Liquor still flowing during pandemic PAGE A3 • First cases at Walker Methodist PAGE A7 • Local government reacts PAGE A7
April 2–15, 2020 Vol. 31, No. 7 southwestjournal.com
Support surges for nonprofits
INSIDE GYMS ADAPT
Local gyms reach members digitally A4
Southwest residents look to lift neighbors’ spirits
Voices from the pandemic The Southwest Journal is documenting the coronavirus pandemic by recording the ongoing stories of a variety of local residents whose daily lives are in a state of flux.
ONLINE SCHOOL
Their stories. Their words. STARTING ON PAGE A14
How Minneapolis students are coping A6
JIM WALSH SIGNS OFF
Longtime columnist says goodbye A8
GREEN DIGEST
Staying involved during the pandemic A12
Masks by any means
Provision Community Restaurant chef Heather Mady stands outside of the nonprofit’s Whittier building. Submitted photo By Nate Gotlieb
Delavari donated some masks to a pregnant colleague in California, who she worried would otherwise need to use fabric masks or bandanas. Others she delivered via bicycle to a friend at Hennepin County Medical Center — a doctor with severe asthma who’s been using bleach to clean his N95 mask and is concerned the chlorine will upset his lungs. The rest of the masks, she brought to her own hospital. “I get asked if I’ll take used masks, and I’m happy to take those. If we get desperate, we’ll dust off some dusty masks and use those too.”
Outside of Judson Memorial Baptist Church in Kingfield, Nancy Biele smiled and waved to Meals on Wheels volunteers as they picked up the day’s deliveries. “We’re talking to people we haven’t heard from in a long time,” one longtime volunteer told her from her car. March 25 was the first day of a new delivery model for the Judson Church-based Meals on Wheels program, which is operated by the interfaith coalition TRUST. Biele is interim executive director. Over 35 people volunteered to deliver meals to clients. On a typical weekday, about 11 to 13 volunteer. “The volunteers are coming out of the woodwork,” program director Eleonore Balbach said. Across Southwest Minneapolis, nonprofit organizations have reported an uptick in volunteer support amid the coronavirus pandemic that has brought life to a standstill. Leaders say the need for their services remains strong or is increasing. Lorrie Sandelin, director of Joyce Uptown Food Shelf, said the organization served 290 households over the last two weeks of March. “People are just so grateful that we’re still open and that they know they still can depend on us,” she said. Joyce Uptown Food Shelf is typically open five afternoons and one night a week. People are free to come once or twice a month to pick up food. No one is generally turned away. The organization has switched to a “takeout” distribution model since the pandemic. Bags are set aside for people to pick up. Clients still have some choice in the food they receive, Sandelin said, but less than before.
SEE PROTECTIVE GEAR / PAGE A9
SEE HELPING OUT / PAGE A10
The frantic push to get protective gear to health care workers
By Zac Farber
SHE SLOWED POLIO
Elizabeth Kenny’s treatment A19
STAY IN GUIDE
Ideas for entertainment at home A21
Every day now, Linden Hills resident Parissa Delavari, an ER doctor at North Memorial Medical Center, is treating patients whose respiratory symptoms are consistent with COVID-19. Due to limited testing, she must use full-barrier precautions, including masks, face shields and gowns, each time she sees these patients. But she said supply-chain shortages of personal protective equipment — particularly the N95 masks essential in procedures like intubations — have forced her and her colleagues to reuse equipment designed for one-time use, jeopardizing their own health and potentially spreading the coronavirus to uninfected patients. “During one shift, I used a single N95 mask six times,” Delavari said. “At the end of our shift, we try to wipe down our personal protective equipment and put it [in a] big paper bag. … They don’t know how long the virus can live and be pathogenic on a surface and when you think you’re throwing all that protective gear in one paper bag overnight until your next shift, it’s a huge risk.” On March 23, Delavari put a blue cooler in the front yard of her home near Southwest High School and posted on Nextdoor, asking her neighbors to donate any spare N95 masks they have left over from construction projects or other household uses. She ended up receiving about 40.
U of M student Jane Hoyt helped her father, Greg, collect nitrile gloves and face masks to donate to health workers on March 20. Greg Hoyt, the co-owner of Rustica Bakery, rounded up medical supplies in his Jeep Wrangler after temporarily closing his business. Submitted photo
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southwestjournal.com / April 2–15, 2020 A3
Dan Campo of South Lyndale Liquors holds up the list of stateallowed essential services, which includes liquor stores. Photo by Andrew Hazzard
Local liquor stores manage coronavirus rush By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com
While many businesses have shuttered or slowed down as the coronavirus has spread across the nation, it’s been a different story for liquor stores as Minneapolitans have rushed to stock up on beer, wine and spirits. “I guess the best word to describe it is bonkers,” said Bryan Keeler of Lowry Hill Liquors. That’s the way many wine and spirits shops across Southwest Minneapolis feel about the rush of business since the number of cases of COVID-19 began to rise in the state, prompting the city and state to ask people to stay in their homes and to shut down dine-in restaurants and other public gatherings. Many stores have altered their business to meet the situation by offering curbside pickup and increased delivery. “It’s a stressful time, and what are people going to do? They’re going to have a cocktail or two,” Keeler said. On March 25, Gov. Tim Walz announced a stay-at-home order that will be in effect through at least April 10. Liquor stores were classified as essential businesses that can stay open, but speculative fears the stores would close drove a rush on spirits the week of March 17, many Southwest stores believe. Dan Campo, owner of South Lyndale Liquors at 53rd & Lyndale, said the store had a huge rush of business on March 20 before Walz spoke because of rumors a stay-at-home order would be issued that day. “People were saying, ‘I hear the governor is shutting down liquor stores today — I’ve got to stock up,’” Campo said. He’s hoping the clarified order will calm people down. South Lyndale has added a rapid-pickup option for people to order ahead and is maintaining delivery service, though increased demand has put them a bit behind. On March 25, the shop closed early so Campo and his staff could catch up on putting together curbside and delivery orders. After the doors closed, he gathered employees and told them liquor stores would be considered essential services during the stay-at-home order. Many workers expressed relief they’d continue to retain their jobs. At France 44 Wines & Spirits in Linden Hills there has been a huge jump in sales, according to wine and education specialist Karina Roe. “Many people are stocking up,” Roe said. “But we’re also seeing ‘normal’ purchases of just a few items.” The store has added a robust curbside pickup program that Roe said has been very popular. The shop is currently updating its website to allow customers to place orders online; for now, they are calling in to clerks. In the store, France 44 is only allowing 15 customers inside at a time
and has placed yellow tape strips 6 feet apart approaching the register; outside, other yellow strips mark where customers should wait for the store to empty out. Lowry Hill Liquors has added more curbside-pickup options and deliveries so people can buy without entering the shop, Keeler said. The hours have been reduced, and employees are trying to sanitize as much as possible in addition to reminding customers to spread out and only touch what they need.
Laid-off workers find jobs
At a time when many businesses are temporarily laying off workers, liquor stores are adding staff, including several people from the service industry. France 44 has added wine and beverage experts from several high-end Southwest restaurants, including Grand Cafe, P.S. Steak and St. Genevieve. “It’s been a perfect fit to have these knowledgeable, experienced and service-orientated professionals help us in this unexpected busy season — we truly couldn’t do it without them,” Roe wrote in an email. Until last week, European wine expert Kristin Watts was working for a local alcohol import company. Now temporarily laid off, she’s found work at South Lyndale Liquors, a couple blocks from where she grew up. She stopped in to make a last-minute pickup for a client before the restaurant closure, and Campo asked if she wanted to work. Now she’s using her knowledge to help customers find wines they like when other options are sold out. “It’s staying connected to the product I love and helping people on the front line of our industry,” Watts said. South Lyndale Liquors has added four new employees since the outbreak began, including laid-off workers from local restaurants, Campo said. He’s looking to hire a couple more people. “I’m so proud of my staff,” he said. At Lowry Hill Liquors, some employees who are considered high-risk for COVID-19 and those feeling ill have been staying home, while others are working more than ever. Lowry Hill Liquors is giving bonuses for workers this month, Keeler said, and while many employees have said they’re happy to have the work, the increased business and stress are wearing on people. Customers at Lowry Hill Liquor have been nice and understanding throughout the outbreak, Keeler said. They’re staying an appropriate distance from each other, being kind and patient with staff and even helping older customers carry items. “It’s kind of nice to see people coming together, even at a liquor store,” Keeler said.
