West Lake LRT station PAGE A3 • New taqueria at 50th & France PAGE A4 • Pollinator-friendly plants PAGE A12 • An all-snack meal PAGE B3
February 20– March 4, 2020 Vol. 31, No. 4 southwestjournal.com
Protests continue on Lyndale By Andrew Hazzard
STOPPING THE ‘SECRET HANDSHAKE’
For the fourth time since a man was struck and killed by a driver on Lyndale Avenue in October, protesters took to the street to demand improved safety infrastructure. During a bitterly cold rush hour on Feb. 12, about 40 people with the Safe Streets Save Lives group marched across Lyndale Avenue at 27th Street. The goal was to draw attention to safety issues on the street, which ranks as one of the most dangerous roads in Minneapolis, according to city studies. SEE LYNDALE PROTESTS / PAGE A15
Analysis finds banking gap for businesses owned by people of color
Bashir Egal, owner of 5 Dollar Pizza, hopes to someday buy his building at 137 E. Franklin Ave. The city is exploring ways to provide better access to capital for more business owners. Photo by Michelle Bruch
By Michelle Bruch
Bashir Egal said he emptied his 401(k) to raise more than $120,000 to open 5 Dollar Pizza on Franklin Avenue in Whittier. A Somali refugee arriving with his family at age 17, Egal studied business in college and previously worked as a banker. But right now, the halal pizza business is a better living. “At the end of the day, it’s fulfilling. I feel like I’m doing what I was supposed to do,” he said. “It’s just more commitment here. Everything falls on your shoulder.”
Safe street advocates blocked traffic to draw attention to unsafe conditions on Lyndale Avenue Feb. 12. The group plans to continue protests until substantial changes are made to the road. Photo by Andrew Hazzard
SEE SMALL BUSINESS / PAGE A15
A crack in the system Kingfield pastor rallies evangelicals to vote against Trump By Zac Farber
Doug Pagitt, the former pastor of Solomon’s Porch, returned to the Kingfield church on Feb. 4 as a stop on his nationwide bus tour urging Christians to oppose President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign. Photo by Zac Farber
In early January, Doug Pagitt stepped down as pastor of Solomon’s Porch — the Kingfield church he founded two decades ago — and set off on a planned 10-month-long road trip aboard a bright orange tour bus previously used by Guns N’ Roses and “Weird Al” Yankovic. Pagitt’s goal is to travel to all 50 states before Election Day, and his nonprofit, Vote Common Good, is hosting boisterous rallies in hundreds of cities across the country in an effort to motivate politically progressive and moderate Christians to turn out on Nov. 3
and vote against President Donald Trump. “We want to create a crack in the system that says, ‘If you’re religious, you vote for Republicans,’” said Pagitt, who twice voted for George W. Bush. “You don’t have to stop being a Republican, but just don’t vote for this one.” Vote Common Good has raised $1.5 million since its launch in 2018 and is hoping to raise $2 million more by November. “There are four things that get us around the country: faith, hope, love and diesel,” Pagitt said. SEE VOTE COMMON GOOD / PAGE A14
A hearty meal for a good cause
Valentine’s Day at White Castle
Prairie style architecture tour
Southwest’s college signees
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A2 February 20–March 4, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
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southwestjournal.com / February 20–March 4, 2020 A3
Routes and Roads
By Andrew Hazzard
Bikes
Bike lane improvements in Whittier, Lyndale Minneapolis is planning to make improvements to two key bike lanes connecting Southwest to Downtown. Public Works is planning to beef up bike lanes on Blaisdell Avenue and 1st Avenue South between Grant Street and Lake Street in 2021, according to transportation planner Mike Samuelson. “The goal of this is safer streets for all Minneapolis residents,” Samuelson said in a presentation to the Lyndale Neighborhood Association (LNA). Currently, Blaisdell has a one-way bollardprotected southbound bike lane between Franklin Avenue and 40th Street and a one-way unprotected northbound bike lane between Grant Street and 40th Street. City planners are considering various options for improving the bike lanes, including adding physical curb protections and/or converting one-way lanes into two-ways, Samuelson said. Whether one or both streets will be designed as two-way bike improvements is still to be determined. Lyndale resident Philip Schwartz said he’d prefer to see a two-way bike lane because it would enable easier access to destinations along Blaisdell without sending cyclists across Nicollet
Avenue to reach northbound bike infrastructure. Additional project goals include creating smoother connections to the Midtown Greenway and other bike lanes along the route and reconfiguring intersections to make them more bike and pedestrian friendly. First Avenue South will be reconstructed between Grant Street and Lake Street in 2023, so the public works department will likely implement smaller improvements, like bollards, in the short-term, Samuelson said. When reconstruction occurs, the street will likely get curb protections, he said. “While the plastic bollards are really great as a visual cue, they can’t physically stop a car,” Samuelson said. Public Works plans on releasing a design concept for Blaisdell Avenue and 1st Avenue bike infrastructure improvements in May. Designs will go before the City Council for approval this summer and construction is scheduled for 2021. Some in the LNA meeting said they felt it was already difficult getting around the neighborhood by vehicle and said they were concerned these additions would add to congestion. “With these projects there’s always an element of tradeoff,” Samuelson said.
Ashes to Ashes (MINUS THE FLAMES)
Light Rail
West Lake station construction starting in spring The most complex station in the Southwest Light Rail project will begin construction in earnest this spring, bringing large machinery and worker presence to West Lake Street. The West Lake Street station is the westernmost Minneapolis stop in the project and will be located below the Lake Street bridge, behind Whole Foods and adjacent to the Midtown Greenway. “This spring you will start to see heavy construction in this area,” David Davies, SWLRT’s outreach coordinator for Minneapolis, told the West Calhoun Neighborhood Council. For now, utility workers are trying to complete work that will allow for heavier construction to begin in the spring. When that work starts, Chowen and Abbott avenues will be dead-ended to create a large construction area for the station in front of the Midtown Greenway, which will remain open. The two streets currently loop around several apartment buildings, including Calhoun Towers, and are technically connected by West 31st Street. Chowen Avenue will still be connected to West 32nd Street, and Abbott Avenue will maintain access to Excelsior Boulevard. Many at the meeting asked if the city had plans to help residents who park along the street there find new accommodations during and after construction, but city officials said there are no plans in place to replace public, on-street parking. Once the train is running, the city may dole out permits to local residents to prevent people from using the area for on-street parking access to the Green Line. Metro Transit and Minneapolis Public Works officials said there would be no lane reductions on West Lake Street while Cedar Lake Parkway is closed this spring and summer. Davies said residents in the area will likely hear a noise and feel some vibrations during construction. The Met Council has monitors for both noise and vibration in place, but the agency has learned from
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Creating new beginnings.
its work in the Kenilworth Corridor that people can feel vibrations that engineers do not believe will cause structural damage. “You’re going to feel something, but we don’t expect any damage as a result,” Davies said. Along with expanded activity for SWLRT, two more major projects are expected to break ground in the area this spring: the large addition coming to Calhoun Towers and a new hotel and condominium building at the site of the current BP gas station at Lake & Excelsior. Paul Miller, Minneapolis Public Works’ liaison to the SWLRT project, said the hotel and condo building replacing the BP will be doing all of its work on site and won’t block lanes on Lake Street this year. Work on the Lake Street bridge will likely not begin until 2021, project officials said. Travel lanes will shrink slightly on the bridge and a new protective railing for pedestrians will be added. The station will be accessible from elevators and stairs on both sides of the bridge and will also serve as the westernmost stop of the planned B Line arterial bus rapid transit project.
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A4 February 20–March 4, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
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Tenant, an upscale East Harriet restaurant that’s found success with its ever-changing, six-course tasting menu and reservationsonly model, is planning to expand into an adjacent retail space — adding a lounge and some bar seating. The restaurant, founded in 2017 by Cameron Cecchini and Grisha Hammes, hosts about 25 to 30 diners in three fixed seatings — at 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. — and sometimes the small space can be crowded. They said the expansion is mostly about giving diners the option to arrive early or linger after they’re finished eating. They intend on remaining a “small-focus restaurant” and said they expected the number of meals they serve each week to stay roughly steady, though they may add brunch down the road. “It would be nice for people to have the option to stick around for a while and have a drink, listen to some music,” Cecchini said. “[But] we’re small — it’s like the tortoise and the hare for us; we’d like to keep it like that.”
Tenant is working with the city to get an expanded liquor license to serve cocktails, and Cecchini said they’d serve “just the classics — no funny business.” Cecchini and Hammes’ landlord is Doug Flicker, their former boss. They worked for Flicker at his acclaimed restaurant Piccolo before it closed in December 2016. A few months later they opened Tenant in Piccolo’s space at 4300 Bryant Ave. S. — thus the restaurant’s name. Posh Spa, a massage therapy business that shares the building with Tenant, will move out on March 1. Owner Sherry Tian said she is looking to find another space nearby in South Minneapolis. Tenant hopes to open its expanded space by May. — Zac Farber
Tenant Where: 4300 Bryant Ave. S. Info: tenantmpls.com
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50TH & FRANCE
St. Paul’s Pajarito coming to Southwest A popular St. Paul taqueria is opening a second location at 50th & France. Pajarito, run by chefs Steve Hesse and Tyge Nelson, has been serving up contemporary Mexican cuisine with old-school ingredients since opening in late 2016. The duo are now a few weeks away from opening
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a second location in the old Tejas space just west of France Avenue in Edina. They hope to open by mid-March. “We love the area and think it is a nice, tight-knit community like West Seventh in St. Paul,” Hesse said in an email. At the 50th & France location, Hesse believes they will largely offer the same menu as the original—a mix of classic and unique tacos, queso fundido, chilaquiles and hearty items like steak with mole verde. But the larger kitchen will allow for new dishes, he said. Hesse is personally a fan of the traditional carnitas and more inventive Tennessee hot fried chicken tacos. Since taking over the space, the Pajarito crew has rearranged the layout, added new booths and fully renovated the basement space to create a private dining room, Hesse said. “I think people will really enjoy the 2.0 version of the St. Paul location,” he said. The restaurant will have about 40 employees. — Andrew Hazzard
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St. Paul Mexican restaurant Pajarito plans to open a second location at 50th & France in March. Photo by Andrew Hazzard
Pajarito Where: 3910 W. 50th St., Edina Info: pajaritostp.com
southwestjournal.com / February 20–March 4, 2020 A5
The City Council has approved an appeal allowing Burger King to reopen its 34th & Nicollet location with a drivethrough, but a local resident has filed suit against the city, arguing it erred in granting the appeal. File photo
34TH & NICOLLET
City allows Burger King to reopen, but neighbor’s lawsuit looms Burger King may reopen its restaurant at 34th & Nicollet with a drive-through, a Minneapolis committee ruled Feb. 6, but the legal battle over the fast food restaurant isn’t over yet. In December, the Minneapolis Zoning Board of Adjustment unanimously voted to deny a nonconforming use certificate that would have allowed the chain to re-establish a drive-through at the currently vacant location. But on appeal to the city’s Zoning and Planning Committee, Burger King was granted the nonconforming use certificate after Minneapolis attorneys told committee members the corporation would have a strong legal case. The battle may not be done, as a man who lives across the street from the site has filed suit against the city, alleging the council erred in granting the appeal. Adam Wysopal, a local attorney who filed the suit, had been following the case since Burger King closed and couldn’t believe it when the Zoning and Planning Committee overruled the adjustment board. “I was shocked,” he said. Burger King opened a restaurant at 34th & Nicollet in 1970, and the building has had a drive-through since 1964, according to city documents. In April 2018, the Burger King closed after the franchisee, P3 Foods, went bankrupt and the store has sat vacant since. Today, Minneapolis prohibits new drivethrough construction due to concerns over air and noise pollution from idling cars and the dangers posed to pedestrians from motorists seeking to access the restaurants. City policy holds that any property with a nonconforming use certificate loses those privileges if the property has been abandoned for a year. By the time Burger King applied for a new certificate in November, well over a year had passed. Burger King representatives told the committee it was unable to take over the space within a year due to a long bankruptcy legal battle involving a trustee who was working to sell a large amount of kitchen equipment, preventing the corporation from accessing the space. The City Attorney’s Office believed Burger King had evidence it had taken affirmative steps to act on the building before a year had elapsed. That was good enough for the Zoning and Planning Committee, which unanimously granted the appeal. The committee’s action was subsequently approved by the City Council.
