THE CITY GRITTY >>

• BEST "YOU SHOULDA BEEN HERE WHEN..."
  On February 21, the state legislature attempted to deliver a new budget to Gov. Jesse Ventura, only to find that he'd headed for the hills. In typical nostalgic Minnesota fashion, reporters dredged up the tale of Joe Rolette: In 1857, Rolette, a territorial legislator, absconded with a bill... More >>
• BEST BOONDOGGLE
  It seemed like a good idea at the time. In July, when Brian Herron tearfully stepped down from his post as representative of Minneapolis's Eighth Ward after being caught taking bribes, constituents and city leaders called for an independent investigation into possible corruption at Minneapolis... More >>
• BEST BROKEN PROMISE
  For many of north Minneapolis's disenfranchised citizens, promises made by city officials are ephemeral things that fade away into a fuzzy background of unanswered questions until, one day, they're broken. Such was the case this past December, when, to the shock of many north siders, city... More >>
• BEST CAREER MOVE
  We should have seen it coming. The former Hüsker Dü frontman's affinity for wrestling was never a secret. In 1981 the band played a gig at the 7th Street Entry that featured wrestlers grappling onstage beside our fledgling hardcore heroes. And during the Hüskers' heyday, Mould... More >>
• BEST CAUSE
  Two seemingly unrelated phenomena: Americans buy millions of paperback books; Americans incarcerate millions of Americans. Only a fool keeps every book she purchases, and only a fool thinks prisons are adequately stocked with books. Ergo the Women's Prison Book Project, a tiny local volunteer... More >>
• BEST CHEAP THRILL
  The basement of the downtown Salvation Army thrift store puts a new sheen--well, make that a new patina--on the words cheap thrill. Sure, there's the usual complement of beater couches and mismatched bed frames. But there's also a series of long, troughlike tables, onto which staffers... More >>
• BEST CHUTZPAH
  You've got to hand it to the Vikes. The 2001 season was among the most wretched spectacles in the franchise's storied history. Nothing went right. It began appallingly, with the heat-stroke death of All Pro offensive tackle Korey Stringer during a preseason practice. Then there were the... More >>
• BEST CITY COUNCIL MEMBER
  Watching Jay Benanav on the hustings during last year's St. Paul mayoral race, you couldn't help but come away with the impression that the wrong person was on the ballot. Kathy Lantry was his most important supporter, campaigning almost as tirelessly as the candidate himself, and... More >>
• BEST CLASS ACT
  Unless you've been there yourself, it's impossible to fully comprehend the suffering of someone who has lost a spouse. But there was Korey Stringer's wife Kelci, resolutely composed in the family's living room, facing the local media just days after her husband, Minnesota Vikings offensive... More >>
• BEST FARMERS' MARKET
  On Saturdays and Sundays at this time of year, Minnesota farmers begin taking to the streets, transforming vacant city blocks into gardens of earthly delights. All summer long, even the most brown-thumbed city dweller can feast on heirloom tomatoes and corn picked early that morning, so sweet... More >>
• BEST FESTIVAL
  Lithe women tied up in rubber tubing. Bumbling actors whose performances are so hammy that any responsible Halakic authority would bar them from kosher homes. More punishing puns than the late Big Pun himself. Yes indeed: The Minnesota Fringe Festival has come into its own. There were years... More >>
• BEST FLIGHT SCHOOL
  Truth be told, we really don't know much about flight schools. Never flown a plane. Never plan to. In fact, we'd just as soon never ride in one again. Face it: 2001 was a bad year for aviation. In our crankiest moments, we can't help but wonder if the general geopolitical circumstances (let... More >>
• BEST GADFLY
  Yeah, we know: He's the guvnah. That's only, like, the most powerful office in the state. A gadfly is supposed to be somebody on the outside of the halls of power. Someone like perennial also-rans Leslie Davis and Dick Franson. Jesse used to fit into this category, but then (as you've heard a... More >>
• BEST GOLDEN PARACHUTE
  Even Dennis Green's detractors (and there were many) must have felt a little bad about the way it all ended for the coach. After all, Green put up gaudy numbers during his decadelong tenure at Winter Park: playoffs in eight seasons, two NFC championship appearances, the second-best winning... More >>
• BEST GROUND ZERO
  For a city with a reputation for clean government and a conflict-averse citizenry, Minneapolis has been the scene of a surprising amount of public chaos in recent years. In 1999 there was the occupation of Minnehaha Park by protesters opposed to the reroute of Highway 55, which led to mass... More >>
• BEST JESSE VENTURA QUOTE
  During a radio show last October, a caller told Ventura that his "insecurities and whining about the media are unbecoming for a statesman and for a Navy SEAL." Ventura replied with an anecdote about a sign he'd seen during the recent strike by state employees, which read: Governor, Do Navy... More >>
• BEST JUDGE
  No less august an authority than the New York Times has taken to referring to him as the "legendary" Harry Seymour Crump. The Hennepin County District Judge earned the appellation in November, when he stunned Major League Baseball's oligarchs by ruling that the Minnesota Twins were contractually... More >>
• BEST KNEE-JERK REACTION
