Northeaster is the every-home-delivered community newspaper for Northeast Minneapolis, St. Anthony, Columbia Heights and Hilltop. Our Mission: Finding out stuff and putting it in the paper or online since 1978. Click here for publication schedule 2025.
The Northeaster started when neighborhood revitalization efforts saw need for a way to notify and unite residents, businesses, and other players as an alternative to the big metro papers and formula suburban papers; one that was delivered to every home without need for subscription.
Pro Media, Inc. owned and managed the Northeaster November 1981 to November 2022. It was expanded to cover the nearby suburbs in 1983 to meet audience and advertiser demand. MyNortheaster.com was crowd-funded which said a lot – positive – about audiences and the future, as well as providing funds. We continue to appreciate our audiences as contributions come in to help us weather inflation. Another local company, My Media Inc., now owns the paper.
Northeast is now an arts and entertainment destination, which creates new sets of dialogs and more sets of eyes on us than ever.
You never know what – or who – you’ll bump into in the Northeaster; it’s where you go to find out what’s going on.
Meet the Northeaster People:
Davis Steen, Client Services
Stop in at the Northeaster offices and Davis is the most consistent person you’ll find there…A fan of talking and is usually the guy you will see in the office, almost always wearing a hat. Davis Steen is a transplant to Northeast Minneapolis from Fargo, North Dakota, but has fallen in love with everything that is our area. He has a background in graphic design, video production, and website creation and maintenance. When he isn’t out enjoying the culture of Northeast through breweries, restaurants and biking, he can be found hosting trivia, producing a podcast, or creating something out of wood. He is a resident of the Audubon Park neighborhood.
Mike Tierney, Account Executive
Mike Tierney got his start in radio as a radio announcer and program director. He was in Aitkin at the time, then moved to Grand Rapids, then Duluth. Mike switched over to print to become a salesperson for Adams Publishing, a subsidiary of Knight Ridder in SE Minneapolis, then he worked for Twin Cities Buylines, finally Independent Delivery Service, a job he held for 38 years. He brings all this experience along with nearly 50 years of sales and account support to the Northeaster team. When Mike isn’t working on the the paper, he volunteer announces at the Minnesota State Services for the Blind.
Vince Brown, Publisher
For 18 years he worked with clients as classified ads, production and office manager. He’s still in the office, but often pops out to meet with the members of our community that make it great. After two years intentionally observing the duties and decisions of the publisher and going through the Editors & Publishers Community Leadership Program of Minnesota Newspaper Association (MNA), Vince stepped into the publisher role in November 2022. He is on the advisory board for the Northeast Minneapolis Chamber and the MNA Journalism in Education Committee. With Margo Ashmore, Vince is leading Northeaster’s assistance to Sheridan Neighborhood Organization and Friends of the Mississippi River at Sheridan Memorial Park. He is a Windom Park homeowner.
Cynthia Sowden, Editor and Northeast Experience Editor
You can take the girl out of Northeast, but you can’t take Northeast out of the girl. Cynthia Sowden loves her “hometown” –Northeast Minneapolis. She attended Thomas Lowry Elementary School and Northeast Junior High School and graduated from Edison. She holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Minnesota and worked for many years in corporate communications, advertising and public relations. When she’s not working on the Northeaster, she’s playing her flute in the Northeast Community Band. She lives in the Audubon neighborhood.
Most frequent freelancers:
Patti Hoffmann – Reporter/photographer. Retired from BNSF Railway. Longtime resident of Northeast Minneapolis. Bachelor of Science degree from St. Catherine’s University.
Carol Jensen – Retired U.S. Army photojournalist, musician, Conductor of St. Anthony Civic Orchestra. Lives in St. Anthony. Photojournalist associated with Northeaster for more than 25 years.
Marla Khan-Schwartz – Reporter. Former music writer at 89.3 The Current, freelance writer. Graduate degree in Counseling Psychotherapy from Adler Graduate School, and a graduate degree in Public Health from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Waite Park neighborhood resident.
Karen Kraco – Northeaster reporter/photographer, former associate editor at Minnesota Medicine and managing editor at Math Teachers Press, freelancer around town, science teacher. Northeast resident.
Andrew Lake – Reporter Andrew Lake settled in NE Minneapolis after finishing a BA (Political Science) at the University of Minnesota. Formerly an Education Minnesota Local 2209 negotiator and Special Education para. Currently an LPN and bass player in local cover band Pickle. Lives in Columbia Heights with wife Monica.
Nik Linde – Reporter/Photographer with the Northeaster, freelance writer and photographer in Northeast. Grew up in South Minneapolis, Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Augsburg University.
Mike Madison – Got his start as a photojournalist for the Northeaster in 2013. His photography business is Bumpopera Media. Musician.
Karen R. Nelson – Reporter/photographer. Freelance writer, communications and PR maven, leader of K.Rae Communications. Longtime local/national music and arts specialist. U of MN Journalism School graduate. Northeast resident.
Mark Peterson – Retired Habitat for Humanity manager and avid arts consumer, collage artist. Photographer/reporter for Northeaster since 2014. Lives in Northeast.
Al Zdon – Grew up in Northeast Minneapolis, graduating from Edison High School in 1966. He was editor of the Hibbing Daily Tribune and then the Minnesota Legionnaire for most of his career. He has written seven books, mainly about Minnesota war veterans. He plays the tenor banjo.
Remembered: Kerry Ashmore, Co-Publisher from 1981 until his death January 27, 2014.
Grateful to:
Gail Olson – Author and writing teacher, reported for Northeaster more than 25 years, lives in Columbia Heights. Liz Jensen – Former Reporter/Northeast Experience editor, lives in the Northeast River District. Alicia Scott – Former communications specialist for City of Minneapolis and Elk River Area School District, co-editor at Northeaster in the 1990s and co-editor of the Northeast Experience from 2014-mid 2021. Spike – the best office dog and good boy! This miniature dachshund provided companionship and brought smiles to all he met for seventeen years, March 16, 2006-March 28, 2023.
Margo Ashmore, Publisher Emerita
Not retired, but enjoying not being in charge, as publisher Margo was a steady force for the newspaper and the community for over four decades. She lent her business and organizing savvy to various efforts in the 1990s and early 2000s, and for the last several years on the board of Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, which merged in late 2020 with Northeast Community Development Corporation. Margo is a Sheridan neighborhood resident, and as an environmental advocate is a board member of Reuse Minnesota.