But Wysopal disagrees. An in-house company attorney, Wysopal said the filing against the city is his first, and hopefully last, lawsuit. The way he sees it, Burger King should have been able to provide documented evidence it told the trustee about needing to get back into the building in under a year to maintain its nonconforming use status. “I don’t think a judge is going to be very sympathetic to a property owner,” he said. The lawsuit argues the City Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee failed to articulate why the Zoning Board of Adjustment was wrong in its initial rejection of the renewed nonconforming use permit. That board, Wysopal said, has authority to rule on nonconforming uses, and the Zoning and Planning Committee provided no explanation for overruling it. Wysopal served the city with a notice he would file suit on Feb. 14, and filed the lawsuit officially on Feb. 16. Wysopal has lived across from the Lyndale Burger King since 2017. He said he has no problem with Burger King returning to the site but is opposed to the drive-through. Now that the site is zoned for six-story buildings along high-frequent transit under the Minneapolis 2040 plan, he’d rather see a mixed-use development with a Burger King at the base instead of a one-story restaurant with a typically banned drive-through. “It’s the right time for allowing the property to go back to its desired use,” Wysopal said. Burger King is planning to renovate the restaurant, representatives said, and needs three to four months to improve the building before opening. The city does not believe the suit will prevent Burger King from proceeding, according to a spokesperson. The franchise also operated a North Minneapolis Burger King, which will also be able to re-open with a drive-through. Council Member Lisa Goodman (Ward 7) criticized Burger King for letting the properties fall into disrepair after P3’s bankruptcy. The company said it would start to do work on the grounds and exteriors soon. — Andrew Hazzard
Burger King Where: 3342 Nicollet Ave. S. Info: bk.com
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A6 February 20–March 4, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
CURA denies cherry-picking data in equity analysis City Council declines to hear rebuttal report By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com
Robert Thompson, a consultant who wrote a rebuttal report to a University of Minnesota racial equity analysis of neighborhood organizations, spoke at a Whittier forum hosted by the League of Women Voters. Photo by Andrew Hazzard
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A consultant who has challenged a University of Minnesota study concluding funding for Minneapolis neighborhood organizations propped up racial inequities will not get to present his report to the City Council. Minneapolis is approaching a deadline for Neighborhoods 2020, a multi-year plan to reimagine the goals and funding formula for the city’s 70 neighborhood organizations. As part of the effort, the City Council hired the U of M’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) to analyze the program’s history through a racial equity lens and make recommendations on how the program could be more equitable moving forward. In January, CURA released its findings, which showed that neighborhood group funding largely benefited middle-class homeowners, who in Minneapolis were and remain disproportionately white, and thus propped up historical inequities. But there has been some resistance to CURA’s findings, with some members of neighborhood organizations feeling the analysis slights their past community work. Robert Thompson, a consultant with deep ties to the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP), put out a report defending his former organization’s work by challenging CURA’s findings and arguing that the U of M cherry-picked data to make the work of neighborhood organizations seem less equitable. Thompson’s report was based on CURA’s initial summary of its findings and published before CURA’s full analysis was released. On Feb. 12, while CURA’s C Terrence Anderson presented the report to the City Council’s Committee of the Whole, Council Member Lisa Goodman (Ward 7) asked her colleagues to allow Thompson to present his report to the body on Feb. 26. That motion was rejected 7-6, with several council members arguing that the body should defer to the consultant hired by the city. Goodman told CURA she thought the group picked data that fit a desired outcome and said the lack of data from the more robustly funded NRP era makes it
seem not comprehensive. She said many neighborhood organizations in her ward feel the study is intended to shame them for their work over the years. “I think what they would say is, ‘Don’t discount the work that we did. We feel like you’re calling us racist,’” Goodman said. Anderson denied cherry-picking data and said CURA used all data provided by the city that measured outcomes by race. Record keeping during NRP was poor, he said, but CURA did analyze all past studies on the NRP program and found research consistently pointing out a disproportionate amount of benefits went to white homeowners and that white homeowners have been overrepresented on neighborhood boards. The goal of the racial equity analysis, Anderson said, is not to deny good work done by neighborhood associations over the years but to recognize that outcomes disproportionately benefited white households. “This is not a moral judgment — it’s data,” Ward 4 Council Member Phillipe Cunningham said.
A look at the data
Thompson, the author of the rebuttal study, worked for NRP for 12 years from the late 1990s to 2010, when the city created the Neighborhood and Community Relations (NCR) department. He was part of the group that helped develop the Community Participation Program (CPP) that succeeded NRP and has since gone on to do consulting work for many neighborhood groups. He said he was not paid to produce his 20-page response report. He and Dave Ellis, who also has a long history working with neighborhood groups, also applied to be the city’s consultant for conducting the racial equity analysis and producing a new funding framework for Neighborhoods 2020 — the role for which CURA was selected. On Feb. 4, The League of Women Voters hosted a well-attended discussion between Thompson and CURA’s Anderson, in which both were able to share their findings. SEE CURA / PAGE A15
southwestjournal.com / February 20–March 4, 2020 A7
State Sen. Jeff Hayden has a challenger
Q:
My husband found the house of his dreams, but the closets are too small… where will I put my shoes?
By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com
The race for the DFL nomination for the state Legislature will be competitive this year in at least one Southwest Minneapolis district. Omar Fateh, a 29-year-old business consultant and consumer advocate, is challenging incumbent state Sen. Jeff Hayden for the DFL endorsement in Senate District 62, which includes Whittier, Lyndale, Kingfield and all or parts of eight neighborhoods east of Interstate 35W. Whoever wins the party nomination will be the heavy favorite to win the general election. The district has voted for DFLers by wide margins in recent years, and only one candidate from each major political party is allowed to appear on the general-election ballot. Senate District 62 has a couple relatively affluent neighborhoods but is mostly a composed of middle-class and lower-income neighborhoods. About 50% of residents are people of color, nearly two-thirds rent their homes and over a third speak a language other than English at home. Here is a closer look at Fateh and Hayden.
Omar Fateh omarfateh.org
The son of Somali immigrants, Fatah grew up near Washington, D.C., spent his summers in Minnesota and earned a master’s degree in public administration from George Mason University. He said he was initially inspired to seek public office in Minnesota in part because of his work on the Hennepin County 2040 plan advisory committee. Fateh said he thinks he’s the best candidate in Senate District 62 to “bridge the gap” between immigrant, nonimmigrant and indigenous communities. Core tenets of his platform include a statewide $15 minimum wage, making mass transit free for everyone and creating an “opportunity center” in District 62 for students, youth and new immigrants. He said his top priority would be increasing protections for renters through
2020 ELECTION DATES Feb. 25: Voters from the major political parties meet at their precinct caucuses, beginning the endorsement process for state Legislative races. An endorsement gives a candidate access to the party’s voter database, volunteer assistance and other resources. DFL endorsements carry significant clout in Minneapolis. Visit caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us to find your precinct caucus site. March 3: The state’s open presidential primary. No local races. March-May: Local chapters of major political parties make state legislative endorsements. May 17: The Minneapolis DFL convention is held for School Board endorsements and other party business. Aug. 11: Primary elections are held for U.S. Congress, the state legislature, School Board elections and all other non-presidential races. Nov. 3: General election.
measures such as prohibiting landlords from evicting renters in winter and establishing a state emergency fund for tenants in dire situations. He also wants the state to set a goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030, divest state pensions from fossil fuel companies and fully fund public schools, free universal child care and no-cost higher education. “I don’t think the money’s the issue,” he said, citing the state’s projected $1.3 billion budget surplus. “It’s more of whether or not we want to get this accomplished.” Fateh’s previous political involvement has included helping with the Minneapolis Public Schools referendum campaigns, canvassing for City Council members and working with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change. He also worked for the state departments of revenue and transportation. He plans to seek the Senate District 62 DFL party chapter’s nomination at its convention, slated for March 28 at South High School. He said he would abide by the endorsement. This is Fateh’s third run for public office. In 2015, he ran unsuccessfully for the Fairfax County, Virginia, School Board, and in 2018, he finished third in the DFL primary in House District 62A, which includes Stevens Square and Whittier. Fateh’s Senate campaign had $1,475 on hand at the end of 2019.
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Hayden was first elected to the state House in 2008 and was elected to the state Senate in a 2011 special election. He has since won races in 2012 and 2016. An assistant minority leader, Hayden is on four Senate committees and is the ranking member of the body’s Human Services Reform Finance and Policy committee. He said his biggest priorities the past four years have been helping people who are on public assistance and child welfare. He also noted he was part of efforts to increase the statewide minimum wage in 2014. Hayden said he’s the best person to represent the district because he has gotten results over the past decade-plus. He called himself a “pragmatic progressive” and said he believes in progressive values around education and climate. “I want [Minnesota] to be a great place to live for everybody,” he said. “I want to use my experience, enthusiasm and understanding in the [DFL] caucus to be able to raise and lift all voices.” On education, Hayden said, it’s important to engage people around opportunity gaps, and he likes the idea of full-service community schools, which have services like health care and after-school activities. Regarding education, Hayden said it’s important to have a serious conversation about how many kids are homeless, noting an affordable housing crisis and a dearth of new affordable units. He also said it’s important that the business community get involved in education, beyond just advocating for school vouchers, noting as an example how Best Buy has funded tech centers for teens. “That’s the kind of tangible thing that the business community can do,” he said. Hayden lives in the Bryant neighborhood. His campaign had $7,647 on hand at the end of 2019.