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A4 April 2–15, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Gyms get creative and go digital By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com
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With gyms and workout studios closed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, fitness centers in Southwest Minneapolis are trying to reach their members online and find ways to promote exercise when everyone is being asked to stay at home. “We’re getting creative,” said Anne Mezzenga, part of the ownership of sister gyms CrossFit Linden Hills and AQ Fit Lab. Both gyms have been posting daily workouts for members and are recording live classes using Zoom. The gyms let members come pick up equipment like kettlebells, medicine balls and mats the week of March 18 so people could continue working out at home. Many fitness centers in Southwest Minneapolis were beginning to shut down before Gov. Tim Walz issued his executive order closing the spaces on March 17. But the minute people couldn’t hit the gym, the amount of amateur workout videos being posted online exploded. “Joe Schmo was uploading his nightly workout routine from his living room,” joked Jen Wilson, who runs True Grit Society Community Gym in LynLake with her husband, Marcus. “We definitely noticed right away that we wanted to do something professional.” True Grit got a message going with their instructors and started filming high-quality workout videos from inside the gym. They’re putting out all sorts of workouts, from primal movements to high-intensity, interval-style yoga. True Grit lent out lots of kettlebells, bands and other equipment to members so people can follow along with daily live workouts, which have been popular. “We find that the live thing really works,” Jen Wilson said. While they’ve passed out equipment, they’re still getting creative with their workouts. Marcus Wilson posted a circuit training set using two gallons of Arizona Iced Tea as weights and plans to do a backpack workout soon. True Grit has frozen its members’ accounts and, while some have offered to pay, the Wilsons aren’t accepting anyone’s money right now. Ryann Doucette is the co-owner of Moda Yoga and Seed Cafe in Cedar-Isles-Dean and is the CEO of Modo Yoga worldwide. The collective of studios, mostly in Canada, is closed amid the coronavirus outbreak but is still reaching its members online. Teachers from the Minneapolis studio post classes on Instagram Live daily, and up to 500 people have tuned in at a time. The larger Modo Yoga company also posts daily classes for members. “It’s actually a much bigger community online than would normally be in our studio,” Doucette said. Doucette said she knows some Minneapolis members can’t afford to pay right now and that the studio has frozen those accounts. About 90% of local members have stayed on, she said, and those who are staying on
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Marcus Wilson, co-owner of True Grit Society Community Gym, posted a highintensity circuit workout using gallons of iced tea for weights. Screenshot
Phil Doucette, co-owner of Modo Yoga, leads an online yoga practice streaming over Instagram live. Screenshot
are getting a $100 credit on their account for each month the outbreak lasts. Right now, they are offering free unlimited online access for people who enter the code “MPLS.” The main thing Modo Yoga can’t reproduce online is the heat of its hot studios. “This is a time when the world needs more practice and the practice really counts,” Doucette said. (Seed Cafe is closed during the shutdown. Doucette said they sent staff home with two weeks pay, a bottle of wine and boxes of produce.) For smaller gyms, hosting virtual training sessions with clients has become the norm. Morgan Luzier, the owner of Balance Fitness Studio in LynLake, said the fitness community is having to reinvent itself. She’s now doing private training and smallgroup classes on Zoom. She demonstrates technique from her studio while watching her clients on a screen and offering feedback. Her clients — who she said tend to be older, with more discretionary income — have stuck with her so far. “People want to see each other and laugh and ask, ‘How are you doing?’” she said. “The longer we’re contained, the more important virtual meetings and experiences and connections and workouts will become.” Luzier said she’s focusing on low-intensity workouts that can be done in a small area. “Exercise should be more nourishing than depleting right now,” she said. “This isn’t the time to do Zone 5 leg-ripping, heartpounding, lung-searing workouts. It’s a time to move your body mindfully and gently, get your heart rate up a little and do some mobility and some strength.” She said she’ll look to introduce outdoor workouts when the weather turns. “It’s a good way to build community and a sense of togetherness in spite of everything,” she said. Zac Farber contributed reporting to this story.
southwestjournal.com / April 2–15, 2020 A5
Coffee shops struggle, adjust amid outbreak By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com
When online orders used to come into Zoe’s Cafe, it was a bit of an annoyance. The normally bustling coffee shop and bakery at Lake & Bryant typically has enough customers that online orders would feel like an extra task for busy workers, according to proprietor Jack McCrery. But since the coronavirus outbreak has shuttered dine-in service, it’s become the center of Zoe’s business. So far, those orders have been coming in on a steady basis. “People have been really great about supporting local businesses,” McCrery said. Coffee shops across Southwest Minneapolis, like other enterprises, have been deeply impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Normally places for people to meet, work and chat, coffee shops have gone quiet, adjusted hours or closed entirely. A few blocks south of Zoe’s, Canteen Coffee has been shut down since the municipal and statewide dine-in orders went into place on March 17. Canteen doesn’t have a kitchen, and while owner Liz Abene does sell a line of baked goods and bars, she felt like the best option was to close entirely. She donated a few bulk coffee bean bags to Second Harvest Heartland. She just set up a shop feature on the Canteen website where people can buy her Canteen Girl line of baked goods and nut butters to maintain some business during the shutdown. Customers have asked her how they can help by purchasing gift cards. “People are really nice,” she said. Five Watt Coffee, which has Southwest locations at 34th & Lyndale and 38th & Nicollet, is keeping cafes open on shortened hours of 8 a.m. to noon, according to co-owner Lee Carter. “We have people showing up every day to get stuff to-go and people are definitely happy that we’re here,” he said. Customers can still come into Zoe’s and other coffee shops to grab to-go drinks and pastries. The store has added a delivery service during the outbreak.
Employment approaches, loan considerations
More than 250,000 Minnesotans have filed for unemployment since the coronavirus outbreak began, according to Steve Grove, commissioner of the state’s Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). About a quarter of those are in the food industry. Most Southwest coffee shops have laid off all their staff during the crisis. Five Watt has laid off staff at all four locations during the pandemic, Carter said. The state making unemployment benefits immediately available to all workers impacted was a relief, he said. Five Watt is selling gift cards and t-shirts online, with an option for customers to leave a tip that will go directly to laid-off workers; people can also just make a direct donation to workers through a virtual tip jar. “We’ve seen a lot of community reach out to support our staff, which has been great,” Carter said. Spyhouse Coffee, which has closed its five cafes, including two Southwest locations in East Isles and Whittier, has also set up a virtual tip jar. Spyhouse barista Bex DeBoer had been following the global spread of the coronavirus in the news and had been talking to colleagues they knew from coffeeshops in coastal cities about their shops closing. A friend in Philadelphia had launched a Venmo account so people could send digital tips to baristas laid off amid the outbreak. DeBoer thought it would be a good idea here, too. “I know people from coast to coast and seeing all of these companies, all of my friends, build these up, I knew I had to do it,” DeBoer said.
Zoe’s Cafe at Lake & Byrant remains open but the normally busy interior is quiet with stacked chairs and empty tables. “It’s weird,” owner Jack McCrery said. Photos by Andrew Hazzard
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Canteen Coffee in South Uptown has closed entirely during the statewide closure of dine-in restaurants and cafes. Owner Liz Abene said she is still selling baked goods, nut butters and gift cards online.
Five Watt Coffee has it’s two Southwest Minneapolis locations, at 34th & Lyndale (shown here) and 38th & Nicollet, open from 8 a.m. to noon for to-go orders during the outbreak.
Spyhouse management decided to help out and put the campaign on a GoFundMe account. The virtual tip jar, as it’s known, has a $30,000 goal. Spyhouse will distribute the funds to workers based on the average number of hours they’ve worked in the past three months, so fulltimers will get more than part-timers. Canteen only has five employees, two of whom have full-time jobs outside the cafe, Abene said. She mainly wanted to close to ensure workers could claim unemployment benefits. She said the group has been regularly checking in with each other. When cafes are allowed to reopen, she said she intends to reimburse her workers for lost pay during the shutdown. The federal Small Business Administration (SBA) and Minnesota DEED have both made small business loans available with very low interest rates, but many companies are still wary about using that option until absolutely necessary. “A loan doesn’t make up for money you lost,” Carter said. While he believes the interest rates are generous, paying the loans back could take years if the cafes need to be closed for multiple months. He said Five Watt may need to take out a federal or state loan, but he doesn’t know if it’s a real solution for the problems small businesses are facing.
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A6 April 2–15, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Schools prepare for remote instruction District restructuring plan released to public By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com
On March 26, Anthony Middle School social studies teacher Ryan Olson held a video conference with 47 of his students. It was a test run for when he begins holding daily virtual office hours online starting April 6. That’s when Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) will begin remote instruction, as mandated by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during the coronavirus pandemic. “I quickly learned the power of the mute function,” Olson said. Across Southwest Minneapolis, educators have been preparing to teach students remotely for the first time in their careers. They said it will require more parental involvement and for students to take more ownership of their education than usual. “We’re asking really young learners to advocate for their education in a way that they’ve never had to do before,” Clara Barton Open School science teacher Tracey Schultz said. “Up to this point, it’s, ‘Go to school every day.’ Now it’s, ‘Get online every day. Get a device in front of you. Turn it on. Get to the right place.’ We’re expecting that they can be way more independent than any of them have ever been before.” In Southwest Minneapolis schools, it appears much of the remote education will be based around online activities and interaction. The district wants to distribute Google Chromebooks and WiFi hotspots to all students who need them, ramping up its distribution efforts over spring break, but does not yet have enough of the computers to meet demand. In the short term, the district plans to distribute paper materials to students it cannot provide Chromebooks. “We want to make sure those interactions [between students and teachers] are equitable,” Superintendent Ed Graff said at the March 26 School Board meeting, which was held virtually. A district spokeswoman did not respond to written questions asking how many devices MPS has and how many students reported not having access to a device. Teachers across Minnesota, including in MPS, spent the school days between March 18 and March 27 preparing to teach remotely.
