February 25, 2016 by The Southwest Journal

House band Living rooms across Minneapolis are doubling as stages for house concerts

Signs of the times The disappearing art of neon sign making Page B10

February 25–March 9, 2016 Vol. 27, No. 4 southwestjournal.com

HHHIHHH

ELECTION

2016

GET READY TO CAUCUS By Sarah McKenzie / smckenzie@southwestjournal.com

The DFL is projecting record turnout for caucuses with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders vying for a spot on the ballot in November.

High turnout is expected for the state’s precinct caucuses March 1. The caucuses signal the start of the 2016 election in Minnesota. Political parties organize caucuses to give people the opportunity to discuss party issues and priorities and vote for delegates to support political candidates. The competitive race between presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, who are vying for the Democratic nomination, will likely drive many to DFL caucuses in Minneapolis, a longtime stronghold for the party. Some have raised concerns that party leaders haven’t secured enough spaces in South Minneapolis neighborhoods given the anticipated increase in turnout. DFL Chairman Ken Martin said local party leaders are working on securing new venues. “We could see a record turnout at Minnesota’s caucuses on Super Tuesday,” he said. “It’s a real unknown. We instructed all of our county unit chairs and Senate district officers to prepare for very high turnout, and

5 A scene from Minneapolis DFL caucus in 2013. File photo

SEE CAUCUS / PAGE A9

UNDER FIRE

A special report on gun violence

A high-tech approach to tracking gun crimes A national network of ballistics images helps Minneapolis police solve gun cases

CPM proposes new headquarters at Lake & Knox

By Dylan Thomas / dthomas@southwestjournal.com By Michelle Bruch / mbruch@southwestjournal.com

A key piece of technology Minneapolis Police use to link guns to crime scenes and uncover hidden connections between weapons cases is housed in a small, windowless office inside the department’s crime lab. Inside that room is one of just two computer

terminals in the entire state with connected to the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network, or NIBIN. From that terminal, investigators can access a database of bullet casings left at crime scenes across the city and the country. SEE GUN CRIMES / PAGE A12

CPM Development is proposing a five-story mix of retail, offices and a penthouse at the southeast corner of Lake & Knox. The site includes two residential properties at 1721 W. Lake St. and 3005 Knox Ave.

S. The project does not currently include the neighboring Cal Surf building. The new building would include about 1,500 square feet of ground-floor commerSEE CPM / PAGE A11

A2 February 25–March 9, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

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Minneapolis could become the first city in the state to ban single-use plastic bags at the checkout line. File photo

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By Sarah McKenzie / smckenzie@southwestjournal.com

City Council members Cam Gordon (Ward 2) and Abdi Warsame (Ward 6) have proposed the “Bring Your Own Bag” ordinance — a measure designed to reduce waste and ease the burden on one-sort recycling facilities. Plastic bags wrap around recycling sorting machines, prompting them to shut down. A public hearing has been set for March 21 at City Hall before the City Council’s Health, Environment & Community Engagement Committee. The ordinance includes several exemptions and allows plastic bags for newspapers, pet waste, dry cleaning, Gordon produce bags without handles and reusable plastic bags of a certain thickness. The ordinance would also place a 5-cent fee on singleWarsame use paper bags at grocery stores and other retailers. “We are trying to address some concerns about litter and waste in the city, but there is also some bigger impacts about greenhouse gas emissions and pollution,” Gordon said. The St. Louis Park City Council also considered a plastic bag ban last year, but ultimately shelved the idea in favor of a Zero Waste Packaging Ordinance. Beginning Jan. 1, 2017, food establishments will be

required to use packaging that is reusable, returnable, recyclable or compostable for takeout food. The Minneapolis City Council passed a ban on polystyrene take-out containers that went into effect April 22, 2015. As currently drafted, Gordon and Warsame’s “Bring Your Own Bag” ordinance would have a phased-in implementation in 2017 if approved by the City Council. More than 160 U.S. cities have passed a single-use plastic bag ban and or fee for disposable carryout bags, including Seattle, Portland and Washington, D.C. California’s legislature was the first in the nation to impose a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags at larger retailers in August 2015. The ban went into effect in July 2015. Minnesotans throw away 87,000 tons of plastic bags each year, according to a fact sheet on Gordon and Warsame’s proposed ordinance. In Minneapolis, most of those plastic bags wind up at the downtown garbage burner. Bruce Nustad, president of the Minnesota Retailers Association, said the organization hasn’t taken a formal position on the proposed plastic bag ban in Minneapolis. Nustad said he hopes city leaders are as open to conversation about a potential plastic bag ban as leaders were in St. Louis Park. He noted that many local retailers are leading efforts to recycle plastic bags. Lunds & Bylerys, for instance, has plastic bag recycling drop-off boxes at many store locations.

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That wasn’t so hard, was it? An endurable winter is rapidly giving way to a welcome spring. Along with reports on baseball in the sports sections, we look forward to the Southwest Journal’s Spring Poetry section, which will appear late in March. We need your poems to make it happen! Please spread the word and send your best work to wilhide@skypoint.com. Deadline is Friday, March 4. — Doug Wilhide

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A photographer is converting the former City Velo bike shop at 4304 Upton Ave. S. into a gallery. Jimmy Wilson previously worked in children’s film production. Wilson has walked with wolves at the International Wolf Center, chatted with an expert on Bigfoot, traveled to the “Polar Bear Capital of the World” in Manitoba, and mounted hidden cameras in the woods to film wildlife. His career took a turn by chance. “I walk before work in the morning, and I decided to bring a camera with me,” he said. Wilson has kept his camera handy ever since.

“With photos, you can look at them for 30 years, but how many times can you watch a film?” he said. Passersby may recognize some of his photo subjects. He lives a mile from Lake Harriet, and the lake is often a focal point. “I still walk before work in the morning,” he said. “You can get a masterpiece right out your front door.” Hours of operation will be Tuesday thru Saturday from 12-5 p.m. or by appointment. For more information, visit jimmypicture.com.

43RD & UPTON

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Erick Harcey aims to “do what you love” at Upton 43, offering up his grandmother’s meatball recipe and other Swedish cuisine. He plays records on vinyl in the restaurant and chars veggies on the wood-fired grill. On the dinner menu, Harcey highlighted the grain dish with sunchoke, apples and truffle as well as the chicken liver mousse with honey vinegar, blueberry and granola cracker. He’s planning a rotisserie chicken grab-andgo element for the restaurant as well. “I assume the families around here are as busy as I am,” he said. The restaurant advises against gratuity —

instead of paying employees minimum wage and supplementing with tips, elevated menu prices cover wages, merit increases and paid days off. The higher wages apply to all on staff, including cooks and dishwashers. On a recent weekday at Upton 43, two women raved about their lingonberry coffee cake, warm grains with pear and the omelet with walnut and gouda. Patricia, who requested not to print her last name, said she initially thought Linden Hills didn’t need another restaurant. She said her attitude changed after her visit. “I don’t care where people park anymore,” she said. “That concern is gone.”

52ND & CHICAGO

Mario’s Pizza & Deli building Mario’s has been shuttered at 5201 Chicago Ave. S. since a fire in 2005, and the building continues to sit empty while ownership of the property is resolved. Council Member John Quincy said owners Ed and Flo Cody have died in recent years, and without leaving a will, the ownership remains in limbo. No entity can purchase or lease the property until it completes the probate process and a judge determines ownership, he said. Quincy and a city attorney are working to speed up the probate process, which can take more than a year as multiple parties are interested in the estate. The property has more than $25,000 in zoning fines and vacant building registration fees, and unpaid property taxes date back to 2014. Hennepin County can take the property

after three years of unpaid taxes, according to Quincy’s office. The electricity is currently turned off, and water and gas service are also expected to be turned off. Quincy is asking neighbors to call 311 for any complaints of trash, snow removal or other nuisances on the site. No one is living in the building, he said, although the eldest son has been working on the property. Since the fire, Quincy described progress made in “fits and starts.” “Every two years when it looked like something was happening, there was another step backwards,” he said. “It’s really been hard for them.” Quincy said he’s offering compassion and support, “but we also have to do something.”

southwestjournal.com / February 25–March 9, 2016 A5

Realtor® and Lakes Area Homeowner for Over 30 Years Pastry chef Ben Spangler steps out with samples at Milkjam Creamery. Photo by Michelle Bruch

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28TH & LYNDALE

Milkjam It may have been the dead of winter, but lines wound through Milkjam Creamery as soon as the doors opened in January. Pastry chef Ben Spangler, a former artist and clothing designer, has spent many hours perfecting vegan ice cream recipes made with coconut milk and almond milkfat. “I’m having fun coming up with this stuff,” he said. Milkjam has come upon some of the flavors by mistake — “Black” was created when a staffer accidentally poured in black cocoa (a more earthy, robust flavor) instead of dark cocoa. Originality is everywhere on the menu. They slice Glam Doll donuts in half and scoop ice cream into the middle. They make alcoholic

floats with champagne and passion fruit ice cream. They’re planning ice cream pies, perhaps with graham cracker crust and kaffir lime ice cream, and they’re working to make their own waffle cones. During slower periods, customers can ask “What Would Chef Do?” That’s when Spangler gets creative, making sundaes incorporating black fig & mezcal ice cream with coffee brittle and smoked almonds. Early favorites include the toasted coconut vegan ice cream, the house honeycomb candy, and the Thai Tea — Spangler’s flavor of choice. “I make these every day, and it’s the only one I crave at the end of the day,” he said.

Brewer Mat Waddell stands among the oak barrels at Wild Mind Artisan Ales, opening this summer in Windom. Photo by Michelle Bruch

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60TH & PILLSBURY

Wild Mind Artisan Ales Visitors who wind through warehouses this summer will find a new beer garden and brewery at 6031 Pillsbury Ave. S. Brewer Mat Waddell is in the midst of revamping the former A-OK Equipment & Supply Co. building (also a former car wash) into a “modern but warm” taproom with lots of glass, bright splashes of color, and window views that peek at a row of fermenters. He’s preparing to rehydrate oak barrels from Italy and convert a concrete pad into a grassy beer garden with trees, hop vines and strung lights. The brewery takes its name from the wild yeast that Waddell has cultivated from raspberry bushes in his St. Paul backyard and wildflowers at state parks in Northern Minnesota. Waddell said the resulting taste is different from the malty or hop-forward taste generated with standard commercial yeast — instead a fruity, floral character comes through, he said. Waddell said the brewery site wasn’t easy to

find. In order to locate in South Minneapolis, he had to find a commercially-zoned spot at least three acres from homes. He landed in an industrial hub, next to the new Urban Hound Playground. He expects to invite dogs to the patio. Waddell has a background in mechanical engineering and experience at Target Corp., but brewing has long been a passion. He was given a homebrew kit at age 21 and he worked at Capital Brewery while teaching in Madison. He grew up hearing stories about his grandparents who lived on a farm in western Minnesota and bootlegged beer they brewed in the basement. “There was always a culture of brewing in the family,” he said. The taproom will initially offer farmhouse, saison and rustic style beers as well as cider and mead, with sour beer arriving in the following months. The brewery is slated to open this summer.

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A6 February 25–March 9, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

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The former Walker Library at 2901 Hennepin Ave. is slated to become a restaurant with a deck proposed for the south and east sides of the building. Image by MacDonald & Mack Architects

29TH & HENNEPIN

Restaurant at old Walker Library

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Since the Walker Library moved across the street in 1981, its former building with sandstone columns has served as a secondhand clothing store, a spa, yoga studio, salon and a fitness center. Now it’s slated to become a restaurant, and the property owner is seeking to build a 2,800-square-foot patio deck that would wrap the south and east sides of the building. The deck would stand about seven feet above grade to align with the building’s first floor. The city’s Heritage Preservation Commission

revised and approved plans for the deck at a February meeting. The building sits on the National Register of Historic Places, and it’s noted for its association with Gratia Alta Countryman, the first female chief librarian in Minneapolis and a leader in the national public library movement. Property owner Ned Abdul of Uptown Partners LLC did not return calls to discuss the restaurant concept.

39TH & NICOLLET

On the move

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Tower Games

Tower Games is moving from 48th & Nicollet to a retail space connected to Mulroy’s Body Shop at 3920 Nicollet Ave. The move allows more space for Star Wars game nights, Magic: The Gathering tournaments and weekly Dungeons & Dragons games. “Our other space was super tight,” said owner Bob Seabold. “Gaming is pretty popular. It’s not just the domain of nerds anymore.” When up to 50 people have arrived for store events, staff have pushed merchandise against the walls and accommodated some people playing on the floor. The shop hosts game nights nearly every night of the week. Seabold is a longtime customer and new owner of the shop, which has been around since 2007. “I love the atmosphere and the community,” he said. “It’s like a bookstore, it’s a labor of love.”

Seabold’s background is in freelance film and video production for clients like 3M and Xcel Energy. He worked as a grip for Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the late 90s. He recently launched a Kickstarter with friends to fund their new game, “End of the Line,” which they have introduced at conventions across the country. (Their company Fight in a Box also created the game “Squirrel or Die.”) Seabold describes the game as a quirky Brady Bunch set in a post-apocalyptic world. “Outlast your neighbors when mutants, famine, ammo shortages and other calamities make life difficult for your nuclear family,” states the Kickstarter tagline. Tower Games is slated to move in late February. HB Fitness will expand into Tower Games’ old footprint.

