Posts Tagged ‘Dwight Hobbes’
Ani-Meals Brings Meals on Wheels to Furry Family Members
By DWIGHT HOBBESÂ In the best of times folk who have trouble making ends meet have enough of a challenge feeding themselves, much less Fido and Kitty. These are far from the best of times. Accordingly, Ani-Meals is more than ever a pet owner”™s godsend, spun-off from Meals on Wheels through a Meals On Wheels America grant to PetSmart Charities in 2015. Soon as word got out about the supply, demand grew. Melanie La Pointe, Ani-Meals director at the Community Emergency Service location, recalls, “It exploded pretty fast. At first, we had about ten animals, then, it went up to about 70.” That number is now 163 pets belonging to 90 clients of MOW. For confirmed animal lover La Pointe, the program is a heartfelt undertaking. “It”™s really important for people to be able to keep their pets. Pets are family. A lot of our clients don”™t have any family. They”™re basically isolated.” A condition the corona [...]
Homeless Crisis Requires Common Sense Solutions
Something I said By DWIGHT HOBBES There comes a point at which even bleeding heart liberalism must yield to common sense and things at Powderhorn Park in South Minneapolis have passed it. There”™s been a great deal of carping about how the city owes the homeless a place to go, the parks ”“ not just Powderhorn ”“ should be their sanctuary, so on and so forth. This would hold water if the encampment in the middle of a decent, peaceful neighborhood had not sordidly and violently disrupted the surrounding quality of life. The inhabitants didn”™t even have to contribute to communal well being, just not drag it down into the gutter and literally endanger it. As of this writing, crime there has gone from bad to worse. A teen aged girl was raped on June 26. Two days later, so was a woman. All told, there have been three sexual assaults; at least three that were reported. A man was shot in the face recently. Drug use [...]
Corona Crisis Exposing Minnesota Racism Against Asian- Americans
Something I Said By DWIGHT HOBBES For a place touted as a bounty of multiculturalism, Minnesota can be downright reactionary and racist. It is doubtful, for instance, that had the corona virus originated in, say, Sweden or Switzerland, blue eyed blondes would be targeted for harassment. Yet, the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) has had to denounce increasing racist attacks and xenophobic profiling of Asian-Americans, backlash for the pandemic against people who, for all they know, had never even been to China much less caused this crisis. Consider. A St. Paul-based nonprofit held an online discussion on discrimination against Asian Americans during this pandemic, but scrapped it due to the overwhelming presence of derogatory remarks posted. Hardly in keeping with locale known for being socially progressive and ethnically inclusive. Xaria Vang, 23, bought a Taser gun after a stranger confronted her in a St. Paul butcher shop. Vang isn”™t even [...]
