Joe Pastoor The public’s inclination to tithe is unpredictable, but demand for beer is pretty much constant. That truth explains the genesis of a new homeless shelter funded in part by beer sales. It’s the result of an interesting coalition: Love Power Church, St. Stephen’s Catholic Church, and Finnegan’s Irish Ale. Love Power Church had a space, … Read more
On the one-year anniversary, security checkpoints at Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport’s Lindbergh terminal looked-well staffed and efficient. Most ticket holders moved through with only a whiff of delay, even young men dressed entirely in black. And if a profiling pattern emerged at all, security staff appeared to select elderly white men for closer inspection … Read more
When the wind is right, a battalion of vents pushing through the roof of 3753 Nicollet Avenue pump a fried, spicy scent into the sky that can reach you as far away as Stevens and 38th. There are throngs of eaters who are cultishly devoted to the soul-food of Shorty and Wag’s Wings and Ribs. … Read more
illustrations by Brian Barber The Rake gains access to one of public radio’s most celebrated—and feared—geniuses, Harrison Taylor, the mastermind of A Prairie Groan Companion and all subsidiaries, subdivisions, copyrights, and service marks thereof. Since this is a pure work of parody and satire (we couldn’t decide what the difference is) any resemblance to living … Read more
Fill a public swimming pool with kids on any of the scorching days to come, and sooner or later someone’s going to shout, “Marco!” Several others will shout, “Polo!” and in the summer heat, this vexing water game is reborn. The person shouting “Marco” is “it,” and must tag one of the “Polos.” It’s tricky … Read more
At least 10,000 whitetail deer will give their lives this year to auto-animal conflict, converting Minnesota’s roads into a 130,000-mile dinner table for a growing population of crows. Depending on when you count, Minnesota’s whitetail population rises to about 1.1 million (about 20 percent of the state’s human inhabitants) before the fall hunt. At a … Read more
Monica Hammersten woke up at 3 a.m. one night recently. She smelled beef cooking. “And I think, ‘Oh, now what is that?’ So I come running downstairs. I had a bunch of hamburgers pattied out for the next day, and Jack had them all in a frying pan. He was standing there in his P.J.s … Read more
Things are hopping this year at the new Fifth Precinct station house just south of the beleaguered Lake Street K-Mart. New crime stats show Whittier Park pulling ahead of Third Precinct neighbor Phillips, which has hogged the crime spotlight for the better part of a decade. In February, Whittier reported 167 “part one” crimes (homicide, … Read more
Tucked neatly into a shelf of dainty Victorian houses on the bluffs of St. Paul, the home of Charles Arndt and Kelly Bjorklund was the site of U.S. Senate incumbent Paul Wellstone’s February 9 fund–raiser. The Rake was in attendance to savor the food and sample the politics. Contributors to the Wellstone campaign were confronted … Read more
Kent Barnard is a road-salt aficionado. He is also a public relations expert for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, tirelessly striving to let you know that much is being done to keep your automobile out of the ditch this and every season. If breaking news about all kinds of alternative de-icers and road sensors kept … Read more