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Showing posts from October, 2018

Reading the Highland Villager #220

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[A Villager underfoot.] [Basically the problem is that the best source of Saint Paul streets & sidewalks news is the Highland Villager, a very fine and historical newspaper. This wouldn't be a problem, except that its not available online. You basically have to live in or frequent Saint Paul to read it. Until this newspaper goes online, sidewalk information must be set free. See also:  Three Reasons Why I Re-Blog the Highland Villager .] Headline: City Council holds hearing on proposed $15 minimum wage on Nov. 7 Author: Jane McClure Short short version: The City Council is going to have a meeting about how to raise the minimum wage. Some people want tip credits, others do not. Headline: Ryan Cos.' Master plan for Ford site gets rave reviews Author: Jane McClure Short short version: The developer who bought the Ford site released some initial plans for the development. There was a meeting and people clapped. CM Tolbert is quoted: there's a lot for people to like." T

Twin City Doorways #42

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 [Lyndale Avenue, Minneapolis.]  [Plum City, WI.]  [Cathedral Hill, Saint Paul.]  [Minnehaha Avenue, Minneapolis.]  [Saint Clair Avenue, Saint Paul.]  [Saint Clair Avenue, Saint Paul.]   [Summit Avenue, Saint Paul.] [Summit Avenue, Saint Paul.]

Sidewalk Closed Signs #13

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[West Side, Saint Paul.]   [Lacrosse, WI.]  [ Location forgotten . West Side, Saint Paul]  [Boston, MA.]  [Boston, MA.]  [Location forgotten.]  [South Minneapolis.] [Upper Landing, Saint Paul.]

Gas Pump Politics are a Sure Sign We are Screwed

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[What fresh hell is this?] Imagine if the cigarette industry had never been reined in. Imagine if "Surgeon General's" warnings had never been amplified into a more meaningful gesture -- SMOKING KILLS -- or had never even existed in the first place. Imagine if cigarette taxes had been fought and killed at every level politically, and, even worse, that cigarettes were subsidized and provided to the public at below market costs. Imagine if cigarette commercials were not banned from TV, but instead became an omnipresent, full of sexy images and catchy jingles at all hours of the day and night promoting smoking. That's the infuriating reality we live in, only cars are the new tobacco . Filling the gas tank of a borrowed car the other night, I was greeted to the dumbfounding sight of a Jeff Johnson political ad blaring out of the TV installed in the gas pump. "Tim Walz wants to raise the gas tax," it said, along with a bunch of other scary sounding things. (Well,

Twin City Bike Parking #36

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[Downtown, Saint Paul.] [Lyndale Avenue, Minneapolis.] [Falcon Heights.] [Downtown, Saint Paul.] [Selby Avenue, Saint Paul.] [Selby Avenue, Saint Paul.] [Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis.] [Snelling Avenue, Saint Paul.] [Seattle, WA.]

Signs of the Times #145

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 NUTRITION HOME [Door. Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis.] Please Keep the Building Clean! No Dogs NO Cats [Door. Medford, MA.] CORNED BEEF w/ fries $8 CASH ONLY [Door. Detroit, MI.]  [Mysterious orange arrow.] [Pole. Lansing, MI.]  PUPPY WATERING STATION [Plant pot. Lansing, MI.] Open til 7pm Wednesday's Night Market [Window. Manitowoc, WI.]  ATTENTION For safety reasons, Please Do not use the post office driveway as a  parking spot. Also, please do not use the post office  parking lot to turn around in. Thank You [Door. Manitowoc, WI.] POSSIBLE ALWAYS POSSIBLE [Pole. Boston, MA.]  PLEASE HELP US! DON'T TRAMPLE PLANTS KEEP PETS OFF [Garden boulevard. Medford, MA.]

Public Character #8: Sid the Rat Man, c. 1890

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From a short 1962 memoir of Minneapolis, " I Remember Minneapolis ", talking about life in the 1890s written by Henry Broderick of Seattle, WA: But, back to Fourth Street and Newspaper Row. Comedy was there too, in many forms and guises. One character in particular will be recalled by many Minneapolitans now living. He was known widely as �Sid the Rat Man�. He had suffered some sort of domestic tragedy which slightly affected his mental equilibrium. Always bareheaded, with a lone wisp of very curly hair - a bright, friendly twinkle in his azure-blue eyes - he would approach any stranger and very politely ask he had heard his story. With any encouragement, he would launch forth into a disconnected jargon, never varying the harangue by as much as one word. Rats received honorable mention at many points. The so-called story lasted about three minutes and wound up with this line: �Rattle his bones over the tones for he is nothing but a lying porpoise.� The crowd always listened a

Reading the Highland Villager #219

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[Basically the problem is that the best source of Saint Paul streets & sidewalks news is the Highland Villager, a very fine and historical newspaper. This wouldn't be a problem, except that its not available online. You basically have to live in or frequent Saint Paul to read it. Until this newspaper goes online, sidewalk information must be set free. See also:  Three Reasons Why I Re-Blog the Highland Villager .] Headline: Era of organized trash collection begins in St. Paul; Only hitch in first week are petitions for repeal Author: Jane McClure Short short version: Only one trash company is going to come to each neighborhood now. "Few problems were reported." There is a petition to try and stop this change. Neighbors are concerned about carts and costs. Quote from petition person: "I've talked to some older people on fixed incomes who are in tears about what their garbage disposal will cost." Headline: Ryan gives Ford site traffic studies another look;

Twin City Neon #24

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 [Near North, Minneapolis.]  [Victoria, BC.]   [Victoria, BC.]   [Victoria, BC.]  [Vancouver, BC.]   [Vancouver, BC.]  [Seattle, WA.]  [Seattle, WA.]

Bike Rack Grades for Saint Paul Breweries

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[A Minneapolis brewery.] If there�s one thing that�s really simple that Saint Paul can�t seem figure out, it�s bike racks . Bike racks are so easy to get right, and almost everywhere in Saint Paul get it so wrong. Oh, and garbage collection. OK. Let's try again. If there are two things that are really simple that Saint Paul can�t seem to figure out, it�s bike racks and garbage collection. Oh, and crosswalks� Oh yeah, and tax assessments for street maintenance� And bike boulevards�  And walking in and out of downtown... And snow plowing. Oh hell, let� s stick with bike racks for a second. [Only in Saint Paul.] Bike racks are easy and inexpensive, all things considered. And yet it seems that nowhere in Saint Paul makes bike racks a priority or manages to install a bike rack that actually works well and is easy to find. This is true almost across the board, from businesses to schools to libraries to municipal buildings. It even holds true for breweries � breweries! � which, let�s be h