The eighth season of AfroPoP, the popular public television documentary series, began this month on PBS’ World Channel.
Charles Hallman
Charles Hallman is a contributing reporter and award-winning sports columnist at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.
Posted inSports
Farm background serves hockey athlete well
Minnesota State returns to WCHA action this weekend, hoping to extend their first-place lead in the conference over second-place Bowling Green, the Mavericks’ visiting opponents.
Posted inGophers/College, Sports
St. Kates’ leading scorer is a threat from the bench
Now a junior, St. Catherine University and Minneapolis native LaShay Holt said that her leadership and outside shooting have improved. “I feel I have grown as a leader. I learned what to do and how to become who I am from previous people on the team,” said the 5’-8” Holt.
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
New WNBA playoff format: confusing and gimmicky
The WNBA Board of Governors’ approval of “significant changes,” including a new playoff format for this upcoming season, might be the worst idea since Bud Selig’s idea for baseball’s All-Star game to determine who gets home field in the World Series.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Mpls studies need for paid sick leave law
A mother sent her fevered child to school because she couldn’t afford to miss work and stay home with him. She later had to rush the child to the emergency room because the fever kept rising.
Posted inArts + Culture, Movies, Theater
Penumbra’s ‘Reel Talk’ ponders roles of Black Twitter in Black press lineage
Black newspapers — a fixture in almost every major city since the 1800s — are needed now more than ever, contends narrator Joe Morton in The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords. The documentary was the center of discussion at the January 11 “Reel Talk” monthly film screening session at the St. Paul’s Penumbra Theatre.
Posted inSports, Timberwolves/NBA
Timberwolves’ Payne waits for the call
No cliché intended here, but what a difference a year makes for Adreian Payne. This time last year he was a rookie member of the Atlanta Hawks, then was traded last February to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a conditional 2017 draft pick.
Posted inGophers/College, Sports
Race imbalance persists in college football head coaching
The following numbers aren’t winning lottery numbers: 14, 2, 7, 1. They represent, in order, the college football head coaching openings, the number of Blacks hired to fill them, the number of NFL head coaching vacancies and the number of Blacks hired to fill them.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Pilot project seeks ways to build police-community trust
Minneapolis is one of six pilot cities selected to look into improving police-community relations. The city was selected last year for the three-year project by the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice (NI).
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
Lynx lead in Olympic Team finalists
All 12 WNBA teams are represented with 2016 U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team finalists. Four Minnesota Lynx players — Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen — are among 25 finalists selected by USA Basketball, the most of any league team, it was announced Monday. “Naming the Olympic Team finalists is another step […]
Posted inLocal & State, News
Temporary Mpls Urban League pres now permanent
This year’s plan for the Minneapolis Urban League (MUL) emphasizes its health and wellness programming, Steven Belton, MUL president, told the MSR in a recent interview at the organization’s Northside headquarters.
Posted inSports, Timberwolves/NBA
Local prep star comes home to team she loves
Allina Starr sat out the mandatory NCAA transfer time. She played one season at Auburn before transferring to the school just a few miles from where she grew up and graduated from high school.
Posted inSports
Hoops media coverage badly out of balance
Merriam-Webster defines “unbalanced” as not keeping or showing an even balance of something. Dictionary.com says the adjective is often used in business, fiction, arts and culture, science and medicine. In this week’s and next week’s columns it will be applied to sports.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Groups monitor Mpls racial equity progress
A partnership of local organizations led by Voices for Racial Justice is developing a first-ever “community led” racial equity report card for Minneapolis city government, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, and Minneapolis Public Schools.
Posted inOpinion
Dr. King’s words poignant and prophetic for today
Although it is believed that he didn’t see himself as such, most of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s published articles, sermons and books were prophetic.
Posted inGophers/College, Sports
One-on-ones with two Big Ten coaches
It’s awfully hard these days to get a decent one-on-one player or coach interview without either “a scrum of 40 reporters standing around,” as Tony Biasotti wrote last month in the Columbia Journalism Review, or some media relations type breathing down your neck, tapping their finger on their invisible wristwatch.
Posted inGophers/College, Sports
Gopher reunion offers players a chance to reminisce
Most college and high school reunions involve a lot of swapping tall tales. One would love to be in the room when the U of M women basketball players from the various eras get together to tell theirs.
Posted inSports
WBCA president talks new rules for women’s college basketball
Throughout her nine years at Happy Valley, Coquese Washington has guided Penn State to Big Ten heights — three consecutive conference championships and improving the school’s Big Ten win totals in each of her first six years as head coach — becoming the first league coach to win consecutive best coach honors as well.
Posted inGophers/College, Sports
Tom Izzo reflects on loss and support from players
Tom Izzo truly appreciates his players, present and former. And vice versa. While in town on this year’s first weekend, former Michigan State Spartan Adreian Payne, now in his second season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, visited with his former coach.
Posted inLocal & State, News
MnDOT falls short of diversity goal
More than 92 percent of contracts go to White women
To receive federal money, each state’s transportation departments must set a statewide three-year goal for small businesses owned by Blacks, other people of color, and women on federal-funded transportation projects.