MINNEAPOLIS—Despite visits from Olympic snowboarder Shaun White and film actor Ryan Reynolds, 13-year-old Corey Duthers announced Tuesday......
Lauri Lyons | Posted 11.18.2009 | Entertainment
When it comes to women in hip-hop, don't call it a comeback. Women have been here for years.
Minnesota Star Tribune | Bob Von Sternberg | Posted 11.17.2009 | Politics
Gov. Tim Pawlenty today joined the chorus of disapproval aimed at the ACORN community organizing group, ordering that state agencies "stop all state f...
Minnesota Independent | Chris Steller | Posted 11.15.2009 | Politics
Packing two pistols, a Rogers man with a Twin Towers tattoo on his arm spent seven hours Saturday among protesters outside Target Center, where Presid...
Linda Bergthold | Posted 11.12.2009 | Politics
There are about 75 days between now and Thanksgiving. By Thanksgiving, we will know if there will be health reform legislation or not.
The Huffington Post/ AP | Posted 11.12.2009 | Politics
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John Petro | Posted 09.27.2009 | New York
When city tax dollars are used to subsidize a private developer, community residents should benefit from the deal.
AP | AMY FORLITI | Posted 09.25.2009 | World
MINNEAPOLIS — One young man attended secret meetings in Minneapolis. Another got a phone call, urging him to leave Minnesota and go to Somalia t...
Clarence Haynes | Posted 09.11.2009 | New York
My suspicion: many women are thrilled by Prince because they readily see themselves in him, and vice versa, and the mutual love is visceral and real.
Huffington Post | Ami Cholia | Posted 09.05.2009 | Green
Americans overwhelmingly continue to drive alone to work. With more than nine out of 10 workers favoring driving. But these 10 cities are definitely t...
Huffington Post | Barbara Fenig/Katherine Goldstein | Posted 08.27.2009 | Green
We here at HuffPost Green think the local food movement is a thriving and exciting part of the discussion about sustainability. After researching the ...
AP | PATRICK CONDON | Posted 08.20.2009 | Home
Ahmednur Ali's family fled the chaos and violence of their East African homeland Somalia in the 1990s, eventually making their way to Minnesota like thousands of their compatriots.
While many of the estimated 32,000 Somalis who settled in the state have struggled to adapt, Ali flourished. By age 20, he had blazed a path to Minneapolis' Augsburg College, where he played soccer, studied political science and aspired to a political career modeled on President Barack Obama's.
He was shot and killed last September outside a busy community center where he worked part-time as a youth counselor, and prosecutors said the 16-year-old accused of killing him was part of a gang.
Ali was one of seven Minneapolis-area Somali men killed over a 10-month period, and authorities believe all were killed by fellow Somalis. Police say it's too simple to tie all the killings to Somali gangs, which have lured hundreds of young community members to their ranks in recent years.
Those in the insular community willing to speak out, however, disagree.
AP | PETER SVENSSON | Posted 08.20.2009 | Home
Qwest Communications International Inc. is doubling its top Internet download speeds in some areas to keep up with the offerings of cable companies.
The phone company said Monday it is introducing a plan with download speeds of up to 40 megabits per second and upload speeds of up to 20 mbps in parts of 15 cities, including Denver; Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Salt Lake City; Seattle and Vancouver, Wash.; and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
It costs $110 per month for the first year when combined with home phone service.
Qwest aims to add more areas in the next few months. It's also offering higher upload speeds to existing customers in the upgraded areas: up to 5 mbps for $5 per month. Higher upstream speeds are useful for online backups, sharing of large files and video conferencing.
Cable companies are rolling out a new cable-modem technology this year, allowing them to offer download speeds of 50 mbps, and in some places, even more.
AP | MICHAEL RUBINKAM | Posted 08.16.2009 | Home
During his year as a foreign exchange student in the United States, 18-year-old Carlos Villarreal lived not with a welcoming family, but with two ex-convicts in a seedy house that smelled of dog feces where the food was labeled "DO NOT TOUCH." He left 14 pounds lighter.
Villarreal, a Colombian, had signed up for a pricey study-abroad program that promised an "unforgettable year" in America. What he and many other exchange students in northeastern Pennsylvania got instead was a year filled with shabby treatment bordering on abuse. "I just wanted it to end," he says.
The situation in the Scranton region has rocked the U.S. foreign exchange establishment, raising questions about checks and balances that are supposed to keep students safe and their stays positive.
While the U.S. government says most of the students go home happy, critics say weak regulatory oversight, combined with shoddy industry practices and a shortage of qualified host families, have led to neglect and mental, physical and sexual abuse.
The problems have been documented around the country:
ZP Heller | Posted 07.04.2009 | Business
It's deceptive for Starbucks to pretend to offer workers adequate wages and benefits. Starbucks routinely prevents employees from working enough hours to qualify for the company's health insurance.
AP | JEFF BAENEN | Posted 07.03.2009 | Media
MINNEAPOLIS — The Teamsters union is threatening a strike it says would likely shut down the Star Tribune if the newspaper, which is in bankrupt...
Henry Henderson | Posted 06.15.2009 | Green
D.C. should take notice that the Midwest is opening the road to a reinvigorated economy and clean energy future.
The Onion | The Onion | Posted 06.09.2009 | Home
MINNEAPOLIS—"My father, my father's father, and all those before them—they struggled and gave it their all so I wouldn't have to," said 23...
The Huffington Post/AP | SAM STEIN | Posted 05.14.2009 | Politics
A Minnesota court confirmed Monday that Democrat Al Franken won the most votes in his 2008 Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman, who immediatel...
The Happiness Project | The Happiness Project | Posted 04.26.2009 | Home
One of my happiness-project resolutions is Join or start a group. I can't begin to measure how much happiness I've received from starting my two child...
AP | VINNEE TONG | Posted 04.12.2009 | Media
NEW YORK — The Star Tribune of Minneapolis and representatives of its printer's union said Thursday they will resume negotiations over cost cuts...
Paul Jenkins | Posted 01.28.2009 | Politics
Like a restricted country club that would rather die than change, the Republican Party is marginalizing itself for the sake of the white men who run it.
David Kirby | Posted 12.25.2008 | Living
For years now, scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and elsewhere have said that autism is probably a purely genetic disorder. Those days are over now.
Harry Moroz | Posted 12.22.2008 | Business
The Minnesota Independent picked up on an interesting conversation Minnesota Public Radio had with Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak. The Minneapolis Mayo...
David Kirby | Posted 12.19.2008 | Living
Idil, a Somali mother in Minnesota, told me she had been trying for more than a year to get state officials to pay attention to all the sick kids in the local Somali community. She's now "taking off the gloves."
The Onion | The Onion | Posted 11.23.2009 | Home