School in session
Walz’ order, issued March 25, requires schools to provide students with meals and care for the children of health care and emergency workers during daytime hours Monday through Friday. Kids must be between ages 4 and 12 to qualify for the care, which must be free for families. A district spokesperson declined to say how many families have accessed this care. Walz also canceled statewide standardized testing for the year. Each week, MPS is providing free 10-meal boxes to kids 18 and under at 50 locations around the city. School-based mental health services are still available for students who receive them when school is in session. Olson, the Anthony teacher, plans on assigning grades on a regular A-F scale, but he’s not planning any tests or vocab quizzes. He has plans for a big final project. As he prepared to teach remotely, Olson set up his Google Classroom website, mapped out his fourth-quarter curriculum, traded emails with students and parents and met virtually with colleagues. He said the biggest challenge of remote education will be meeting the needs of students who require extra services, such as English language learners. Washburn High School 11th-grader Luke Little said he has been staying on track through emails with teachers but misses his classmates. “For me, not having the in-person experience, it just isn’t the same,” said Little, who is enrolled at the University of Minnesota through the Postsecondary Enrollment Options program.
CDD released
While the Minneapolis School Board gave Graff emergency powers, it did not give him the ability to unilaterally approve his plan to remake the school district, which is called the Comprehensive District Design (CDD). The final draft of the plan was released March 27. Graff and School Board chairwoman Kim
Ellison have scheduled a vote on the plan, which includes changes to school busing zones, programs and grade configurations, for April 28. They might push back the vote to May 12 if they feel they don’t have sufficient ability to take public comment. The final draft of the CDD is substantially similar to models released this past winter. Plans call for two fewer magnet schools and for the remaining magnet schools to be located closer to the city’s geographic center. Magnets are specialty schools that typically have larger busing zones than community schools. Under the CDD, schools across MPS would have new busing zones. High school career and technical education would be located at just three sites in Minneapolis. There would be a focus in the special education department on placing students in the community schools closest to their homes, rather than where there is available space. “We feel like this is the right thing to do,” Graff said of the CDD. Graff and his team said MPS would have 12 fewer schools that meet the state’s threshold for racial isolation and seven fewer schools where more than 80% of students live in poverty under the CDD. About 35% of the district’s grades pre-K–8 students would move to a new school before the 2021-22 school year, according to modeling. Specific enrollment projections were not released to the public as this edition of the Southwest Journal went to press on April 1, despite a pledge by district leaders to do so by March 27. Students currently enrolled in high school would not have to change schools. The district would still allow families to enroll in schools outside of their busing zone, provided there is space available and a family can get their kids there without a bus. A draft regulation would allow the superintendent to limit intra-district open enrollment, but it does not provide specific criteria for doing so. In Southwest Minneapolis, Armatage, Barton and Windom magnet schools would become community schools serving the
immediate neighborhoods around the buildings. Barton would become a grades K-5 school instead of a grades K-8 school, and all three would have smaller busing zones. Many parents at those three schools have opposed the proposed changes. Jefferson Community School in Lowry Hill East would become a “global studies and humanities” magnet school and would continue having grades K-8. Green Central elementary school, located just east of Interstate 35W in the Central neighborhood, would become the district’s third Spanish dual-immersion elementary school, replacing Windom. Some Green Central parents have said they do not want the building to become a magnet school. Schools like Armatage and Barton could retain their specialty programs but would need to apply to do so. MPS would allow for up to six “specialty” schools. Students who live in Lowry Hill East would attend Whittier Elementary School, Andersen Middle School and South High School. Under previous CDD models, those students had been slated for the KenwoodAnwatin-North pathway. Some parents and at least one School Board member, KerryJo Felder, continued to ask Ellison and Graff to delay the CDD vote during the last two weeks of March. Ellison has said it’s important for the board to continue doing its work during the pandemic. Graff said there’s the possibility of an initial enrollment decline under the CDD but that he anticipates a long-term enrollment increase. View a longer online version of this story at tinyurl.com/mps-pandemic that includes more information about what to do if your child needs technological help, if you are a first responder needing child care or if you want to access the district’s free meals program. The School Board is scheduled to hear more about the Comprehensive District Design during a virtual meeting set for April 14. Visit mpls.k12. mn.us/cdd to learn more.
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southwestjournal.com / April 2–15, 2020 A7
Local government adapts to COVID-19 By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com
Amid the outbreak of COVID-19 and the statewide stay-at-home order intended to slow its spread, the local government in Minneapolis has shuttered much of its public-facing services while keeping critical infrastructure and boards up and running. Both the Minneapolis City Council and Hennepin County have declared local emergencies that give Mayor Jacob Frey and Board Chair Marion Greene special powers to coordinate response with state and federal officials. In a press conference on March 27, Frey called on city residents to adhere to the governor’s stay-at-home order, which runs through April 10, to slow the spread of the coronavirus and avoid overrunning the health care system. “The order is built not to reduce the number of people who will contract COVID-19, but to extend the time that we have to prepare for the inevitable rate of infections,” Frey said. Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said police will be taking an educational approach to discouraging gatherings of residents before issuing citations if necessary. Through March 31, the department has yet to issue a citation but has had to break up several gatherings and educate residents about the stay-at-home order, according to spokesperson John Elder. The City Council and County Board are now meeting remotely, with council and board members tuning in via video-messaging apps. Meetings for both entities are available online and via public access television. In April, the Minneapolis City Council will condense its 12 standing committees into two: a business, inspections and zoning committee that will address regulatory licenses and zoning matters, and a policy and government oversight committee that will consider all other items. Both will meet weekly, as will the City Council as a whole, which will convene every Friday at 9:30 a.m.
Greene said she has not felt the need to condense the five county committees or the railroad and housing authorities during the crisis, noting that all county committees contain the entire board. Metro Transit has vastly reduced its trip frequency during the coronavirus outbreak due to decreased demand and has been focusing on cleaning buses rigorously and promoting social distancing for riders. Local bus routes are following Saturday scheduling, as are A and C Line bus rapid transit routes. The Blue and Green lightrail lines are running 20-minute, all-day service. Riders are requested to enter and exit out of the back door and wait for the next bus if there is a crowd. Metro Mobility has adjusted to the crisis by requesting customers only ride the vehicles on absolutely essential trips. The service, primarily used by the elderly, is offering to pick up and deliver groceries to certified customers with no fees. Minneapolis residents who use Metro Mobility can access the service by calling 651-602-1100. Metro Mobility is disinfecting it’s vehicles after each ride. Construction on future transit lines has not slowed. Gov. Tim Walz’s executive order allows construction work to continue. The Southwest Light Rail Transit project is continuing construction, with significant work near the future Bryn Mawr station, including the construction of a new bike and pedestrian trail, planned to start in early April. Minneapolis Public Works is also starting its spring construction season in earnest but isn’t accelerating the pace just because traffic is light, according to city spokesperson Sarah McKenzie. The project reconstructing the block of Girard Avenue South between Lake and Lagoon Avenues began in late March. The block is being redesigned as a “slow street” with a curbless design intended to be more pedestrian friendly.
Walker Methodist reports first COVID-19 cases A resident and staff member at the Walker Methodist senior living home in East Harriet have tested positive for COVID-19. The resident tested positive on March 29, according to Walker Methodist officials. The resident is in isolation and is currently in stable condition. The care center declined to give biographical information on the infected resident. A staff member at the Walker Methodist Health Center at 37th & Bryant has also tested positive for COVID-19. The employee was last on site March 17 and tested positive on March 27. The employee first began showing symptoms on March 19, according to Walker Methodist officials. The staff member is doing well and is recovering at home in isolation. “For several weeks, we have been preparing our communities and our team members for this. We are prepared, and we are ready for the fight that is ahead of us,” Walker Methodist CEO Scott Riddle wrote in a letter to residents and their family members. Walker Methodist is screening its 245 residents daily for symptoms, including daily temperature checks. If a resident shows
symptoms, the staff requests a test order from a doctor. The positive test result came back within a day, according to Sarah Benbow, Walker Methodist’s director of marketing and communications. The Health Center has also received some negative test results, though those have taken longer to come back, she said. All group activities at the building have been canceled and residents are being separated from all contact with other residents. “It’s amazing how cooperative everyone is being,” Benbow said. The health center began screening employees daily for symptoms of the coronavirus on March 13 and all workers are wearing protective masks. Like many other nursing care facilities, Walker Methodist has staff who work at multiple sites. The health center has been trying to track and screen those workers closely and limit their movements as much as possible, Benbow said. “I am tremendously proud of the courage our team members are displaying as we face down this adversary,” Riddle wrote to staff.