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Occupancy begins in July at “The Lakes Residences” under construction at 2622 W. Lake St. Floor plans in the “rental condominiums” average more than 1,600 square feet. Rents start at $4,000 per month, with penthouses starting at $10,000 per month. Amenities include a concierge service, spa and rooftop lounge. Tucker Thomas Interior Design studio is now open in Deephaven with a focus on the Minneapolis

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lakes area, Edina and western suburbs. Kim Tucker, a resident of Linden Hills, said she and co-founder Andrea Surtel met eight years ago while working at Martha O’Hara Interiors, where they were commissioned to work on projects across the country. Both are award-winning designers affiliated with the American Society of Interior Designers. They partner with builders to help homeowners select interior finishes, and their interior design services range from furnishings and lighting to accessories. “We particularly enjoy working in old Southwest Minneapolis houses with all the character and charm,” Tucker said.

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southwestjournal.com / February 25–March 9, 2016 A7

By Sarah McKenzie / smckenzie@southwestjournal.com

Police body camera program set to launch in May A City Council committee has given city leaders a green light to execute a five-year, $4-million contract with Taser International for police body cameras. The police department will start rolling out the body camera program in mid-May, starting with the 1st Precinct (downtown neighborhoods), said Deputy Chief Travis Glampe. The program will be fully up and running by late fall. The full Council will consider the contract Feb. 26. It allows for the purchase of 587 body cameras, docking stations and storage, among other things. The U.S. Department of Justice also recently awarded the city $600,000 to help fund the body camera program. Thirty-six police officers tested out body cameras made by Taser International and VIEVU during a pilot project in 2015. Police departments around the country have launched body camera programs to help prevent false claims of police misconduct and make officers more accountable. The Minneapolis Police Conduct Oversight Commission forwarded recommendations on the use of police body cameras to Police Chief

Janeé Harteau in October. They include barring supervisors from reviewing footage of direct reports; notifying video subjects when videos have been made public pursuant to a data practices request; and seeking an academic institution to study the use of the body cameras for the program’s first two years. The commission also recommended that cameras be turned on for all “consensual community contacts,” calls for service and law enforcement activities and turned off when officers are interviewing a confidential informant. City Council members questioned whether the MPD was ready to handle requests for body camera footage. Currently the budget covers two employees who will oversee data requests. Glampe said the department plans to release its proposed body camera policy in a few weeks and will seek input from the public. The Council committee also passed a staff direction authored by Council Member Cam Gordon (Ward 2) calling on the MPD to present a plan for community engagement and outreach on the proposed body camera policy to the committee on March 2 and a final policy no later than April 6.

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Michaela Day stands with other demonstrators in County Attorney Mike Freeman’s office Feb. 12, holding a sign that says “#No Grand Jury” in the Jamar Clark shooting case. Photo by Annabelle Marcovici

BCA completes investigation into police shooting of Jamar Clark The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension announced Feb. 10 that it has completed its investigation into the fatal police shooting of Jamar Clark in North Minneapolis and handed over its findings to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said he would like to decide whether to pursue charges in the case by the end of March. Prosecutors plan to review the BCA file and determine if additional investigation is needed. Clark, a 24-year-old black man, was shot during an altercation with police on the 1600 block of Plymouth Avenue North around 12:45 a.m. Nov. 15. Police say he was not handcuffed at the time — a fact disputed by witnesses at the scene. The FBI is also conducting an investigation into the shooting. BCA spokeswoman Jill Oliveira said videos gathered during the investigation and other public data will be released once the case is closed. The case remains open during the review process. The ACLU of Minnesota and the NAACP Minneapolis filed a lawsuit against the BCA and

REAL ESTATE CRISIS!

the Minnesota Department of Public Safety on Feb. 9 to compel the release of video footage of Clark’s shooting death. They are arguing that failing to release footage violates the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. Black Lives Matter Minneapolis and the NAACP Minneapolis have long been calling for the release of the Clark tapes. Protesters demonstrated at Freeman’s office on Feb. 12 urging his office to press charges against the officers involved in Clark’s shooting rather than having a grand jury consider the case. “We’re here to demand that that does not happen,” said Loretta VanPelt of the Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar. “Since 2000 in Minnesota, there have been around 141 people who have been killed by police, and not one time has a grand jury indicted.” Protesters plan to hold other “Freeman Friday” events in coming weeks to keep attention on the case.

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Serving the Twin Cities since 1980 1/21/16 10:05 AM

A8 February 25–March 9, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

PUBLISHER Janis Hall jhall@southwestjournal.com

CO-PUBLISHER & SALES MANAGER Terry Gahan 612-436-4360 tgahan@southwestjournal.com

EDITOR Sarah McKenzie 612-436-4371 smckenzie@southwestjournal.com

ASSISTANT EDITOR Dylan Thomas 612-436-4391 dthomas@southwestjournal.com

STAFF WRITERS Michelle Bruch mbruch@southwestjournal.com

Eric Best ebest@southwestjournal.com

CONTRIBUTORS Dr. Norton Bower Dr. Teresa Hershey CREATIVE DIRECTOR Dana Croatt dcroatt@southwestjournal.com

CLIENT SERVICES Zoe Gahan 612-436-4375 zgahan@southwestjournal.com

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Emily Schneeberger 612-436-4399 eschneeberger@southwestjournal.com

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Valerie Moe

By Jim Walsh

‘It will always be Charlie’s bike shop’

he corner of 48th & Grand was quieter than usual Monday morning, with a single bouquet of flowers tied to the handrail of Charlie’s Tangletown Bike Shop honoring the store’s owner and proprietor, Charlie Siftar, who died suddenly last week. “He went out for a ride last Wednesday with one of our customers, a friend, Dan Hansen,” said shop co-manager Mike O’Leary. “Dan came here after having bad experiences with other shops in town, and he could instantly feel and tell that this is what you expect and want from a bike shop, that you can come in here and feel the love and the welcoming. “They had ridden a few times before, they were about a mile into the trail, took it easy going in, and they stopped and were laughing and talking about trail conditions and which route to go, and Dan had a Bluetooth speaker and they were listening to music and Dan was like, ‘Yeah! Fat bikes and rock ‘n’ roll! This is awesome. What a great day.’ And they were getting ready to go and Charlie literally just fell over. Dan immediately called 911 and worked on him for 15 minutes before the EMTs came, and other riders came by and helped and showed the EMTs exactly where he was, but there wasn’t anything anyone could do. “He died doing what he loved and what he was passionate about, which is amazing, and I only hope I can go out that way.” In 2013, Siftar left his career as an engineer and salesman to resurrect the shuttered bike storefront on West 48th Street. Over the last few years, he became a passionate bicycle advocate for the Tangletown neighborhood and beyond. Monday night as mourners packed Edina Covenant Church for Siftar’s memorial service, the night’s story and song festivities at the Morningside After Dark program at Edina Morningside Community Church were dedicated to Siftar, who grew up in the closely-knit Morningside neighborhood and transferred its

Charlie Siftar (left) and Mike O’Leary of Charlie’s Tangletown Bike Shop. Submitted photo

small-town charms to Tangletown. “The community has been amazing,” said O’Leary. “I knew that Charlie had a big impact on the community, and I saw it on a daily basis, how he would reach out — with the junior high and Southside composite mountain bike teams and Washburn kids especially. The coaches have come in and told us how much he’ll be missed and how devastating it’s been for their children and for everybody else on the team. “The outpouring of love that I’ve felt over the last few days has been completely humbling. It’s a testament to Charlie, and it’s a testament to who he was as a person and how he lived his life. Everything Charlie did was for the community, because he wanted to. That’s who he was. He was so excited when he got his bike shop.” The 57-year-old Siftar was a member of the Tangletown Neighborhood Association and a volunteer with the free meal program Loaves and Fishes, and by all accounts his giving nature extended to family, friends and strangers — who didn’t remain strangers for very long. “We first met Charlie at his grand opening party in March of 2012, where we were greeted with a cold beer, a hamburger off the grill, and a complimentary

light to go on my bike,” said Tangletown resident and musician Craig Paquette. “We have walked by his bike shop nearly every day since. Charlie has been responsible for organizing, hosting and participating in numerous rides, seminars, and biking events for all ages throughout the area, and the last two years he has been the driving force for organizing and raising money for the Minneapolis Bike Week block party on 48th & Grand.” Tuesday morning, Charlie’s Tangletown Bike Shop was up and running and open for business as usual — albeit with a newfound mission to honor its namesake. “Charlie would make a point, if he saw someone walking by outside that was a customer or a friend or just somebody in the neighborhood, and going outside and, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ and greet ‘em and talk to ‘em. He would take his time and give it freely away. He was the most genuine person I’ve ever met,” said O’Leary. “Charlie was a mentor to me. I can safely say that a big reason I am the person I am today is because of him. He showed me what it was to be selfless, and he showed me what it was to reach out to the community and spend his time doing things for everybody else. It’s going to be sad that he’s not going to be here anymore. “The bike shop will stay open. I will promise that. There is a legacy to uphold. There’s something bigger than myself, and bigger than the other employees here, and an importance of this place to the community and it’s not something that will go away. It’s a staple on this corner. People loved Charlie, and people love this bike shop and Rebecca, his wife, and I, will figure out how to keep it open. So it’s not going anywhere. That’s my promise. It will always be Charlie’s bike shop.” Jim Walsh lives and grew up in East Harriet. He can be reached at jimwalsh086@gmail.com

vmoe@southwestjournal.com

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Amanda Wadeson

Voices

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A voice of support for Clinton I support Hillary Clinton for president and encourage everyone to vote for her in the presidential preference poll the evening of Tuesday, March 1. Hillary has a strong record of working for Minnesota and fighting for women and children. Hillary supports Governor Dayton’s paid parental leave proposal as a progressive step toward a national policy. She is supported by Governor Dayton and U.S. Sens. Franken and Klobuchar because they know she fights for Minnesota.

Hillary worked for the Children’s Defense Fund and fought against the segregation of children in the South. As First Lady, Hillary fought — and won — to provide health insurance to millions of children nationwide. She said women’s rights are human rights in a keynote to the UN in Beijing. When she was Secretary of State, Hillary changed State Department policies to require advocacy for women and children across the globe. She is the most qualified and experienced person to run for president since Thomas Jefferson. I am fighting for Hillary because I know she’s fighting for Minnesota. Brittany Edwards ECCO neighborhood resident SD 61 DFL Director

Appreciation for a sweet garbage man I wanted to share a nice story of our garbage man from the Armatage neighborhood. Our garbage collection is every Monday morning, and our dog Frankie loves to go outside when the garbage man is coming. It took us a while to figure out why, but understood when we saw our local garbage man throw her a treat every Monday. One day, her treat got caught up in the plants, he stop the truck, and got out to give this to her. She really loves Mondays, this is such a sweet gesture, we thought we would share as this exemplifies one person’s simple act of kindness that helps makes our local community even better. Kyle Nolan Armatage

southwestjournal.com / February 25–March 9, 2016 A9

MN HOUSE 60B SEAT DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES

FROM CAUCUS / PAGE A1

that’s what we’re prepared for.” He predicted 150,000 to 175,000 people would attend DFL caucuses. Sanders and Clinton recently traveled to the Twin Cities for the DFL’s annual Humphrey-Mondale dinner in St. Paul on Feb. 12. Before the dinner, Sanders also attended Neighborhood Organizing for Change’s forum on issues facing black communities at Patrick Henry High School. Secretary of State Steve Simon is urging all Minnesotans to get involved in the election process. “Our vote is our voice, and I encourage all Minnesotans to go out and caucus on March 1 and make their voices heard,” Simon said. “This is an important election year in Minnesota and going to a caucus is a great way for Minnesotans to show support for their preferred candidates, raise an important issue, and meet people in their community.” To participate in a caucus, Minnesotans must be eligible to vote in the November general election, live in the precinct and generally agree with the principles of the party hosting the caucus, according to the Secretary of State’s office. Besides the presidential race, the 2016 ballot in Minneapolis will include races for U.S. House (District 5), the state Legislature, Minnesota Supreme Court and Minneapolis School Board.