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A8 February 20–March 4, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
PUBLISHER Janis Hall jhall@swjournal.com CO-PUBLISHER & SALES MANAGER Terry Gahan tgahan@swjournal.com GENERAL MANAGER Zoe Gahan zgahan@swjournal.com EDITOR Zac Farber 612-436-4391 zfarber@swjournal.com STAFF WRITERS Nate Gotlieb ngotlieb@swjournal.com Andrew Hazzard ahazzard@swjournal.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Michelle Bruch Ed Dykhuizen Erik Melin Callah Nelson Sheila Regan Carla Waldemar EDITORIAL INTERN Becca Most CREATIVE DIRECTOR Valerie Moe vmoe@swjournal.com OFFICE MANAGER AND AD COORDINATOR Amy Rash 612-436-5081 arash@swjournal.com DISTRIBUTION Marlo Johnson 612-436-4388 distribution@swjournal.com ADVERTISING sales@swjournal.com 612-436-4360 PRINTING APG
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By Jim Walsh
In praise of the timid
I
t’s a loud, loud, loud, loud world, and I’ve still got a soft spot for the quiet ones. I scribbled as much in my notebook on Saturday, Feb. 8, after playing some acoustic songs at the Riverview Cafe with my friends and fellow songwriters Joe Fahey and AJ Sheiber. We did not cause a sensation or change the world. We appreciatively played our songs to our appreciative friends and a few coffee shop regulars. My guitar cord fritzed out. The coffee bean grinder interrupted a few sensitive passages. In between songs we talked and joked about the world. And the entire room pretty much cozied up to one another as the packed wine bar next door crackled with early nightlife, while across the street, at the Riverview Theater, long lines of moviegoers queued up along 38th Street and 42nd Avenue to take in the big nominees on Oscars eve. We were the thin-sliced turkeys of an entertainment sandwich that evening, and come Sunday night, Janelle Monae opened the Oscars with the symbiotic shout-out of, “Tonight we celebrate the art of storytelling … the outcasts, the misunderstood, those voices long deprived.” Once again it occurred to me that at this loud juncture of human civilization, we need to make room in our diversity discussions for voices that are not influencers, or yellers, or politicians, or media stars. Wallflowers, loners and introverts may not always make their way to the soapbox, but it’s been my experience that the shiest and quietest of the bunch are often the kindest, wisest and most thoughtful people in the room. And I’m not, uh, alone. Consider the following perspectives of noted loners on the power of introversion: • Diane Cameron: “Introverts crave meaning so party chitchat feels like sandpaper to our psyche.” • Stephen Hawking: “Quiet people have the loudest minds.” • bell hooks: “I really like to stay in my nest and not move. I travel in my mind, and that’s a rigorous state of journeying for me.” • Nikola Tesla: “Originality thrives in seclusion free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind. Be alone — that is the secret of invention: be alone, that is when ideas are born.” • Charles Bukowski: “People empty me. I have to get away to refill.” • Rainer Maria Rilke: “The highest form of love is to be the protector of another person’s solitude.” This week I’m appreciating the quiet ones and loners anew, as I watch and reconsider “Harold and Maude,” Hal Ashby’s 1971 cult classic about a couple of outsiders who find each other, and
“Harold and Maude” hits the big screen of the newly refurbished Parkway Theater Feb. 20. Graphic courtesy of Parkway Theater
which takes to the big screen of the newly refurbished Parkway Theater on Feb. 20. It’s a quiet and quirky little film, and its celebration of loner love and romance is timeless: Maude and Harold are a couple of innocents who acknowledge that life is short and death is permanent by going to funerals for entertainment. They have no other friends but each other, and they explore the world together for a few sweet days, falling in love and saying goodbye and, in the end, saying hello to love and the rest of the world. It’s beautiful, and sad, and has all sorts of lessons in the hereand-now (Maude as tree-liberating climate crisis patron saint!). There are also lessons in the music, some of which will be performed by my friend, singer/ songwriter Courtney Yasmineh, at the Parkway event. For me, the soundtrack’s highlights are Cat Stevens’ “Trouble” and “If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out,” but the film starts with “On The Road To Find Out,” the chorus of which is buoyed by the very Buddhist sentiment that “the answer lies within.” True enough as all meditation experts know, and at the end of the road/film, Harold chooses life, learns how to play the banjo and skips his way into the world as a changed loner/lover. Rarely has a film captured the magic of a couple of freethinkers finding one another so solitarily and sweetly, and in that sense “Harold and Maude” makes for a perfect post-Valentine’s Day date night, as it tells one of the great modern love stories of opposites attracting, seeing something of themselves in one another, and making a glorious go of it. Watching it in the context of the world newsfeed and social media, I’m left to wonder about the ones we don’t hear from, or if they even exist anymore. The ones who go deeper, weirder and more soulful than the loudmouths and all the loudmouth-created racket. So here’s to the anti-Donald Trumps and anti-Rush Limbaughs — all those good souls who don’t want to take
We need to make room in our diversity discussions for voices that are not influencers, or yellers, or politicians, or media stars. Wallflowers, loners and introverts may not always make their way to the soapbox, but it’s been my experience that the shiest and quietest of the bunch are often the kindest, wisest and most thoughtful people in the room. oxygen out of the room unless they have something to say, and who think outside the box because they live outside the box. In that sense, there’s a lesson for all of us near the end of “Harold and Maude,” when Harold says he’d like to be a daisy in a field full of them, “because they’re all alike.” “Oh, but they’re not,” says Maude. “Look. See, some are smaller, some are fatter, some grow to the left, some to the right, some even have lost some petals. All kinds of observable differences. You see, Harold, I feel that much of the world’s sorrow comes from people who are this (a single daisy), yet allow themselves to be treated as that (a field of daisies).” “Harold and Maude” screens at 8 p.m. on Feb. 20 at The Parkway. See it with someone you like to be alone with. Jim Walsh lives and grew up in South Minneapolis. He can be reached at jimwalsh086@gmail.com
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Voices
Inexcusable delays Shame on the Minneapolis Park Board members for not showing up at a meeting at which they knew a vote would be held to approve a new vendor in the Trailhead restaurant space at Theodore Wirth Park (“Park Board’s delays strain relationship with Loppet Foundation,” Feb. 6 issue, page A5). Leaving the Trailhead’s restaurant space vacant through the facility’s prime winter months has not only been a loss for hundreds of park visitors; it has also resulted in lost revenue for the city’s parks. Repeated delays by the Minneapolis Park Board in filling this space is inexcusable and makes it apparent Park Board members do not appreciate what the Loppet and the Trailhead mean to so many citizens. If Park Board members cannot get their act together to approve a vendor for this space, they must be incompetent and should be replaced. Judith Forbes Lynnhurst
Changing a deadly street Steve Brandt’s column “What to do about deadly Lyndale Avenue” (Feb. 6 issue, page B6) is disappointingly fatalistic about the status quo. While conceding Hennepin County is failing and needs to do more, he warns against “unduly impinging mobility” and suggests there’s an “ableist bias” at work in this debate. First, this is a too-narrow and privileged conception of what it means to be disabled (there are disabled people who don’t drive). Secondly, this is not about creating winners and losers. Driving is by far the fastest and most convenient way to get around the city; there’s no serious proposal that puts that status at risk. St. Paul’s Maryland Avenue is a better prototype for a three-lane Lyndale than Brandt seems to think. He’s vastly underselling the Maryland Avenue road diet by saying that “trips took up to one-third longer” during last year’s three-lane trial. Here’s what it means in reality: On average, car trips took an extra 40 seconds during rush hour and 20 seconds during off-peak periods. In response to another of Brandt’s concerns, Ethan Osten, an aide to Ramsey County Commissioner Trista MatasCastillo, explained to me, “We also saw very little short-cutting through neighborhoods.” And here’s another important detail: Despite the fact that traffic volumes on Maryland Avenue exceed federal guidelines for a four- to three-lane conversion, the trial was a success. Ramsey County made the three-lane design on Maryland permanent. And traffic counts on Maryland (22,600) are similar to Lyndale (24,200). It’s not unheard of to discard suggestions from the feds; Seattle uses a limit of 25,000 when considering streets for a road diet. I’m one of thousands of people who don’t just experience this stretch of Lyndale during the peak of rush hour. It’s our home 24 hours a day. We can hear the car crashes from our bedrooms. This is a vibrant neighborhood street that Hennepin County has designed to function like a desolate four-lane suburban highway. There are more than 2,600 car-free households in the neighborhoods adjacent to Lyndale Avenue from Franklin to Lake Street. We have more walkable destinations and are better served by transit than any other place in the state. The status quo is impinging on the mobility of my neighbors in ways you can’t measure in mere seconds.
Even people who drive to work choose to live here because it’s nice to be able to walk to a bus stop, a restaurant, a grocery store or a museum. None of us are spared the danger: In October, Ted Ferrara had just exited a car at 25th & Lyndale when he was killed by a driver. As a pedestrian, I try to be forgiving about my too-frequent brushes with vehicular homicide. I know drivers on Lyndale are often distracted by concern for their own safety — dealing with the high-speed reckless behavior of other drivers. In addition to reduced speeds, a center turn lane as part of a three-lane design can tame some of the chaos (e.g. the swerving in frustration at being stuck behind a left-turning vehicle). We’re all safer, drivers included, when streets are designed to facilitate efficiency and predictable behavior from the people we share the road with. Brandt concludes that the goal of achieving zero traffic deaths is “both laudable and chimeric, much like ending homelessness.” Believe it or not, there really are places that have tried and succeeded at eliminating chronic homelessness and achieving zero pedestrian deaths. We should make a real honest effort to be among them. While it’s true that a four- to three-lane conversion won’t by itself bring us to zero traffic deaths, it’s the bare minimum we should expect from Hennepin County on an urban neighborhood street. We shouldn’t resign ourselves to the idea that this version of Lyndale — as it’s been designed for the past 60 years — has to be the same deadly street we give to future generations. We can all afford to trade a few seconds for safer streets. John Edwards Lowry Hill East John Edwards is the founder of the neighborhood news blog Wedge LIVE!
Pesticides in the parks We’re writing in response to the story “Activists push for pesticide-free parks,” published on page A13 of the Feb. 6 issue. The Minneapolis Park Board must stop using toxic pesticides in parks and lakes. This winter, even as commissioners and the superintendent have made claims about lowered use, the Park Board has been using triclopyr around Bde Maka Ska, the same herbicide discovered in testing at Lake Hiawatha. Let’s look at common myths used to justify pesticides in parks: Myth 1: We don’t use a “lot” of pesticides. Let’s look at the numbers provided by our park system for 2016-18: There were 627 documented uses of synthetic pesticides in city parks, not including uses by the Mosquito Control District. At least 60 different pesticide formulations were used in these treatments. Herbicides, fungicides and insecticides were used in sports turf, golf, wetlands, gardens and natural areas. Pesticides were allowed in the majority of Minneapolis’ 6,900 acres of parkland. Myth 2: We don’t use pesticides where kids play. We’re currently using pesticides in baseball and soccer fields, in lakes, in creeks, in golf courses, in woods and natural areas, in gardens, in regional parks and, occasionally, in neighborhood parks. In premier baseball and soccer fields rented to youth leagues, MPRB uses herbicides and insecticides. MPRB leads youth programs in gardens and natural areas where herbicides are used. Youth golf leagues play where herbicides, insecticides and fungicides are used. MPRB sometimes even uses pesticides in
neighborhood parks. This happened at Loring Park for four years in a row as the Park Board used herbicides to kill wetland habitat. MPRB allows employees and contractors to use pesticides in the majority of parkland and in or near all park bodies of water. Parks are supposed to be safe spaces for kids. Myth 3: We use pesticides safely. Minneapolis parks were found to have violated federal labeling laws at Minnehaha Falls this summer when they sprayed herbicide into the creek. They are currently under investigation for further instances of pesticide misuse at Lake Harriet reported by a former staff whistleblower. Pesticides are poisons. There are no safe ways to use poisons in parks. The messaging from those who would have us continue using pesticides in parks is eerily similar the gun lobby’s defense of automatic weapons. “We’re experts,” “We use these tools carefully,” “We need these tools to protect the community” and, of course, “It is our right to use these tools.” All of these arguments for the use of highly efficient killing products make no sense in light of the fact that they’re using these products in parks, where kids and wildlife roam. Myth 4: Pesticides are necessary to manage invasive species. Several local companies practice land management without herbicides to manage invasive species in shorelines, woods and other natural areas. The best example for natural area management without pesticides is actually in a Minneapolis park, at Roberts Bird Sanctuary. Volunteers walk through and either pull or cut back buckthorn. Then they plant native seeds to replace the buckthorn. No herbicides, no buckthorn, no problem. Over the last six years residents have been calling for the end of pesticide use in parks. Standing up for kids, pollinators, soil health, climate action and water quality, hundreds of people have testified and contacted officials. Experts are eager and ready to help us transition. There is no reason to continue putting kids and pollinators at risk in parks. It is time for commissioners to protect people and the environment in policy and develop a timeline for transitioning to organic park management. Russ Henry and Chesney Engquist Longfellow Russ Henry and Chesney Engquist are members of the Park Board’s Pesticide Advisory Committee.
A rosy spin on density The editor’s decision to assign and feature the story “Apartment rises and people move on” as front-page news in the Jan. 9 issue reinforces an impression of his bias and inclination to push the city’s 2040 agenda for density at any cost to neighborhoods. Since he took the helm, it seems every issue of the Southwest Journal delivers a rosy spin on density, car-free living, bikes or the latest large-scale development.
It’s curious to say, “While proposals for new apartment buildings are routinely debated and resisted, less attention has been paid to how those buildings actually impact their neighborhoods once they are in the ground.” This sweeping statement doesn’t address how projects like Linden43 can have many impacts, including higher rents, loss of local businesses, displacement of residents, reduced parking, increased traffic congestion and precedence for more large buildings and loss of trees and green space. Some or all of these effects are occurring in various neighborhoods throughout Minneapolis, including Linden Hills. Another sweeping conclusion also seems to reflect the editor’s view more than any evidence presented: “While there may still be hard feelings over the long process that took place over the site, most business owners and residents of the area have moved on.” The fact that people move on with their lives, by necessity, doesn’t address the matter of whether the project changed the neighborhood’s character or scale. One historical detail left out was that Mark Dwyer’s original plan was to combine five lots for his proposed five-story Linden Corner project. Serious concerns that this development would harm the neighborhood were justified; even the city’s findings of fact reached the same conclusion as the basis of rejecting the project. Yet the story frames residents’ concerns as being overblown and hypes the project that ultimately got built as being good for the neighborhood. Indeed, it seems the article reflects a “much ado about nothing” theme, as if years-long opposition by residents was ultimately pointless; when in fact, these people were very successful in stopping a much larger project and ensuring that the building finally constructed was smaller, set back the top story from the street, retained the community pocket park and included design changes based on community input. While the story includes one comment about the city’s flawed approval process, the editor disregarded the opportunity to explore this significant issue. Instead, numerous anecdotes are used to support the idea that the Linden43 building is good for the neighborhood, however out of scale and out of character. All these comments lead to the unsurprising point of the article that there are a lot of positives to allowing higher-density housing, including that it allows for economic diversity within neighborhoods. Never mind that Linden43’s exclusively upscale luxury condominiums do nothing to support “economic diversity” of residents. It’s good to know that people in this “friendly neighborhood” remain welcoming and do not turn up their noses at people who live in the building. Perhaps that outcome speaks to the “charm” of the “village.” As apartments rise and neighborhoods change, it’s disappointing to see the editor’s bias in articles on the topic of development in our city when more than ever we need factual and objective reporting to ensure that our local press is more than a mouthpiece for the city. Sara Schumacher Linden Hills
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU State your opinion in 300 words or fewer. Letters must be signed and include a mailing address and neighborhood; please include a telephone number where we can reach you. Letters may be edited, and we can’t guarantee they will be published. By email (preferred): editor@swjournal.com By mail: Letters to the Editor, 1115 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55403
A10 February 20–March 4, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
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A revised plan to expand the Karmel residential and commercial complex just south of the Midtown Greenway in Whittier would replace the existing Walgreens with apartments and retail space. The revised proposal from Sabri Properties was presented to the Planning Commission’s Committee of the Whole on Feb. 13. When Sabri first shared its expansion designs with the city in October, the plan had been to expand its Karmel holdings at Lake & Pillsbury in two phases, the first replacing a two-story shopping mall with an apartment building and the second adding another building at the site of the Miller Towing lot on Pillsbury Avenue. Under the new proposal, phase two of the project would expand toward Lake Street, replacing the current Walgreens with a sixstory mixed-use building. Basim Sabri, owner of Sabri Properties, told the Planning Commission he has recently acquired the Walgreens property and that he hopes to break ground on phase two once the drug store’s current lease ends in fall 2021. Currently, the complex south of the Greenway has two commercial spaces: Karmel Square (a two-story shopping center facing Lake Street) and Karmel Plaza (a four-story shopping center facing the Greenway). A parking garage stands between the two shopping centers. The first phase of the project would replace Karmel Square with a six-story apartment building and underground parking. The building would contain 27 apartments ranging from one- to four-bedroom units and 62 parking spaces, according to documents submitted to the city. The first and fourth levels of the existing four-story parking garage would be converted into retail space for current shops in Karmel Square, with parking retained on the middle floors.
