Social Issues

Homeless shelter near GOP convention site to remain open
The Dorothy Day Center in downtown St. Paul will remain open and enhance its services when the Republican National Convention comes to St. Paul in September. Catholic Charities runs the center and has been working on a plan for what it will do differently during the convention.
To solve racial disparities, parents, schools call truce
The education gap between black and white students in Minneapolis public schools has been the source of an increasingly bitter struggle, but a group of parents and the school board have decided to call a truce.
Singing in Grover's Corners
Turning famous works of American literature into operas has become something of a trend lately. St. Paul's Skylark Opera company is presenting the upper Midwest premiere of one of the latest, Ned Rorem's adaptation of "Our Town."
Still seeking an end to homelessness
The Bush administration's homelessness czar campaigns for a complete end to homelessness. Philip Mangano says more permanent housing is the way to address the chronic problem. But the troubled economy and injured war veterans may add many more homeless.
American Indians prefer to reflect on their own history
Minnesota marks 150 years of statehood this year, but not everyone is celebrating. American Indian tribes in Minnesota were here long before the state was. For many Indians, the history they remember is one of repression, broken promises and loss of culture.