwright Carolyn Gage to write a musical telling the story of Mildred “Babe” Didrikson. Beginning with her sweep of the 1932 Olympics, Didrikson became a sports legend who lit the torch for women and girls to participate in sports. Yet Didrikson’s life has never been fully (or truthfully) explored onstage—until now.Food and RestaurantsFight hunger: have a taste of Lake Street by Jeremy Iggers, The Rake • If you were to seriously try to eat your way down Lake Street, from Lake Calhoun to the Mississippi River, you could spend a lifetime and never succeed in completing the task – the artery that runs through the heart of south Minneapolis is a gastronomic hot zone, where new restaurants are constantly being born and dying.St. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 9/10/08

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THINGS PEOPLE SAY | Readers sound off on RNC protestsby Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet”You anarchists never learn.”“It’s always easy to sit and talk shit until it’s your house being raided.”-comments on “Police break down doors in nighttime raid on anarchist meeting”Religious Right Watch: Sarah Palin at a glanceby Andy Birkey, Minnesota IndependentGov. Sarah Palin isn’t talking about her faith — or anything else, for that matter, in the last few days — but that hasn’t stopped the media from digging into her religious background, which has been hailed by the religious right as moving social conservatives to support Sen. John McCain. Palin certainly hits all the high notes on issues concerning the religious right. But while that support from the religious right has been huge, Palin has also suffered some criticism from members of the pro-family movement.Oregon paper mill union leaders denied meeting by MN mill ownerby Steve Share, Minneapolis Labor ReviewOregon’s Willamette Valley is a long way from the shores of Lake Minnetonka, lined by the palatial homes of Minnesota’s wealthiest business leaders. Nonetheless, two union leaders from United Steelworkers Local 1189 from Halsey, Oregon traveled all the way to Minnesota last week seeking a meeting with Patrick C. Halloran, head of Wayzata Investment Partners, a private equity firm that purchased their plant in June.NEW IN BLOGSFor the love of ghettoblastersby Melissa Slachetka, Arts OrbitCome out to Club Jager this Saturday night and experience a tribute event like no other. Some of the best DJs in the area will gather to take part in a celebration of Radio Raheem—the character from Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989) who walks around with a boom box playing Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power”—and his entire era.What would you do if you saw your nation going fascist?by Gary G. Kohls, MD, From the SoapboxOkay, so you call yourself a patriot. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 9/9/08

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THINGS PEOPLE SAY | “This is their future” by Mary Turck, TC Daily Planet • Solomon, age four, and little brother Isaac, age nine months, came to the Labor Day anti-war march with their parents, Mia Witheiser and Brian Fisher.U renews Aramark, Coca-cola contracts by Ahnalese Rushmann, Minnesota Daily • Love them or loathe them, Aramark and Coca-Cola will be filling campus bellies for at least another decade.How Minnesota corn farmers can replace 40% of our coal usage without using corn by Salman Mitha, Special to Minnesota 2020 • Minnesota has long been a leader in renewable energy. Three churches, one location by staff, Asian American Press • Welcome to the church of the 21st century! Although the institutional Christian church has been divided into strictly separate denominational groups for centuries, there are some indications that change may be on the horizon!NEW IN BLOGSMartín Espada coming to The Loft by Jay Gabler, Arts Orbit • Sandra Cisneros has called poet Martín Espada “the Pablo Neruda of North America.” He’ll be the Pablo Neruda of Washington Avenue on Saturday, when he comes to The Loft Literary Center for a 7 p.m. reading.Gestapo Bob and the Police State of Saint Paul by Eric Pusey, September 7, 2008 on MN Blue, Cabbages and Kings • I am still appalled at everything I have heard over the course of this last week. St. Paul was turned into a police state for the Republican National Convention by Bob “Gestapo Bob” Fletcher, Ramsey County Sheriff.U.S. Sustainable Agriculture Through Chinese Eyes by Jim Harkness, Think Forward • “You should tell more people around the world about America’s non-mainstream agriculture and food system. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 9/8/08

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NEWS YOU CAN USE | Vote Tuesday in primary elections by Mary Turck, TC Daily Planet | Races on the ballot include the Minneapolis school board, Senate and Congressional districts, and judges for the Supreme Court and district courts.Anti-Flag Q&A: Police at Ripple Effect “dangerous” by Peter S. Scholtes, Minnesota Independent | Radical punk band Anti-Flag headlined the Ripple Effect Tuesday at the St. Paul Capitol Grounds, where Rage Against the Machine were physically barred by police from taking the stage.Roll Call: A local business recalls home entertainment, circa 1920 by Jack Armstrong, Minneapolis Observer Quarterly | On a mild Saturday, we motored into Southeast Minneapolis to listen to some piano players — but not the sort you might imagine. br>Teens find summer jobs as artists by Prisca Ohito, ThreeSixty | Fortunately for some creative teens an alternative to the fast food and retail routines exists with ArtsWork, a youth employment program developed by COMPAS, a local arts education organization.NEW IN BLOGSWhat was the world rocking out to on the day you were born? by Jay Gabler, Arts Orbit | This has absolutely nothing to do with local music—unless you happen to have been born on June 10, 1980 or August 1, 1984.Little Grocery on the Prairie by Daniella Fisher, By the People | In small towns, the local grocery or hardware store often also serves as a community gathering space, where town residents can get advice from the proprietor (and anyone else who happens to be inside), meet fellow community members, learn about the town’s happenings, run into old friends – and, yes, make a purchase.Confusion about dealing with hunger by Jeff Nygaard, Cabbages and Kings | The news has been filled in recent months with stories about “food riots” around the world. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 9/7/08