Current vendors in Karmel Square would move into commercial space in the parking garage before the building is demolished, Sabri said. The second phase would bring 65 new dwelling units, 128 parking spaces and commercial spaces to Lake Street, with commercial uses on the ground floor and a tall glass tower at the corner of Lake & Pillsbury, similar to the Sons of Norway design. “I personally always wanted to have a tower,” Sabri said. Sabri said he wants the first floor of the second building to become a co-op market and restaurant owned by the tenants. He envisions a similar setup to Holy Land in Northeast. “This will be a spot that many in the community will be coming to and it will be owned by the tenants,” he said. All the living units would be considered affordable housing, Sabri said. Several planning commissioners said they believed the project had too much parking and too many curb cuts exiting the planned parking garages onto Pillsbury Avenue. Current designs call for three lanes for vehicles to exit the garage onto the street, which many commissioners said they saw as a risk to pedestrians. Karmel Mall, a different Sabri Properties shopping center north of the Greenway, would not be changed. The site is zoned as a mix of industrial and neighborhood commercial districts currently, and the project is seeking to convert the whole parcel into a neighborhood commercial district. The developer will also need conditional use permits to allow for a new six-story building and the conversion of its current parking garage. The area is considered Corridor 6 under the Minneapolis 2040 Plan, which allows for six-story, mixed-use buildings.
Kenny lunchroom, kitchen addition on hold By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com
A new lunchroom and kitchen at Kenny Community School is off the menu, at least for now. Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) has scrapped plans to build the new facility this summer after the lowest bid for the project was nearly $2 million over the district’s $3.4 million budget. Instead, the district plans to replace aluminum supports and install new front doors, LED lighting and a new gymnasium ceiling. In an email, the district’s chief operations officer, Karen DeVet, wrote that MPS could
include additional funding for the project in future capital budgets. She said it makes sense for the district to hold off on doing so until after a School Board vote on a proposal to shuffle elementary and middle school programming, grade configurations and busing zones. The vote is expected in April. Early models of that proposal give Kenny a considerably smaller busing zone than it has now. Specifically, only students who live in the Kenny neighborhood and a pocket of SEE KENNY / PAGE A14
southwestjournal.com / February 20–March 4, 2020 A11
Kingfield Empty Bowls celebrates eighth year By Becca Most
Southwest Minneapolis residents braved the cold on Feb. 6, gathering for the eighth annual Empty Bowls fundraiser in Kingfield. Inside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center, community members chose from a variety of bowls donated by local potters. After paying a suggested donation and claiming their bowl, participants dined on homemade soups and desserts donated by local restaurants. Families and couples sat at the long tables, greeting neighbors they hadn’t seen in months while others quietly enjoyed pieces of fresh bread and small cups of fruit tea. Serving soup to about 600 people, the Kingfield Neighborhood Association collected over $10,000 in four hours, with the money going to Nicollet Square, a 42-unit permanent housing facility for young adults transitioning out of homelessness and foster care. The facility is located at 37th & Nicollet. As the fundraiser’s designated “bowl lady,”
Richard Tatge attends his fifth Kingfield Empty Bowls. He recommends choosing a wide, shallow bowl to make stacking easier.
Lori Olson is a longtime volunteer who is in charge of reaching out to local artists, potters and schools to find those willing to donate bowls for the event. “One of the things I love about Empty Bowls is it’s not just one community event — it’s many,” Olson said. Throughout the year, volunteers host multiple pottery “throwdowns” at Fuller Park and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center. Here professional artists and neighbors make bowls side-by-side, often sharing conversation while they work. Olson also organizes an event the day after a throwdown where community members return to “trim” the bottom of the bowls so they will sit evenly on a flat surface. Then, after the bowls are fired, volunteers of all ages paint and pack them so they will be ready for sale. Although the “empty bowls” model isn’t an entirely new concept — there are similar events in Powderhorn, Northeast Minneapolis, Hopkins and across the country — Kingfield Empty Bowls is an effective way to remind people about the prevalence of youth homelessness and hunger in the Twin Cities. “What we loved about the event was that it wasn’t just about food and it wasn’t just about art — it was about bringing those things together in a super intergenerational way,” said Sarah Linnes-Robinson, the executive director of the Kingfield Neighborhood Association. For Marie Neveaux-Samuels, age 5, the event was an opportunity for her to try a spicy cajun chicken soup she had never had before. She also came prepared to give back. “I brought my allowance so I could raise
The Kingfield Neighborhood Association served soup to about 600 people on Feb. 6. Photos by Becca Most
some money,” she said, offering up her purse. “I want people to have homes.” Dan Swenson-Klatt, owner of the Butter Bakery Cafe, donated 20 gallons of his popular lentil brown rice soup this year. As a contributor to the Kingfield Empty Bowls event since 2013, he has seen firsthand the effect of the event on those in the Nicollet Square community. Swenson-Klatt partnered with the Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative in 2012 to provide internships and restaurant experience for residents at Nicollet Square who needed a job. Residents in the program often help him make soup stock for Empty Bowls and several have worked at the event. When it was first announced that the Nicollet Square building was moving into the neighborhood, Swenson-Klatt said many neighbors were apprehensive. The Empty
Bowls event was designed in part to educate people about the building and build support for the residents who lived there. “These young folks when they move in are at a spot in their life where they are making some real positive efforts to gain some stability,” he said. “When neighbors meet our interns, they recognize that these young folks have turned a corner.” While one of his current cooks is a former Nicollet Square resident, Swenson-Klatt said he’s grateful for those who donated food for the event even if they don’t have a “connection with the building or know any of the residents themselves.” “It’s not just about the housing,” he said. “It’s not just about the jobs. It’s about a community that works together and a business community that pitches in.”
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A12 February 20–March 4, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com
State offers funds for pollinator-friendly plants Southwest Minneapolis part of high-priority area
A state agency is wrapping up the initial application period for a new program that will provide Minnesota homeowners with funds to plant native flora. The Board of Water and Soil Resources’ (BWSR) Lawns to Legumes program will end its first application period Feb. 28 and will open a second period March 1. BWSR will prioritize applications from homeowners in parts of the Twin Cities metro (including Southwest Minneapolis) and several other pockets in Minnesota. That’s because the $900,000 program is geared toward protecting pollinators, particularly the federally endangered rusty patched bumblebee, which has larger numbers in the metro compared with most of the state. The Legislature named the species the state bee during the 2019 legislative session. “[The program] allows people in Minnesota to play a role in helping pollinators in a way that’s really tangible,” BWSR communications coordinator Mary Juhl said. Lawns to Legumes, which opened for homeowner grant applications in December, is funded by a grant from the state’s Environment & Natural Resources Trust Fund. The program will provide approved homeowners with up to $350 to plant native and pesticide-free plants in their yards or gardens. The funds will be in the form of a reimbursement and will cover up to 75% of a project’s cost. Homeowners must complete the projects within a year and commit to maintaining them for at least three years. They must source their native plants and seeds (when possible) from within 150 miles of their location and use plants that bloom in multiple seasons. Projects can include planting pockets of native flowers, planting native shrubs or converting a turf lawn into a pollinator-friendly lawn or meadow. Juhl said turf conversions will be especially beneficial to the rusty patched bumblebee, which nests in the ground, as traditional turf has few nesting opportunities. In educational materials, BWSR said native
WHAT YOU CAN DO For Southwest Minneapolis residents looking to make their yards more habitable for pollinators, winter is a good time to begin taking inventory of plants that need replacing, said University of Minnesota Extension Educator Julie Weisenhorn. Weisenhorn encouraged people to look at pollinator-friendly plants and plants that bloom in multiple seasons. For renters, she said, options include planting containers with pollinatorfriendly plants on their patios, decks or front stoops. “The easiest thing that people can do is grow flowers,” she said, adding that she would encourage people to avoid pesticides.
Native plants, shrubs and grasses line East Harriet resident Craig Buchanan’s yard, attracting a variety of pollinators during the summer months. Submitted photo
plants have benefits to these species that turf grass does not, such as pollen nectar and nesting opportunities. The agency has said almost all of the land that native plants previously occupied has been converted into other uses, a change that has contributed to the decline of the rusty patched bumblebee. Pesticide use has also contributed to the decline of pollinators, BWSR said. The rusty patched bumblebee is one of 23 bumblebee species found in Minnesota and is the first-ever bumblebee species in the U.S. to be listed as endangered. The species can be distinguished from other bumblebees by a brownish central patch on its back. It once occupied a range that stretched between Maine, Georgia and Canada, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, but now occupies just a sliver of that territory. “Basically, if you drew an oval between Chicago and Minneapolis, that’s its remaining range,” said Heather Holm, a
Minnetonka author who has written two books about pollinators. Holm said she thinks the Lawns to Legumes program could help raise public awareness about the rusty patched bumblebee and other pollinators. She also said it could help create a more connected network of pollinator habitat, which is beneficial for pollinators, since they can only fly so far. A challenge of the program, she said, could be ensuring that projects are maintained in the long term, if the homeowners who planted the flora move. Some Southwest Minneapolis homeowners who’ve already completed such projects said it’s been worth the effort. East Harriet resident Craig Buchanan, who has gradually added natural plants to his yard and removed turf, said he has enjoyed the wildlife in his yard, as well as the changing colors and smells of the flowers in bloom. Plants in his yard include various grasses,
Weisenhorn pointed to the websites of University of Minnesota Extension (extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden) and the Xerces Society (xerces.org/ pollinator-conservation) as places with good information. She also said local master gardeners are very knowledgeable about pollinatorfriendly plants.
honeysuckle, milkweed and coneflowers, among others. He has also installed two crabapple trees. Juhl said the agency won’t determine how many Lawns to Legumes grants it will distribute until the application period closes. Another part of the program is grants for community projects, though the initial application window for those projects has closed. There are also educational materials available online for both grant recipients and those who simply want to learn more about native plantings. Visit bwsr.state.mn.us/l2l to learn more about the program and to apply.
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southwestjournal.com / February 20–March 4, 2020 A13
By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com
Superintendent seeks to use full Theodore Wirth House Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Superintendent Al Bangoura is seeking use of the full Theodore Wirth House in his second lease of the building, a desire that has local history enthusiasts nervous they will lose access to the manor that serves as a part-time museum. Bangoura, entering his second year leading the MPRB, wants to have full access to the historic East Harriet home in his new lease. The superintendent’s current lease grants him “exclusive use” of the top two floors of the home, while the first floor is maintained as a museum to Theodore Wirth by the Minneapolis Parks Legacy Society (MPLS), which holds tours of the home one Sunday per month and at certain times during the week. A new proposed lease, negotiated by Park Board President Jono Cowgill, would grant Bangoura full access to the home, and reduce MPLS rights to just six days per year. The lease is scheduled to be voted on by the Park Board Feb. 19, shortly after this publication went to press. When Bangoura began leasing the home, he was living alone, but his wife and son have since joined him. Members of the MPLS had expressed fears the new lease could mean less opportunity to conduct tours and have requested the Park Board maintain access for their work. The group is also concerned that full use of the home could put it at risk of missing out on historical grant funding. The home at 39th & Bryant, on the grounds of Lyndale Farmstead Park, was built in 1911
Park Board Superintendent Al Bangoura is seeking full use of the historic Theodore Wirth House at 39th & Bryant in his second lease of the property. File photo
and was where Wirth designed a number of city parks. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. Previous superintendents have lived in the home over the years, including Bangoura’s predecessor, Jayne Miller. When Miller lived in the home, tours were not conducted for years; the MPLS resumed tours in October 2018 after Miller resigned. The proposed lease calls for the home to be maintained to meet national historic landmark requirements, something local MPLS members had desired. The legacy society would have until May to remove all its property from the first floor of the home. Bangoura would also be required to open the home to the public on unspecified “key times” under the lease.