AT A GLANCE: MINNESOTA’S 2016 PRECINCT CAUCUSES What: Parties hold caucuses to endorse candidates, select delegates and discuss party values and goals. When: Tuesday, March 1, 7 p.m. Where: To find your caucus location, go to caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us For more info: Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website (sos. state.mn.us)

Phyllis Kahn

A scene from Minneapolis DFL caucus in 2013. File photo

In Minneapolis, one noteworthy race to watch is the battle for the state House 60B seat. The district includes Nicollet Island and neighborhoods near the University of Minnesota. Longtime legislator Phyllis Kahn faces competition from Mohamud Noor and Ilhan Omar for the DFL endorsement. Noor, executive director of the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota, ran against Kahn in 2014 and lost to her in the primary election. The caucus for the race erupted in violence Feb. 4, 2014 at the Brian Coyle Community Center, leaving Omar injured. She was serving as vice chair for Senate District 60 at the time. The incident didn’t deter her from remaining active in politics. A self-described “extreme extrovert,” Omar said she’s running to unify the district and increase opportunities for community engagement and co-governing. She currently serves as director for the Women Organizing Women Network, a group advocating for first- and second-generation immigrant women in Minnesota to get more involved in their communities. Previously she served as an aide to City Council Member Andrew Johnson (Ward 12). “We need a new representative with a new voice and a new perspective,” she said, adding that given the signifi-

Mohamud Noor

cant racial disparities in the state, it’s time for new leadership to address the problem. Her top priorities include pushing for ways to make college more affordable, tackling disparities in education through increased access to early education programs, advocating for reforms in the criminal justice system to end mass incarceration and pushing the University of Minnesota and state officials to divest from fossil fuel companies. Noor, meanwhile, said he’s eager to run again and energized a lot of people with his first campaign. A former School Board member, he’s also focused on improving educational outcomes and addressing the state’s disparities. If elected, he’d focus on pushing for more investments in education, including universal pre-K programs with wraparound social services, addressing poverty and youth radicalization. Kahn, who was first elected to the Legislature in 1972, said she’s running on her experience and strong relationships at the capital. She said she’s campaigning with the message to voters that she’s the person in the best position to do the most for the district as a veteran lawmaker. For the upcoming legislative session, some top priorities include promoting her bill banning people on the

Ilhan Omar

A10 February 25–March 9, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

News

By Dylan Thomas / dthomas@southwestjournal.com

Board takes charge of recruiting superintendent candidates Minneapolis Board of Education members decided Feb. 16 to take on the responsibility of recruiting district superintendent candidates themselves. Board members also agreed on the makeup, but not the membership, of the search team that will sort through the candidates and select up to three finalists for the district’s top job. The team is expected to include nine members: the board’s student representative, up to five people drawn from the community and just three School Board members, a number that falls short of the board’s quorum, allowing the search team’s deliberations to remain private. The board is also promising a much deeper level of community engagement as it prepares to re-launch the search for Minneapolis Public Schools’ next superintendent. The previous

search — conducted last fall and largely managed by executive search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates — crumbled in December and January when news broke of an abuse investigation in the home district of finalist Sergio Páez. Interim Superintendent Michael Goar was the board’s second choice, but Goar removed himself from consideration in January. The new process hashed-out by board members over several hours will require assistance from a search firm, but that firm, which has not been named, will mainly manage the application process. Board members are expected to tap their own professional networks, including links to organizations like the Council of Great City Schools, to recruit applicants.

“If we want an adequate pool there will have to be nine of us activating every network we have,” School Board Chair Jenny Arneson told her colleagues. A few of them, including board members Carla Bates and Josh Reimnitz, expressed concerns about their lack of expertise. But Board Member Nelson Inz noted the publicity around the previous failed search should help. “I’ll just say at this point it’s not a secret that we’re looking for a superintendent,” Inz said. “We have that going for us.” The board is also offering candidates a greater level of privacy this time around. It plans to make public only the names of the finalists. Some board members said the openness of the previous search process discouraged applicants who might have feared angering or offending

colleagues at their current jobs. Arneson said the board still aims to name a new superintendent by May. It plans to carry over a leadership profile developed for the previous search, but that outline of desired characteristics may be tweaked based on community input. The board pledged that parents, students, teachers and other community members would play a greater role throughout this new selection process. In hopes of avoiding the kind of last-minute revelation that sunk Páez’s candidacy, the board aims to hire a firm to conduct investigative background checks of the finalists. A site visit to Páez’s home district in Massachusetts was tacked-on to the end of the previous search, but now that visit is an explicit part of the board’s plan for all finalists.

Rubies robotics team heads to state

The Rubies are (from left): Ava Kian, Rachel Springer, Izzie Mack, Adelaide Fanner and Isabella Kremling. Submitted photo

A team of five Minneapolis middle and high school students took home the Control Award from the FIRST Tech Challenge Minnesota State Championship robotics tournament, held Feb. 5–6 in Bloomington. The Rubies, whose members are all Minneapolis Public Schools students in the 8th and 9th grades, were also the first all-girl team from the city to compete at the Minnesota championship. FIRST Tech Challenge is an international robotics competition for students in grades 7–12. The judges gave the Rubies the Control Award in recognition of the team’s mastery of robot intelligence. The award honors the team’s innovative use of sensors and software to control their robot. The FIRST Tech Challenge requires teams to design and build a robot that can run both autonomously and by remote control. The challenge is slightly different each year; for 2015–2016, the robots were required to rescue model “climbers”

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while navigating a playing field randomly covered in debris. Robots earned additional points for climbing a “mountain” on the edge of the playing field. Of the 133 teams that entered this year’s Minnesota FIRST Tech Challenge, just 48 advanced to state. Seven state tournament teams qualified for the FTC Super-Regional Championship to be held March 17–19 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

southwestjournal.com / February 25–March 9, 2016 A11 FROM CPM / PAGE A1

cial space, and at least one floor of office space to hold about 50 CPM employees, the firm’s co-founder, Dan Oberpriller, said. The remaining mix for the building isn’t finalized, but it could accommodate residences or offices. Building materials would include stone, metal paneling and extensive glass designed to provide a glowing beacon at night, said architect Lars Peterssen. CPM presented the preliminary plans at the February Livability Committee meeting of the East Calhoun Community Organization. Resident Linda Todd expressed worries about taller heights on Lake Street someday making the avenue feel like a “tunnel.” Oberpriller said the height is needed in order to construct a high-quality building. Another meeting attendee spoke in support of more office space. He said businesses who can’t find space in Uptown move to the North Loop. “What we lack in Uptown is daytime opportunities,” he said. “I’m excited to see you guys come forward with an office plan.” CPM also recently built office space at 1620 W. Lake St., now home to Peterssen/Keller Architecture and a new medical clinic, with about 1,500 square feet still available. Debra Herdman, co-owner of the Cal Surf building, said development has improved the area, but new construction in Uptown is starting to look the same. “It’s all big boxes. I just think you could

What we lack in Uptown is daytime opportunities. I’m excited to see you guys come forward with an office plan.

CPM Development wants to build retail space, a new CPM headquarters, additional offices or condos, and a penthouse at the southeast corner of Lake & Knox. Image by Peterssen/ Keller Architecture

do something more exciting. It doesn’t have longevity written on it,” Herdman said. “One developer is developing all of Uptown.” “We use different architects,” Oberpriller said in response. He said they are using timeless materials and trying to balance the desire for eye-catching architecture with respect for the residents. But they may revise the design, he said. “We’ll play with that architecture,” he said. “Will the basement parking be waterproof?” asked one attendee, a question met with laughter. In order to stop pumping groundwater out of a parking garage and into the Chain of Lakes, CPM agreed last year to flood the lowest parking level at 1800 Lake. The new project is located across the street from 1800 Lake. Enclosed parking would stand on the ground floor as well as one lower level, positioned above the water table. Oberpriller said about 22 of the 27

parking spaces would go to CPM employees. Employees currently based at 1800 Lake are allocated five spaces to park, he said. The 3000 block of Knox requires permits for parking, a feature that some residents said simply pushes parked cars onto neighboring blocks. Cal Surf co-owner John Kokesh said it’s interesting to see how times have changed in the neighborhood. He once owned the proposed development site with a partner in 1996, he said, and they wanted to build an 18-foot, onestory commercial building on the corner. The neighborhood group “pretty much torpedoed” that idea, he said. “Back then, the numbers worked,” he said. “Now, you’ve got to have five stories to break even.” CPM continues to develop the area. Across the street, CPM developed 1800 Lake and the neighboring “seventeen10” project under

construction with a mix of apartments, office and commercial space. Apartments are under construction at the southwest corner of Lagoon & Irving. A new apartment and office building is now open at the northeast corner of Lake & James. Target recently announced it will occupy the ground floor of another CPM project at the northwest corner of Lake & Fremont (formerly Cheapo). CPM has previously shown interest in purchasing 1700 and 1704 W. Lake as well. “I think everybody in the area is waiting for me to knock on their door,” Oberpriller said. The site is currently zoned C1 and R4, and the project would seek C1 zoning. The developer would also seek an increase in the allowed floor area ratio, would likely seek a variance from parking requirements, and would request a conditional use permit to build 61 feet, above the 35-foot height automatically granted in the Shoreland Overlay District near Lake Calhoun.

A12 February 25–March 9, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

UNDER FIRE

A special report on gun violence

FROM GUN CRIMES / PAGE A1

NIBIN has turned those casings — bits of crime scene debris that once might have sat uselessly on a shelf in the property storage room —into potentially crucial pieces of evidence, Lt. Mike Taylor of the department’s weapons unit said. “It’s connected shots fired cases and homicides to a gun recovered on a search warrant,” Taylor said. “It’s helped develop and helped connect cases and individuals that, for long-term investigations, multiple parties were charged.” Last year, NIBIN connected a Ruger .380 pistol recovered by Minneapolis police from an April 2015 assault to bullet casings found near a March 2015 shots-fired incident. That pistol ultimately was tied to a 28-year-old St. Paul man who allegedly bought the weapon just a week before the shots-fired incident and resold it without a license. The NIBIN hit was one piece of a larger case assembled by U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger against the man, Eitan Benjamin Feldman. On Feb. 18, Feldman was indicted in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis on one count of dealing in firearms without a license and nine counts of making false statements during a firearm purchase. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives owns and operates NIBIN, which launched in 1999. Since then, ATF reports, the network has produced nearly 70,000 “hits” linking two or more bullet casings back to the same gun. Calvin Meyer, a group supervisor for the ATF’s St. Paul Crime Gun Intelligence Center, said the ability to quickly link evidence from multiple crime scenes to one weapon is the “biggest difference” NIBIN has made for investigators.

A gun’s firing pin will leave a unique mark on the bullet casing. Photos by Dylan Thomas

“NIBIN has allowed ATF and our local partners to focus our time and our resources on the people who are actually pulling the trigger,” Meyer said.

Making connections In Minnesota, just the Minneapolis Police Department and the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension have NIBIN terminals. After the MPD’s system got an upgrade in 2014, the department committed two officers on what’s called the “shoot team” to the collection of casings. “Every time someone fires a gun — or a semi-automatic handgun, we’ll say — it leaves a shell casing that’s ejected who knows where,” Taylor said. “By and large, criminals don’t collect the shell casings.” Police do. Members of the shoot team will return to crime scenes by daylight to pick up casings that were overlooked, and they regularly follow-up on suspected shootings detected by the

Forensic firearms technician Tim Sittlow in the Minneapolis Police firearms reference collection.

department’s ShotSpotter technology, a network of audio sensors attuned to gunshots. Meyer said ShotSpotter is one big reason why the ATF placed a NIBIN terminal in Minneapolis. The department is a significant source of ballistics data for the network. Once the casings are entered into NIBIN, there’s a possibility investigators will find links to other crimes committed with the same weapon. “There have been occasions when the discharged cartridge casing at one scene a month earlier can be connected to a totally different scene two months down the road and maybe a third scene in-between,” Taylor said. “You look at similar parties in all the cases and try to develop a case form there.”

‘A matching game’ The Integrated Ballistics Identification System images bullet casings in high resolution.

Tim Sittlow is the forensics firearms technician who works with the NIBIN terminal in Minneapolis. Sittlow’s office houses a second machine that’s nearly as important, a big black box dubbed IBIS. The Integrated Ballistics Identification System is basically a high-powered scanner used to capture images of casings in super-high resolution. Those images are then fed into NIBIN. IBIS is used to scan casings, not bullets — an important distinction. Both are components of an ammunition cartridge, but the bullet is the actual projectile that gets shot out of a gun while the casing is left behind. “Bullets are more difficult (to identify) because they go through bodies, hip bone, sheetrock, cars, metal,” Sittlow said. “It’s just too difficult.” Casings, however, retain the mark made by a gun’s firing pin. That mark is as unique as a human fingerprint, and it’s that uniqueness that makes

NIBIN a powerful tool. “Whatever is on (the firing pin) from the factory — scratches, anything that’s left over — gets imprinted on (the cartridge casing),” Sittlow explained. At his computer, Sittlow can pull up images of multiple casings and compare them side-by-side, examining tiny striations scratched into the metal and comparing evidence of “flow back,” or metal that became molten at the moment of firing and then hardened again. “Basically, it’s a matching game for me,” he said. “… It can be really obvious. It can be real difficult.” In 2015, Sittlow made more than 1,200 entries into the NIBIN system and examined close to 4,000 cartridge casings. He got 263 hits, matching one casing to another already in the system. Sittlow can also search through NIBIN entries made in other parts of the country. “If I go down to the property room and I see that the gun is stolen out of, say, Chicago, I will automatically search Chicago, Wisconsin and Minnesota — follow the trail of wherever it was stolen out of,” he explained. Sittlow usually only has to look at just the top 20 or so casing images that NIBIN determines are the most-likely matches. He passes evidence of the match along to the department’s firearms examiners, who confirm a match by examining a casing under a microscope. NIBIN narrows the possibilities, but ultimately the human eye makes the match. “Up until that point, we just have a potential hit,” Sittlow said.

