‘Cover Stories’ Archives
They’re Back!: The Return of the Uncles
All images by Carz Nelson By CARZ NELSON “I’m happy to be open,” says Don Blyly, owner of twin bookstores Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore and Uncle Edgar’s Mystery Bookstore - known collectively as “the Uncles”. When the bookstores were destroyed by looters during the George Floyd Uprising, many people assumed that Blyly would go into retirement and that would be the end of the Uncles. He smashed those expectations, relocating and rebuilding the stores in little more than two years. Blyly isn’t the only one glad to see the stores reopen. Naturally, the Uncles’ return is welcomed by their many fans in the city, the state, and around the world. Perhaps the most excited, however, is Echo - the store’s canine mascot. She has enthusiastically resumed her duties as store greeter. She’s sure to give you a wag of the tail if you stop by. The 5000 square foot building at 2716 East 31st Street is rich with character. Built in 1932, it features a WPA [...]
Nurses Putting Patients Before Profits
Pickets ready to strike from the 2010 Nurses Strike / Photo from facebook.com/MinnesotaNurses Minnesota Nurses Association Authorizes Strike By HARRY, RN, MNA Union Steward On August 15th, the nurses of Minnesota’s union hospitals voted to authorize a strike. Here’s why: The world recognized the COVID pandemic as a war, the biggest global health crisis since the Black Plague. Healthcare workers, nurses in particular, were fighting on the front lines. But despite surviving this horror, and despite the hospitals sometimes lauding us, nurses were not given a hero’s parade. We got no GI Bill or significant wage increase for being battle-hardened survivors. Instead, we continue to face unprecedented workplace violence and a choice by hospitals to choose profits over patients. The Minnesota Nurses Association has been negotiating new contracts for nurses, the first new contracts since the pandemic. The hospitals that employ us, including Abbott Northwestern and [...]