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Bangoura currently pays a $1,325 monthly rent for partial access to the home. The new lease gradually raises that rent to $2,000 per month in 2020 and $2,050 in 2021, with plans to renegotiate rental rates in 2022. The lease would run through Bangoura’s tenure as superintendent and all rent paid throughout the lease would go to a fund dedicated to improving the Wirth House. Commissioner Brad Bourn (District 6), who represents the area, has voiced support for a lease that will allow for the legacy society to continue its work. “There’s got to be a way to do this without losing this incredible piece of history,” Bourn said.
Former City Council member Lisa McDonald, who pushed to get the Wirth home on the historic register, said she wants Bangoura to live there and for the tours to continue. “Tours should also continue in the home because they provide a backdrop and understanding of how Wirth came to his decisions about park design and use and that parks should be for the people,” McDonald said. Advocates in the African American community have asked Bangoura to be given full access to the home and expressed concerns that the legacy society is disrespecting the first black family to live in the home by pushing for public access. Cynthia Wilson, of the Minneapolis NAACP, told commissioners the organization had been meeting to discuss how to support more privacy for the Bangoura family. “We are very much appalled at what we’ve heard,” Wilson said. Cowgill, who was charged with negotiating the lease, expressed a desire to find a compromise. “I think we can create space for many histories,” Cowgill said.
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A14 February 20–March 4, 2020 / southwestjournal.com FROM VOTE COMMON GOOD / PAGE A1
On Feb. 4, the tour bus stopped at Solomon’s Porch for a 90-minute event that Pagitt called “part revival, part political rally, part hootenanny and part fundraiser.” Meah Pace, a former Baltimore Ravens cheerleader, jingled a tambourine and sang classic gospel songs like “This Little Light of Mine.” Activist Genesis Be spoke about “growing up a queer, Muslim, multi-racial black woman in Mississippi” before rapping: “We need you at the polls, out in droves, fighting against the bigots you oppose.” And pastor Daniel Deitrich energized the 100-person crowd with his song “Hymn for the 81%” — a reference to the 81% of white evangelicals who voted for Trump in 2016. That figure is key to Vote Common Good’s campaign: With evangelicals comprising a quarter of the electorate, Pagitt believes that if just 5% to 15% — fed up with Trump’s “inhumane immigration policy” and the “damaging way he uses the bully pulpit of the presidency” — can be dissuaded from voting for him, they could swing the election. Vote Common Good has been training Democratic political candidates on how to authentically engage with faith-motivated voters. “Show that you like them and show that you listen to them,” Pagitt advises. When talking about abortion, he suggests candidates emphasize that restrictions haven’t historically led to drops in numbers. During the 2018 midterms, Vote Common Good held rallies in more than 30 “flippable” congressional districts, including a Richfield rally attended by Angie Craig and Dean Phillips, both of whom ended up unseating their Republican opponents. “We’re trying to help religious-motivated voters who want to change their habit actually change that habit,” Pagitt said. “You need to create an alternative community people can be part of [and you need to] give them a very clear next action step to take.”
Flipping the script
A new book being published in March, “Taking America Back for God,” uses public survey data to separate the historical Christian faith from a right-wing “Christian nationalist” framework that the authors argue has grown in strength over the past several decades at the expense of pluralistic, democratic ideals. Sociologists Andrew Whitehead, of Clemson University, and Samuel L. Perry, of the University of Oklahoma, found that a set of six cultural beliefs — including, most pointedly, whether the federal government should declare the United States a Christian nation — can better predict if someone will support Trump than can their religion or even their political party. Yet once those Christian nationalist
Members of the Vote Common Good tour drove to Minneapolis from Waverly, Iowa, the day after the Iowa caucuses. The bus arrived in Meriden, New Hampshire, a few days later. Photo by Zac Farber
beliefs are taken into account, Whitehead and Perry found, people who spend more time practicing their religion — by praying, reading a bible or going to church — are actually less likely to hold political views typically associated with Christian nationalism, such as believing illegal immigrants from Mexico are mostly dangerous criminals or that police shoot black people more often because they’re more inherently violent. “The 20% of evangelicals who didn’t vote for Trump are the people who reject Christian nationalism, and it’s their faith that undergirds why they voted against him,” Whitehead said. Pagitt said these findings align with his experience (though he noted evangelicals are more likely to self-identify as “exclusivists” than “Christian nationalists”) and said he feels the core of his work is getting “religious voters to vote their conscience.” Since the 1970s and ’80s, Whitehead said, the religious sphere has been increasingly politicized, with evangelical leaders like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson creating division by identifying things “that are making us less Christian” — issues such as homosexuality, abortion or divorce. At the Minneapolis rally, organizer Christy Berghoef pleaded for Christians to “flip the narrative, flip the script.” “We flip the script when we lift voices that have historically been left away from the tables of dialogue and decision, when we respond to false, shallow sound bites with
human-centered stories,” she said. Berghoef asked why food assistance funding is being cut as poverty is swelling, why people must pay for health care with bankruptcy and why environmental protections are being slashed in a time of fire, drought, famine and global warming. Pagitt said Vote Common Good rallies can help create a sense of community for religious voters who find Democratic candidates “cold or hostile” to their faith, but who no longer feel at home in the modern Republican Party. “People will change their view on policy in order to fit the identity of their political party,” he said. “Democrats were not saying ‘Medicare for All’ four years ago, and Trump supporters were not saying ‘build the wall’ before Donald Trump asked them to say ‘build the wall.’ They’re not into Medicare for All, they’re not into building walls. They’re into the identity of their community and that tells them what they think about policy.”
Shining light
Barbara Gilbertson, a lifelong Lutheran, drove to the Minneapolis rally from her home in Eagan. “The common good is not political,” she said. “The common good is certainly in the Bible and in other holy texts, but it is also common sense and social justice, and you don’t have to be a Democrat or a Republican to get into it fully.”
FROM KENNY / PAGE A10
A planned lunchroom and kitchen addition at Kenny Community School is on hold after bids for the project came in nearly $2 million over the Minneapolis school district’s budget. Submitted rendering
the Windom neighborhood wedged between the Bachman’s parking lot and Highway 62 would be bused to the school. Currently, students who live in the Armatage, Kenny and Windom neighborhoods are eligible for busing to the school. Based on enrollment data from the current school year, if only students living in the modeled busing zone attend Kenny, the school would have an enrollment of 289, instead of about 470. A district spokesman declined to comment on whether it would make sense to proceed with the lunchroom and kitchen project if Kenny’s enrollment decreases that substantially. DeVet said the lowest bid for the project, which also was supposed to include upgrading mechanical, plumbing, architectural and lighting systems, was $5.3 million. The contractors said their bids were over the district’s budget because of a tight labor market and an aggressive construction schedule.
Victoria Peterson-Hilleque, an Uptown resident who does community building work for Solomon’s Porch, said she feels the “religious conversation associated with Christian values has been co-opted.” She said she appreciates how Vote Common Good has helped expand the conversation around faith in politics to issues like immigration, health care and caring for the poor. “I’m afraid or embarrassed in some circles just saying, ‘I’m a Christian.’ ... I feel like I need to give all these disclaimers,” she said. “There’s room for me to be a progressive political person who’s also a person of faith.” Near the start of the Solomon’s Porch rally, Pagitt, a spry 6-foot-7, bounded onto the stage, leaped up and down and began speaking in a booming double-time preacher’s voice: “I think everybody is a child of God, the beloved one, the salt of the Earth and the light of the world.” “I believe Donald Trump is the light of the world,” he continued. “But not every light of the world should be the president of the United States of America, and we should let him shine his dim little light somewhere else.” Sometimes people will ask Pagitt if he feels like he’s preaching to the choir. “I’ve been a pastor for 30 years,” he’ll respond. “I’ve known a lot of choir members. Choir members could use a lot of preaching. The choir has lost its song in this country. The choir has lost its tune.”
MPS plans to put the revised Kenny project out to bid on March 17, DeVet wrote, and to do any construction this summer, provided the bid is acceptable. The lighting upgrade work would extend into the fall. Kenny is a K-5 school built in 1961. Over 85% of its students come from the Armatage, Kenny and Windom neighborhoods. The school is one of the many that could see its busing zone substantially change under the district’s elementary and middle school proposal. That proposal is expected to be the centerpiece of an effort to increase integration, create more equitable access to magnet schools and improve the district’s financial position. MPS has called the broader effort — which will also include changes to the school-choice process, special education, high school career and technical education, academics and high school pathways — the Comprehensive District Design. Visit mpls.k12.mn.us/cdd to learn more about the project.
southwestjournal.com / February 20–March 4, 2020 A15 FROM SMALL BUSINESS / PAGE A1
One unexpected expense came early in the morning of Sept. 18, when a man shattered 5 Dollar Pizza’s storefront window, along with six other East African-owned businesses. Under a campaign that “hate has no business here,” Seward Co-op and other groups gave 5 Dollar Pizza $3,000 to help fix the damage. Yet the expenses keep coming. Egal said his rent is about to increase by nearly $400 per month, he needs a larger oven and he’d like to buy his building at 137 E. Franklin Ave. But he didn’t try approaching a bank. “As a former banker, I am aware that I do not have the collateral or the longevity to apply for a traditional bank loan,” Egal wrote in a recent letter to the city. “If the city’s 2% loan program was better designed to support businesses like mine that are growing and that are in need of capital for growth, it would help me and other small businesses like mine to grow and meet the demands that today’s market requires.” In recent weeks, city officials approved a new $2.7 million fund to help more small businesses buy their buildings, dedicating money from the city’s Development and General Fund. And they’re scrutinizing how the city works with small businesses today, finding gaps in banking and public awareness that leave the impression of a “secret handshake” to receive city help. Access to startup money is the biggest reason for racial disparities in business closure rates and profits, according to research by economists Robert W. Fairlie and Alicia M. Robb. Now that racial equity is a focus for all city operations, city staff ’s fresh look at a 2% small business loan program that’s been around since the ’80s is yielding a few surprising findings. The way it’s typically worked, businesses first approach a private lender for loan approval, most often Venture Bank, the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers or Sunrise Banks. If a business wants to borrow more money than a lender will approve, it can get a matching loan of $50,000-$75,000 from the city. The city portion has 2% interest, and the lender portion has market-rate interest (about 5%-8%), combining into a single loan with a blended interest rate. Since 2014, about 40% of the program’s borrowers have been black, indigenous and people of color. Zoe Thiel, manager of the city’s Small Business Team, said the program is good at financing renovations and equipment that don’t collateralize well but are necessary for a new business. “A bank doesn’t want your kitchen equipment,” she said. City staff ’s most “unnerving” discovery was that the private dollar match is 80% higher for white borrowers than people of color. “This really calls for me to pause,” said Erik Hansen, the city’s director of economic policy and development, speaking to City Council members in January. “We don’t know how many people are not getting to the closing table.” Larger banks like Wells Fargo and US Bank typically don’t touch this type of small business loan at all, Hansen said, because their underwriting criteria are too restrictive. But the default rate on the city loan program is very low, generally 1% or 2%.
“That feels like a pretty low-risk set of loans that we’re making. So I’m wondering if there’s evidence that we might be a little too conservative to achieve the goals of the program,” said Council Member Steve Fletcher (Ward 3). “We’re leveraging a lot more money for white business owners.” City staff estimate that roughly half of the loan deals would still happen without a city contribution. The 2% loan match often gives borrowers a better rate, but is not make-or-break for the loan to happen. Some small businesses are pressing for much more city assistance. The Main Street Alliance recently held a press conference at Sammy’s Avenue Eatery, and members testified before the city on Jan. 29. “We can’t rely on banks to screen out who can open a small business in our community,” Common Roots owner Danny Schwartzman told the City Council. Common Roots used the city’s 2% loan program to help buy HVAC equipment while purchasing its building at 26th & Lyndale, Schwartzman said in an interview. By lowering the interest rate on the city’s contribution to the loan, he estimated that he saved at least $6,000 over the course of 10 years. But it’s very difficult for many small businesses to get a bank loan at all, he said, and many face factors like seasonal business, competition or rising rents that leave them constantly operating at the edge of closing. “All of these different things add up,” he said. “It’s a really important time for the city to go above and beyond all it can to support small businesses.” Butter Bakery Cafe owner Dan Swenson-Klatt testified that the city’s Small Business Team is a start, but it must dramatically expand to be effective. One Small Business Team member, Suado Abdi, will spend time at the busy Riverside Starbucks later this month. As a bilingual Somali speaker, she’s hoping to reach more people through word of mouth. Last week she held her regular monthly office hours at the Cedar Riverside Opportunity Center, working alongside Jamie Schumacher from the West Bank Business Association. Aside from the 2% loan program, she can share information on facade improvement grants, coaching through the Business Technical Assistance Program and sharia-compliant loans without interest. “The city wants to make sure all businesses are succeeding,” Abdi said. The city interacts with a tiny slice of the 40,000 small businesses in Minneapolis. About 3% take advantage of small business programs, and about 12% need a business license. The city doesn’t know whom banks are turning away, or how businesses that receive city assistance are doing long term. Along with better data tracking, city officials may allow businesses to borrow money for a wider range of expenses, like payroll or a business vehicle. The city is looking at expanding loan amounts to help more small businesses buy their buildings. And officials want to better reach parts of the city that aren’t covered by business associations. “The idea around how we can better serve the small business community is to make sure that handshake is no longer a secret,” Hansen said.