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A8 April 2–15, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
By Jim Walsh
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T
he last sentence of an online diary I published on March 19 ended with, “[I] wonder where we’ll all be when we meet here next.” Now we know, or at least now I know, where I won’t be, as this is my last column for the Southwest Journal. Which, I won’t lie, hurts to type. I’m joining millions of other COVIDcrushed workers. On March 27, I learned my column was being suspended, thanks to a dropping newspaper page count due to pandemic-throttled advertisers pulling the ad dollars that keep the Journal running. Even if things return to normal, I’ve decided to give up this column and this space, but I’ve got the perspective of the times — I’m up for a new adventure, and I hope you’ll keep reading and supporting the Journal and all local media. I’ll find other ways to write about these times (support MinnPost!), because now more than ever there are important stories to be told and talked about beyond “My Minneapolis.” So this is goodbye. It’s been a gas. Thanks to you, first and foremost, for reading my words in this space all these years. It’s been my privilege to write for you, to fill the crucial role of local newspaper columnist, and I’ve taken that role and duty seriously — to write, with a personal and sometimes intimate voice, columns about our city and your business, band, book; or about my family and friends; or late-night ruminations on life, love, loss and light. I’ll miss getting together here, and I’ve appreciated every encouraging word you’ve ever thrown my way over the years. Thanks especially to Southwest Journal publishers Janis Hall, Terry Gahan and Zoe Gahan, who have provided readers with important stories, and their writers and editors with great freedom, for 30 years. Neighborhood newspapers and local media are the lifeblood of any community, and South Minneapolis has been a better place thanks to the Journal. Thanks to my editors, Sarah McKenzie, Dylan Thomas and Zac Farber, who provided me with great inspiration, solid guidance, wise counsel and good friendship, and who always had my back with their vast knowledge and deep journalism chops. More than anything as I embark on yet another new chapter with all the rest of the gig economy warriors, I want to take this opportunity to, at this crazy juncture in our collective lives, put in a crucial word about supporting local journalism and, in particular, homegrown/local columnists. I got the pink slip Friday, but the loss of it didn’t hit me until later that night, when I was hanging out in front of the Lowbrow, waiting for my take-out order. Cars were lined up six-deep, filled with hungry shelter-in-placers picking up dinner. Inside the shutdown restaurant on the front wall hung a framed column I wrote a year ago this month about the Lowbrow’s baseball
card bar and its owner. On the street, as I chatted from a safe distance with a couple of families and made the kids laugh, a little blue Subaru pulled up. Out popped a guy who gave the Lowbrow server who was running take-out orders two big bottles of hand sanitizer. “Free! Courtesy of Tattersall,” the server told me with a huge smile of the local distillery that started making hand sanitizer last month. It was a beautiful moment of local business camaraderie and an example of the organic chain that makes a community thrive, and I realized I had the perfect place to write about it, that little place where I could once again make minutiae into something meaningful — in my neighborhood newspaper. Then I remembered. As I write this, the unemployment rate is at an all-time high, and I’m just another flounder, collaterally damaged by the pandemic and making it up as I go along. I’ll keep writing and reporting (contact me at the email address at the end of this column if you need a good writer), but my 13-year run of landing on your doorstep ends now. Sigh. I’ve been the staunchest proponent for the job of columnist I know, and that won’t change. There’s a rich history of columnists writing personally in newspapers, but at the moment in these back-to-basics times, I fear that their value will be lost. So for the next columnist in this space, and for all working/ surviving columnists out there, a few parting words of advice. Writing a local newspaper column is one of the best jobs in the world, so act like it. It takes some guts, but do your thing. Your colleagues and editors might not even get it, but your readers will. Take risks. Show us your heart, your mind, your weaknesses. Write like no one’s reading. Tell us something silly,
profound, funny or serious about yourself. Tell us a story about something, anything, that happened to you or your family or friends, no matter how insignificant it might seem as a germ of an idea. Write it out. See what happens. Don’t leave the heart and snark and alt-storytelling to social media; develop your voice and use it and write, write, write. I, for one, will be reading. When Gov. Tim Walz issued the state’s stay-at-home guidelines, news organizations were deemed part of the essential workforce, and there’s a reason. We need information gatherers, storytellers, photographers, editors, columnists and journalists to help make sense of these times. The good news in the Twin Cities is that there’s an army of great journalists doing good and sometimes thankless work these days, and they deserve your support. For me, here, it’s time to go. See you soon, see you around, see you in the funny papers. I’m off to play my guitar, listen to my friend Robert Wilkinson’s song “Strange Times,” my friend John Swardson’s song “I Will Root for You” and my friends Matt Wilson & His Orchestra’s great new record “When I Was A Writer.” Then I have to get to work on editing my new book, a new collection, “Fear and Loving in South Minneapolis,” scheduled for publication in the fall via the University of Minnesota Press, if they’re still making books then. Strange times, indeed. Stay home, wash your hands, hang in there. Onward. Forward, ho. I’m so glad we had so many good times together here for so many good years. Thanks for reading. Jim Walsh lives and grew up in South Minneapolis. This is his last “My Minneapolis” column. He can be reached at jimwalsh086@gmail.com.
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southwestjournal.com / April 2–15, 2020 A9 FROM PROTECTIVE GEAR / PAGE A1
A systemic failure
The current scarcity of personal protective equipment (PPE) for Minnesota health care workers points to a failure of communication and planning by government bodies and by the health care industry to prepare for the type of global pandemic that public health experts have been warning about for decades. While private companies like 3M are ramping up PPE production, shortages could worsen dramatically as the virus spreads; President Donald Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act to help meet the need for ventilators but so far has resisted pressure to do so for masks and gloves. “Minnesota is in competition with 49 other states and many different countries [to obtain PPE],” Department of Administration Commissioner Alice Roberts-Davis has said. Across the state, 689 patients have tested positive for COVID-19 as of March 31, but officials expect the number of cases to continue growing until the late spring or summer, with thousands — or tens of thousands — needing hospitalization during the epidemic’s peak. Health workers are sure to be disproportionately endangered; during the 2003 SARS coronavirus outbreak, they made up 20% of those infected globally. Jane Ross, the co-president of National Nurses United, said this crisis should have been foreseen years ago. “Here we are with our worst nightmare, a pandemic, and it shows you how being illprepared can bite you in the butt,” she said. “With hospitals, it’s not the shortage; it’s that they didn’t want to pay for this stuff [before the pandemic].” Hospitals respond that they couldn’t have prepared for a pandemic of this scale, which has wreaked havoc on the global PPE supply chain. Emily Lowther of the Minnesota Hospital Association said that while hospitals adjust their supply levels when they expect a severe
flu season or other emergency event, “there is a balance in preparing for an epidemic and not spending significant resources that drive up the cost of health care.” Helen Strike, the incident commander for Allina Health’s COVID-19 response, said the hospital relies on a system of “just-in-time” manufacturing and that Allina had hoped there would be more protective equipment in the Strategic National Stockpile. In March, Alex Azar, the country’s Health and Human Service secretary, testified that there are about 40 million N95 masks in the stockpile; his department has estimated 3.5 billion will be needed nationwide. During the 2009 H1N1 swine flu epidemic, about 100 million N95 masks were drawn down from the national stockpile and never replenished. “We’re learning the numbers as everyone else is about how much PPE was placed in the stockpile,” said Strike, who was not aware of any official guidance or requirements for minimum levels of protective equipment that hospitals should hold.
Donation drives
In recent weeks, thousands of people and businesses across the Twin Cities have donated their spare protective equipment directly to doctors and through drives organized by concerned citizens, by local hospitals and by Hennepin County. The county is collecting N95 and surgical masks, eye protection, nitrile gloves and Tyvek coveralls and foot covers; more than 640 people have already taken materials to county drop-off sites. Meredith Schwarz, the co-owner of Rustica Bakery in Cedar-Isles-Dean, is among the local residents mobilizing around protective equipment. Schwarz has a brother and sister-in-law living in Hong Kong, and in late January, as the coronavirus spread there from Wuhan, they asked Schwarz to mail them some N95 face masks. She spent days driving to hardware and drug
stores across the region, astonished to find that they were out of stock everywhere. “In Woodbury, Minnesota, and Shoreview, Minnesota, and Inver Grove Heights — I was going to all these stores, and there was nothing,” she said. She finally found a two-mask package at a Hudson, Wisconsin, Home Depot and spent $180 to ship it express to Hong Kong. A couple of months later, when COVID-19 arrived in Minnesota, Schwarz and her business partner, Greg Hoyt, were forced to close Rustica and lay off their 70 employees, just as they were planning to open a second location in Edina. Schwarz and Hoyt tried to help their employees stabilize — paying them a week’s severance, plus 50% of the proceeds from a gift card drive — but Schwarz’ frustrating experience looking for face masks led her to wonder if there was more they could do for the community. “I have a number of folks in my family who are doctors and nurses getting geared up for this crisis,” she said. “When I heard there was going to be a shortage, I realized we have in our kitchen gloves and other equipment that may be needed.” On Friday, March 20, Schwarz began dialing around to area restaurants and food distributors, asking if they could donate nitrile gloves. Reinhart Foodservice, Hot
Indian Foods and Jester Concepts — the company behind P.S. Steak and Monello — were among those that stepped up. Schwarz and Hoyt put out the word on Rustica’s Instagram and on Nextdoor and, over a two-day span, Schwarz worked the phones as Hoyt drove around filling his Jeep Wrangler with gloves from businesses and N95 masks from individuals. By the end of the second day, Hoyt’s Jeep was fully loaded and he delivered the supplies to Hennepin County Medical Center. “I’d actually like to ask some of these people what they were doing with all these masks,” Hoyt said with a laugh. “These were people in the city; they weren’t preppers out in hither and yon.” Since March 22, Schwarz and Hoyt have been directing people interested in donating supplies to Allina’s drop-off program. They’re hoping to reopen Rustica in a few months.
