‘Letter to the Editor’ Archives
Letter to the community: Don”™t go down the path of ugliness
I am a former 13-year resident of Phillips, during which time I was an activist and sometime-contributor to the Alley. When I saw “The Rand Report” I thought: Another interesting column. On reading further, I was saddened. The piece is a classic rant, full of angry statements backed up by unsubstantiated or non-existent evidence. (Sound familiar these days?) For example: “The Irish, as indentured servants, were worked to death with greater frequency than slaves.” Since at the time, Africans were counted as 4/5 of a person, it would be hard to calculate this even if there were any figures.  I have all good feeling for Irish people and Irish culture, and know they were badly mistreated by people who had immigrated to America before them, but were there any Irish chattel slaves (meaning that they and their offspring were property of the master)? Any Irish-aimed Jim Crow laws? Any laws written to discriminate against the Irish in banking, [...]
Commentary: Why aren”™t city officials listening to residents?
By Janet skidmore I try to be a good citizen. I volunteer as a block club leader and as a neighborhood safety patrol member. I am a long time reserve teacher in the Minneapolis Public Schools. I have been rehabbing a beautiful 100 year old home in south Minneapolis not to flip it, but to live in it myself and restore its beauty for the sake of preservation. I provide really affordable housing for 3 women in my own home. I have a block club with an email list of over 40 people, plus I am active on Nextdoor, where I hear the opinions of many of my neighbors in the Central neighborhood of Minneapolis. I attend community meetings when I can, even the ones that are in the middle of the day, which precludes me taking a substitute teaching job that day, resulting in a day”™s loss of income. I would think that the city of Minneapolis would appreciate a resident like me and want to keep me living here. I can show you numerous emails representing [...]
Letter to community: Arsenic levels map confusing
The April 2019 Alley page 3 shows a map with a confusing description: “Childhood elevated blood lead, arsenic & asthma per 10,000 people.”  It should be clarified to show that the arsenic levels were in soil, not blood. Soil with greater than 95 ppm (or mg/kg) was removed in an extensive project by 2008.   For more information about arsenic, see https://www.mda.state.mn.us/chemicals/spills/incidentresponse/superfund/southmplsressoil My neighbor”'s yard in Seward was removed and replaced with new soil because of arsenic. I agree that children in Phillips bear excess burdens of a contaminated environment. Lead remains a major issue because of lead paint and poor removal practices that allowed lead to go into the soil. Jim Haefemeyer