Minneapolis Small Business Team community liaison Suado Abdi (right) offers drop-in consultations at the Cedar Riverside Opportunity Center with Jamie Schumacher from the West Bank Business Association. Photo by Michelle Bruch
After Minneapolis police began diverting traffic near 27th Street, the Safe Streets Save Lives group marched north to 25th Street and continued protesting. Photo by Andrew Hazzard FROM LYNDALE PROTESTS / PAGE A1
At the end of January, Hennepin County Public Works installed bollard bump-outs at Lyndale & 27th and banned left turns at 25th and 27th streets, where bollard delineators were installed. (Hennepin County is currently using cameras to collect data informing future changes.) The Save Streets Save Lives group believes the measures are insufficient and plans to keep organizing protests on the street until more concrete changes, like a four lane to three lane “road diet,” are made. At the protest, marchers sought to mimic the effect of a streetlight, stopping traffic long enough for pedestrians
FROM CURA / PAGE A6
Thompson disagrees with CURA’s assessment that the CPP funding scheme was more equitable than previous NRP allocations. While NRP dollars clearly went to more diverse neighborhoods with lower incomes, CPP funding was more even across the board, according to Thompson’s data. CURA’s analysis agrees with Thompson’s findings that CPP funding gave similar amounts to wealthier neighborhoods as it did to poorer neighborhoods. CURA believes CPP prioritized equality over equity — that is, it tried to evenly spread resources by population instead of advantaging poorer, more racially diverse neighborhoods experiencing gentrification and displacement. But because CPP made greater efforts to bring racial diversity and renters to neighborhood boards, CURA found it to be a more equitable program than NRP. Thompson believes the NCR department is trying to delegitimize neighborhood organizations as a voice in the city. “What you’re seeing at work here is the expert view,” Thompson told the crowd at the League of Women Voters event, held at the Black Forest Inn in Whittier. There are two main data sets that tie outcomes to race: 1) Neighborhoods distributed home improvement grants through the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE)
to safely cross Lyndale at 27th. The group would cross the street en masse for about a minute, then pause and let traffic pass. The group distributed literature to stopped drivers explaining the protest and encouraging them to contact Hennepin County commissioners. Minneapolis police eventually diverted traffic from the area, prompting the group to move north to 25th Street. Currently, no major reconstruction of the street is planned, and the group intends to continue holding regular actions. “We’ll only get louder and more vibrant from here,” said Abigail Johnson, a Lowry Hill East resident who chairs Minneapolis’ pedestrian advisory committee.
from 2013-19, and 2) Neighborhoods made loans through Northside Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) from 1993-2003, mostly in North Minneapolis. CURA pointed out that white households made up 67% of applicants for housing benefits through CEE but received 77% of the funding from those programs. When CURA released a draft of its analysis in mid-January, it included only the CEE example, though CURA did study NHS outcomes as well. Thompson was critical of CURA for releasing an initial summary of its equity analysis without showing all the data the organization used to conduct it. Thompson noted that 56% of NHS loans went to black households, a statistic that is included in CURA’s full report, which was released the week of Feb. 7. CURA noted that while most NHS loans went to black households, even that program disproportionately funded white households because the loans were made in neighborhoods where black residents mostly outnumbered white residents. No matter how residents feel about the analysis, CURA is recommending the City Council commit to incorporating racial equity work in Neighborhoods 2020. “The challenge is not to litigate history; it’s to acknowledge it, move forward and do better,” Anderson said.
CURA’s C Terrence Anderson discussed his organization’s analysis of racial equity outcomes in the work of neighborhood groups at a League of Women Voters forum in Whittier. Photo by Andrew Hazzard
Southwest Journal February 20–March 4, 2020
LOVE: IT’S WHAT YOU CRAVE
There were 130 reservations for Valentine’s Day at the Lake & Blaisdell White Castle this year. Manager Mesha Knox (right) and staff member Michael Gates were part of the restaurant’s front-of-house crew. Photo by Andrew Hazzard
By Andrew Hazzard
Valentine’s Day at the Lake & Blaisdell White Castle
H
e meant it as a joke. When Alex Beniak told his wife, Brittany, he was going to take her to White Castle for Valentine’s Day, he thought he was kidding. But on Feb. 14, the couple found themselves seated at a candle-lit table inside the chain’s Lake & Blaisdell location being served sliders and fries by waiters. “This is so fun,” Brittany Beniak exclaimed as she praised the tableside service and ambiance. The Beniaks said they’ve found a new tradition, and they aren’t alone. Every year, thousands of couples celebrate Valentine’s Day by satisfying their cravings. The tradition began 29 years ago, and it may have started in Minneapolis. Some believe it began in St. Louis, but no one is sure. SEE WHITE CASTLE / PAGE B7
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southwestjournal.com / February 20–March 4, 2020 B3
, s k c a n s l l e Sw e n o n r a b ALDEMAR BY CARL A W
F
eel a breeze lately? Could be the breath of fresh air drifting from Snack Bar, a cozy hideaway recently opened by uberchef Isaac Becker in the former Be’Wiched Deli space adjacent to his longstanding Bar La Grassa in the North Loop. (He and his wife also own 112 Eatery, Burch Steak, etc.) What’s fresh is the smartly curated menu of small plates ($4-$25, many in the single digits). Nothing been-there, donethat about it. Bravo! First, the room, which has been instantly adopted as a classy clubhouse for the area’s cadre of millennials, claiming their stools at the long and well-stocked bar. Diners, like us, sunk into what may be the sexiest booths in town — round and cushy with padded oxblood leather, backed by romantically dim table lights topped with the kind of lampshades at home in the ’40s. Are we still in Minneapolis? The menu’s meant-for-sharing small plates, however, may cause those original lampshade owners to exclaim, in Minnesota fashion, “Well, that’s different!” You betcha.
SNACK BAR
Not very hungry? Nibble on ciabatta with goat butter, $4. On a slimming diet? No guilt in the charred leeks with lemon vinaigrette or the spicy greens with garlic. Like your bar snacks deep-fried, as God intended? Now we’re talking. An order of the eggplant did the job. The coin-thin rounds, quick-fried so they remained tender, surprised and delighted us with their sensuous slither of rosemaryscented honey. Who would have thought? An order of fried artichokes — soft interiors inside the chunky portions — also brought it home. They lounged upon a pond of sweet and nutty tomato-red walnut pesto. Next time: the Parmesan waffle with prosciutto di Parma. Then on to the entree-like choices from a list that wanders from arctic char carpaccio to sea bass crudo to garlic fried octopus to whole pressed game hen with salsa verde to duck and ricotta meatballs. We chose the scallops — a plus-sized pair, fried a moment too long and also short on pristine sweetness. Drag them through a lusty trickle of Middle Eastern shermoula:
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cumin, cinnamon, sweet onions and sweeter golden raisins, abetted by a sprinkle of savory pine nuts. Our second choice, a combo of red snapper, white beans and fennel, again seafood grilled a moment too long and thus on the dry side, paired with meaty white beans and aromatic fennel. A side order of sweet potato gnocchi, however, proved disappointing: a plate of gummy nuggets lapped with a painting of (tasty, I’ll grant) stracchino cheese. Desserts (all housemade; $7-$12) again break loose from the molten chocolatepanna cotta mindset of many a list of sweets. Instead, ginger tart; sweet brioche with fruit compote; tarte tatin; chocolate terrine; and, our choice, espresso Pavlova. Alas, the reimagined classic didn’t hit the mark. The meringue — hard, crunchy little dollops in lieu of a tender shell — didn’t please us, nor did it support a cloudlike fluff of espresso, black cherry and port, a trio that reads better than it tastes. However, points to our excellent server, who removed it from the bill. Also: Flip over the menu card and you’ll discover you’re in a pizzeria. Choose white, red or Amatriciana versions, with original topping options, starting at $2 a slice.
B4 February 20–March 4, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Moments in Minneapolis
By Karen Cooper
World famous vaudeville dancers Miss Dora Dean and her husband and partner, Charles E. Johnson, are buried at Lakewood Cemetery
“H
ave you see Miss Dora Dean, sweetest gal I’ve ever seen?” That was a lyric of a song written about her in 1896, when she and her husband and partner, Charles E. Johnson, were at the very top of the world of vaudeville. Their song-and-dance act took them abroad for months on end, touring Europe and even Australia. They performed in Hungary and Russia, even for England’s King Edward VII. Dean and Johnson had a perfect partnership, with his “rubberlegs” dance moves and ability to twinkle and caper and captivate the audience, often while she struck an admiring pose. Neither sang especially well — they would talk through their songs — but it didn’t matter. Dean was gorgeous. She had a wonderfully pleasing personality, and she radiated vivaciousness on stage. She was magnetic. A painter in Berlin, possibly Ernst Heilman, bought the entire show’s contract so that she had two weeks free and he could paint her portrait. As a black teenager in the 1880s, Johnson shined shoes at the old Nicollet House hotel in Downtown Minneapolis and earned tips for his buck and wing dancing. He went to amateur nights at local theatres and then heard about a new kind of minstrel show, featuring other black (not blackface) performers and, for the first time, women. He was hired and there he met Dean.
The exaggerated prancing of the cakewalk, as performed at society dances during the Gay 90s and the early years of the 20th century, can be seen in this postcard. Image courtesy of Karen Cooper
She was from Kentucky, perhaps born with the name of Luella Babbige. While with The Creole Show, Dean and Johnson perfected their routine, a cakewalk, but soon struck out on their own. In the world of black dance, they set several firsts. They were the first to make the jump from black vaudeville to top billing in white vaudeville
circuits. They were the first to perform the cakewalk on Broadway. Johnson said in 1951, using the vocabulary of the day, “The walk goes back to slavery days. The best strutting couple in the Negro festivals was awarded a cake for the elegant bearing of the gentleman and the grace of the lady.” When they stepped onto the stage that first time
in New York, Johnson said, “Well, we just strutted. The crowd went wild.” Another of their calling cards was that public display of elegance and grace. They determined from the start to be “a class act.” No dancers before them — black or white — performed the cakewalk in evening clothes. Dean changed her costume a few times during their act and wore dresses that cost $1,000. Her clothes were copied by the likes of Sarah Bernhardt. Johnson wore a monocle and top hats and tails in purple or white. Their earnings went into their costumes and jewelry. He had a six-carat diamond pin. Her earrings cost $10,000. The cakewalk dance began with enslaved African Americans dancing to imitate and mock the stiff and formal progressions of white dancing. As blackface minstrelsy developed in the mid-19th century, cakewalk became the signature showpiece of the finale of a minstrel show. Even when African Americans performed in minstrel shows, either as themselves or in blackface, the cakewalk was performed as a cartoonish imitation. Johnson and Dean’s class act transformed the cakewalk into a stylish dance that white people eagerly took to. The dance was enormously popular in Europe and America, where it became more exaggerated and, again, cartoonish. White people imitated black people imitating white people. When vaudeville wound down as a primary entertainment, the spotlight on
southwestjournal.com / February 20–March 4, 2020 B5
Miss Dora Dean’s portrait was exhibited in Paris in 1900. This copy of the original portrait hung in Dean and Johnson’s home. Its whereabouts are unknown today. Photo courtesy of the Hennepin County Library
Johnson and Dean faded. They broke up the act, and each tried to create a new performing career. Neither was the success they hoped for. Eventually, Dean came back to Minneapolis and to Johnson. They tried a comeback and had a bit of success until he injured his leg. It healed slowly. They lived in a modest house at 811 E. 36th St., where they once owned most of the houses on the block. Dean had a long illness and died in her sleep in 1943. Johnson was a model for art students at the Walker and at MCAD before he passed away in his 80s in 1956. He thought the modeling gave him a tiny bit of “on-stage”; he was always planning a comeback. They are both buried at Lakewood Cemetery. But what of that painting — the life-size portrait of Dean — a copy of which hung in their home? It was still there a few decades ago, and was probably there when Johnson died. But where did it go? Have any of you seen Miss Dora Dean?
