Somehow, the West End gets these projects

In 1872 Horace Cleveland envisioned a park and parkways system for the City of Saint Paul — a prideful, vital park along our Mississippi River bluffs.

In the 1950s, however, George Shepard, chief engineer for the Saint Paul Department of Public Works, destroyed West End neighborhoods to build a divided four-lane urban freeway along those same bluffs. It promoted white flight, limited access for residents to the river, and destroyed Fountain Cave with its backfill. In the 1960s Little Italy was cleared and replaced with Kaplans metal recycling which kept me awake nights for years as they pounded cars into submission.

In 1972 Edward Helfeld, executive director of the Saint Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) further challenged the West End with “urban renewal.” He advocated removing housing and industrializing Irvine Park and Kipps Glen, and replacing the CSPS Hall (oldest Czech immigrant hall in the US) with a strip mall. The Federation stood in the way thanks to Mayor Larry Cohen’s Committee on Citizen Participation (1971); the U.S. Congress, Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (block grants!), and in 1980 election of city council members by districts/wards rather than at-large in order to be more directly responsive to their constituents. The latter was partially credited to Ruby Hunt, daughter of a Russian immigrant and valedictorian at Monroe High School in the West End.

Volunteers agitated to build Sherman Forbes public housing, West Seventh Community Center and Palace Playground, fought the ethanol plant and saved the historic Schmidt Brewery, joined with neighborhood organizations to reimagine 35E, fought porn sites along our commercial corridor, and supported the Helping Hand Health Clinic. In the later 1980s they created a vital Community Development Corporation that rehabilitated our inner-city street by street, particularly Little Bohemia, promoting affordable housing and charted saving Irvine Avenue Hillside. Often the city was adversary and partner in these efforts with the Federation.

We are again faced with a challenge to the cultural, commercial, residential and historic character that immigrants and volunteers built. Thanks to our city’s Department of Public Works, garbage trucks will appreciate(?) million-dollar views and replace potential river bluff housing destroyed by Shepard et al. The Federation, our District 9 Community Council, has appealed rezoning, etc., as an advocate for the critical, unique, and recreational environment of and for our city and river corridor.

This facility would never have been considered for Highland Bridge, but somehow the West End is designated for these types of projects. But we should not be disposable. I will be dead before the consequences of garbage trucks coming and going on our neighborhood streets is felt, but constituents, citizens and immigrants will experience the effects in the decades to come. How did this come to be?

— Jos F. Landsberger, St. Paul

Cozying up to totalitarians

This is a humiliating time to be an American.

Woodrow Wilson, FDR and Reagan would be angered to see the U.S. turn its back on democratic allies while cozying up to totalitarian dictators.

When I taught U.S. history, the curriculum included Chamberlain’s appeasement as Germany seized neighboring regions. We know how that turned out. Remarkably, neither Trump nor his followers seem to recall history as they appease Putin and badmouth NATO.

Yes, Europe should contribute much more to its own defense. But instead of transitioning to increased contributions, Trump switches allegiances and unites with totalitarian Russia. In what universe can any true American think this is OK?

Trump recently said, about the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine, that Ukraine “should have never started it.” Even Republican leaders disavow that monstrous lie.

Trump parrots Russian positions. “Ukraine cannot join NATO and must give up territory.” “Zelenskyy must step down and allow new elections.” Seriously? Why isn’t Trump calling for Putin to allow free elections in Russia?

Insulting allies while cheering dictators, betraying Ukranians fighting an invasion, and telling Palestinians they must leave their homeland so he can build skyscrapers and casinos in Gaza.

It goes against our entire history and the principles on which this country was founded. Republicans and MAGA followers have sold their souls to the devil — to King Trump — and have betrayed our democracy.

They are on the wrong side of history.

Their grandchildren will ask what they did when an ignorant, power-hungry narcissist destroyed our system of checks and balances and ended America’s historic position as the dependable defender of freedom around the world.

What will they say?

— George Kimball, White Bear Lake

Out of touch and ill-informed

In “Transgender inclusion in sports is not fair unless compromises made” (Feb. 16), columnist Joe Soucheray calls into question Tim Walz, Keith Ellison, and the MN High School League’s intent to protect trans athletes’ rights to participate in sports aligned to their identity. Soucheray claims that allowing trans people, specifically biological males identifying as female, to compete in sports against biological females, is unfair based on his sexist and uniquely farcical history lesson of cavemen killing mastodons while the “gals” gathered berries. I wonder if Joe was there for that part or if he pieced that tidbit together from Saturday morning cartoons in his youth.

If it’s so unfair to have trans athletes competing against biological females because biological males are bigger, taller, and run faster, then why aren’t all sports dominated by trans athletes? Here’s a clue: When biological males go through hormone therapy as part of their transition, they lose the edge they once had as a biological male. This piece was so utterly out of touch and ill-informed, I was not only surprised the Pioneer Press printed it, I was pretty disappointed.