  Imagine? By John Lennon? That Imagine? In the days after September 11, the entertainment industry hit a welcome note of self-reflection, but the higher-ups at radio behemoth Clear Channel, owner of seven Twin Cities stations, went a little overboard. Within a week of the terrorist attacks,... More >>
• BEST LIBRARY
  With so many libraries about to be replaced or closed for renovation--including the main ones in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul--we thought we'd highlight a small community gem. Located in a diverse working-class neighborhood in south Minneapolis, the Hosmer Community Library was given a... More >>
• BEST LOCAL BOY GONE BAD
  Lil Buddy seemed to have been on the verge of hitting the hip-hop big time almost since the day he made his way north to the Twin Cities from Chicago. "My objective is to make history," he was proclaiming over the KMOJ-FM (89.9) airwaves back in the summer of 1997, when his party anthem "What's... More >>
• BEST LOCAL BOY MADE GOOD
  People this famous aren't supposed to be from the Twin Cities. Especially people this famous who are only 23 and who once worked at the Mall of America. Yet there's no denying that Josh Hartnett is a bona fide star, and one who just had a very good year--make that an incredible year. Producer... More >>
• BEST LOCAL EXAMPLE OF THE DOT-COM BUST
  It takes a certain kind of man to make a splash out on Lake Minnetonka. Money alone doesn't do it. Gigantic homes and big boats don't, either. But software consultant Rick Born had what it took. In 1990 Born Information Services was a tiny startup. By 1999 it boasted $125 million in revenues,... More >>
• BEST LOCAL GIRL GONE BAD
  Reality bites, indeed. It's maybe a stretch to call Winona Ryder a local girl. And after the mercurial pixie was busted in December for allegedly swiping nearly $5,000 worth of threads from a Beverly Hills boutique while toting a stash of painkillers without a prescription, we're not in any... More >>
• BEST LOCAL GIRL MADE GOOD
  The University of Minnesota women's basketball team was full of surprises this past season. One, certainly, was 31-year-old Brenda Oldfield, who took over the reins from scandal-plagued former coach Cheryl Littlejohn--and promptly guided the team to a 22-8 record, a tie for second place in the... More >>
• BEST LOCALLY GENERATED WEB SITE
  Though www.musicscenenetwork.com may not be the most visually stimulating or graphically savvy locally spawned Web site, it's primarily about function over form. The site, developed and maintained by one Conal "Gonzo" Garrity, offers local music fans of all persuasions a go-to point for updated... More >>
• BEST MAYOR
  With the exception of the leaders of the two Twin Cities, metro mayors don't spend much time in the limelight. Not so 35-year-old Pat Awada, who, in addition to leading Eagan for four years, is running two businesses and a campaign for state auditor. Awada, whose politics skew to the right of... More >>
• BEST MEAT RAFFLE
  What is it about northeast Minneapolis and meat raffles? "People in Northeast like to gamble," reasons Pat Stebe, who has owned Dusty's for 20 years (his parents owned it the previous 30). "And they love their meat." Fair enough. It's Friday at 5:00 p.m., time to commence Dusty's weekly raffle,... More >>
• BEST MONTH TO BE IN THE TWIN CITIES
  Never again. You know you've said those words. Press your tongue against the arched vault of your palate and image the beginning of the "N" sound. Never. Never. Never again will I be here in November when the ficus tree starts expelling its leaves as if they had wicked-bad cooties. Never again... More >>
• BEST PARADE
  A good parade tickles everybody. "The old and young at heart" are easy marks, of course, but there is also a delightful quotient of pomp and circumstantial kitsch for the more cynically inclined. And when it comes to that difficult-to-achieve blend of cornball poignance and sardonic sweetness,... More >>
• BEST PLACE FOR A FIRST DATE
  First dates are inherently risky, and Saturday night comes but once a week. So think twice about wasting those precious hours with a potential loser, and consider suggesting an afternoon outing instead. Hours and allergies are about the only restrictions on visiting the 87-year-old domed... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO DUMP SOMEONE
  You can learn a lot about being a sensitive and honest individual by watching an art-house film. Ha-ha! We lied! You don't learn much of anything at all. But after paying to sit through a sappy romance, you'd better be sure you've observed enough to fake it. After all, if you've decided that... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET SINGLE MEN (GAY)
  Sure, your chances of ending up in the sack with some hardbody on a Saturday night are better if you go to any one of the bars in town catering to gay men. You can do the beer-blurred mating dance at the Saloon or Boom or Over the Rainbow or--if you don't mind putting up with a bunch of drunk,... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET SINGLE MEN (STRAIGHT)
  There are only two reasons you won't get chatted up at Pastor Paul's Acoustic Garage Sale: Either all the knickknacks for sale are too ugly to be conversation pieces, or you're too ugly to be a conversation piece. Actually, even if both of the above are true, you're likely to snag a date at... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET SINGLE WOMEN (LESBIAN)
  Maybe you start with a little innocent scoping. You're just minding your own business, flipping through a poetry anthology, pretending not to look at that dreamy specimen lounging on the couch nearby. What's she reading? You crane your neck, careful not to appear too nosy. Alison Bechdel? Ellen... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET SINGLE WOMEN (STRAIGHT)
