About Jim Walsh
Jim Walsh is an award-winning author, journalist, writer, and songwriter from Minneapolis. A columnist for the Southwest Journal and regular contributor to MinnPost.com, his work has appeared in Rolling Stone, the Village Voice, St. Paul Pioneer Press, City Pages, and many other publications. He is the author of Fear & Loving in South Minneapolis; Bar Yarns and Manic-Depressive Mixtapes: Jim Walsh on Music from Minneapolis to the Outer Limits; Gold Experience: Following Prince in the ’90s; and The Replacements: All Over But The Shouting. A father of two (Henry and Helen!) and sometime teacher at the Loft Literary Center, Walsh is the ringleader behind the longtime singer/songwriter showcase The Mad Ripple Hootenanny. His new band, Jim Walsh and the Dog Day Cicadas, has recorded two releases, “Songs For The Band To Learn” (2017) and “Shout It Out To You” (2022). He lives in Minneapolis with his partner Mary Beth Hanson and their two cats, Rumi and Rilke.
Articles written by Jim Walsh
Assistance with Assisted Living
Assistance with assisted livingWhen it comes to helping clients choose an assisted living facility or long-term care facility for a loved one, Moriah Adamo is both attorney and de facto social worker. “A large part of our work is social work, because you’re typically dealing with a family in crisis,” says Adamo, an elder law partner at Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Formato, Ferrara & Wolf. “They’re coming to you because someone in their family has experienced some sort of health care decline—or …
What You Can and Can't Do with Marijuana in Oregon
It's legal, but there are some limitationsOn July 1, 2015, the state of Oregon became the fourth—after Colorado, Washington and Alaska—to legalize marijuana for recreational use. But questions remain on how to handle a substance that’s still illegal at the federal level. Where Can You Smoke Recreational Marijuana? In your home, of course, but not in bars and restaurants, public parks, nor on the streets. Also, “There are cannabis clubs where you pay a membership and you can come and smoke,” says Richard McBreen III, a …
What's Covered If You're Injured on the Job in New York
Legal tips for when a workplace injury leads to workers’ compAn employee injured on the job should take several immediate steps, says Catherine M. Stanton, a workers’ compensation attorney who represents employees at New York-based Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano. Seek medical treatment (dependent upon severity of injury) Make sure the doctor or hospital knows it's a work-related injury Notify your employer of the injury within 30 days (by state law) File a claim with the state within two years (you can download the workers' comp …
A Golden Age
An oral history of lawyers who began practicing law more than 50 years ago, and are still at it todayThe six attorneys spotlighted here took streetcars to the office, did research via law libraries instead of laptops and sometimes took home $400—a month. When they started, divorce came with fault, nuptials happened without the pre-, and carbon copies were the tried-and-true method of distributing mass information. They were involved in some of Minnesota’s most famous trials, and together they account for a total of 355 years of practicing law. HeRe ARe theiR stoRies. Some were …
Taxing Situations for New Yorkers
What to do if you owe Uncle Sam back taxesFrom Willie Nelson to Martha Stewart, Wesley Snipes, and countless ordinary working stiffs, Americans have a long history of not paying their personal income taxes. If you fall behind, what can you do about it, and when should you seek help? “Contact an attorney and an accountant right off the bat,” says Jill Darrow of Katten Muchin Rosenman. “We tell [clients] to immediately file the back-tax returns, even if they can’t pay the taxes.” Send a letter along with the income tax returns …
Model Lawyer
How Kristi Anderson Wells’ life as a Ford model paved the way to a successful family law practiceSince its inception in 1946, Ford Models has been credited with launching the careers of actresses Kim Basinger and Lindsay Lohan, and supermodels Cheryl Tiegs and Christie Brinkley. Now add a Super Lawyers selectee. Kristi Anderson Wells, a family law attorney at Gutterman Griffiths in Littleton, didn’t exactly “meet cute” with Ford co-founder Eileen Ford. In 1980, Ford saw the 14-year-old Seattle ballet student at a modeling audition and told her: “You will never be a model. …
The Counter-Balancing Force
Dan Gustafson doesn’t shy away from representing society’s biggest pariahsIn late 2003, 22-year-old University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin was abducted from a Grand Forks mall parking lot. After a search that lasted five months, Sjodin’s body was found near Crookston, not far from the home of Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., a Level III sex offender who had recently been released after completing a 23-year prison term. Rodriguez was ultimately convicted in federal court of Sjodin’s abduction and stabbing death, and now sits on death row at the U.S. Penitentiary …
Bring Me Your Poor (nah), Your Tired (please), Your Electrical Engineers (maybe)
Nancy Elkind on the dysfunction of U.S. immigration policy“When I first started, there were only a handful of immigration lawyers [here], and people would go, ‘Really? Immigration in Denver? What do you do?’” One of the things Nancy Elkind does these days is explain something about immigration law, since the rhetoric, particularly during election cycles, can get a little heated. Take Donald Trump’s promise to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants in his first 18 months as president. “It’s frustrating, because immigration law is very …
The Man From Luck
Ardell Skow has spent 50 years taking personal injury cases in northwestern WisconsinArdell “Dell” Skow was born and raised and currently lives in the town of Luck, Wis., former home to the Duncan Toys yo-yo factory, population 1,100. “When I’m not there, I like to say I’m out of Luck,” Skow says with a smile. He also says, “You are where you come from.” The childhood he describes is something out of a Norman Rockwell painting. “My dad always respected everybody in town. We’d go into town on Saturday night and I’d get a quarter as a kid, and we’d watch …
Finding the Good
Deborah Ellis defends cops and the people arrested by themLast year in early December, Deborah Ellis jumped on the Green Line near her office in downtown St. Paul for the 40-minute trip to the Hennepin County Courthouse in downtown Minneapolis. As usual, Ellis—a respected defense attorney and a no-nonsense but acutely empathetic woman whose clients have included killers, child pornographers, sex offenders, child abusers, Hell’s Angels, and police officers accused with brutality—used her travel time to prepare for an appearance in court. As the …
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