— Joanna Cahn, South St. Paul

A classic coup

“Our nation is in the middle of a coup d’etat, a civilian one rather than military, but a classic coup nonetheless.” This was the first sentence in Edward Lotterman’s Real World Economics column in the Feb. 16 Pioneer Press.

For decades, Mr. Lotterman has been providing readers with clear, understandable explanations of the economies of countries, governments, businesses and even our own households. He is always judicious, thoughtful and not prone to hyperbole. I thank the St. Paul Pioneer Press for its commitment to his column and to Mr. Lotterman for calling out the unfolding dismantling of our democracy.

— Patrick Hamilton, St. Paul

A chance to preserve the canopy

With the introduction of a Tree Preservation Ordinance for city-sponsored projects, City Council President Rebecca Noecker has a unique opportunity to build a broad coalition to protect St. Paul’s urban forest. As noted in the ordinance, trees benefit the public by providing critical functions that include purifying the air, reducing the urban heat island effect, helping to manage storm water, and providing shade and beauty to the city. At present St. Paul’s tree canopy cover is approximately 33 percent. This is low compared to the top 10 capital cities whose tree canopies range from 78% (Charleston, West Virginia) to 46% (Augusta, Maine). We can’t afford to lose what we currently have.

At a community forum Feb. 10, citizens voiced several strong objections to the ordinance as written, saying this is St. Paul’s first tree preservation ordinance for city projects and we want to “get this right.” Citizens noted 1) the ordinance lacks effective enforcement, 2) as currently written it does not comply with the Minnesota environmental rights act, and 3) it defines protection as the replacement of mature, stately trees with saplings. The latter is not preservation, especially given the city’s track record of not maintaining newly planted saplings.

Community members disagreed very strongly with Noecker’s plan to draft specific rules separately, asserting it is essential that enforceable rules and regulations become an integral part of the ordinance. We are calling for the involvement of a citizens’ task force as part of what should be a democratic process to ensure our valuable trees are actually protected.

— Marilyn Bach, St. Paul The writer is a member of Save Our Street, a citizens group formed to protect Summit Avenue.

Now, that’s a gulf

A lot of people are upset over President Trump renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. There sure is a lot of righteous indignation out there.

As a student of history, I look at this differently. I am wondering what that body of water was called before the Spanish and Portuguese invaded the region, destroyed countless cities and temples, enslaved and murdered the native populations, and plundered their wealth and antiquities? It’s been, what, 533 years since Columbus landed in what he thought was India? Some people are telling us that that specific body of water has been referred to as the Gulf of Mexico since sometime in the 1500s. OK, I’ll agree to that — a confused and lost European man ends up in a remote part of the world and starts a land rush that results in the plundering and depopulation of an ancient civilization. And his descendants named the country and all geographic points of interest in the language of their European benefactors.

But I also know a few other things. Renaming cities, water bodies, and other notable sites and historical events is pretty common. Some countries have different names for things that are not recognized by other countries due to spelling, alphabets, local customs, etc. For example: Helsingfors, Praha, Munchen, and Wien. Surely our friends in Europe could fix this so Americans and other visitors know what city they are referring to on their EurRail maps.

There have been many name changes in the last few years, before the current dust-up. Alaska’s Mt. McKinley was changed to Mt. Denali by President Obama and now it’s back to Mt. McKinley. Fort Bragg was changed to Camp Liberty by President Biden and now it’s back to Fort Bragg. Fort Benning, home of the US Army’s storied Infantry School, was changed to Fort Moore in honor of Col. Hal Moore, one of the most decorated officers of the Vietnam war. Or should I say: “the American War” (as they say in Vietnam)? I’ve heard that it may be renamed back to Benning. In my city of Minneapolis, the name of a popular lake on the south side of town was changed from Lake Calhoun to Bde Maka Ska. Many businesses and residents of the area still refer to it, and the surrounding neighborhood, as Calhoun because few people can pronounce the new name. Here’s your guide: Bde Maka Ska is pronounced: be-DAY me-KAH skah. I hope this helps.

The reasons for the name changes tend to be based on recognition of past sins, pressure campaigns by partisan activists, honoring ancient or native languages, or using a name or terminology in place before colonization by European powers. A big name change on the horizon is the country of India’s potential name change to “Bharat,” the ancient name of that region in the Sanskrit language. Will the scolds outside India threaten boycotts, sit-ins, fundraising efforts, and social network chain letters? There’s already been many name changes in India including two of the largest cities in the world — Mumbai (from Bombay) and Chennai (from Madrasa). Where are the activists now? Should Trump tell Modi to go back to the names for those and many other Indian cities that were coined by the country’s colonial masters? Good luck.

All this brings me back to the outrage over Trump renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. In reality, this gulf isn’t a body of water, but it is a metaphor for our politics and inability to have civil conversations. Some people call Trump a fascist and despot, the second coming of Hitler, Stalin, or Pol Pot (you pick the bad guy). Some of their neighbors, friends, family members, and co-workers consider him the last great opportunity to save the USA from bankruptcy and decay from within. That’s a gulf! Who is right and who is wrong?

— Gregory A. Beckstrom, Minneapolis