Just follow the rules

from Biking in Mpls by Lindsey Wallace

People love to comment on what others should or should not be doing, especially if that involves a person on a bike running red lights or breaking any other law. There’s a general sentiment out there that bikers need to be good and obedient. Any problems bikers face could be changed if they would just follow the rules. I’ve seen this argument from people who are anti-bikes and people who are pro-bikes. The anti-bikers say: “If bikers could just follow the laws I would respect them, but I see bikers breaking the law all the time so I don’t.” Whereas the pro-bikers say: “We need to show that we’re good, respectful citizens by following every law, and that way we’ll earn the respect we deserve.”

Let’s just stop this. Bikers do not need to earn the respect of motorists by following every single law. And even if the vast majority of bikers could follow every single law, it still wouldn’t matter.

North Minneapolis Has an Appetite for Change: Breaking Bread Cafe Places in the MN Cup

from TC Jewfolk by Kat Silverstein

In case you’re not aware, the MN cup is a big deal for entrepreneurs in the state of Minnesota. It’s the largest statewide venture competition in the country and is based out of the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, awarding thousands of dollars each year to new business concepts since 2005.

Michelle Horovitz, Executive Director of Appetite for Change, didn’t know how competitive and prestigious the MN cup was when she entered her new venture, Breaking Bread Cafe into the contest. As the co-founder of Breaking Bread, she did know that the community cafe was filling an important gap in North Minneapolis by providing healthy food options, jobs and opportunities for youth to engage in community development in a neighborhood where access to fresh food is limited, fast food is everywhere and young people need more opportunities to invest in their futures.

Tips on how to have a conversation with a pig farmer

from Minnesota Farm Living by Wanda Patsche

There is no question consumers want to know more about where their food comes from. But who do they ask? When it comes to pigs and pork, the pig farmers who take care of their animals every day are your experts. If you are wondering about antibiotics in your meat, hormone usage or how animals are housed and taken care of, these are your people.

Ask a pig farmer.

In Love With a Gun

from Thoughts Towards a Better World by Dick Bernard

In 2013 I happened to come into possession of a book of poems, “Lyrics of the Prairie” by a retired professor at the college I attended beginning in 1958. Soren Kolstoe (bio here: Kolstoe,Soren-History) had retired right before I began my four years, but he was legendary at Valley City State Teacher’s College. His “beat” was psychology, but his love was the outdoors, particularly the North Dakota outdoors. I wrote about him here, including (with permission) his book of poems.

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