[ Falcon Heights - Lauderdale - Little Canada - Maplewood - Roseville ]

by Florence Sprague

“If you have not shown young people how to vote by taking them with you to the polls, do not ask them to show you how to do something on your phone.”

Angie Maxwell, “Carry a Big Stick,”

Gravy, No. 90 Winter 2024.

Artwork: "Hunger" by Kateryna Bortsova

“I love mankind, it’s people I can’t stand!” Linus, in a Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schultz

We hear and see the word famine a lot these days, and when its use for one country or region fades from the news, it is often not because those people are now well fed, but merely because another country or region has supplanted it in the public eye. Risk of famine in Afghanistan after the US pullout and Taliban takeover. Famine in Sudan during civil war. Famine in Gaza. How many people in how many other places do I just never hear about? No one likes being hungry, but starvation is orders of magnitude
worse, and famine means that whole populations are suffering.

But what prompts me to write is not the simple horrifying fact that millions of people around the globe are in dire straits. No, it is the added horror, shame and frustration that comes from the fact that people are not hungry because of a worldwide shortage of food. People are starving because of wars. War, be it a civil war, an international war, a sectarian war, a gang war…People are dying dreadful deaths because people cannot get along. Some want power, some want wealth, some brandish guns for ideology or religion. We compete to be right! To be bigger! To feel more secure. Yet war in one century does not solve problems and prevent war in the next. Be it the resurgence of the last loser, or a new ideology or demagogue, or merely everyday greed and power grabbing, there is always another war. More people are killed and all too often more people are made to feel hunger to the point of starvation.

MN House Districts 44A and 44B Candidate Forum, held on September 10, can be viewed on Nine North: https://ninenorth.org/speak-outs/.  Who: 44A: Peter Fischer, DFL; Karla Nelson, R; 44B: Leon Lillie, DFL; Bill Dahn, R.

Maplewood City Council and Mayor Candidate Forum, held on September 11, can now be viewed at: https://vod.maplewoodmn.gov/CablecastPublicSite/show/1546?channel=1.  Who: Rebecca Cave, Stephen Fitze, Alex Kline, Nikki Villavicencio

MN House District 40B Candidate Forum, held on September 17, can now be viewed on Nine North: https://ninenorth.org/speak-outs/.   Who: Curtis Johnson, DFL; Paul Wikstrom, R

Little Canada City Council Candidate Forum, held on September 18, can now be viewed on Nine North: https://ninenorth.org/speak-outs/.  Who: Chris Kwapick, Angie Malone, Teresa Miller

VOTE411 is the League’s one-stop shop for all things voting-related, for the General Election. This year, over 7,000 candidates across the state were invited to participate. Nonpartisan and objective, VOTE411 provides unbiased candidate information through the bi-lingual voter guide, allowing you to compare candidates in their own words, through their responses to League-provided questions.

This latest issue of the Council of Metropolitan Area Leagues (CMAL) newsletter has information on Watershed Study updates, Notes from the LWVUS Convention, and Pure Iowa Water

View newsletter here.

What are they?

Non-partisan events where candidates running in local elections respond to questions submitted by community members and the audience. Organized by the League of Women Voters, the forums are a unique opportunity to engage with candidates and learn about their policy positions.

How can I participate?

Absentee Voting for General Election Begins September 20:  Check Vote411.org or MNVotes.gov for information on polling locations, sample ballots, and other information.