Homemade masks
While HealthPartners and Allina’s primary need right now is for items like N95 masks, surgical masks and air-purifying hoods, the hospitals are also collecting hand-sewn ear loop masks. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advises that handmade masks can be used as a last resort, though their “capacity to protect health care providers is unknown.” SEE PROTECTIVE GEAR / PAGE A12
HOW TO HELP First responders and public health workers are facing shortages of the equipment needed to keep themselves and the community safe. Dig through your closet for factory-made N95 masks, surgical masks, safety glasses, nitrile gloves, shoe covers, face shields, isolation gowns, Tyvek coveralls, respiratory hoods marked PAPR or CAPR or other protective equipment. Hennepin County (tinyurl.com/hc-ppe), Allina Health (tinyurl.com/allina-ppe) and HealthPartners (tinyurl.com/health-partners-ppe) have created drive-up locations across the county where you can bring your donations. Visit their websites for details of what is accepted and to see locations and times. Allina Health and HealthPartners are also accepting handmade masks, to be used as a last resort. View instructions on how to sew a mask at tinyurl.com/make-mask.
A10 April 2–15, 2020 / southwestjournal.com FROM HELPING OUT / PAGE A1
Sandelin said available volunteer spots have quickly filled up over the past month. The food shelf isn’t accepting food donations at this point but accepts monetary donations on its website. Cash donations are the most important thing food shelves need right now, said Jill Westfall, program and communications manager for the nonprofit Hunger Solutions Minnesota, a statewide food shelf membership organization. Food shelves can leverage those donations to buy items they need, whether that’s food or supplies, she said. Westfall said it’s likely food shelves will see more demand as the number of people laid off because of the pandemic increases. Organizations are moving to a prepacked distribution model, she said, in order to limit the number of people in their buildings.
Lamb stew
At Provision Community Restaurant, a nonprofit near Lake & Harriet, executive director Anna Wienke and her team are creating prepacked meals that anyone can pick up, no questions asked. Provision opened this past fall and, before the pandemic, it served family-style dinners Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and brunch on Saturdays. Diners were encouraged to pay what they could, though no one was turned away for lack of funds. The organization began its daily prepacked meal service on March 18 and is now reaching about 75 people a day, including deliveries made at the Whittier Recreation Center. The organization has also started providing lunches seven days a week for people at an emergency shelter run by Simpson Housing Services. The pandemic drastically changed Provision’s model. The restaurant’s primary suppliers of baked goods, produce and
Provision Community Restaurant chef Kenny Beck prepares sandwiches for people in a 24-hour emergency shelter run by Simpson Housing Services. Submitted photo
dairy closed operations. Instead, they’ve relied in part on food donated from restaurants that shut down because of the pandemic. For example, they received a donation of lamb and lamb meatballs from Nightingale at 26th & Lyndale, which has limited its operations, and used it to make a lamb stew. “We hope that people don’t get too used to us having all of that,” Wienke said. Wienke said monetary donations would be helpful for Provision and that a major April fundraiser has been cancelled. The restaurant is also taking food donations. On March 16, when Gov. Tim Walz announced that he would close bars and restaurants, Wienke said there was talk among Provision board members about shuttering the restaurant. “For us that would mean that we would not probably be able to open back up,” she said. Wienke asked the board to give her team
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TRUST Meals on Wheels director Eleonore Balbach places meals inside a volunteer’s car on March 25. Photo by Nate Gotlieb
a week to serve the community prepacked meals. She said she’s confident the organization will make it through April. A Facebook fundraiser garnered over $7,900. Wienke also said that Provision’s landlord has been open to working with the restaurant on rent. “We really are truly taking each day one day at a time and sticking to what our mission is,” she said.
Caring for seniors
Back at the Judson church-based Meals on Wheels program, there were 13 new clients who signed up to receive meals between the weeks of March 16 and March 23. The organization switched to a weekly delivery model from a daily one. Volunteers were asked to place meals at clients’ doors instead of handing them to them once on site. To ensure clients still have person-toperson interaction, Balbach has set up a
“buddy” system where clients and volunteers check in via email or phone. Longtime volunteer Zan Ceeley, who delivered meals via bike on March 25, said she had received a text delivery confirmation from a client. Craig Wiester, a Judson church member who has delivered for a couple of months, said volunteering for Meals on Wheels gives him an excuse to get out of his home. “I saw the gas station at [36th & Lyndale] selling gas for $1.69, but where am I going to go?” he said. He’s been keeping in touch with friends and older members of Judson church who he knows are alone, just to make sure they’re doing OK. “This is totally isolating for seniors who are living alone and suddenly they can’t get out,” said Biele, the executive director of TRUST. “They’re watching way too much news because it’s on all the time, and that’s terrifying. We’re there to say, ‘It’s OK, we’re all right.’”
southwestjournal.com / April 2–15, 2020 A11
Mount Olivet resident Eunice Sylvester is visited by family members. Submitted photo
Patti Cullen, CEO of Care Providers Minnesota, said people who live in longterm care facilities face somewhat less isolation, because they are still connecting with staff and other residents. Nursing homes and other care facilities have been restricting visitors and volunteers and limiting group activities, following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control. Many senior homes are accepting cards and letters for distribution, Cullen said. One idea she suggested for raising residents’ and caregivers’ spirits is to send flowers. At Mount Olivet Home and Mount Olivet Careview Home in Windom, staff aren’t accepting flower donations but will take small vases, said Tom Litecky, director of community relations. Cards and video messages, even if they aren’t addressed to particular residents, would also be welcome. So would new games, puzzle books, spa products and lotions, provided they are sealed.
Musical birthday greetings
Across Southwest Minneapolis, people have also been helping one another by simply lifting each other’s spirits.
Sim and Barb Glaser lead their Linden Hills block in song on March 29. Residents stood in their yards and sang along as Sim Glaser played songs like “If I Had a Hammer” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” Photo by Nate Gotlieb
The past two Sundays, many residents of the 4600 block of Vincent Avenue have held a group sing-a-long while standing in their yards. Barb and Sim Glaser have led the group in song, Sim’s guitar buoyed by an amplifier. On March 29, they led their block, which sits on a steep hill, in songs like “If I Had a Hammer” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” Eight days earlier, a group of Minnesota Orchestra musicians helped colleague Steve Campbell celebrate his 48th birthday by playing a rendition of “Happy Birthday” from a social distance outside of Campbell’s Bryn Mawr home.
The group also played “Deep in the Heart of Texas” for Campbell, a native Texan who has played tuba in the orchestra for 15 years. “I had tears in my eyes, one just to see my good friends and [also] realize how lucky I am to be able to play with such great colleagues,” he said. It’s a sentiment many people across Southwest Minneapolis have felt throughout the past month. “I think there’s been a great sense of community, at least around us,” Sandelin said. “It’s just apparent now, too, how the community really embraces other people in our community.”
The Philstrom family — Russell, Alex and daughter Hazel — participated in the singa-long from their front steps on March 29. Photo by Nate Gotlieb
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A12 April 2–15, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com
Environmental resources still available during pandemic While local governments and organization have been cancelling Earth Day events and in-person workshops because of the coronavirus pandemic, there are still ways Southwest Minneapolis residents can stay involved with environment-related initiatives. The coalition Blue Thumb (bluethumb.org), for example, has moved its annual series of workshops about planting turf alternatives and creating resilient yards and healthy soil online. The workshops cost $15. Attendees of the resilient-yard workshops will still have the opportunity to receive one-onone assistance from experts. They will receive
that assistance over video conferencing. Call 651-699-2426 to register for a workshop. Meanwhile, the Adopt-A-Drain program is seeking people to volunteer 15 minutes twice a month to clean debris from a drain and nearby sidewalks and streets in their community. Learn more at adopt-a-drain.org. Hennepin County master gardeners have also weighed in. In a blog post, master gardener Steve Miles said one way residents could maintain an outdoor presence is by planting “victory gardens.” Americans planted victory gardens during World War I, the Great Depression and World War II to provide themselves with
FROM PROTECTIVE GEAR / PAGE A9
bartender on March 17, East Harriet resident Emily Lemanczykafka starting sewing masks with her mother, Victoria. Her bank account under strain, Lemanczykafka has courted donations of fabric and now has enough material, she estimates, to make more than 200 masks. The popularity of these projects nationwide has led to a shortage of elastic, and she’s had to adapt in making ear loops. “I’m using bias tape and twill tape, which is a lot more labor intensive,” she said. “To make them fun, I’ve been mismatching prints and being resourceful with the weird materials I have.” Lemanczykafka said she realizes the masks’ utility is limited but she wants to do something constructive and helpful before the state’s health system is overwhelmed.