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A14 February 25–March 9, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

UNDER FIRE

A special report on gun violence

How one city has reduced gun deaths By Sarah McKenzie / smckenzie@southwestjournal.com

An innovative program tackling gun violence in Richmond, Calif. is credited with a substantial reduction in firearm-related homicides in the city northeast of San Francisco. DeVone Boggan launched the Office of Neighborhood Safety in late October 2007 in the city of roughly 100,000 people. “The office is a non-law enforcement government entity with one single focus — and that is to reduce violent assaults and Boggan associated deaths,” Boggan said during a recent interview. The program reaches out to active firearm offenders in the community and offers them Operation Peacemaker Fellowships. Fellows are matched with case managers who help them develop “life maps,” get opportunities to travel around the state and country and are offered paid internships, Boggan said. Potential fellows are identified through street outreach work, tips from the community and from past fellows. Boggan said nearly everyone who is offered a fellowship and a pathway out of violence accepts. The office typically serves about 40 fellows every 18 months. “Most of them don’t want to live this way. They’re born into this sh**,” Boggan said. “No one has presented a real, responsive, robust, credible, legitimate alternative to what they are experiencing.” The City of Richmond covers about

$980,000 of the program’s annual operating expenses and another $1 million to $1.5 million in private fundraising makes up the rest of the budget, Boggan said. In 2007, the city had 45 homicides involving firearms — making it one of the most dangerous cities in the country with a homicide rate of 45.9 per 100,000 residents, according to a report on the program by the National Council on Crime & Delinquency. Young black men — as in other major American cities — have disproportionately been victims of gun violence in Richmond. For homicides between 2005 and 2012 in the city, 73 percent were African American, 88 percent were male and 36 percent were between the ages of 18 and 24, according to U.S. Department of Justice data. By 2014, the homicide count dropped to 11, the lowest level in the city since 1991, according to the Contra Costa Times. In 2015, however, homicides spiked to 21. Still, Boggan said the work of the Office of Neighborhood Safety has had a tremendous impact. “We went from the sixth most dangerous city in the country based on the FBI ratings to the 61st most dangerous city in the country,” he said. He said 79 percent of the program’s fellows give up gun violence and don’t end up involved in another gun crime. Overall, the Office of Neighborhood Safety has provided gang prevention services to more than 1,600 young people.

Outreach workers check-in with fellows several times throughout the day to see how they are doing and to get progress reports. Case workers are assigned to each fellow to help them create their life map, which outlines goals related to personal safety, transportation, employment, education, mental health and anger management, among other things. “We literally help them negotiate their life map and achieve goals on a daily basis,” Boggan said. After six months as fellows, they become eligible for $1,000 monthly stipends for the remainder of their time with the program. They also get the chance to travel around California to meet with business and community leaders. When they go on trips out of the state, fellows travel with people in rival gangs or someone they have had a dispute with in the past. “When they travel out of state or out of the country, they are traveling with people they are trying to kill — that is provocative,” Boggan said. Since it launched, the Office for Neighborhood Safety has taken 35 excursions with fellows, including trips to South Africa, Mexico City and Dubai. The trips are “intense as hell,” Boggan said, but often transformative. “They begin to see the humanity in one another,” he said. “A common testimony from our fellow is, ‘I actually like this dude more than the guys I used to go out shooting at him with.’” Fellows are also offered subsidized intern-

ABOUT THIS PROJECT The Journals have taken an in-depth look at gun violence in Minneapolis, along with solutions locally and nationally addressing the problem. To read stories from our Feb. 11 edition, go to southwestjournal.com/under-fire.

ships that typically last nine to 12 months and the opportunity to network with a group of retired men of color who offer mentoring and guidance called the Elders Circle. Other cities have taken notice of Richmond’s model for approaching gun violence. Neighboring Oakland is launching a similar program this year and Boggan has also worked with officials in Washington, D.C., to launch fellowships. Boggan said he hears from new cities every week interested in learning more about the Office for Neighborhood Safety. He said it’s important for city leaders to come to grips with the realities of gun violence and let the young men who have been victims and perpetrators of the violence help steer a path toward peace. “We got to engage these young men who are most responsible or closest to this violence directly, and it has to be around authentic relationships and partnerships,” he said. “We need to embrace these young men as partners around solving a very critical problem in our cities.”

southwestjournal.com / February 25–March 9, 2016 A15

UNDER FIRE

A special report on gun violence

How Minnesota compares to other states on gun laws By Sarah McKenzie / smckenzie@southwestjournal.com

Minnesota earned a grade of “C” for the strength of its gun laws as part of the 2015 Gun Law State Scorecard compiled by the California-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The national law center focuses on gun violence prevention and promoting smart gun legislation as a way to address the country’s gun violence epidemic. It notes that 117,000 Americans are shot each year and 33,000 die annually as the result of gun violence. In its annual surveys, it has found a correlation — states with stronger laws have fewer gun deaths per capita than states with weaker laws. California ranked number one on the list of the states with the strongest gun laws, followed by Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York. All of those states earned a grade of “A minus.” For several years California has required all gun sales to be processed through a licensed dealer and buyers to undergo background checks. It also bans most assault weapons and prohibits the sale or transfer of large capacity ammunition magazines, according to the gun law state scorecard. It was also the first state in the nation to require handgun microstamping, which would allow law enforcement to match a cartridge case found at a crime scene with the person who bought the gun. Each bullet fired by the gun is microstamped with the make, model and serial number of the firearm. California also has a Gun Violence Restraining Order law that allows family members or law enforcement to petition the court for the restraining order when there is sufficient evidence that an individual might harm his or herself or other people. When the restraining order is in place, that person is barred from buying or possessing firearms or ammunition. Law enforcement can also remove firearms and ammunition the person already has in their possession. It went into effect Jan. 1. Kansas got the worst score in 2015. It recently enacted a law that allows people to carry hidden, loaded guns in public. It also does not require a background check for unlicensed gun sales. Minnesota ranked 43rd among the states with the highest level of gun deaths and 12th among states for the strength of its gun laws. Minnesota doesn’t require background checks on the private sale of firearms between unlicensed parties. Minnesota gun laws highlighted by the center include child access prevention requirements for gun owners, banning firearm possession by

certain convicted criminals and domestic abusers and regulating the possession and sale of some semiautomatic military-assault weapons. Minnesota Rep. Kim Norton, a DFLer from Rochester, unveiled a gun safety bill Jan. 28 for the upcoming legislative session designed to reduce accidental deaths, suicides and impulse shootings. The bill calls for universal background checks on gun sales to close a loophole in state law that currently allows gun sales to be made without background checks at gun shows by unlicensed dealers or via online sales. The proposal also increases the waiting period for the issuance of a transfer permit for a gun from seven to 28 days and imposes new safety requirements for storing guns and training requirements for gun buyers. “Without safeguards like the ones under this bill, it is only a matter of time before the next accident, injury or death caused by a gun in the wrong hands, and it is simply unacceptable to do nothing,” Norton said. “While President Obama’s executive order was a good step forward, states like Minnesota need to take action to address preventable tragedies.” Bryan Strawser, executive director of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, said Norton’s bill is “filled with failed gun control strategies of the past.” Instead, he suggested other remedies for dealing with gun violence, including improving access to mental health services, dealing with under-sentencing of firearm crimes in the courts and increasing funding for urban police forces. “In the San Bernardino and Colorado Springs shootings, the shooters passed a background check,” he said. “Therefore imposing universal background checks as Rep. Norton proposes to do in this bill would do nothing but impose an undue burden on law-abiding gun owners.” Norton, however, said an “overwhelming majority” of Minnesotans support universal background checks. “A failure of the Legislature to act on an issue as common sense as this one, which ensures everyone who purchases a gun is able to pass a background check, fails the victims and families of these heartbreaking occurrences,” she said. “It’s incomprehensible to me that what amounts to the minor inconvenience of requiring a background check for every gun sale or transfer is so objectionable in the wake of what’s happened.”

MINNESOTA’S GUN LAW GRADE: C The center indicated Minnesota could improve its score by requiring background checks on private sales, limiting the number of guns a person can buy at one time and requiring the removal of firearms from the scene of a domestic violence incident, among other things. For more information visit gunlawscorecard.org. Source: Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence’s 2015 Gun Law State Score Card

A16 February 25–March 9, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

By Dylan Thomas / dthomas@southwestjournal.com

Arboretum hosts Schoolyard Gardens Conference A national leader in school-based gardens is the keynote speaker at the 2016 Schoolyard Gardens Conference. Betti Wiggins, the executive director of Detroit Public Schools’ Office of School Nutrition, is scheduled to address the daylong conference taking place 8:30 a.m.–4 p.m. March 4 at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska. The conference brings together new and experienced growers to learn about both the nutritional and educational benefits of schoolyard gardens. Wiggins led the development of the Detroit School Garden Collaborative, a farm-to-school initiative that’s responsible for creating 78 schoolyard gardens and the 4-acre Drew Farms. The gardens and farm, established in 2012, are both a resource

for teachers and a source of fresh produce for Detroit’s school cafeterias. The cost of the conference is $65 for Arboretum members and conference affiliates. General admission tickets are

$75. For more information, or to register online, go to arboretum.umn.edu/schoolyards2016.aspx.

The state of urban agriculture The Minnesota Department of Agriculture delivered a report on how to promote urban agriculture in the state’s cities in January. Requested in 2015 by the Minnesota State Legislature, the report is a response to the increased interest in urban agriculture and is meant to provide guidance on future policy options. The report notes that a growing local foods movement, health concerns about the prevalence of obesity, rising food costs and an interest in expanding access to fresh fruits and vegetables in urban areas are all factors driving the growth of urban agriculture. Citing a recent survey by the nonprofit Gardening Matters, the report notes there were an estimated 652 community gardens in Minnesota as of 2015. More than 80 percent were located in the seven-county

Twin Cities metropolitan area, and more than 90 percent were dedicated to food production. The report outlines common barriers to urban agriculture, including soil contamination and vandalism; restrictive government policies; the challenges growers face in staffing, financing and coordinating work at their gardens; and lingering negative perceptions of urban agriculture. The report notes local governments — the cities, themselves — “play one of the most important roles in promoting or inhibiting urban agriculture through planning policy.” It recommends that they review existing regulations that act as barriers to urban agriculture and, if they haven’t already, develop zoning and land-use policies for community gardens, market farms,

beekeeping and related activities. Suggestions for state-level policy changes include developing new funding sources for urban agriculture projects, simplifying the regulatory environment for small-scale commercial growers and using the state’s extension service to support urban farmers. The Department of Agriculture posted an online survey and hosted three public meetings in December to gather input on the report. The authors also consulted directly with Homegrown Minneapolis, the Hmong American Farmers Association and the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage. To read a copy of the report online, go to mda.state.mn.us/news/~/media/Files/ news/govrelations/legrpt-urbanag2016.pdf.

Metro Blooms has opened registration for its popular series of spring raingarden workshops. The nonprofit has so far scheduled ten opportunities to learn about raingarden design and construction, native plant species, cost-share programs and other tips. Space is limited, and the three-hour workshops often fill up quickly. Metro Blooms promotes the planting of raingardens as a way to beautify neighborhoods, add native habitat and protect area watersheds. Raingardens capture stormwater runoff and allow it to soak into the ground, reducing the amount of pollution carried by rain into lakes and streams. This year’s first workshop is scheduled for March 31 at the Longfellow Park Recreation Center, but there are nine other opportunities to attend a workshop through May 21. Five of the workshops take place at various locations within Minneapolis. For more information, or to register, go to metroblooms.org.

Find a community garden Gardening Matters is ready to help connect community members with openings at community gardens in Minneapolis and statewide. The Minneapolis-based non-profit organization maintains an online map of community gardens on its website and is willing to connect those eager to grow with open garden plots. The map includes the locations and descriptions of dozens of gardens where neighbors grow both flowers and produce on shared land. To search for community garden openings, go to gardeningmatters.org/find-garden.

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southwestjournal.com / February 25–March 9, 2016 A17

By Eric Best / ebest@southwestjournal.com

Park Board considers other options to move referendum forward The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board directed staff Feb. 17 to seek all possible options in getting a referendum before voters this November in order to maintain the city’s neighborhood parks. Commissioners voted 8-1 on a resolution from President Liz Wielinski to pursue all four routes to move the measure forward. The proposal follows a presentation from the city attorney’s office arguing that the City Council does not have the authority under the city charter or state law to place it on the ballot. The City Council is the board’s preferred route, with the city being its closest partner. Other parties, including the City Charter Commission, the Legislature or a group of citizens, could authorize putting the park levy increase onto the ballot. Even if the board goes through these other options, council members will have to approve the ballot question’s wording. The Park Board is seeking to raise about $15 million each year for the life of the referendum. Superintendent Jayne Miller plans to release more details in April on how the board will spend the estimated $77 million the levy

The Park Board is seeking an additional $15 million per year under a referendum to repair neighborhood parks, such as Audubon Park (above) and Lynnhurst Park (right). Photos courtesy of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

increase will raise in its first five years. The measure follows more than a year of meetings with the public and park officials on annual funding gaps in maintaining the city’s aging neighborhood parks. Miller estimates the increase would translate

to $66 a year for taxpayers with a $190,000 home, about $112 a year for those with $300,000 homes and about $174 annually for those with $450,000 homes. Park commissioners have already received pushback from Mayor Betsy Hodges,

who vetoed the proposal earlier this year only to have the board override her action. Hodges called on the board to redraft the proposal to allow for more flexibility to use the funds to preserve essential services, among other concerns. The board does have support from a citizen group led by former Hennepin County commissioner Mark Andrew. They would need to collect nearly 7,000 signatures later this year to authorize the ballot measure, according to the board.