Charlie Johnson was still dancing at 80, as in this 1952 photo. In an interview with Barbara Flanagan (right) of the Minneapolis Tribune, she said he still danced “light as a feather and was so debonair.” Photo courtesy of the Hennepin County Library
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Unsung Architecture
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importance of place. Winston Churchill once said, “We shape our buildings; thereafter they Ave shape us.” These prairiePlymouth style buildings areMias si tool that can be used to shapeWthe develop- ss as hi ment of the Southwest community ng now and to in the future. They’re a reminder ofn Awhere ve we are and where we came from — a nod to beautiful, long landscapes and expansive skies native to the Midwest.
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Located in Lowry Hill, the Winton House has been called one of the “purest examples of Prairie Style in Minneapolis.” Constructed in 1910 and designed by Maher, this home is one of the largest prairie style homes in Southwest. Grand porches extend the interior to the outdoors, while large expanses of windows further connect inhabitants to the surrounding nature.
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rank Lloyd Wright is one of the United States’ most widely recognized architects. In 1893 he founded his practice in Oak Park, on the western edge ofWirth Chicago. At this point in Lake Glenwood Ave American architectural history, residential architecture drew heavily from European Callah Nelson is an architectural designer at Locus Chestnut Ave weren’t roots. Wright believed these styles Architecture at 45th and Nicollet in Kingfield. representative of the long, low prairie lande scapes and open skies of the Midwest. Over Av in ep nn 12t the course of his practice, he developed the He hS THREE LOCAL GEMS t prairie style of architecture, which eventually put the Midwest on the map. ovelan Gr Brownie Wright took cues from the Midwestern Lake 1 landscape as well as the arts and crafts movement, of which the prairie style is a W Franklin Ave direct descendent. He had a strong cohort of Midwestern architects who celebrated W 22nd St and often contributed to his work. This Cedar Lake E 24th St group, which Wright would later refer to as “The New School for the Middle Lake West,” included George Elmslie, William of the Cedar Lake Ave Gray Purcell, George WashingtonIsles Maher and others, and their work can be seen in places across Southwest. Lagoon Ave Lakethe St prairie style W Lake St W Lake St CharacteristicsW of include one- to two-story homes, low slope roofs, long and low roof lines, strong 2 horizontal elements, windows grouped together to create prominent Bdeviews, Maka Skabuiltin cabinetry, a prominent central chimney and a wide use of natural materials like 3 W36th St wood and brick. W 36th St The Purcell-Cutts House near Lake of W 38th St 38th St the Isles isWthe most famous example of prairie style architecture in Southwest, 1 C. Winton House other local projects range in size and 1324 Mount Curve Ave. W 40thbut St ornamentation and include buildings both private and public. Church 2 Stewart Memorial W 42nd St W 42nd St In his work, Wright believed that archi116 E. 32nd St. tecture should be formed by its context and should respond to the culture of its time. 3 Charles T. Backus House Lake Harriet St 4th maintaining these prairie style buildings By 212 W. 36th St. 4 W W 46th St in our neighborhoods, we reinforce the 55
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The Charles T. Backus House, a low-cost, two-level prairie style home, was designed by Purcell and Elmslie. The home was constructed in 1915 for approximately $3,000 (or $76,000 in today’s dollars). The prominent features include a firstlevel pergola above the exterior doors, window trellises, grouped windows, a low sloping roof jutting out over the building facade and horizontal wood trim spanning the face of the building. Miss issippi River
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Editor’s note: A list of sources for this story is available on our website at tinyurl.com/ Twin prairie-southwest. Lake
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Entire House Under $250,000 Alex and Brittany Beniak were joking when they first thought of going to White Castle for Valentine’s Day, but they said they had such a good time that they think they’ve found a new tradition. Photo by Andrew Hazzard FROM WHITE CASTLE / PAGE B1
This year, more than 30,000 people dined at White Castle restaurants to celebrate the holiday, said Theresa Kaszubski, a regional director for White Castle who oversees restaurants in Minneapolis and Columbus, Ohio. At first, local store managers thought it would be a fun way to do something nice for their regulars, she said. “It just grew,” she said. Now hundreds of White Castles in 13 states hold Valentine’s Day celebrations and the company operated a pop-up holiday location in San Antonio. Kaszubski said the Lake Street location is known for putting on a great event and many of the managers have been doing it for years. “I always work Valentine’s Day because it’s so much fun,” said Mesha Knox, a store manager. Knox, a South Minneapolis resident, has been working at the Whittier White Castle for four years, three as a manager. To prepare the dining room, the restaurant closes its interior at about 1 p.m. and starts to decorate, Knox said. By the time guests arrive at 5 p.m. for their reservations — yes, you need reservations — the inside is transformed. Heart balloons dangle from the ceiling and streamers line the walls. The booths are covered in pink tablecloths, candles and flowers. Staffers who usually run cash registers don red aprons and serve guests at their tables. The Whittier location had 130 reservations this year, Knox said. This year, Knox was in charge of decorating, checking in guests and seating them, but she said her favorite Valentine’s Day role is being a server. Her first table ever was a couple who had been coming to White Castle to celebrate for 20 years. She said a diverse crowd of customers make the pilgrimage each year — young and old, of all races, people with children, groups of friends. This year, an older gentleman got
down on one knee and serenaded his wife in the dining room. I’d been planning my own White Castle celebration for a year. Last Valentine’s Day, my girlfriend and I were heading down Lake Street on our way to Midtown Global Market when we passed the decked-out White Castle full of balloons and candles and happy couples. We couldn’t help but feel we were missing out. By the time I went to make an OpenTable reservation on Feb. 10 (White Castle had to start using the service in 2019 because taking down reservations was occupying too much staff time) only the 8:30 p.m. slot was available. Valentine’s Day isn’t a real holiday, of course. It’s the creation of a cabal of chocolatiers, florists, card-makers and restaurateurs to stuff their pockets under the cover of love, and celebrating it usually makes me feel like a mark. But the ambiance and mood inside of White Castle overpowered my cynicism. People were having fun. The staff and customers exchanged laughs. We were able to scarf down 10 burgers, two large fries, an order of chicken rings and gooey butter cake for dessert — all for under $30. We left laughing and knew it was by far our favorite Valentine’s celebration. After all, you can’t buy love, but you can crave it.
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The White Castle at Lake & Blaisdell closed at 1 p.m. on Valentine’s Day to give staff time to decorate. Photo by Andrew Hazzard
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B10 February 20–March 4, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Southwest Minneapolis signees Meet the Washburn and Southwest student-athletes who have signed with college programs By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com
Photo courtesy of Washburn High School
JAMESON CHARLES | Washburn High School Sport: Soccer College: North Carolina (Division I, Atlantic Coast Conference)
It may be the heart of winter, but some of Southwest Minneapolis’ best high school athletes are already gearing up for next fall, when they’ll begin their college careers. Fifteen Washburn and Southwest students have signed with college sports programs for next fall. (A 16th, Washburn’s Darley Florvil, who won Minnesota’s Class 2A Mr. Soccer
PEYTON D’EMANUELE | Southwest High School Sport: Swimming College: Notre Dame (Division I, Atlantic Coast Conference)
award this past fall, has college offers. Seven of the students will compete at the Division I level, six will compete in Division III and two will compete at the junior college level. Most of them have played their respective sports for years, though at least one just recently picked it up. Here’s a closer look at those student-athletes:
HANNAH FOX | Southwest High School Sport: Volleyball College: Case Western (Division III, University Athletic Association)
A four-year varsity player and a captain as a senior, Charles finished his Washburn career with 18 goals and 59 assists and capped his career by leading the Millers to the Class 2A state semifinals in 2019. Charles was also a firstteam All-State selection and a Star Tribune firstteam all-metro selection as a senior.
D’Emanuele’s high school career included seven all-state honors, two all-America honors and Southwest’s first girls state swimming title since 1977, which she won in the 100-yard butterfly at the 2018 Class 2A state meet. She also broke five school records and five district records and swam for the Eden Prairie-based Aquajets Swim Team.
Fox, an outside hitter and defensive specialist, played varsity volleyball for three seasons. She was a captain as a senior and helped the Lakers take second place in the Minneapolis City Conference. She has also played for the Bloomington-based Mizuno M1 club volleyball program.
HELENA GUTZMER | Washburn High School
SAM ISAACMAN | Washburn High School
ANIKA JOHNSON | Washburn High School
Sport: Rowing College: Tulsa (Division I, American Athletic Conference)
Sport: Soccer and swimming College: Carleton (Division III, Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference)
Sport: Swimming College: Colorado State (Division I, Mountain West Conference)
Gutzmer rows for the Twin Cities Youth Rowing Club, of which she is a team captain. She will join two other Minnesotans on the Tulsa team. She has competed in multiple regional races and helped her team take first place in races last year in Duluth and Minneapolis.
Isaacman played two years on Washburn’s varsity soccer team and tallied seven goals and seven assists in 2019. He has been on the varsity swim team for four years and is a team captain.
Johnson has been to state multiple years for the Millers and took 12th as a senior in the 200 free while also swimming in the 200 medley relay. She also competes on the Richfield-based Piranhas Swim Club and holds five club records.
TK MARSHALL | Southwest High School
GWEN NELSON | Washburn High School
ELLE NIEBUHR | Southwest High School
Sport: Football College: North Dakota State (Football Championship Subdivision, Missouri Valley Conference) Marshall started four years at running back for Southwest and was a three-year captain. As a senior, he rushed for over 1,600 yards and 20 touchdowns and was named a finalist for the Mr. Football award, given annually to the state’s top high school player. Read more about Marshall at swjournal.com.
LUKE RIMINGTON | Southwest High School Sport: Soccer College: Hamline (Division III, Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) Rimington, a two-year varsity player, was a captain and the starting goalie for the Lakers as a senior, helping them to a 10-win season. He said a highlight of his career was the team’s 1-0 win over Washburn in October. Rimington also had a combined 11 saves in Southwest’s two wins over South this past season.
JOE VIRNIG | Southwest High School Sport: Football College: St. John’s (Division III, Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) Virnig, a defensive lineman, didn’t start playing football at Southwest until he was a junior. He became a starter by the end of his senior season, after sitting out his entire junior season because of an injury. “He is quite the success story of hard work paying off,” Southwest coach Josh Zoucha said.
Sport: Fencing College: Cleveland State (Division I, Midwest Fencing Conference)
Sport: Swimming College: Minnesota (Division I, Big Ten)
Nelson started fencing when she was 10 and competes with the Center for Blade Arts (formerly the Minnesota Sword Club). Her club has won the state high school championship three years in a row. A memorable moment of her fencing career was when she made it to the fourth round in a national fencing tournament.
Niebuhr was a five-time participant in the Class 2A state meet, where she took third in the 500 freestyle each of the past three seasons. She finished her high school career with six school records and four school district records, and she also earned six all-state honors and four allAmerica honorable mention honors. She has also competed with the Edina Swim Club.
BEN STITES | Southwest High School
DOUG SUTTON | Southwest High School
Sport: Wrestling College: Case Western (Division III, University Athletic Association)
Sport: Football College: Iowa Central (National Junior College Athletic Association)
Stites, a two-year captain, has wrestled for Southwest since eighth grade and made the varsity team as a freshman. He qualified for state in the 120-pound weight class as a junior and had a 23-10 record this season heading into the section tournament. He’s eighth on Southwest’s all-time wins list and had a 71-54 career record as of Feb. 11.
Sutton played varsity football starting his freshman year and was a two-year captain and a three-time all-conference selection. He was part of a Southwest defense that shut out four of its eight regular-season opponents this past season, helping the team to a 7-3 record.
OLIVIA WAGUESPACK | Southwest High School
KESHA WHITE | Washburn High School
Sport: Gymnastics College: Ithaca (Division III) Waguespack competes with TAGS Gymnastics in Eden Prairie and has been participating in the sport for 10 years. She competes in all events and last year qualified for the U.S. Western Gymnastics Championships.
