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February 15, 2008

The price is right at Riverview Theater

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Minneapolis’ Riverview Theater offers an opportunity to take the proverbial step back in time.

At one time, a dollar could buy 20 trips to the neighborhood nickel theater. Times have changed and with the popularity of multiplex theaters, ticket prices have climbed to around $9 per trip, not including $7 or so for concessions.

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Posted by at 05:56 PM |

Thrown Away

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My editor gave me a dollar bill and told me to write a story. First I thought I would interview a homeless person or catch the bus somewhere, but those stories seemed passé. Somebody has written about homelessness or mass...

My editor gave me a dollar bill and told me to write a story. First I thought I would interview a homeless person or catch the bus somewhere, but those stories seemed passé. Somebody has written about homelessness or mass transit. If not, somebody will come along and write them better than me.

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Posted by at 03:04 PM |

February 14, 2008

Street Fiction

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Will the Twin Cities produce a national street-rap archetype?

It’s been seven years since the rise and fall of local rap hero Lil Buddy reverberated throughout downtown Minneapolis’ hip-hop scene. Perhaps Minneapolis’ first real hope for mainstream hip-hop success, Buddy was at the threshold of national stardom before finding trouble in his personal life and robbing a Rosemount bank.

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Posted by at 05:46 PM |

February 12, 2008

Obama in Minnesota

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As the presidential primary heated up, Barack Obama spoke to 20,000 supporters at the Minneapolis Target Center.

After he stood in line for more than three hours, Minneapolis resident Todd Mitchell was one of the first inside the Target Center to hear the views of presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Obama rallied a sold-out audience on February 2 in downtown Minneapolis, three days before the Minnesota caucuses.

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Posted by at 03:36 PM |

Back to the '50s

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The 1950s were a time when grocery stores offered a smorgasbord of penny candy. It was a time when you could buy a pair of tennis shoes for 98 cents. Yup, it was a different world back then.

The Minnesota Street Rod Association is "Going Back to the '50s" this June with its 35th annual car show. It gives you a great sense of what the cars used to be like; it also gave me the idea to ask about what was it like to live in the 1950s -- when a dollar could go a long way. I decided to interview my grandmother, Jean Fillbach, about when she was a teen growing up in southwestern Wisconsin. Jean was born on a small farm near Steuben, where she still lives.

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Posted by at 08:48 AM |

February 11, 2008

If you give a cop a doughnut

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Patrol Officer Brett Vesey is loving his first year as a cop. Do his mom and girlfriend feel the same way?

Her boyfriend risks his life every time he clocks in at work. Promises of danger lurk during each hour of the 12 on his shift. Tonight, there may be an armed robbery, a domestic assault, even a murder, God forbid. She asks him to call her before he starts and again when he’s back at home. She prays he’ll make it through the night safely.

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Posted by at 10:19 PM |

A weaker dollar means less purchasing power

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A dollar bill printed in 2001 was worth more as a new banknote than it is worth now. The chairman of the University of St. Thomas economics department explains why.

On my desk sits a dollar bill with bent corners, a crease down the center and a minor tear below George Washington’s head. When it was a freshly printed note in 2001, devoid of the imperfections inflicted over several years, the bill was worth more.

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Posted by at 11:56 AM |

Gambling in economic down times

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An economic downturn does not appear to be affecting Minnesota's gaming industry -- so far.

While scanning rows of flashing lights and spinning cherries for a game that was going to multiply my dollar bill by a million, I expected to see everyone at the St. Croix Casino to be hoarding their money and chips as if their mortgage payments depended upon them in response to the declining economy and rising gas prices.

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Posted by at 11:42 AM | | Comments (1)

February 10, 2008

A global perspective on the dollar

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The decreasing value of the dollar is causing challenges for American students studying abroad, but is it easing financial pressures for European students studying in the United States?

With a dollar in hand, is the whole world at my fingertips? It used to seem that way, but the decreasing value of the dollar in the global market has turned the tables and the whole world is traveling to the United States to take advantage.

Continue reading "A global perspective on the dollar" »

Posted by at 01:57 PM |