Park Board launches park dedication tool The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has unveiled a new tool to track park dedication dollars across the city. The tool, available online, maps money the board is collecting through a new park dedication fee assessed from development projects, similar to fees collected in park systems nationwide. Adam Arvidson, the board’s director of strategic planning, said they’ve collected approximately $1.7 million since January 2014 when the fees went into effect. He said the map is meant to increase transparency and be used as an internal

tool for park staff. “We want to be able to show our community how we’re stewarding this money,” he said. The map shows where construction permits have been issued, the amount raised by a project and the funds available within a neighborhood. Four neighborhoods have seen allocations: Near North, Folwell, Seward and Bryant. The board used the park dedication dollars to enhance three playgrounds and one wading pool. The board must allocate the funds within the neighborhood of the development project, so

MORE ONLINE You can find the Park Dedication mapping tool at minneapolisparks.org under Park Care & Improvements

rather than a lump sum, the funds are split across the city’s 81 neighborhoods. The board can only spend dedication dollars on land acquisition, new recreation facilities, or expanded amenities. Because the fee is meant to create park facili-

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A18 February 25–March 9, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

News

By Michelle Bruch / mbruch@southwestjournal.com

Linden Hills rezoning advances through city approval process

MEDIUM DENSITY RESIDENTIAL REZONING GLENDALE

XERXES AVE S

W 44TH ST BEARD AVE S

she hears a lot opposition to the R4 zoning proposed near 44th & Xerxes, which would allow heights up to four stories. She said residents would prefer to see zoning at R3, limiting heights to two-and-a-half stories. Linden Hills resident Constance Pepin suggested city officials zone the area R3 and consider granting conditional use permits for additional height, rather than starting at R4 and seeing developers request to build higher. “You have that power tonight to do it at R3 instead of R4 and save us a lot of grief,” Pepin said. “…You can achieve the goal of medium density without ripping people off and pushing up over the four-story limit.” City staff said they recommended R4 zoning based on language in the small area plan that allows three- or four-story buildings. That language was added late in the small area planning process and is much debated in the neighborhood. “The height is just a straight interpretation of the policy of the plan saying three or four stories is appropriate,” Schaffer said. Another proposal would rezone three pieces of land into commercial property. They include a city parking lot at 44th & Beard, which is part of the old trolley right-of-way across from Turtle Bread; the France 44 Wine and Spirits lot at 4351 France Ave. S., where residential and commercial zoning is currently split through the parking lot; and the Wild Rumpus building

FRANCE AVE S

A proposal to rezone portions of Linden Hills to allow more density has passed the city Planning Commission, with a final City Council vote pending in March. The changes would allow up to four stories or 56 feet at the northeast corner of 46th & France, a childcare facility at 44th & Drew, and the north side of 44th Street between Xerxes and St. Thomas the Apostle Church. The proposal would also replace the current Linden Hills Overlay District with guidelines in the Pedestrian Oriented Overlay District used citywide. If adopted, the new district would reduce parking requirements. Linden Hills has a higher parking requirement than anywhere else in the city, according to Principal City Planner Brian Schaffer. The new district would also require 10-foot setbacks on the top floor of commercial buildings as well as buildings more than three stories. Other Pedestrian Oriented Overlay Districts exist in Uptown and spots like 54th & Lyndale, 58th & Lyndale, and 48th & Chicago. City staff said the rezoning follows Linden Hills’ adopted small area plan, which was designed with neighborhood input to guide future development. In written comments, some residents said they worry more density could lead to parking and traffic issues, and said they don’t want to see cars circling to find parking spots. Linden Hills resident Sally Mars said

Lake

W 46TH ST

Harriet

The Linden Hills Small Area Plan includes three areas where future land use was designated Medium Density Residential at 20-50 dwelling units per acre.

at 2718 W. 43rd St., which also has split zoning. Such a change would normally trigger a requirement for consent from two-thirds of property owners within 100 feet, impacting more than 50 property owners in this case. City staff asked the Planning Commission to rule such consent impractical, as staff time is limited and state statute mandates consistency between adopted land use policy and the city’s zoning. Planning Commissioners discussed whether obtaining consent would be impractical. “Knocking on a few doors is not hard,” Commissioner Rebecca Gagnon said. Commissioner Alissa Luepke Pier said if

the threshold for consent wasn’t reached, they would find themselves in conflict with state statute and would spend a lot of time going back to square one. Commissioners voted 7–1 in favor of the zoning changes. The city’s Zoning & Planning Committee is scheduled to take up the Linden Hills rezoning proposal on March 3, followed by the full City Council on March 18.

East Harriet Farmstead Neighborhood Association (EHFNA): Board meets 1st Wednesday monthly at Walker Methodist, 3737 Bryant Ave. S. (Health Service door)

Kingfield Neighborhood Association (KFNA): Board meets 2nd Wednesday monthly at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, 41st & Nicollet.

Stevens Square Community Organization (SSCO): Board meets 3rd Thursday monthly at the Loring-Nicollet Community Center, 1925 Nicollet Ave. S.

East Isles Residents Association (EIRA): Board meets 2nd Tuesday monthly at Grace-Trinity Community Church, 1430 W. 28th St.

Linden Hills Neighborhood Council (LHiNC): Board meets 1st Tuesday monthly at Linden Hills Park, 3100 W. 43rd St.

Tangletown Neighborhood Association (TNA): Board meets 3rd Monday monthly at Fuller Park, 4800 Grand Ave.

Fulton Neighborhood Association (FNA): Board meets 2nd Wednesday monthly at Pershing Park, 3523 W. 48th St.

Lowry Hill Neighborhood Association (LHNA): Board meets 1st Tuesday monthly at Kenwood Neighborhood Center, 2101 W. Franklin Ave.

West Calhoun Neighborhood Council: Board meets 2nd Tuesday monthly at 6 p.m. at The Bakken, 3537 Zenith Ave. S.

Hale Page Diamond Lake Community Association (HPDL): Board meets last Monday of the month at 5144 13th Ave. S.

Lowry Hill East (Wedge): Board meets 3rd Wednesday monthly at Jefferson Elementary School, 1200 W. 26th St.

Kenny Neighborhood Association (KNA): Board meets 3rd Tuesday monthly at Kenny Park Building, 1328 W. 58th St.

Lyndale Neighborhood Association (LNA): General membership meetings are on the 4th Monday monthly at Painter Park, 34th & Lyndale.

SOUTHWEST NEIGHBORHOOD GROUP MEETING TIMES Armatage Neighborhood Association (ANA): Board meets 3rd Tuesday monthly at Armatage Park, 57th & Russell. Bryn Mawr Neighborhood Association (BMNA): Board meets 2nd Wednesday monthly at Bryn Mawr School, 252 Upton Ave. S. Calhoun Area Residents Action Group (CARAG): Board meets 3rd Tuesday monthly at Bryant Square Park, 3101 Bryant Ave. S. Cedar-Isles-Dean Neighborhood Association (CIDNA): Board meets every 2nd Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m. at Jones-Harrison Residence, 3700 Cedar Lake Ave. East Calhoun Community Organization (ECCO): Board meets 1st Thursday monthly at St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church, 3450 Irving Ave. S.

Kenwood Isles Area Association (KIAA): Board meets 1st Monday monthly at Kenwood Neighborhood Center, 2101 W. Franklin Ave.

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Lynnhurst Neighborhood Association (LYNAS): Board meets 2nd Tuesday monthly at 6 p.m. at Lynnhurst Community Center, 50th & West Minnehaha Parkway.

Whittier Alliance: Board meets 4th Thursday monthly at the Whittier Recreation Center, 425 W. 26 St. Windom Community Council: Board meets 2nd Thursday monthly at Windom Community Center, 5821 Wentworth Ave.

southwestjournal.com / February 25–March 9, 2016 A19

News

Minneapolis Institute of Arts hosts Rock the Cradle March 6. Submitted photo

Rockin’ neighborhood events Rock ‘n’ roll is the theme for several familyfriendly events on the calendar.

mances (including Choo Choo Bob’s Engineer Paul), kids’ disco, a photo booth, hands-on activities, exhibits and DJ story times. The event is free, sponsored by The Current, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, Mia and Children’s Theatre Company.

• Rock Kenwood is Saturday, Feb. 27 at the Kenwood Recreation Center. There will be an interactive dance show, rock star makeovers and photo shoots, artwork creation stations, snacks and perhaps a flash mob of Uptown Funk, performed by kids. The charge is $20 per family or $8 per individual. The event runs from 3 p.m.–6 p.m. at 2101 Franklin Ave.

• Tots Rock! is Saturday, March 19 at the Windom South Recreation Center. The day includes a DJ and dance party, henna, Toppers pizza available for sale, Wee Bop dance classes, Brighter Minds Music classes and other rock star stations. The cost is $15 per family. The event runs from 3 p.m.–6 p.m. at 5821 Wentworth Ave. S.

• Rock the Cradle is Sunday, March 6 at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The event runs from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. and includes live perfor-

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Southwest Journal February 25–March 9, 2016

THE

WARMING HOUSE

By Michelle Bruch / mbruch@southwestjournal.com

Artist Natalie Gelman performs at a Minneapolis house concert. Submitted photo

Living rooms across Minneapolis are doubling as stages for house concerts. This spring, house concert hosts and local musicians will open a new music venue called The Warming House at 40th & Bryant. They are aiming for the feel of a house concert, with a guest list that’s open to the public. “I always thought that Minneapolis lacked a true listening room,” said Brianna Lane, executive director of The Warming House. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a venue that felt like a house?” The Warming House would feature a bike shop operated by cyclist and musician Greg Neis, with a lounge in the back and a stage in the basement. “I keep thinking of it being like a living room you would never dare to do on your own,” Lane said. “It’s going to be really cozy and wonderful.” The venue would offer concessions and partner with neighborhood restaurants or food trucks. But The Warming House isn’t focused on food and drinks. Shows are designed for audiences of 50 or less, without extra chatter or noise from espresso machines. “We want to make sure the music comes first,” Lane said. Lane is an Americana singer-songwriter who has spent many years touring — even touring on bicycle. She knows how it feels to serve as background noise in a crowded bar. “You name it, I’ve probably played there,” she said. “When you’re playing out of town, playing at a bar is the worst jukebox feeling. … You put so much energy into writing songs, and you want to get heard, and you go and present the songs — and you may as well be singing to your cat.” Lane said house concerts typically turn out better for her on revenue, and it’s a better format for attentive fans. “You can actually hear the music and engage on an intimate level,” she said. “I knew once I had a place of my own I would need to host house concerts.” Brian Melendez has packed 50 people in to his Lowry Hill home, with people standing in the back or sitting on the stairs. He keeps the invite list limited to people he knows, and he provides pizza or barbeque and drinks. Melendez shrugs off the expense, comparing it to hosting a holiday party. He doesn’t sell tickets, but he passes the hat and guests SEE WARMING HOUSE / PAGE B8

5 Songwriter Ryan Lee performs at a house concert in Kingfield. Photo by Michelle Bruch

American Refugee Committee

Where We Live

A JOURNAL COMMITMENT TO HIGHLIGHTING GREAT COMMUNITY CAUSES

 After months of work and dedication, the second Asili primary care clinic has opened. The clinic will provide residents of Karambi, a community of nearly 10,000 people, with high quality, affordable health care. Photo courtesy of the American Refugee Committee

American Refugee Committee pioneers new project fighting childhood mortality in Africa

A humanitarian project built from the ground up The American Refugee Committee (ARC) has been helping refugees regain control of their lives for 35 years. Location While the conflicts change from year to year, ARC’s commitment to refugees worldwide has never wavered. ARC 615 1st Ave. NE, Suite 500 teams are currently on the ground delivering humanitarian relief in Thailand, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda, Pakistan, Myanmar, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Contact The Democratic Republic of Congo is the site for ARC’s pioneering new social enterprise called the Asili project. 612-872-7060 Asili means “foundation” in Swahili. The project takes a holistic approach to fighting childhood mortality and improving quality of life in Africa’s second largest country. Website ARC leaders believe human beings experiencing the most difficult time in their lives are the experts at knowing arcrelief.org exactly what they need. To begin the Asili project, ARC partnered with a San Francisco-based design firm called IDEO. Staff from IDEO traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo and interviewed scores of villagers to get their input for Year Founded this social enterprise designed to run as a business — not as a charity. 1981 What they’ve learned has been the driving force behind the Asili project. The businesses under the Asili umbrella include a health care clinic, a clean water distribution system with centrally located kiosks, and an agricultural co-op to help farmers increase their yields and incomes. Services are linked through a small monthly membership, which allows members to use the services at reduced rates. Each Asili business is projected to be profitable within three years, creating new jobs and offering the possibility of franchisement to local entrepreneurs. Why was this place chosen? The DRC was torn apart by the Great African War, which raged from 1998 to 2013. The war involved nine African countries, countless heavily armed militia groups and resulted in the deaths of more than 5.4 million people. In its aftermath, the DRC has struggled to establish any kind of reasonable progress. Though extremely rich in natural resources, the political turmoil, lack of physical infrastructure, deep-rooted corruption, and centuries of both commercial and colonial exploitation have been devastating. Asili business manager Tad Lunden said the people involved in the Asili initiative have created sustainable business models that will make life better for the Congolese people. “ARC believes that three Asili Zones will be operating in the DRC in the next three years,” Lunden said. “The zones will be in areas where there is no longer active conflict, and each will provide services to about 10,000 people. The agricultural co-op is always established first, giving a boost to the local economy. That makes it possible for families and individuals to invest in the sanitary drinking water systems and greatly improved health care.” With the Asili project, ARC is testing out a new way to deliver social services, save lives and transform communities. They flipped the usual model of humanitarian aid on its head by first listening to the Congolese, and designing sustainable services with their needs and ability to pay in mind.