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Readers, Writers and BooksGirls just wanna read by Allison Ehlert, Minnesota Women’s PressFor every first-time author who is published with ease, there are many more who share the experiences of first-time novelist Susan Runholt of St. Paul. Runholt faced much resistance through the many years she tried get her young-adult novel, “The Mystery of the Third Lucretia,” published. The book, set in the Twin Cities and London, Paris and Amsterdam, is the first in a series of books featuring two female teenage sleuths.150 best Minnesota books #14, #15, and #16: Histories by women by Patrick Coleman, Minnesota Historical SocietyThe giants of Minnesota history were all women.Bethel author goes back in time with book on Mennonites by Jeanette Fordyce, TC Daily Planet“How is this car-rejecting people not only able to survive but also thrive in our post-modern world?” asked James Hurd, an anthropologist who has taught at Bethel University for the past 26 years. He has co-authored the book Horse-and-Buggy Mennonites after a ten-year period of interviews; eight Wenger readers assisted him with reviews. Continue Reading

Glamour and the graveyard of ambition: Will RNC = RIP for Chris Coleman’s career?

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Rich Broderick, September 4, 2008 • The word “glamour” entered the language by way of sorcery – originally it meant a method of casting a spell in which a witch or wizard bedazzled a victim by taking on the appearance of great physical beauty and accompanying sexual allure. In other words, a form of shape-shifting. Glamour was considered particularly effective for ensnaring people of the upper ranks of society – those who, it might be said, thought of themselves as “glamorous” in the modern sense of the term.

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Inside the Daily Plaent, 9/6/08

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INSIDE THE DAILY PLANETMcCollum promises to look into police response to RNC protests by Rich Broderick, TC Daily PlanetRep. Betty McCollum (DFL-St. Paul) and two of her staff members met for more than 90 minutes this morning with representatives of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and others speaking on behalf of protestors detained and arrested during this week’s Republican National Convention.NEWS YOU CAN USE: Mississippi Watershed group retools grants program, hopes to reach diverse communities by Paul Purman, TC Daily PlanetA Twin Cities watershed organization has a quarter million dollars of grant money to divvy up over the next few months, and they’re hoping groups that have traditionally not applied for funding will show up for an information meeting on Monday, September 8.Somali community protests RNC by A. Jahweyn, Hiiraan OnlineFreedom of expression and the power to summon your government, the two most important principles of democracy is played out at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in St Paul, Minnesota. Among an estimated 15,000 protesters that took to the streets of St Paul on Monday, September 1 was about 300 Somalis who were protesting against “the U.S. sanctioned Ethiopian occupation of Somalia.”Empowering rural China through education by Staff, Asian PagesBefore Sara Lam ’03, a native of Hong Kong, completed an elementary education major at the University of Minnesota, Morris, (UMM) she knew classroom teaching would not be in her future. In fact, Lam considered dropping out of the program, but her UMM professors encouraged her to finish. They recognized in her a quiet but exuberant passion for children and a profound awareness of social inequities. Continue Reading

Mayor Interrupted: My weekend non-meeting of the minds with Chris Coleman

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by Rich Broderick • September 1, 2008 • The conversation started off on a positive note. More than positive. I shook the Mayor’s hand and commended the St. Paul Police Department for its low profile during the weekend’s worth of patently unconstitutional raids around St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“I know John Harrington slightly,” I pointed out, “and he doesn’t seem to be the kind of law enforcement official who engages in breaking the law.”

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Inside the Daily Planet, 9/2/08

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St. Paul’s High Bridge closure leaves only one route across the Mississippiby Paul Schmelzer, Minnesota IndependentWith about 45 minutes to go at tonight’s SEIU Labor Day picnic and concert at St. Paul’s Harriet Island, a City of St. Paul sign-crew truck put “Road Closed” signs at both ends of the only remaining open bridge connecting downtown to the island. The worker speculated that the aim was to prevent or delay the concert attenders from returning back to downtown, the site of numerous clashes between protesters and police today.Tear gas fired into crowd at Kellogg, MnIndy reporter hitby Paul Schmelzer, Minnesota IndependentFour blocks of Kellogg Blvd in St. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 9/1/08

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Veterans, Code Pink and individuals march to the Xcel Energy Center Sunday, nine arrested by Kathlyn Stone, TC Daily PlanetAbout 200 anti-war activists marched from the Capitol to the Xcel Energy Center today as the finishing touches were being put in place for the Republican national convention that starts Monday.Police presence rattles medical professionals volunteering to help out during RNC by Art Hughes, TC Daily PlanetA training session for doctors, nurses, and other help professionals came to an abrupt halt Saturday when police entered the building. The Northstar Wellness Collective rented space in a church on the 600 block of Jackson St. in St. Paul to aid protesters and others during the Republican National Convention.SPPS says downtown schools will start “on time” during RNC by James Sanna, TC Daily PlanetDespite the potential chaos in downtown St Paul during the Republican National Convention next week, St Paul Public Schools will remain open, according to Howie Padilla, the [Public Relations Coordinator at SPPS. Kindergarten classes have been pushed back to the Monday following Labor Day, but grades 1 through 12 will otherwise start as planned on Tuesday.Ahmed Sirleaf, others accept new appointment in OLM by staff, The Liberian JournalMr. Ahmed Sirleaf, the man recently appointed by the Board of Directors of OLM to serve as Chairman of its Constitution Review Committee, has accepted to execute his duties and responsibilities “with a high degree of professionalism, experience, expertise, a sense of responsibility, and service to our people”.A trip through history for colorful fall viewing by Phyllis Louise Harris, Asian PagesThe earliest successful city on the Mississippi River was not St. Continue Reading