“We haven’t had a lot of evidence yet saying exactly how we should wear them,” Strike said. “At Allina Health, we hope we never get there.” The CDC could soon recommend that all Americans wear do-it-yourself cloth coverings while out in public, the Washington Post has reported. In Southwest Minneapolis, religious institutions like Zion Lutheran Church in Lyndale and neighborhoods like CedarIsles-Dean have been sharing instructions for sewing masks, directing people eager to help toward CDC-approved mask templates. Boomerang Bags, a Linden Hills-based group that normally makes reusable grocery bags, has redirected all its efforts toward masks. After she was laid off from her job as a
vegetables, herbs and fruits, he wrote. Miles encourages people to practice “vertical gardening” and to grow plants that mature rapidly, can produce all summer long and/or can grow entirely inside. More information can be found at tinyurl.com/covidgarden. For residents looking to get a jump on spring cleaning, the City of Minneapolis will begin collecting yard waste, such as grass clippings, leaves and branches, on April 6. Visit tinyurl. com/mplsyardwaste for more information. While the service may be available in early April, the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization recommends waiting on
Emily Lemanczykafka sews masks in her East Harriet apartment. Submitted photo
“We have been very reactive and not proactive as a country, and I feel horrible for all the
your spring garden cleanup until mid-April or early May. That’s because most pollinators do not emerge until temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees. Throughout the winter and spring, many of these insects take refuge under leaves, in hollow plant stems and underground. The watershed management organization recommends leaving some weeds in your yard for pollinators. The Park Board has cancelled two Earth Day events that were slated for April 18, including an annual 5K run. But it is still encouraging people to collect trash in their neighborhoods.
health workers thrown into this without basic healthy practices and equipment,” she said. Peter Kumasaka of Linden Hills, an ER doctor at Regions Hospital, said homemade masks could benefit the general population, but he has doubts that doctors who wear them over their N95 masks are effectively protected during risky procedures. “While the homemades might prevent gross droplets from hitting the N95, they allow way too much through them to assume the N95 is not contaminated, especially when used in an aerosolizing procedure, such as putting someone on a ventilator,” he wrote on Nextdoor. Delavari said she’s also skeptical of homemade masks but “beggars can’t be choosers.” “If it was between that and me wrapping a bandanna around my mouth and nose, I’d go with the homemade mask,” she said.
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HOLY WEEK & THE PASCHAL TRIDUUM Tuesday–Wednesday, April 7–8 • 8:00 Mass
HOLY THURSDAY, APRIL 9 THE PASCAL TRIDUUM BEGINS AT SUNDOWN 9 AM – Morning Prayer 7 PM – The Lord’s Supper with Washing of Feet GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 10 9 AM – Morning Prayer 3 PM – Solemn Liturgy of the Passion 7 PM – Solemn Stations of the Cross HOLY SATURDAY, APRIL 11 9 AM – Morning Prayer, Blessing of Easter Food 7:30 PM – Gathering at New Easter Fire 8 PM – Easter Vigil Mass EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 12 7:30 AM – Simple Mass (cantor & accompanist) 9:30 AM – Festive Mass (Seasonal Choir, Strings, Bells, Organ)
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southwestjournal.com / April 2–15, 2020 A13
By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com
Lake Harriet Parkway closes to vehicles Public health officials urge people to avoid crowds, even outdoors
The Minneapolis Park Board is closing parkways around Lake Harriet to vehicles to allow residents to spread out during Minnesota’s stay-at-home emergency order. Parks and trails remain among the few places open to residents under Gov. Tim Walz’s stay-at-home order, designed to maintain social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. The order is in effect until April 10. In recent weeks, many of the most popular Minneapolis trails along the Mississippi River and Chain of Lakes have become crowded with walkers, runners and cyclists. Park officials hope closing off parkways to vehicle traffic will allow those users to practice proper social distancing while enjoying the outdoors and exercising. “This has been a collaborative effort with the City of Minneapolis in response to the people we serve and their need for social distancing within parks and public spaces,” Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board President Jono Cowgill said. The MPRB initially announced the closure of parts of West River Parkway and Main Street Southeast along the Mississippi River in Downtown and Marcy-Holmes on March 26. The parkways around Lake Harriet and Lake Nokomis in South Minneapolis were added to the list of closures on March 27.
New signage around Bde Maka Ska urges park users to give others proper space amid the coronavirus pandemic. Trails around the lakes have become popular outlets during the outbreak, but public health issues warn against crowding, even outdoors.
Officials prepared to block off the lower Lake Harriet Parkway to vehicles on March 27 to promote social distancing in popular areas. Photos by Andrew Hazzard
Barriers blocking vehicles have been put in place around lower Lake Harriet Parkway. Lake Nokomis Parkway has also been closed. “Especially as workout centers and gyms have shuttered, lakes have stood out even more as an outlet for exercise and activity, but at times there have been moments where too many people are using them, too many people congregating around them, and, yes, by extension, too many good people putting themselves at risk of contracting COVID-19,” Mayor Jacob Frey said at a March 27 press conference. Cowgill urged residents not flock to the blocked parkways and cautioned that overuse and overcrowding could lead to the MPRB having to make tough choices on limiting access to public outdoor space. “We don’t want people coming in like this is an event,” Cowgill said. “It’s not.” Even when outdoors, the risk of spreading the coronavirus exists in close quarters, according to Kelly Searle, an assistant professor with the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Searle recommends people walk in less popular areas and urges people to get outside at off-peak times if their schedules allow. If you see a crowded area,
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turn around and go elsewhere, she said. For the most part, running and biking past others is OK because people are sharing space for a very short amount of time. “The risk comes in when you’re on those leisurely strolls,” Searle said. The coronavirus is transmitted through respiratory droplets that come from coughing, sneezing or even just talking, Searle said. Six feet of separation, the social distancing guideline advocated by public health officials, is critical to putting yourself out of the way of direct transmission. Being outdoors helps mitigate risk by having fewer shared surfaces to touch but can still be dangerous in close quarters. “If you’re outdoors and close to someone, you can be in the range of those respiratory droplets,” she said. People should only walk close to those with whom they live, Searle said. If meeting other friends at a park, it’s best to keep proper social distancing. Larger gatherings are to be avoided, even outdoors. “Don’t allow yourself to be part of the crowd,” she said. The MPRB is urging residents to walk to and around neighborhood parks, which offi-
cials say remain uncrowded during the coronavirus shutdown. “We have a lot of spaces in our system that are flat, wide and open,” MPRB spokesperson Robin Smothers said. Areas like Victory Memorial Drive and North Mississippi Regional Park in particular are easy to access by bike and car and have not experienced overcrowding, she said. The Park Board is also trying to discourage residents from walking and running on MPRB golf courses, which staff hope to open when the stay-at-home order expires, Smothers said. Under the vehicle access closure, the MPRB is asking walkers and runners to use regularly available walking paths and parkway roads, while cyclists are directed to use normal bike paths. The MPRB has looked at other parkways along destinations like Lake of the Isles and Bde Maka Ska, Cowgill said, but each present their own challenges. Some Lake of the Isles private properties have right-of-way access on certain parkways that the MPRB cannot deny access to. Bde Maka Ska is bound on the north by Lake Street, a large county road. Still, options to open more space are being explored. “We are looking at what is possible,” Cowgill said. City public works and the MPRB will also be working to expand protected bike and pedestrian areas, Frey said, including West 36th Street between Bde Maka Ska and Dupont Avenue in Southwest Minneapolis.
NOTED: • MPRB Recreation Centers will be closed through May 3 due to the coronavirus outbreak. • The comment period for the Southwest Service Area Master Plan has been extended until April 25. Residents can comment at minneapolisparks.org/sw.
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A14 April 2–15, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Voices from the pandemic
Stories of coronavirus in Minneapolis How do you tell the story of what it’s like to live through a pandemic? In recent weeks, our daily routines have been upended, and all of us are seeking to endure in our own way. Throughout this crisis, the Southwest Journal will be keeping in touch with a selection of local residents — an infection preventionist, a religious leader, a retired couple, a schoolteacher, an ER physician, a pair of small-business owners, a Hennepin County commissioner and a laid-off restaurant worker. As the outbreak evolves, we will check in with the participants regularly. All interviews are conducted over the phone, and conversations are edited for length and clarity. Reporting for this project is by Zac Farber, Nate Gotlieb and Andrew Hazzard.
Barb Joyce, infection preventionist, Jones-Harrison senior living THURSDAY, MARCH 19 I’ve been a registered nurse for 28 years now. My job duty is to monitor the infectious process, especially those who are most contagious, and prevent transmission to prevent illness. There are measures we can do to make our communal environment safer from spreading pathogens. The Minnesota Department of Health helps us to prepare for what our threats might be. We had the H1N1 that we prepared for and we monitored Ebola to see how it would affect our community. But this is new for us. We’ve never seen anything like this. We’ve never experienced this level before. Regular influenza is a problem every year for our community, and we’ve been dealing with that since the beginning of time. We know how to set up the program, we know how to vaccinate and we know how to treat once it gets in the door. We know what to do, we know how to break the transmission. But the coronavirus is evolving rapidly, it’s deadly and it doesn’t have a treatment for it like most diseases. We’ve learned from Kirkland [the Seattlearea nursing home overrun by COVID-19] to stop it at the doors. We’re taking the temperatures of our staff as they walk in. We’re screening them for illness and their travel. We’ve closed to non-essential visitation and screened to vendors who have to come into our building. The mood inside the facility is pretty calm. We haven’t had any residents sick yet. Dealing with outbreaks is a lot of work. We understand why we’re doing it, but it’s taxing, it’s fatiguing, it’s tiring. And yet, at the same time, the calmness and the right thing to do supersedes that fatigue. Everyone’s working on hyperspeed because the more we prepare, the better off we are going to be in the long run. I’m older, so I don’t have young children at home. This would be different if I had people who depend on me at home. I am at a position where I can work long hours without it affecting others. The leadership of the facility is committed to keeping this community safe, and I feel blessed. I would rather be here than not be here.