By the numbers

309

The number of tons of potatoes purchased by the first agricultural co-op with a guaranteed, fair price paid to farmers for their work.

792,516

The number of gallons of pure drinking water delivered to centrally located kiosks in the first Asili Zone. The kiosks reduce the walk children must make to gather water from two hours to 10 minutes.

2,205

The number of health consultations completed in the first Asili Zone since it opened in 2014.

What you can do Make a donation to the ongoing work of ARC. Ninety cents out of every dollar goes to support refugees reclaim their lives. Shop the Maker’s Collection of high quality gifts from Minnesota artisans. Every purchase from the Maker’s Collection supports local businesses, while investing in ARC projects worldwide: (shopmakers.org) Read Adam Hochschild’s book “King Leopold’s Ghost” to understand the back story of Belgian colonization in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

About the Where We Live project This project is an ongoing series spearheaded by Journals’ publisher Janis Hall showcasing Minneapolis nonprofits doing important work in the community. The editorial team has selected organizations to spotlight.

southwestjournal.com / February 25–March 9, 2016 B3

Focus

A porcelain sculpture by Salt Lake City artist Lauren Gallaspy. Submitted image

“Sisters,” a mixed-media piece by Delita Martin, who maintains a studio in Little Rock, Ark. Submitted image

Discovering art in every nook and cranny of America By Dylan Thomas / dthomas@southwestjournal.com

Adonna Khare lives in southern California, and earlier this year the artist — known for large-scale, fantastical pencil drawings — had her first solo museum show open in Boise, Idaho. It wasn’t Boise but 1,300 miles east in soggy, fast-thawing Minneapolis where Khare found herself in mid-February, a guest for the opening of “State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now” at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. She is one of about 100 artists, most of them not well known outside of their local art scenes, now standing under a brighter spotlight because of the exhibition. Without “State of the Art,” Khare said, there would be no solo show in Boise. Being selected for inclusion by curators Don Bacigalupi and Chad Alligood of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, where the show opened in 2014, added “legitimacy” to her career, she said. “This is a dream come true, to be a part of this show,” Khare said. Maybe it just seems obvious in a place like Minneapolis, with its network of non-profit galleries and its endless art crawls, but there are thousands of American artists making vital work that goes largely unrecognized. “State of the Art” is an audacious attempt to survey that vast landscape.

The Bentonville, Ark., museum spent $4 million on the show, ultimately acquiring most of the work on display. Bacigalupi and Alligood logged 100,000 miles crisscrossing the country over the course of a year, visiting and interviewing 900 artists in their studios. They purposely looked beyond the major-league art scenes in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The original exhibition closed at Crystal Bridges in Jan. 2015, and then the works were divided up into two separate traveling shows. Minneapolis gets the slightly larger of the two. In the exhibition catalog, Bacigalupi writes that they evaluated artists based on their engagement with their communities and the ideas in their work, their mastery over their medium and the “appeal” of the works — a definition that, for him, pits generous and open works against “the hermetic, ‘impossible to understand’ stereotype of contemporary art.” For good or ill, the co-curators don’t seem to want viewers wrestling with nettlesome (but often illuminating) questions like: “Why is this art?” It can be difficult to get a grasp on “State of the Art,” since there’s no real through-line other than the art’s now-ness, having all been created since Crystal Bridges’ opening in 2011. And so the stand-out works feel like delightful surprises. There are wide-ranging examples of virtuosity, from Jamie Adams’ sexually charged Old Master-style oil painting “niagaradown” to Joel Allen’s expertly crafted mixed-media sculptures, which are woven from twine, plastic tubing, prescription medication bottles and other found objects but look as if they were the result of some natural process. Omaha artist Watie White mischievously inserts visual gags into his tour-de-force woodcut of a train yard under swirling skies. Mary Ann Currier’s small, understated abstract paintings, which resemble sheets of colored paper spilled onto the floor, project an aura of calm into the gallery. “State of the Art” is rich with compelling video work, including Lenka Clayton’s “The Distance I Can Be From My Son,” in which she films her young child running further and further into the distance until the she finally jumps out from behind the camera to chase him down. Viewers squirm and then laugh. Then there’s “Kora,” a dreamlike 14-minute video by Jawshing Arthur Liou shot on pilgramige to Mount Kailash, a sacred Tibetan peak, which is utterly entrancing. Several of the most powerful pieces in the show engage with AfricanAmerican identity and communities. Three large photographs document a performance by the young artist Wilmer Wilson IV, who covered himself in, and then removed, a suit of inflated paper bags — a reference to the bags’ use as a measure of skin tone. And one of the most remarkable objects in the entire show is a mixed-media assemblage by Vanessa German, who constructs what she refers to as “contemporary power figures”; a sculpture of two black children is meant to exert a protective force over her troubled Pittsburgh neighborhood.

STATE OF THE ART: DISCOVERING AMERICAN ART NOW One from a series of Jimmy Baker paintings titled “Arrangements.” Submitted image

When: Through May 29 Where: Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2400 3rd Ave. S. Info: artsmia.org

B4 February 25–March 9, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

PUBLIC ART ARRIVES ON NICOLLET Art was included in budget for avenue’s 2013 reconstruction

By Michelle Bruch / mbruch@southwestjournal.com

Public art is multiplying along 10 blocks of Nicollet Avenue. The artwork is part of the budget for the reconstruction of Nicollet, which was completed in 2013. Artist Marjorie Pitz developed the bird theme years ago with the help of community members. They built a theme around birds of different feathers flocking together. “The neighborhood wanted to welcome all the different cultural diversity that exists in this area,” Pitz said. Flamingos are native to Somalia, she said, and roosters belong to every culture in the world. “We thought birds would be something everybody could relate to,” she said. The first piece was installed a year ago on 40th Street outside Ellwood Automotive. Birdlike stools (it’s okay to sit on them) arrived in December at Butter Bakery Café and Casa de Corazón. Birds also arrived early this year outside Hooyo Child Care Center on 36th, and more benches are slated for installation in front of the Lyndale Community Center on 35th, Valerie’s Carniceria on 32nd, and the Metro Transit garage between 31st and 32nd. All of the remaining artwork is slated for installation this spring. A forthcoming mosaic tile project may add extra color to the bird wings. Ben Janssens fabricated the pieces at his Northeast studio, SignMinds.

Installation of new public art is underway on Nicollet Avenue between Lake and 40th. Photo by Michelle Bruch

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southwestjournal.com / February 25–March 9, 2016 B5

Ask Dr. Rachel

By Rachel Allyn

Navigating a relationship with someone who hasn’t come out to his family Q

I’m a gay man in my 40s who has been out for about 20 years. For 8 months I’ve been seeing a man who is divorced from a woman and has 2 teenage children with whom he shares custody. The month we started dating is the same month his divorce became final, so needless to say he is new to the idea of living the life of a gay man. While together we have passion, trust, honesty, and generosity, more so than with other relationships I’ve been in. We have dates out and about town, he’s met friends of mine, spent weekends at my cabin and we’ve done other things that are very typical of dating. However, he’s not out to his ex-wife, kids, family and co-workers. Therefore, I have not met any of them and have not been included in gatherings, events or holidays that involve them. I want to be “in the moment” and be present when we do spend time together, but we sometimes have weeks apart because of schedules and work. It’s hard to not get frustrated and anxious because of his separation between what we have and the rest of his life. He’s not trying to act straight or pretend he’s not gay. He just isn’t sure how to come out without disrupting the lives of his kids and others closest to him.

This is less about disrupting the lives of people close to your boyfriend* and more about him being stuck in fear. Unfortunately, we live in a world where people discriminate against others based on who they love and how they love. Coming out of the closet requires bravery. My hunch is that your boyfriend grew-up in a home where image and appearances were highly valued. He may have learned he needed to present himself in a certain manner in order to earn approval. This was true for many of us. Rather than learning that simply being a human on this earth means we’re worthy of love, we were taught that our value comes from our doing versus our natural being. Perhaps he was raised in a home that prescribed a religion forbidding homosexuality. These teachings are hard to shed because they’re engrained in us from such an impressionable age. This translates to people being more cautious in their change process, despite wanting desperately to cross over to the further shore. Obviously you’re at different ends of the spectrum regarding being fully out as a gay man.

Unlike you, he has spent his entire adult life compartmentalized, toggling between who he is and who he thinks he should be. And although this may not be his preference, it has become familiar and safe for him. The longer someone lives the facade, the more entrenched it becomes. Anytime we can’t “own” and embrace who we are, both our light and our dark, we experience shame. There’s a saying, “you’re only as sick as your secrets.” He is straddling between his secret and his authenticity. He takes risks by being in public with you, no doubt because he cares for you immensely, but also because his heart yearns to be real. Continue to model for him how vibrant and rich the life of a gay man can be. And hopefully sooner rather than later he can present to the world his complete self, free from hiding or pretending. This will be powerful for his children to model as well. Timing in life is powerful. Particularly in relationships, timing is huge. Your timing in this relationship is as fractured as his sense of self. Not only is he closeted, but he’s freshly recovering

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your relationship. Naturally your mind will float in and out of the important question, ‘where is this relationship going?’ Know your boundaries in this relationship. Are you able to accept what he can give right now? How long are you willing to wait to share more of his life with you? As you live each day into these answers, practice being in the present moment and having patience with his process. Stick around as long as you feel your love is reciprocated and you’re growing emotionally and spiritually from the relationship. Indulge in the aspects of your own life that nourish and sustain you. (*You didn’t mention your preferred label but I’m taking the liberty of calling him your boyfriend.)

from a divorce, which is a significant loss even in the best of circumstances. The two of you can love each other, but even the strongest connection can crumble under strained circumstances. That’s why communication and empathy are essential as you work through these differences. Continue to expose yourselves to one another. If you haven’t already done so, look your boyfriend in the eye, tell him you cherish him and you believe in him. Help him understand that it’s time for him to evolve, both for the sake of the relationship and for the opportunity to step into his own truth. When I see clients for couple’s therapy, I ask each person what they’re getting from the relationship. You stated you’re receiving passion, trust, honesty and generosity. These are gifts. But at eight months into the relationship, you deserve to be invited into the layers of his life and community just as you have done with him. You deserve more consistent contact — weeks apart without seeing each other allows him to maintain his double life and disrupts the continuity of

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B6 February 25–March 9, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

By Linda Koutsky

West 21st Street & Penn Avenue South

hat I love about Minneapolis are all the little pocket commercial districts tucked into residential neighborhoods throughout the city. The oneand two-story buildings are often faced with red brick, decorated with terra cotta architectural ornament, and punctuated with large expanses of glass. Storefronts welcome customers with tantalizing window displays and colorful signage then encourage us to come in through recessed entrances and doors with transom windows overhead. Even though we’re home to two giant big box retailers, it’s nice to know neighborhood shopping is alive and well here. Fine art thrives at the corner of 21st & Penn. Just blocks off the north end of Lake of the Isles is a quaint block-and-a-half commercial district. Across from an elementary school, this intersection has always been bustling. A bookstore owned by an author will never disappoint. We are particularly lucky to have Birchbark Books (2115 W. 21st St.) here in Minneapolis. Not only has internationally bestselling author Louise Erdrich stocked the shelves with great treasures, the walls and display cases are filled with stunning artwork, from birchbark applique to sterling silver feather earrings. Birchbark tree trunks, hand-harvested wild rice, Native American crafts and a stellar selection of books fill the store. Pick up a signed copy of one of Louis’s many books, including “The Round House,” her National Book Award winner. Her next book, “LaRose,” will be out May 10. Books sold here will include a copy of a page of the original hand-written manuscript. This longstanding Minneapolis gallery has roots in the 1980s warehouse district art scene. Today, the Bockley Gallery (2123 W. 21st St.) represents many of Minnesota’s major artists such as George Morrison, Stuart Nielsen, Frank Big Bear, Julie Buffalohead, and occasionally, the visual work of Louise Erdrich. Showing through March 19 are drawings by Lauren Roche. In her first solo exhibit this Jerome Artist Fellow displays vividly hued imagery of mysteriously merging figures and animals. It’s not only about custom frames at Framestyles(2107 Penn Ave. S), but for the record, they have a vast selection of

Though only a few storefronts long, this intersection is a hotbed for creativity. Photo by Linda Koutsky

unique frame moldings and mats you won’t find in other places. Need a frame for that recent special photo? Check out their distinctive collection of premade 5-by-7 and 8-by-10 photo frames. Framestyles can frame art or more unusual pieces, too, such as textiles, jerseys and handmade chalkboards. Custom-made acrylic boxes can be ordered for three-dimensional memorabilia. They also do conservation work, including cleaning and repairing of paintings, photos and carved frames. And if that wasn’t enough for a frame store, they also carry a full line of giftware, candles, greeting cards and work by local artists.