Sport: Basketball College: Florida Southwestern (National Junior College Athletic Association) White, a center, is a co-captain who began playing varsity basketball as a sophomore. She has averaged over 13 points and 12 rebounds per game this season and had helped the Millers to an 11-10 record heading into their final game of the season, set for Feb. 20 against Southwest.
southwestjournal.com / February 20–March 4, 2020 B11
By Dr. Erik Melin
Understanding your pet’s hair loss or baldness
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lopecia is the complete or partial loss of hair or failure to grow hair. Pets can be born with alopecia or it can develop over time. It can occur in one area, multiple areas or over the entire body. Patterns of alopecia range from a single area of missing hair to multiple randomly occurring areas to a symmetrical pattern. Most cases of alopecia do not cause discomfort, but they can be a symptom of a larger underlying problem. Certain breeds of dogs have a genetic predisposition to certain types of primary alopecia. Doberman pinschers can have a disorder called color dilution alopecia where the areas of their coat that are lighter in pigment lose hair. Boxers, bulldogs and Airedale terriers can have a disorder called seasonal flank alopecia where hair loss occurs on the flanks between November and March each year. Thick or “plush” coated breeds such as Pomeranians, chow chows, keeshonds, Samoyeds, Siberian huskies, Alaskan malamutes and miniature poodles are more prone to an adrenal gland sex hormone disorder called alopecia X. Dermatophytosis, aka ringworm, is an infectious disorder caused by a fungus, most commonly seen in young animals. Ringworm tends to appear as a patchy alopecia. Skin yeast or bacterial infections can also appear as patchy alopecia, as well as infections from certain mites. Hormonal diseases such as hypothyroidism, hyperadrenocorticism (Cushing’s
Most cases of alopecia do not cause discomfort, but they can be a symptom of an underlying problem. Stock photo
disease) or a specific type of tumor called a Sertoli cell tumor can all have alopecia as a secondary external sign of disease. With these hormone-driven alopecias, the pattern of alopecia is bilaterally symmetrical. Depending on the underlying cause of the alopecia, the symptoms a pet has may vary. For the genetic forms of alopecia, the typical presentation is solely the hair
loss. Infectious forms of alopecia often present with itching and perhaps redness or scaling of the skin. Alopecia caused by hypothyroidism may be associated with low energy levels and unexpected weight gain. Hyperadrenocorticism often presents with hair loss and excessive drinking, excessive urination, increased appetite and muscle atrophy. Dogs with Sertoli cell tumors
can show signs of feminization such as mammary gland development. Diagnosing what type of alopecia a pet has may require a physical exam, an examination of the pet’s history and blood and skin testing, including a skin biopsy. The underlying cause of hair loss or lack of hair growth dictates the treatment. Genetic forms of alopecia may not need to be treated, since they tend to be more of a cosmetic than overall health problem. Melatonin has been used to treat seasonal flank alopecia. Neutering (spaying or castration) has been shown to improve the growth of hair in many dogs with alopecia X. Infectious causes of alopecia each carry with them a specific treatment. Most cases are treatable but often require many weeks of therapy to resolve the disease completely. Hormonal diseases causing alopecia can be difficult to diagnose and often require lifelong therapy to prevent symptoms from returning. Alopecia is a relatively common problem seen in the pet dog population. In some cases the diagnosis and treatment is straightforward. In other cases, enlisting the help of a veterinary dermatologist is essential to secure an accurate diagnosis and formulate an effective treatment plan. Erik Melin is a veterinarian at Westgate Pet Clinic in Linden Hills. Email general pet questions to drhershey@westgatepetclinicmn.com. Veterinarians cannot give pet-specific medical advice without an office visit.
CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Seminary book 6 E-cigarette output 11 Media-monitoring org. 14 __-proof: easy to operate
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE
SOUTHWEST MATH TEAM!
15 How the cheese stands, in a kids’ song 16 “__ be in touch!” 17 *Fruity ice cream treat 19 Be litigious 20 Grandstand group 21 Cough syrup, e.g. 23 Chad or Rob of movies 26 Practical joke 28 Lacking a downside 29 Immobile 31 Chafing result 33 Smart set member 35 “Great Leap Forward” Chinese leader
68 Afternoon social
10 Captured back
36 Storybook fiend
69 Chopin piece
39 Upside-down sleeper
70 Marble mineral
11 *Place for rural anglers
40 Fixed, like the ends of the answers to starred clues
71 Write “mispell,” say
43 Put a jinx on
73 Well-known
18 “Life of Pi” director Lee
46 Nourished
DOWN
23 Tree branches
47 House speaker Nancy
1 Highchair wear
24 Shaq of NBA fame
49 Luggage tie-on
2 Wash. neighbor
25 *Won 10 in a row, say
56 Grinch victim
52 Shops with slicers
3 TSA checkpoint container
27 2/2/20, for Super Bowl LIV
59 Zap with a Taser 61 Somali-born model
55 Deviate from a course, at sea
4 Shoes sans laces
30 Many coll. lab instructors
64 Pointless bother
57 MASH shelter
6 Seven Sisters college
44 Messy roomie
53 Gondolier, e.g.
58 Declares to be true 60 Carpentry wedge
72 “Jurassic Park” critters, briefly
5 Sicilian volcano 7 Tyrolean peak
62 Nautical pronoun
8 C-SPAN figures, informally
63 *Knock one out of the park
9 French crockful with a cheesy crust
Crossword Puzzle SWJ 022020 4.indd 1
12 Crossword hints 13 Checkout worker
22 Common jazz combo
32 Roll of bills 34 Egyptian queen in Tut’s time 37 Amber, for one 38 Be 41 Like fresh nail polish
42 __ XING: crosswalk sign 45 Restrain, as one’s breath 48 Captive’s plea 50 Worked together perfectly 51 Serious cuts 53 Keep moist, as turkey 54 [none of the above]
Under the direction of David McMayer, the 2019-2020 Southwest Math Team earned their fourteenth consecutive division title. They also took first place honors in Section 6AAA, earning an invitation to the MN State High School State Tournament in March.
65 Squeal on the mob
Way to go, Lakers!
66 Rugged vehicle, for short 67 “Game of Thrones” patriarch Stark Crossword answers on page B12
2/18/20 10:56 AM
Southwest High SWJ 022020 4.indd 1
2/17/20 4:44 PM
B12 February 20–March 4, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Get Out Guide. By Sheila Regan
Beyond Black History Month Don’t think of Black History Month as being something you celebrate just once a year. It is also a time to consider ways the African diaspora forges into the future. Here are a few events in February and early March we recommend:
E.G. Bailey’s “New Neighbors”
THE FUTURE OF BLACK FILM IN MINNESOTA Check out the work of five black filmmakers in Minnesota at this event put together by SPNN. The lineup includes E.G. Bailey, David Buchanan, Alison Guessou, Leonard Searcy and Toussaint Morrison. The evening will include short pieces by the filmmakers and a panel discussion afterwards, where you’ll learn about their current and upcoming projects.
When: 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25
Where: SPNN, 550 Vandalia St., St. Paul
Cost: Free
Info: tinyurl.com/black-film-mn
THIRD THURSDAY: AFROFUTURISM
BOOK RELEASE: A GARDEN OF BLACK JOY
EARTHSEED READS: BELOVED
Black history informs black futures at the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s celebration of Afrofuturism. The evening includes spoken word performances, yoga with Gabby Roberts of the hip-hop yoga studio 612 Jungle, numerous participatory experiences with local artists and spinning by DJ Yasmeenah.
Keno Evol, of Black Table Arts, has spent the past two years gathering poems from around the world for the book “Garden of Black Joy: Global Poetry from the Edges Of Liberation & Living.” Come hear from the poets in the collection at the Loft Literary Center.
When: 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20 Where: Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2400 3rd Ave. S. Cost: Free Info: artsmia.org
When: 7-9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21 Where: The Loft Literary Center, 1011 Washington Ave., Cost: $10 General Admission, $5 Loft members Info: loft.org
Erin Sharkey and Junauda Petrus, of Free Black Dirt, continue their series of fun discussions at Moon Palace Books. This time, they dive into Toni Morrison’s masterpiece “Beloved,” which takes place in the years following the American Civil War. Talk ghosts, history and black history with the insightful artist duo, while enjoying beverages and snacks at the Geek Love Cafe.
When: 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, March 3 Where: Moon Palace Books, 3032 Minnehaha Ave. Cost: Free Info: moonpalacebooks.com
Fall into the right hands with Nou Hands and Bodyworks Massage Therapy Swedish • Combination Deep Tissue • Stretching Thai Yoga massage Uptown Wellness Center 2920 Bryant Ave S Suite 107
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12/3/19 11:21 AM
southwestjournal.com / February 20–March 4, 2020 B13
AN ART OF CHANGES: JASPER JOHNS PRINTS, 1960-2018
Community Calendar.
In celebration of the artist’s 90th birthday, this exhibition surveys six decades of Jasper Johns’ practice in printmaking, highlighting his experiments with familiar, abstract and personal imagery that play with memory and visual perception.
By Ed Dykhuizen
GATHER & PLANT: HOUSEPLANT EXPERIENCE
When: Through Sep. 20 Where: Walker Art Center, 725 Vineland Pl. Cost: Included with general admission Info: walkerart.org/calendar
Designers will be on hand to share the latest trends in houseplants and design, give care tips and help you find the perfect plants suited for your light levels, schedule and style.
When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, and Sunday, Feb. 23 Where: Tangletown Gardens, 5353 Nicollet Ave. Cost: Free Info: tangletowngardens.com
FARM SERIES DINNER
CHRIS KLUWE PRESENTS ‘OTAKU’
The park will be lined with hundreds of luminaries and people of all ages will be sledding, making s’mores by the fire and warming up with indoor activities.
Experience a sustainable farm-fresh meal while learning the connection between healthy soil, healthy plants and animals and healthy people. Tickets include a four-course, family-style meal followed by a 30-minute presentation by Farmer Dean.
The debut novel from former NFL player and tech enthusiast Chris Kluwe, “Otaku” is a near-future novel that takes the reader to a virtual reality landscape.
When: 5-8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22 Where: Fuller Recreation Center, 4802 Grand Ave. S. Cost: Free Info: minneapolisparks.org
When: 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25 Where: Wise Acre Eatery, 5401 Nicollet Ave. Cost: $65 per person Info: wiseacreeatery.com
WHEN HOME WON’T LET YOU STAY: ART AND MIGRATION
MOTH
TANGLETOWN WINTER FEST
Borrowing its title from Somali-British poet Warsan Shire, this exhibit highlights the diverse artistic responses to migration, ranging from personal stories to poetic meditations in a range of mediums.
When: Feb. 23-May 24 Where: Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2400 Third Ave. S. Cost: Free Info: new.artsmia.org
CHILLY CHILI FEST Come for hot chili (with a vegetarian option), fixings, desserts and a drink. This annual fundraiser features a silent auction and door prizes. All proceeds benefit the Joyce Uptown Food Shelf.
When: Noon-2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23 Where: Bryant Square Recreation Center, 3101 Bryant Ave. S. Cost: $5 adults, $3 children Info: minneapolisparks.org
MN ORCHESTRA MUSICIANS This concert will feature works by Borodin, Prokofiev and Shostakovich.
When: 2-3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23 Where: The Museum of Russian Art, 5500 Stevens Ave. Cost: $13 adult, $11 65+, $5 student, free for children 13 and under Info: tmora.org
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 3 Where: Magers & Quinn Booksellers, 3038 Hennepin Ave. Cost: Free Info: magersandquinn.com/event
This 90-minute play follows misfits Sebastian and Claryssa as they take a warped journey through their past, reliving their most horrifying memories.
When: 7 p.m. Friday-Monday, Feb. 28-March 2 Where: Bryant-Lake Bowl & Theater, 810 W. Lake St. Cost: $18 Friday-Sunday, $8-$20 sliding scale Monday Info: bryantlakebowl.com/cabaret-theater
MINNEAPOLIS POLAR PLUNGE AND 5K Register for a 5K race around Bde Maka Ska, followed by a full day of Polar Plunge and more.
When: 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 29 Where: Bde Maka Ska Cost: $35 race fee, $75 fundraising minimum required for the Polar Plunge Info: plungemn.org
SPACE ENGINEERS Grade-school kids will each design a spaceship to transport people to the Andromeda Galaxy, 2.5 million light-years from Earth, and then create a scale model of their idea using recycled materials.
When: 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, Feb. 29 Where: Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave. S. Cost: Free Info: hclib.org
JOY ON THE JOURNEY: FURTHER, FASTER, TOGETHER WITH ROXANE BATTLE Former KARE 11 TV personality and award-winning author Roxane Battle will share personal highlights from her career as a television anchor and best-selling author.
When: 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 3 Where: ModernWell, 2909 S. Wayzata Blvd. Cost: $25-$30 Info: modernwell.co
KINDRED FOLK, ILLUSTRATIVE PAINTINGS BY DC ICE DC Ice’s exhibition is steeped in anthropomorphic reverie: visually storied and highly illustrative works that are carved and painted on scratchboard.
When: Feb. 29-April 12; opening reception 7-10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29
Where: Gallery 360, 3011 W. 50th St.
Cost: Free
Info: gallery360mpls.com
B14 February 20–March 4, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
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