  First off, the numbers are in your favor. Moreover, the women you meet either take good care of themselves or are attempting to do so. Finally, if you think you're not getting lucky in a yoga class, you're missing the point: Try actually learning the yoga--you'll be at your physical and mental... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO PEOPLE-WATCH
  Sure, there are more obvious choices: the walking path along Lake Calhoun on the first warm day of spring, as pleasing swaths of flesh are displayed for the first time in too long; the State Fairgrounds on a sticky August afternoon, as sweltering seekers of deep-fried foods jockey for position... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO PRACTICE PIANO IN PUBLIC
  Scoot up the escalator, head toward the reference desk, and turn left beyond the popular CDs, the cabinets of sheet music, and the shelves of musical scores. It's dead ahead of you now--in fact, if someone's already in there, you might hear it before you see it. Tucked away in this corner of... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO TAKE OUT-OF-TOWN GUESTS
  Caustic critics and disaffected fans aside, who wouldn't jump at the chance to see Prince perform live? He's the Eiffel Tower of the Twin Cities, still more iconic than the Leno guest in the governor's office. Lots of folks who don't know the Mall of America from the Spoonbridge know "Pussy... More >>
• BEST POLITICIAN
  If it's true that the future for Hmong Americans starts in St. Paul, then there's no question that Mee Moua took a giant step toward leading that charge. In January Moua became the nation's first Hmong legislator, a feat that drew enough attention to land her on the pages of the New York Times.... More >>
• BEST PUBLIC RESTROOM
  A recent study of New York City bathrooms found that of the public restrooms surveyed, 100 percent at subway stations, 91 percent at city parks, and 53 percent at public libraries were in unsanitary condition. The foregoing is by way of pointing out that we've generally got it pretty good in... More >>
• BEST RUMOR
  We'll admit to being a little freaked out when, in early October, a mysterious jellylike substance was discovered at the Science Museum of Minnesota. The nation was, after all, in the grip of terrorism-induced hysteria, and it seemed plausible at the time that some malefactor had set his or her... More >>
• BEST SCANDAL
  We couldn't help feeling a little nostalgic last summer when the FBI nailed Minneapolis City Council member Brian Herron for extorting $10,000 from grocer Selwin Ortega. It's not that we're in favor of municipal graft. But corruption comes in such nebulous forms these days; the deals between... More >>
• BEST STATE FAIR ATTRACTION
  "I'm going to sing something from an opera that most of you probably have never heard of. It's called The Magic Flute." So began the mincing--and wholly endearing--performance of a young Mozart scholar during the teen portion of the 2001 Minnesota State Fair's talent competition. (Rest assured,... More >>
• BEST STATE FAIR FOOD
  The God's honest truth: Sweet Martha's chocolate-chip cookies are manufactured and marketed by Mrs. Martha Rossini Olson, a beloved elementary-school art teacher at Highland Catholic in St. Paul. No one is disputing that this woman exists, and that it is her diligence and culinary genius that... More >>
• BEST SUBURBAN DOWNTOWN
  In recent years it has become fashionable among suburban pooh-bahs to promote the development of more traditional downtowns. The results have been mixed. That's not surprising. The best downtowns are fundamentally organic in nature. They are not the result of some master plan cooked up by... More >>
• BEST TILT AT A WINDMILL
  You have to give Paul Metsa credit for perseverance: Even after a November Minneapolis City Council vote made the razing of the Guthrie Theater a virtual fait accompli, the folk musician/preservationist continued to advocate fiercely for Ralph Rapson's 39-year-old building, distributing... More >>
• BEST USE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS
  Since 1999, 58 percent of Minnesota's budget surplus was swallowed by tax cuts and rebates. None has gone to children and families. The multi-pronged "Leave No Child Behind" bill aimed to change that by, among other things, eliminating the state's waiting list for childcare, increasing the... More >>
• BEST VICTIM
  Watching the old man shamble out of the November Major League Baseball owners' meeting in Chicago, you couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity. After all, he never wanted to do anything but make an honest buck (or a few billion of them). More >>
• BEST VIEW
  For a skyline that's so compact, downtown Minneapolis lends itself to a number of dramatic views. Maybe that's because it's compact: Rising out of the flat, unremarkable landscape, the skyline creates a striking contrast--almost as if it were set atop an actual hill! The freeways that loop... More >>
• BEST VILLAIN
  The past year provided a surplus of villains. Fanatics and miscreants seemed to be breeding at a preternatural rate, all skulking in the shadows and plotting our doom. And compared with anthrax-posting maniacs and the Axis of Evil (whoever they turn out to be), the sins of a Major League... More >>
• BEST WEEKEND GETAWAY
  Make it a long weekend. Crack open the piggy bank, drive about five or six hours to the North Shore (and a bit beyond--but watch out for moose!), and discover this nature lover's nirvana in the Superior National Forest, adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. We daresay there's nothing else... More >>