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Singer-songwriter Jay Smart performs at a house concert in Kingfield. Photo by Michelle Bruch

FROM WARMING HOUSE / PAGE B1

contribute a suggested $20 donation. Melendez guarantees the artist will make at least $300 — he’s only had to pay the difference out of pocket on one occasion. “This is how they live, and for a lot of people it’s their only income,” he said. “…Now I get 12–15 people a year trying to play at my house.” Musicians stick around as late as midnight, selling merchandise, drinking wine and chatting. The musicians might play anywhere from 20–100 house concerts a year, Melendez said. “You get some interesting stories when they do that many house concerts,” he said. After clearing out the dining room table, musician Scott Zosel ends up with a space the size of a small bar at his home in Kingfield. “I realized it’s a long winter,” he said. “We

kind of need something to get people out.” At Zosel’s house concert on Valentine’s Day weekend, a cat curled up in the back window, guitars were lined up in front of house plants and bongo drums were positioned next to the radiator. “It’s amazing how many people you can get into the house,” Zosel said. “I never realized how many chairs we actually own.” Jay Smart, originally from Nairobi, strummed the guitar onstage wearing socks. (He recently shot a video while guitar shopping in Minneapolis.) Smart shared the stage with songwriter Ryan Lee, who is launching a series of house concert performances that benefit a charity of the host’s choosing. He calls it GIG’n’GIVE. “It’s a way to still be a live performer and

bump the spotlight away a little bit,” he said. “And you still get to connect.” Lee said he’s excited about The Warming House, and he’s even offered to volunteer with the nonprofit. The Warming House expects to host music five nights a week. “I’ve had tons of booking requests,” Lane said. The venue will provide a place for young artists to try their first show. The cities need more all-age venues for open mic nights, Lane said. “That’s how you get to know what it’s like to be on stage,” she said. “We needed something that wasn’t a bar. We wanted a small capacity, like a living room.” They also plan to offer workshops on the music business, covering topics like how to plan

a tour, how to promote yourself and how to make a CD. The Warming House is moving into the former Movement Arts Center karate studio at 4001 Bryant Ave. S., while Movement moves to Tapestry Dance Studio on Minnehaha Avenue. Lane and Neis had coincidentally looked at opening a bike shop and coffeehouse there two years earlier. “When we heard it opened up again, it was crazy perfect,” Lane said. They’re looking for members, donations and business sponsorships via thewarminghouse.net. The opening date is expected in April or May.

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southwestjournal.com / February 25–March 9, 2016 B9

By Dr. Teresa Hershey and Dr. Norton Bower

A roundup of tips for your canine companion Q

Should I have my dog vaccinated with the new flu vaccine?

With the recent release of the vaccine for the “Midwest Strain” of canine influenza, many dog owners are debating whether or not to have their dog immunized against this virus. In the spring of 2015, the Midwest had a scare with a “Dog Flu” outbreak in Chicago. The Chicago outbreak affected several hundred dogs, and led to a small number of fatalities. To make matters worse, it was determined that the outbreak was caused by a strain of canine influenza not previously seen in the United States. This new strain, H3N2, was thought to have originated in Asia. For the past decade, the only known canine influenza virus type was strain H3N8. This strain of influenza has been traveling around the United States and causing outbreaks of infection for many years. The new H3N2 strain of influenza did make its way to Minnesota and confirmed cases were found in dogs residing in Detroit Lakes and St. Paul. Up until recently, the only canine influenza vaccine that was available was for the H3N8 strain. Many veterinarians were recommending vaccinating dogs for H3N8, with the

I am interested in skijoring with my dog, a 55-pound lab-cross with a lot of energy. Could you tell me a little bit more about it?

Skijoring is a fun way to help your dog stay healthy and lean during the wintertime. It is also a great way for you and your pet to bond and enjoy some really great places in the Twin Cities area. Skijoring is a sport in which a dog (or dogs) assist a cross-country skier. One to three dogs is the most common use, and both the skier and the dog are usually working in this sport.

hopes that it would provide some protection against the H3N2 strain. Now that the H3N2 vaccine is available, vaccinating for both strains would provide the broadest immunity to canine influenza. It is important to know that the immediate threat of canine influenza has died down. However, like most disease outbreaks, it is impossible to know when or if another outbreak will occur. Dogs that go to kennels, dog parks and other dog community activities are at higher risk of being exposed to contagious upper respiratory viruses. Your dog’s lifestyle will be the biggest deciding factor about whether or not to vaccinate. If you decide to vaccinate your dog, it is important that you start the vaccine series before an outbreak occurs. The H3N2 (and H3N8 vaccines) are killed vaccines that require a booster shot three weeks after the initial vaccine to induce immunity, and full immunity is not seen until two to four weeks after the booster shot. That means that it takes about six weeks for the vaccines to be fully effective after the initial dose. — Dr. Teresa Hershey

The human involved gets exercise through using their skis and poles, and the dog gets exercise through running and pulling (to various degrees). Equipment is fairly minimal, involving a skijoring harness for the human involved, a sled-dog harness for the dog, and the duo or the team is connected with a length of rope (usually a nylon rope made with a quick release). Sporting breeds and northern breeds (Siberian and Alaskan Huskies and Samoyeds) are the most common skijoring dogs. Any large energetic dog will usually love to skijor, but even smaller dogs, under 40 pounds may be out running alongside their owners (just don’t expect a lot of pulling action!) Dog temperament and level of motivation probably have more to do with skijoring success than the size of the dog. In my personal experience, our Springer Spaniel mix around 45 pounds was a much better skijoring dog than our 65-pound lab-shepard mix! Several opportunities to skijor exist throughout the Three Rivers Park District. There are designated trials at Cleary Lake and Eagle Lake regional parks. A Three Rivers Park District cross-country ski pass is required on these trials. Multi-use trials at Baker, CrowHassen, Elm Creek and Murphy Hanrehan do not require a pass or permit. For details see threeriverspark.org/activities/skijoring.aspx. Skijoring equipment can be found at Midwest Mountaineering in Minneapolis or Black Ice Dog Sledding Equipment, a catalog company. — Dr. Norton Bower Dr. Teresa Hershey and Dr. Norton Bower are veterinarians at Westgate Pet Clinic in Linden Hills.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Publishing tasks 6 Jack letters 9 “Hotel Imperial” (1927) star 14 Best New Artist Grammy winner after Alicia 15 Tesoro de la Sierra Madre 16 Horse play 17 Kitchen drawer? 18 It can be cured 19 “Beats me” 20 Québec quiche, e.g.? 23 Start of a weekly cry 24 “Either thou, __ ... must go with him”: Romeo 25 Ran into 26 Saying “It wasn’t me” when, in fact, it was? 33 Digitize, in a way 35 Squawk

64 “Hamlet” courtier

10 Fairness

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65 Fix

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37 Set apart, as funds

66 Supports illegally

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21 George’s lyrical brother

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22 __ alcohol: fusel oil component

DOWN

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46 “Wish we had built a bigger pyramid,” e.g.?

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34 Blockage

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2/23/16 1:18 PM

B10 February 25–March 9, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES With more challenges than ever before, local neon sign makers have trouble keeping the lights on

Story and photos by Eric Best / ebest@southwestjournal.com

You likely don’t know their names, but if you’ve walked by a storefront or grabbed a seat at a bar in Minneapolis, you’ve likely seen the handiwork of Brian Crawford, Matt Thompson, Jeff Monzel or Robert Johnson. The four are neon “benders” — the makers of neon signs and lighting — and collectively they are responsible for much of the custom neon lighting in the Twin Cities metro. Both locally and nationally, the neon sign industry has shrunken to a small fraction of what it once was before the last recession, due in part to cheap and easily maintained LED lighting, now ubiquitous on storefronts. Despite the downturn, each bender continues their own, usually one-man shops in Northeast Minneapolis, the state’s unofficial capital of neon sign manufacturing. “We’re dinosaurs. We truly are,” laughed Monzel, a bender of more than 25 years who runs Lightadot Neon & Glassworks. For this generation of benders, Minneapolis was a regional hub for neon sign manufacturing because of its cheap studio space, its businesses — bars and beer companies, as well as neon tubing suppliers — and its

proliferation of neon schools. Local colleges and the American School of Neon, once located in the North Loop’s trendy Colonial Warehouse building, churned out benders for larger sign companies, instead of just neonspecific shops. Then as the economy dropped, LEDs, or light-emitting diode lights, advanced into the mainstream, touting energy efficiency without the craft of local artisans. “The neon industry probably lost 80 percent of our work to LEDs, at least,” said Thompson, an alum of the American School of Neon and founder of Skyline Neon. “There’s almost no schools in the United States.” Now a smattering of benders — named for the act of heating and forming the sign — are adapting to keep the lights on. Brian Crawford, who was in the first class at the American School of Neon, founded Ne-Art Custom Neon of the Marshall Terrace neighborhood nearly 32 years ago. The shop hosts two auctions each year offering restored beer signs, which are popular in “man caves,” garages or home bars. “I think [neon] is becoming less local.

It’s local here because we’re a scene here in Minneapolis,” he said. Robert Johnson of Neoneon Art & Design came into the industry as a student at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Though he does commercial and custom interior work like other shops, Johnson also creates unique art pieces that combine neon and clocks or acrylic backdrops. As another source of income, he also sells Star Wars collectibles, a business that has at times rivaled the neon work. Monzel, who started learning through elective classes at the University of Minnesota, has survived by combining glassblowing and neon bending. “If you don’t find new applications for your studio, you’re in trouble. If you don’t diversify, you’re going to die in this business,” he said.

Signs of a different time In recent years, the switch from traditional neon lights to LEDs has been most noticeable in the relighting of the city’s iconic riverfront signs. Last fall, a developer renovated the Pillsbury’s Best Flour sign, a 75-year-old neon sign, with LED lights. On the other side of the Mississippi River, the North Star Blankets sign on top of the historic factory building was relit with similar lighting. The nearby Gold Medal Flour sign is perhaps the most iconic neon landmark still lit in the Twin Cities. Two more aging signs with neon components, the Grain Belt Beer sign and St. Paul’s “1st” sign upon the First National Bank Building, are now dark as their respective owners plan to relight them, whether in neon, LEDs or other combinations.

The North Star Blankets sign (far left) was recently relit with LED lights. The Gold Medal Flour sign (left), originally lit with tungsten lights, is one of the most iconic neon sights in the city.

southwestjournal.com / February 25–March 9, 2016 B11

Who will be the next generation of benders?

Jeff Monzel of Lightadot Neon & Glassworks heats neon tubing with a ribbon burner.

A spokesman for August Schell, which recently bought the Grain Belt Beer sign, said in a statement that the company hasn’t made a decision on the type of lighting it plans to install by 2017. For these historic signs, the material that developers use in relighting them is decided largely by cost, along with historic relevance. Aaron Hanauer, a senior planner with the City of Minneapolis, worked on the Pillsbury’s Best Flour and North Star Blanket projects. He said because of the steep price tags that come with these high-profile projects, the material largely comes down to what the owners

can afford, though the city might not always support replacing neon with LED. “They’re expensive projects,” he said. “If it was a close estimate [between LED and neon], there could be a time when we would not support replacement.” Elizabeth Gales, a historian with Hess, Roise and Company, said local, state and federal reviewers, who approve grants and other funding for these projects, have been open to the long-term viability of LEDs over neon. The historic consulting firm is working with August Schell on the Grain Belt Beer sign relighting. “We’re in an interesting period where LED

Minneapolis Trombone Choir

has really been impressive as it has evolved so it’s interesting to see how open the historic reviewers are. What it helps to confirm is that they want to see these historic signs reused and relit,” she said. For Larry Abdo, owner the Nicollet Island Inn, the price and cost of operations are too high to add a neon sign. For the latest addition to the historic building, he’ll be adding a LED sign, a move that needed city approval. “We love the look of having a neon sign up there,” he said, but “there’s a lot of maintenance.”

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With just a handful of benders left in the city, several shop owners worry that there won’t be another generation to carry the torch. Shops used to be able to afford to pay people to learn, Thompson said, but the same model doesn’t exist anymore. While aspiring benders may find classes, several shop owners said they can only afford to hire experienced sign makers or apprentices who are ready to make commitments to the art. Johnson has taken on four apprentices in 25 years, but the cost of training can be prohibitive and there are barriers to opening a shop with fewer neon suppliers and materials than ever before. “No one is going to hire a neon bender straight out of a neon school. I wouldn’t hire anyone without five years of experience,” he said. For Monzel, training the next generation of benders is just too costly. Monzel said he can’t take on apprentices because of the liability, and there wouldn’t be enough interest to keep another school open. “The market wouldn’t support a batch of new kids coming up,” he said. There are local programs, such as through the Minnesota Center for Glass Arts, that are taking on hobbyists, artists and other students to advance the medium. It’s programs like these that make Thompson optimistic there will be some benders to one day fill the demand. “When you think about neon, it’s been around for 100 years. There’s a million neon tubes out there, so there’s always going to be a market, but it keeps getting smaller and smaller,” he said.