I feel like this is something I’ve been training for and now it’s here, so part of me says, “This is it, this is the big hurrah, so let’s engage.” We’ve heard and heard and heard all these things that could go wrong and don’t go wrong and now we’re in the position where we’re here. I run on adrenaline. I derive meaning from it. In no circumstances would I say this makes me happy. But with that said, I feel glad I’m in this moment, in this office, today, working this plan.
SUNDAY, MARCH 22 We figured out how to get testing. The Department of Health said the swabs I use for influenza will work. They told me they have enough tests available and if I were to submit, I’d go to the top of the priority list. I’ve been able to take the weekend off, and no one has called me from work, so I’ve been sheltering in place and getting a lot done in my house. I’m a little concerned with some of the social media calls for people to make their own masks and President Trump’s comments discouraging health care workers from throwing away masks. I’m concerned that the surgical masks we have that are single-use masks, which have some filtration, are going to be replaced by a piece of material. People have been saying, “Put a bandanna on.” But that’s not, in our opinion in the health care industry, a safe product. The CDC says as long as you have a surgical mask on the patient and a mask on the health care giver, that should be good enough. We’ve been conserving our supply of surgical masks, and I have a good quantity that should get us through the first round. I’m a little concerned the stockpile is not as much as I hoped it to be and we’re not going to have the gowns and the masks. If it hits and hits hard, I’m a little nervous I’m not going to get my supply back in. Every time we go into the room, we’re going to have to gown, glove, mask and put a shield on our eyes. And every time we leave that room, we have to throw those away, because they’re not reusable when you’re working with a contagious germ. We’re going to have to bundle our care — go in four or five times during a day — and do everything we can while we’re in the room. I have about a week’s worth of supply for, at the most, five patients. But if I don’t get more in, I have no idea what I’m going to do. It’s going to be challenging trying to limit our supplies if the virus comes in our door. The Department of Health knows of two nursing homes in the state of Minnesota that have had positive testing and were able to contain it. If we identify it early and contain it early, it’s just going to be maybe one or two patients and maybe a health care worker or two. I’m hopeful that the system is working the way it’s supposed to work when we’re in this pandemic situation. The general public needs to continue to do their part by social distancing and hand washing.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25 It appears it is starting to get closer. Twelve senior care facilities in the state of Minnesota are now experiencing some level of COVID. One of our concerns is that some of our caregivers work in multiple facilities. Our biggest priority is to stop the virus from coming in. If it’s in other facilities, they may be exposed, become a carrier and bring it into Jones-Harrison. The Department of Health is now stating that there is evidence there are asymptomatic carriers. We hear rumors about which facilities have been affected [but the Minnesota Department of Health cannot disclose]. We have taken to calling the other facilities and, without violating HIPAA, we’re trying to gather information on the validity of these
rumors. We’ve screened all our employees and know the other places that they work. But it’s not public knowledge to know the places where the virus is in. So we’re only hearing word-of-mouth from employees. We’d like to prevent shared workers from coming back from exposed facilities for a certain length of time. If our residents are going to get sick, it won’t be from the community; it will be from our caregivers. Luckily, we have not had any respiratory trends since we started this process. There’s been no influenza. Social distancing, I believe, has prevented the passing of respiratory germs from person to person. We’re going to create a respiratory team. They will be going in and giving a nebulizer with the N95, and then we’ll be protecting and reusing that equipment as much as we can. Our maintenance department made us some full-face shields out of plastic sheets and double-sided velcro. We can put them around our heads, so if we’re in a room and a patient coughs or sneezes, it will hit the mask and not our face or goggles. It’s another level of protection you’ll see at the hospital level but not normally in long-term care. We couldn’t get any in our facility, so we decided to make our own. We’re not wearing them yet. We’re starting to hear different tones of voices on our conference calls. Some of the staff are getting concerned. If I let my guard down, I will break down, so I can’t let my guard down. We have to continue to push toward the positive and toward getting the equipment we need. We’re skilled workers, but we need the protection. The threat is real to the staff and to their family members. We’re happy the governor made the decision he did [ordering Minnesotans to stay home]. We are working the plan and coming up with creative solutions. I’m happy to be in this facility instead of a facility that’s not going to give me what I need. I feel supported. Jones-Harrison has about 150 people in skilled nursing — nursing assistants, trained medication aides, LPNs and RNs — and maybe another 100 office workers and ancillary staff, including social workers, therapists and a wellness group. With the dining service members, the staff totals about 300. The residents are lucky to have this particular set of health care workers.
MONDAY, MARCH 30 I’m actually in a truck, going to get some personal protective equipment from the City of Minneapolis at a double-secret location. I’m hoping it’s going to be a big shipment, so let’s just say a prayer. Today my headspace is still at the level of “we can.” We can treat it, we can care for it, we can limit it — we can. We are doing everything imaginable, based off of what we know, to tame this beast. Every week is another week we are closer to the peak, and then we can start breathing again. Every Monday I go in and I am fighting. Every Thursday I come out and I say, “You know, I did what I could, and it’s the best it can be, and another week at zero is a pretty nice place to be.” And I say prayers for all of those who aren’t in that space — those who have it and are nervous and are tamping down the fears of their staff. I feel for them. We’re still at zero cases and being creative. Our reception desk doesn’t have a shield, or a glass partition. So our maintenance team created a plastic shield that covers the guest space for when visitors come into the building and have to do the initial screening. Everybody is working toward improvements while we still have time. And then when it does come in that door, we’re going to feel comfortable and confident and competent in how to take care of a patient and contain it to their room. Because we have to take care of these people so that the people who need hospitals have a bed to go to. That’s our goal.
Marcia Zimmerman, rabbi, Temple Israel FRIDAY, MARCH 20 We had a dance group that was supposed to come in from New York on March 14 and then an artist in residence coming after that. I realized maybe two weeks ago that wasn’t going to work. Then there was a whole conversation: Do we just stop everything? Do we stop Shabbat? I said, “Let’s not go there quite yet.” What do with our early childhood centers? By the time I started driving in on Friday, March 13, I realized the exposure rate of people were getting closer and closer to us and I was like, “Everything’s done. We are closing the doors.” Last week, we still streamed services with the clergy on the bimah together. There were six of us, and we were not 6 feet apart necessarily. This week we just did a virtual Shabbat service. We couldn’t go in to stream, because if any one of us is exposed, all of us could get sick. Plus, people would have to come in to do that work, so we would be putting people at risk in many ways. So we’re doing everything virtually. Normally we get about 10 people in for nonpeak services. A service the cantor and I videotaped had more than 60 people tune in. People are just so hungry to engage. This is allowing them to engage from their homes. One of the biggest lessons I have learned is loneliness is a plight of our time. Families are separated for jobs and other things. We could talk about so many reasons for loneliness. It has been a No. 1 issue in this generation, but we haven’t talked about it until now. People haven’t been able to see their parents because of lockdowns in nursing homes. All of these things have made it all the more glaring that we need to address this issue of loneliness. Technology is the answer to this loneliness on some level. We’re trying to connect with our entire congregation, which is over 2,000 households, in the next two weeks. There are people who don’t have video technology, and we want to make sure they don’t feel disconnected. There’s been a couple statements I’m hearing from people. One is just how scary it feels. It’s just this reality of the virus that you don’t know where it is and if it’s going to affect you or how it’s going to affect you. I think prayer is really powerful to contain that fear and have a voice for it. I think ritual is really powerful to calm the soul. How do you calm the soul? Everybody has to figure out how to not live in fear and paralyzing anxiety. We are sharing a message of calm, of hope, of Jewish tradition being a lifeline. Lighting Shabbat candles and having that kind of experience is really important for people. You might read a prayer you’ve read all your life and find a message that really resonates today. That’s the biggest message. Because anxiety doesn’t help us be safe. Washing your hands has become a big thing, and there’s a traditional Jewish prayer for washing your hands. So I did a video of myself saying the blessing, which takes about 40 seconds and it’s perfect. The key is to ritualize things because ritual orders chaos. We’re all dealing with this, no one is immune, so we need collaboration and connection. These moments can bring out the best in people and can bring out the worst. This virus can stoke fear, hatred and racism, but it can also spur collaboration and connection, and that’s what we have to focus on.
SUNDAY, MARCH 22 We have been doing so many Zoom worship gatherings. People have said how
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much fun it is to see everybody, and they didn’t realize they felt isolated. I’m really upping my game on Zoom. I have learned how to put one of my own pictures in the background. My husband [state Rep. Frank Hornstein (District 61A)] and I went to Zion National Park this fall and I put that photo in the background, and the kids in our Judaic and Hebrew program thought it was funny I figured that out. Passover is two weeks from Wednesday night. Families are doing Zoom Seders. We also are going to do a Seder in real time with clergy there. It’s very fun to prepare for it, even though we’ll be missing seeing congregants in person. Our youth group did an “untalent show” last night on Instagram, which was fun to watch. We’re also reaching out on phone calls. People really want to talk. Usually you reach out to people and it’s, “Thanks, rabbi, bye,” you know. Now people have all the time in the world. In some ways, you realize how crazy our lives have become. We haven’t had to sacrifice as a country or think about other people or go with less. I think those are really important lessons that are crucial at this time and in this experience. We’ve still had funerals. In Judaism you can’t embalm, so you’ve got to honor the person who died by burying them as quickly as possible. We came up with a really good procedure and process that has been very helpful. All of it is graveside, outside, with 10 people or fewer, and we’re streaming the service. I did a funeral this week with 10 people and 70 people streaming, and then we’ll do a memorial service at a later date. We did a Zoom shiva Thursday night, and we’re doing it again tonight. We’ve been so wanting to move beyond our four walls. Religious institutions that stay bound by their buildings are just not going to survive.
