July Update: Meet Ifrah Jimale, Happy Hour, Daily Planet training and more

Upcoming this month: community conversations on Immigration and the New Normal; a brown bag with the Daily Planet’s new “Ask A Somali” columnist Ifrah Jimale, and a Daily Planet user training, followed by a happy hour at the Aster Cafe.  Scroll down for details, and our editors’ reports.

We are wrapping up our 2011 membership campaign this month. If you want to renew (has it been over a year since your last donation?) or to join up for the first time, you can do so now by going to http://givemn.org/Twin-Cities-Media-Alliance, and making a donation in any amount.

The New Normal: Deciding Community Priorities in a Downsized Economy is the Daily Planet’s year-long project of news stories and community conversations, funded by the Bush Foundation, devoted to finding solutions to new economic challenges in our communities. We’re tackling a different topic every month. Here’s project manager Lisa Peterson-de la Cueva’s report  on last month’s New Normal conversations:

“Why is universal, single-payer coverage so hard for people to talk about?” someone asked at one of our June community conversations on health care policy and the New Normal. For that matter, why is health care policy in general so hard for people to talk about? It could because it’s just so darn complicated. But we took a stab at it in our June community conversations where more than 80 participants explored the ins and outs of health care coverage and had some fascinating things to say about our health care system. Check out our full June coverage of health care policy here.
Next up, immigrant communities and reforming immigration policy! In July we’ll be talking about immigration and immigrant communities, so please join us for one of our July community conversations.   We’ve partnered with the Wilder Foundation, the Minnesota Literacy Council and the Resource Center of the Americas and hope you’ll join us at least once!

Brown Bag with Ifrah Jimale

Ifrah Jimale - Ask a SomaliWhy do some little Somali girls in schools wear head coverings and some don’t? Why do Somalis like to live in Minnesota? Ifrah Jimale answers these questions, and many more, in her new column, Ask A Somali, which appears every Wednesday in the Daily Planet. You can meet Ifrah in person – and ask your own questions –  Wednesday, July 27 at noon at the East Lake Public Library, 2727 E. Lake St., Minneapolis.  In addition to writing for the Daily Planet, Ifrah works for Common Bond Communities and Caribou Coffee.

Learn how to use the Daily Planet (free)
Thursday, July 28, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Aster Cafe, 125 Main St. SE, St. Anthony Main, Minneapolis.

Want to learn how to use TC Daily Planet?  We’ll go over the basics – registering and uploading articles – as well as answering questions and problem-solving. If you don’t have a laptop, email editor@tcdailyplanet.net and we’ll try to find one for you to use at the cafe. Arts Editor Jay Gabler will be leading this training, with a special focus on arts coverage and photography—but the training is open to all. The how-to session will last no more than an hour, after which you are invited to join us for our

Daily Planet Happy Hour: 
Thursday, July 28, 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
Aster Cafe, 125 Main St. SE, St. Anthony Main, Minneapolis.

Join TCDP editors, writers, photographers, readers and anybody else who cares to show up for drinks and conversation. Everyone is welcome, and there is no charge.Editors Reports: 

Daily Planet Editor Mary Turck reports:

Ah, summer! Time to head “up north” and forget the news — except that’s hard to do this year, with Minnesota state government in disarray. We have stories from regular Minnesotans about their fears of the shutdown and from public figures from former Governor Arne Carlson to Representatives Phyllis Kahn and Jim Davnie. We also have good news stories about our 35W Rainbow Bridge and insights from our new Ask a Somali column, as well as a TC Daily Planet mobile app, so you can take us with you on vacation.

Arts Editor Jay Gabler reports:

We’ve been winning praise for our newly highlighted weekly columns by Courtney Algeo (“Lit Lyfe”), Jim Brunzell (“The Optimistic Pessimist,” on film), Dwight Hobbes (“Sounding Off On Sound”), Jeremy Iggers (“Iggers Digest”), and me (“Front Row Seat,” a newly award-winning blog). Our next addition: former romance columnist Nicky Stein-Grohs returns to the Daily Planet with “#MSP,” a column about being out and about in the Twin Cities. Besides our regular readership for local stories like the closing of Play by Play Books—an independent business that we’ve covered since it opened in 2009—we’ve won international audiences for our incisive reviews of performances like Glee! Live! and Taylor Swift’s St. Paul appearance.

You can support our work by donating to the Twin Cities Media Alliance through the GiveMN.org donation website, (http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Twin-Cities-Media-Alliance).  If you prefer, you can send a check to TCMA, 2600 E. Franklin, suite #2, Minneapolis MN 55406.

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