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B12 February 25–March 9, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

Get Out Guide. Eric Best / ebest@southwestjournal.com

ART(ISTS) ON THE VERGE The Soap Factory and Northern Lights presents Art(ists) on the Verge 7, which features new work from five Minnesota-based artists. Art(ists) on the Verge is an intensive, yearlong, mentor-based fellowship program for emerging artists working experimentally at the intersection of art, technology and digital culture. This year, the exhibition will showcase work from Eric Avery, Torre Edahl, Jessica Henderson, Joshua McGarvey and Liza Sylvestre. Art(ists) on the Verge 7 will have an opening reception on March 12 from 7–11 p.m. The Soap Factory’s gallery hours are 2–8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 12–5 p.m. on weekends.

Where: The Soap Factory, 514 2nd St. SE When: March 12 through April 17 Cost: Free Info: soapfactory.org

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THE AVERAGERS Comedy Suitcase is putting a distinctly Minnesotan spin on today’s favorite superheroes with “The Averagers.” According to the local theatrical company, the team, led by middleaged gym teacher turned not-so-super solder Captain Average, consists of trust-fund kid turned inventor Iron Range Man, brilliant scientist turned bottled rage monster PassiveAggressive Bulk, overworked mother turned super spy Black Wood Tick and God of Lumber turned idiot man-child Paul Bunyan. The family-friendly show brings the big screen to the Bryant Lake Bowl’s stage.

Where: Bryant Lake Bowl, 810 W. Lake St. When: March 3 through March 19 Cost: $12–15, $6 for kids 12 and under Info: bryantlakebowl.com

Todd Green, author of “The Fear of Islam: An Introduction to Islamophobia in the West,” will be interviewed about his new book at the Woulfe Alumni Hall in the Anderson Student Center on the University of St. Thomas’ St. Paul campus. Hans Gustafson, associated director of the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning, is hosting the event, which is sponsored by the center. In his book, Green, associate professor of religion at Luther College, explores the historical roots and contemporary forms of anxiety regarding Islam within the Western world.

Where: Anderson Student Center, 2115 Summit Ave, St. Paul When: Wednesday, March 2 at 7 p.m. Cost: Free Info: stthomas.edu/jpc

THE WONG STREET JOURNAL Described as “part plushy TED lecture, part amateur hip-hop extravaganza and part travelogue,” “The Wong Street Journal” breaks down everything from global poverty to privilege using live hashtag wars and more. San Franciscobased performance artist, comedian and writer Kristina Wong puts on the one-woman show, which will get its Twin Cities premiere at Intermedia Arts. The performance blends self-skewering personal narrative with an interrogation of America’s legacy on the rest of the world against an all-felt, handmade backdrop of the New York Stock Exchange. “The Wong Street Journal” tells the true story of how Wong, as a not-so-white savior, became a hip-hop star in Northern Uganda.

Where: Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave. S. When: March 11-12 at 7:30 p.m. Cost: $15–18 Info: intermediaarts.org

Citizens for a Loring Park Community (CLPC) CLPC ANNUAL MEETING

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016 • 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis 410 Oak Grove Street

Come and Celebrate CLPC 5:30-6:45 pm INFORMATION FAIR “PATHWAY TO PLACES” 20 year plan for Downtown Public Realm & Parks Exhibited Projects will be on display to include: • Minneapolis Police Department • Downtown Court Watch • City of Mpls. - Compost & Recycling • Loring Park Programs • Restorative Justice • St. Stephens Street Outreach • VA Service Center • Hennepin County

5:30-6:45 pm REFRESHMENTS • MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT • DIVERSITY STREET DANCERS

6:45 pm WELCOME CLPC President, Christopher Hoffer Comments by Council Member Lisa Goodman

7:00-8:00 pm ANNUAL MEETING PROGRAM Special Presentation Meet Steve Cramer & Tom Hoch

Give a Gift to the People and Park You Love Adopt a refurbished bench or engrave a brick paver at Lake Harriet and leave an impression that lasts for years to come! 5” x 5” paver with three 12 character lines — $75 5” x 11” paver with four 12 character lines — $125 Benches with no engraving — $1,000 Benches with 37 character engraving — $1,250

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CLPC 2015 Highlights • Neighborhood Rezoning Study • Monthly Nicollet Avenue Business Meetings • Livability & Land Use Community Meetings • “Pathways to Places” - DT Parks & Public Realm • HN/Lyndale Reconstruction Task Force • CIF City Grant for HN/Lyndale Public Realm

• Advocacy around 19 Bar Shooting • Neighborhood Safety Strategies • Small Business Support & Advocacy • Review of Development Projects: 1730 Clinton, LPM Apts - Commerical Tenants, 131 Oak Grove, 4 Bells, Fawkes Block Event Center • Review of Loring Social - new Events space

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WARM GUERRILLAS: FEMINIST VISIONS The Guerilla Girls are taking over the city with art events all over Minneapolis to celebrate their 30th anniversary. One such event, the “WARM Guerillas: Feminists Visions” exhibition at the Grain Belt Bottling House, features work from artists who introduced feminist art to the Twin Cities art scene with the founding of WARM, the Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota. Totaling 75 pieces of art, the multi-generational show addresses sexism and racism in a variety of mediums. The exhibition opens Feb. 26 and runs through March 12 with a “Hot Flash!” event on March 4 with the artists and refreshments from Dangerous Man Brewing and Sociable Cider Werks.

Where: Grain Belt Bottling House Gallery, 79 13th Ave. NE When: Friday, March 4 from 7–10 p.m. Cost: Free Info: guerrillagirls.com

THE WORKING DEAD The comedians of the Brave New Workshop once again bring their knack for satire with “The Working Dead,” a workplace comedy at heart “with some zombie thrown in for good measure,” the company promises. The show marks the cast debut of Nissa Nordland and Kory Pullam alongside veteran BNW cast members Lauren Anderson, Ryan Nelson, Tom Reed and Taj Ruler. With a Brave New Workshop twist, the show hits home for anyone who has been, or will be, a working stiff.

Where: Brave New Workshop Comedy Theatre, 824 Hennepin Ave. When: Feb. 13 through June 11 Cost: $28–36 Info: bravenewworkshop.com

SKYWAY OPEN The Minneapolis skyway will yet again become a miniature golf course for downtown workers and residents. The 2016 Skyway Open, presented by the Downtown Council, features a challenging and innovative mini golf course with holes designed and built by local architects and designers. The transformation of downtown’s skyways will bring in teams of mini golfers to take on the course’s 17 holes — 10 new and seven classic — for one whole weekend. Golfers can register online or on-site at the City Center’s first floor. Golfers will also get free admission to the 19th Hole Celebration on Friday, Feb. 26 at Union’s REV Ultra Lounge.

TWIN CITIES AUTO SHOW This year, the Twin Cities Auto Show will be your once chance to see more than 525 vehicles from 37 foreign and domestic brands all in one place. The annual car convention, perfect for both auto enthusiasts and those in the market for a new ride, features new models in every category, from compacts and family sedans to the latest in SUVs and luxury cars. This year’s show will have family-friendly entertainment with Camp Jeep with a rock climbing tower and Jeep Kids Course. The convention will also have appearances from Minnesota Wild players, iHeart Radio personalities and more.

Where: Minneapolis City Center, 40. S. 7th St. When: Feb. 26-28 Cost: $5.45–$36.35 per person, ticket packages available Info: skywayopen.org

Where: Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 2nd Ave. S. When: March 12 through March 20 Cost: $12 for adults, $6 for kids 11–15, children under 10 are free Info: twincitiesautoshow.com

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Professional painting service designed to meet all of your residential and commercial painting needs.

PAINTING

Local services. Local references. Local expertise.

Certified Plasterers • 40 Years Experience Professional • Reliable • Free Estimates

Licensed • Bonded • Insured

Licensed & Insured

greg@chileenpainting.com | chileenpainting.com

612-850-0325

UNITED WALL SYSTEMS

blueladderpainting@gmail.com

952-292-7800 UNITEDWALL.COM

Carson’s Painting,

Refresh Your Home for the New Year

Handyman Services, & Snow Removal

(612) 390-5911 call today!

Local Interior/Exterior Premium Quality

(612) 827-6140 or (651) 699-6140

612.568.1395

PAINTINGBYJERRYWIND.COM

PROTECTPAINTERS.com

Exterior, Interior & Decorative Painting Staining Decks 6/29/15 1:14 PM • Wallpaper Stripping & Wallpapering • Wood Stripping, Refinishing & Cabinets • Plaster, Sheetrock, Texture Repair & Skim Coating • Ceiling Texturing & Texture Removal • Wood Floor Sanding & Refinishing •

EXTERIOR & INTERIOR PAINTING

Greco Painting SWJ 073114 1cx2.indd 7/21/14 1 11:22 Blue Ladder AM SWJ 021116 1cx2.indd 22/9/16 11:22 UnitedAM Wall Systems SWJ 111915 1cx2.indd 11/12/15 1Tool 9:55Icons AM - Spring SWJ 2013 1cx2 filler.indd 3/29/13 10:33 1Chileen AM Painting SWJ 070215 2cx2.indd 1

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Experienced craftsmen (no subcontractors) working steady from start to finish. Neat and courteous; references and 2 year warranty. Liability Ins. and Workers Comp. for Your Protection.

PLUMBING, HVAC

Want to love your kitchen again?

Painting by Jerry Wind SWJ 123115 2cx1.5.indd 1 Carson's Painting SWJ 092514 1cx1.5.indd 9/19/141 ProTect 1:43 PMPainters SWJ 042315 1cx1.5.indd 4/7/15 1 1:39 PM

Professional/ Respectful

PRO MASTER

@thejournalmpls

Plumbing, Inc.

government

Full-Service Plumber

Insured — Bonded References

12/30/15 9:54 AM

people parks

651-337-1738

promasterplumbing.com

VantagePainting.com | 651-343-2323

schools

Call Jim! •

REMODELING

Vantage Painting SWJ 123115 2cx3.indd 1

12/28/15 10:10 AM

We are your partners in Home Restoration,

converting your place from idea to execution. We know your home and work spaces are an extension of who you are and what your culture is.

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INTERIOR & EXTERIOR PAINTING AND RESTORATION since 1904

We believe that CONSTRUCTION QUALITY is the cornerstone of business success Serving Minneapolis & St. Paul

612.242.8692 millcityrestoration.com

REMODELING

Martin O'Connor Painting SWJ 012816 2cx3.indd 2

Air Conditioning Geothermal Heating • Infloor Heat • Air Quality • Maintenance •

We help bring it to life.

Angie’s List Award Winner for 7 Consecutive Years and Running!

Furnaces

• Boilers DTJ 2011 1cx1 filler.indd 1 3/5/13 3:40 PM Pro Master Plumbing SWJ 071615 1cx1.indd 7/2/15 1Twitter 3:20 PM

612-282-2959

www.zahlerheating.com

Zahler Heating SWJ 022615 2cx1.5.indd 1

2/20/15 11:41 AM

1/25/16 10:06 AM

Contact Joe Slavec 612-940-7849 for a consultation & estimate www.mplsgarage.com General Contractor License #BC 627340

Mpls Garage Builders SWJ 022516 2cx2.indd 1

The best local coverage

2/22/16 10:27 AM

We Respond When Your Heating or Cooling Can’t

(612) 221-4489

Your vintage home remodeler

FREE ONLINE ESTIMATE

HomeRestorationInc.com

Your Sign of Satisfaction

952-512-0110

Save 5–10% by getting your quote online with a few easy steps. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Home Restoration Services SWJ 012915 1/14/15 1cx1.5.indd Hyperlocal 2:15 PM 1 SWJ 2010 1cx1.5 NR3.indd8/6/13 1 11:00 AM

SAME DAY REPAIR SERVICE

612-869-3213 • www.midlandhtg.com

www.roelofsremodeling.com

REMODELING

Midland Heating SWJ 100815 2cx3.indd 1 Roelofs Remodeling SWJ 073015 2cx2.indd 2

7/28/15 3:01 PM

Lic: BC637388

2nd Stories • Additions • Kitchens • Basements Baths • Attic Rooms • Windows

Design/Construction

Remodel • Design • Build

612-924-9315

inspiredspacesmn.com 612.360.4180

MN License #BC451256

3/24/14 10:02 FusionAM Home Improvement SWJ 021314 2cx3.indd 1

Specializing in Reproduction Kitchens & Baths

No project is too small for good design

www.fusionhomeimprovement.com

Hanson Building SWJ 032714 2cx2.indd 1

10/5/15 4:57 PM

1/31/14 10:44 AM Inspired Spaces SWJ 022714 2cx2.indd 1

2/17/14 3:02 PM

612.821.1100 or 651.690.3442 www.houseliftinc.com License #BC378021

SWJ 022516 Classifieds.indd 3

2/23/16 4:10 PM House Lift SWJ 041612 2cx3.indd 1

4/5/12 3:00 PM

Quality

CONSTRUCTION, CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

& Trust. · CUSTOM CABINETRY · ADDITIONS & DORMERS · KITCHENS & BATHROOMS · WHOLE HOUSE RENOVATION · PORCHES & SUN-ROOMS · FINISHED BASEMENTS ·

612.821.1100 or 651.690.3442 www.houseliftinc.com House Lift Remodeler | 4330 Nicollet Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55409 | License # BC 378021 House Lift Remodeler SWJ 022516 FP.indd 1

2/22/16 4:43 PM