Column

When two columnists pick the same topic and their columns run consecutively, the universe might be trying to tell you something.

Editor’s note: This is an occasional letter Paul has been writing – since 1997 – to his now young-adult grandchildren.

Although he didn't get the nomination, the Rev. Jesse Jackson thrilled on the 1988 campaign trail and at the convention.

We are deep into the purge now.

I admit it.

There were 15 of us on the ride for Alex Pretti. We gathered in Moscow, Idaho, on a chilly afternoon, some faces familiar, others new. We should have had a banner with his name on it – something to wave at passing cars, an invitation for other cyclists to join us. But we didn’t plan that far ahead. The call had gone out across the country: Ride for Alex. He was one of us, a cyclist, and he died on a Minneapolis street with federal bullets in his body.

Washington has a long history of protestors at the Capitol openly carrying all manner of firearms. Even though that was banned in 2021, the law still allows protestors who have a concealed carry permit to be armed.

The Winter Olympics – my favorite sporting event(s) of all, any where on the planet, ever – begin this week, taking place in and around Cortina-Milan, Italy.

Reflecting on the increasing tension and animosity in Minnesota and across the nation, I’ve wondered what can be done to bridge the societal gaps in connection.

Proposed constitutional amendment would remove the limts on how long a legislative session lasts.

Obituaries not only offer snapshots of our community, but they often include bits of wisdom, sound advice and flashes of humor.

Only three chaotic and fearful days after Renee Good was killed by an ICE agent in a Minneapolis residential neighborhood, we sat with about 150 other folks in a local church sanctuary for a hastily organized peace vigil. Area clergy invited us to speak of our fears (there were many), our sadness (again, many) and our hopes (not as many). We agreed: ICE OUT NOW!

Just because the U.S. Mint is no longer making pennies, we don't need to round off purchases.

Could Washington's congressional boundaries be redrawn to get another Democratic district? 

It’s a new year, and my husband is still unintentionally providing me with plenty of column fodder.

Hard as a person tries, some things stick — things that we never stop caring about — things we tend so hard they tune our senses, earn a peek of an eye, a perk of the ear, the soft settle of recognition in a mind.

The 2026 legislative session starts Monday but you won’t have to brave a snowy pass to watch or even participate in that drama.

I have known personally and now said farewell to an item that surely deserves special recognition in the category of “they don’t make ’em like that any more.”

Usually the final Front Porch column I write every year, or sometimes the first one of the new year, is my very favorite one of all – the word of the year column, in which I chew on the words or phrases that lexicographers and others involved in language study have selected to best define the year just ending.