Anytime Fitness offers affordable, approachable gym environment for Northsiders
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North Minneapolis is no longer a “Fitness Desert.”
COMMUNITY VOICES | A war on women: In Minnesota, the first victims of sulfide mining would be their children
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This past summer Texas bluebonnets were still blooming when Senator Wendy Davis stood and spoke for nearly eleven hours to stop a bill predominantly supported by male senators. Men telling women they had no right to health care. No right to make reproductive decisions for themselves. Men would decide for them. “A war on women,” it has been called.I could not help but wonder how many legislators nationwide, on both sides of the political aisle, hypocritically promote a male-dominated industry that deprives women worldwide of rights. Continue Reading
Minnesota Department of Health to produce radiation data
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Ever since 1953, the state of Minnesota has conducted environmental radiation tests to measure the presence of various isotopes in its air, water, and land. While the roots of its monitoring Continue Reading
COMMUNITY VOICES | Community building at its finest
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On a hot summer day, a group of neighbors gathered in a yard to talk and stretch. Kids played and laughed. Even though it was one of the hottest days of the year with a high of 94 degrees, these neighbors were getting ready to run a mile together, something they do every single day.They run on the street they live on, past well kept modest homes, freshly mowed lawns, and well tended gardens, past neighbors they know and neighbors they haven’t met yet. To the latter, they call out “welcome, join us!” And some do while others promise they’ll join next time.In a time when there are so many initiatives to make neighborhoods and communities healthier, how did this particular one occur?Mohammad Zafar and his wife, Sarah, recently moved with their children to Oakdale, MN, a small city just east of the Twin Cities. Continue Reading
NEIGHBORHOOD NOTES | Venture North: A favorite Harrison destination for bikers and coffee lovers
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Looking for a great destination within a short bike ride of downtown Minneapolis? Head down Glenwood Avenue and in about 10 minutes you will find a bright red building with a mural on the side. As you walk into the cozy shop you will hear the beats coming from vintage records; then your eye drifts over to the left and you find the coffee bar, where among your options are a cold smoothie, hot tea, or the pour over, which is a cup of coffee made one cup at a time just for you. Then you see the bikes for sale, and now you know you are in one cool place.Venture North has a unique position in North Minneapolis; it is one of the few coffee shops on this side of the city, where bike repair and sale businesses are even more rare and they tie it all together with a youth empowerment service. The youth programs are the heart of Venture North: the staff take in youth and train them as bicycle mechanics and toss in some sales and customer relation skills as well.The empowerment programs and classes include the following: All About Bikes is the bike mechanic apprenticeship program for youth ages 15-23; Pedal Power is a special program for girls ages 10-12; Earn a Bike is a safety and basic repair school for ages 6-12, and upon completion of the program the youth get to keep the bike they fixed. Continue Reading
Discussing Planned Parenthood at the dinner table
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Are you that awkward guest at a dinner party? You know the one. S/he finds one kindly ear and latches a hold of its owner like a life preserver? I am. Meh… Continue Reading
Cutting pills in half and waiting for MNsure
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For Leslie (who preferred we just use her first name), managing health care costs has included cutting pills in half, skipping doses of her medications, hoarding free samples from a neurologist, an
“Boggled” by deadlines, charts, eligibility, Duluth woman loses out on insurance
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“People in their hard luck have a history of being frustrated and don’t reach out and explore their options. Then they lose out…there’s a lot of poverty here and people making choices that aren’t real great for their well-being,” said Tanya Beyer, an uninsured full-time worker from Duluth.In Beyer’s case, she lost out on what would have been a beneficial health insurance plan offered by her employer. She is now without health insurance. After 2 1/2 years on Minnesota Care, her coverage expired just as the open enrollment period ended for her employer’s health insurance plan. Beyer explained, “A lot of us look at charts and get kind of boggled by them. Continue Reading
Health reform on right track, but we’re not finished yet
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Reverend Sarah Campbell’s faith compels her to fight for health reform. “It’s completely unjust,” she said of the current health care system. Campbell is the lead minister of Mayflower Church in Minneapolis. Every minister can tell stories, she said, about challenges their parishioners have faced trying to obtain health care. She told the story of a man who had insurance and recently needed urgent heart surgery. Continue Reading
A little known holiday observance
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Not many people know, and even more disturbing is the fact that the media doesn’t report it enough, is that April is STD Awareness Month.