Allow me to clarify a question that has arisen about the cartoons of Ken Avidor as they have appeared in Pulse of the Twin Cities.
First, let me say how much I love and admire Roadkill Bill--how can you not love an angry rodent with tire tracks across his stomach? For the last few months Ken Avidor had been using his strip to tell a fantastical tale about Gowandaland. It got convoluted and (frankly) a little tedious. People on the staff begged him to get out of Gowandaland and back to earth. Finally, he did get back and immediately started a new series about the access/excess project. The series was predictable and the arguments seemed tedious. I called him up and said the topic seemed more appropriate as a feature or cover story for Pulse. We have run cover stories by Avidor that were futuristic parables about the dangers of dependence on fossil fuels. I asked him to use Roadkill Bill the way it was when we began--a simple short idea developed in four panels--and save the more extended stories for a longer cover story. I invited him to re-write the series as a cover. We will be running a cover on the Access Project by another writer sometime in the next few weeks. Was I censoring Ken Avidor for writing about the Access Project? Last year I ran against Peter McLaughlin for County Commissioner. He is well known as a supporter of the Access Project, and my campaign focused a great deal of attention on that question. I was most critical of the flyover ramp which would have taken a large number of homes, created an eyesore in South Minneapolis, and reduced the number of hours of daylight for residents living under its arching shadow. The election was in many ways a referendum on the access project, and Peter beat me 4 to 1 in the precincts most affected by the proposed ramp. If it was a referendum, then Peter certainly won it. In spite of his convincing victory the project made concessions to the immediate residents and eliminated the flyover ramp. There are some diehard antagonists who continue to oppose the project and malign anyone who might support it. But, for me, having gone one-on-one on this issue and lost convincingly, the issue seems settled. It cost me a lot of time, money and psychic energy to earn this black eye, and I am content that it is over. There are other battles and worse enemies. Was I censoring Ken Avidor? I don't think so. I wanted him to go back to the original premises of Roadkill Bill, and I was offering him the opportunity to do a cover on the Access Project. Ed Felien, Editor/Publisher, Pulse of the Twin Cities Powderhorn REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