TUESDAY, MARCH 24 We’re noticing there’s more concerns out there about finances and people are losing their jobs. How do we stay in touch with everybody and help when we can? That’s an important piece of what we’re doing. I am part of a group of senior clergy of the Downtown congregations and we’ve been motivated by a conversation with [Attorney General] Keith Ellison to begin engaging social media to make sure we fight the hate that is ignited by this, the blaming, and putting into the airwaves counter messages: that we are one community, that we move toward finding each other, learning from each other’s differences and making sure we stay connected.
FRIDAY, MARCH 27 People are starting to get sick in our circle, which is scary. The hardest part to me is when I hear about a congregant in the hospital and the ICU, I’m normally there in 15 minutes. Now, that person is alone in the hospital and the family is separated from them. It’s just so painful. You have to keep calling and checking in. Right now, they’ve got beds and ventilators, so at least people are getting the medical care we need. Last week we did five funerals [not COVID-19 related]. We just received a declaration from the state that now we can only have a clergy person and funeral home staff and no family can come. That’s going to be a hard one. We’ve got the streaming service there. The first time that’s going to be enforced will be a hard one. The question of why never helps anyone. What we can do is ask a better question. How will history remember this time? What are the stories going to teach us? At home, we’re negotiating work spaces because we’re both working a lot. We’re making sure we have as many meals together as possible, trying to go for walks.
Arminta and Ron Miller, residents, Waters on 50th senior living community THURSDAY, MARCH 19 Arminta: We’ve lived in South Minneapolis all our lives. I went to West High School on 28th Street and he went to Central, and we met at the University of Minnesota — very young. We bought a house at 46th & Pillsbury, which we added onto with a really nice big kitchen and family room. I taught pre-school. Ron: We lived in our house for 50 years. I was a national sales manager for a plumbing and heating wholesale house. We didn’t move a lot. Arminta: We have three children and nine grandchildren. My son lives in Spokane, Washington, and he married a gal and she said to me, “I’m not going to have any children; I’m a career woman.” And she had four boys! Four years ago, my husband had gallbladder surgery and I had been ill for a while, so we decided to move into a senior home. We go to Mount Olivet Lutheran Church and, after church one day, we saw this place being built and decided it would be perfect for us. My husband is an ambassador, so when new people come he greets them and we take them to dinner in the dining room. I belong to a writing group and like to read. They have a book club where one of the gals goes out and gets books and brings them back to us in a kit of 10 or 12. Ron: In normal times we’re like a small family or a small community. Everybody cares for everybody else. If somebody needs groceries, people will go with them. They bring in happy hour every Thursday and entertainment during the week, too. The bad thing about it is you get so close to people and then they pass away. Arminta: Now it’s weird. About a week ago they told us we were going into quarantine, or isolation in our rooms. So we don’t get together and eat anymore in the dining room. They bring us our meals three times a day. They give us a menu, we check off what we want and they deliver it to us. At first we weren’t getting our mail because the mailman wouldn’t come in, but we got someone on staff to pick it up now. Our kids can’t come in or visit us. Hairdressers can’t come in anymore. We had a masseuse who’d come in once a week and she can’t come in. We’re trying to catch up on all the old Oscar movies on TV. We’ve been doing a lot of cleaning. My hands, I wash them so often, they’re so thin, and they really hurt. I think we’re taking good care of ourselves. They’re still holding exercises every day. Ron: We have chair yoga, we work with weights. We can get together as a group as long as we’re 6 feet apart. It’s good. It gets you out of your apartment. Arminta: He leaves the apartment a lot; he doesn’t like to stay put. We can walk the hallways for exercise, too. I think we’re taking good care of ourselves, and we haven’t killed each other yet. Ron: It’s called bonding. Arminta: We’ve been married 60 years, and this is a test, I think.
MONDAY, MARCH 23 Arminta: Ron’s been exercising every morning, but it looks like they’re going to take that away from us now. Ron: When they announced there would be no more exercise, a few of the people were really frustrated. They said, “What am I going to do?” Arminta: The library here has kind of been decimated; there aren’t many books left. There were about six or seven people who would get together and put together a puzzle in the common area. They’ve taken the puzzle away so nobody can do puzzles here. So it’s getting tighter and tighter. We’re doing fine. It’s lucky that we have each other. A few of the people are looking pretty bad and feeling pretty lonesome. I’ve
been sending cards around to people to make them feel a little better. It’s really hard on people who are all alone. We’re not arguing yet, so that’s a good thing. He was mad because I beat him at cribbage. Ron: She cheated. And she won’t play me in Monopoly.
THURSDAY, MARCH 26 Arminta: They’ve really shut us down now. They won’t even let dog walkers come. People with pets who can’t walk them themselves are being asked to give the pets to their families. For a couple of these ladies, these dogs are the only thing that seems to be keeping them going. They are not cleaning the apartments this coming week because they are using the cleaning people to clean the entire surfaces of the building — the rugs and the windows and the things in the common areas. They’ve taken the chairs out of the front hallway where some people were trying to talk 6 feet apart. But Ron and I are doing OK, though he misses the exercise program. Ron: For people who were exercising, they’ve cleaned the weights and are bringing them into our rooms. They’ll give us the instructions for the 10 different exercises we’d do. Arminta: He’s been doing sit-to-stand and he still walks up the four flights of stairs right near us every day. I have a hard time standing for a long period of time, but I’ve been standing and trying to lengthen that time out. Ron and I walk after the news at 10:30, so we’re getting our walking in, too. We’re not just sitting here watching TV. We played some cribbage. I’ve been cooking. I’m not fond of all the foods here. We made chili and are making Sloppy Joes today. We made tuna salad and potato salad and I’d like to bake a cake. Ron: We get a letter every day and it tells us exactly what’s happening. It’s going to be a while like this. Arminta: Everybody’s healthy here. We had a couple that had been on vacation in the Dominican Republic and they were tested here — though not with that swab. They had to go directly to their rooms and they had to stay for 10 days before they could come out into the hallways.
MONDAY, MARCH 30 Arminta: Beginning last Friday, they are taking daily temperatures of the people on the other side [in specialty care] and anybody in the independent section who needs help showering. They are going to be calling us on the independent side and asking about our health. If we have a tickle in our throat, a cough or a fever, they’re going to send a nurse to check us out completely. All of the people working here — the concierges and those who deliver meals and the cleaning people — will wear a mask from now on. I think it’s to protect us; they didn’t want us to be alarmed or scared because there are no cases here. If it makes them feel better, it’s good. We live on the main floor, right off the garden area, and a lot of people were out walking or sitting today. A couple of people had their family come up to the iron gates around the garden. They stood 6 feet away but people got to talk to each other. You could tell it cheered them up. Ron and I are going to do that tomorrow, just to get out and get the fresh air. Ron: They try their hardest to keep us healthy here. At this time in our life we’re at the right place. Arminta: I think so too. He’s getting a little edgy. When the Super Bowl was here, our grandson who lives in Chicago got passes for him and Ron to do the zipline across the Mississippi River. When Ron was 70, he got some of his friends from high school to jump out of an airplane. So Ron isn’t a person who likes to sit still. Ron: Being married 60 years, you have to be a daredevil. Arminta: Yes, you do.
Tracey Schultz, science teacher, Clara Barton Open School FRIDAY, MARCH 20 Last week, in front of students, I was trying to be present and stick to our plan. Coronavirus wasn’t part of my curriculum. Goodness knows they were getting enough of that elsewhere. When and if it came up, it was a good chance to approach it as a scientist. In some ways, I’m able to provide a little more one-on-one attention right now [that we’ve moved to online learning]. I’m not supervising passing time. I don’t have bus duty. My routine? I don’t have to get up quite as early. I get to sleep in until 7 a.m., get up and go for a run so I can be in my “classroom” at 8 a.m. That means my laptop is open and I am going through all the emails that have come in. Then I’m in my classroom until 4 p.m. Then at 4, I’m trying to get away from work a little bit. Go for a walk or read or watch something on TV. I am going to make a concerted effort to take the weekends off. Normally I’m bringing tons of work on weekends and planning for the week ahead. I think it’s important right now to take the weekend off and get away from it so I can come back and be excited on Monday. I’m going to miss seeing the kids. I’m worried about them. The economics of the weeks ahead are going to be really tough. I wish I could be there in person for the kids and support them. I miss the adult interaction as well. I’m still a full-time teacher even in this strangle little upstairs classroom I made. We’re going to do our best to make school work in the situation we’re in right now.
TUESDAY, MARCH 24 The goal for this week is to get kids onto Google Classroom and get planned for that first week. It’s a big challenge. It is really exciting to learn new things and to find all of these amazing resources that are out there, but there is so much to figure out. Last week I put out an optional challenge with a Google Doc for kids to respond to, and I realized I need to be more thoughtful about how to organize the Google Doc. If I hand you a paper, it’s really obvious where your answer goes, but that’s not so on the Google Doc. I’m working with other science colleagues in Minneapolis to try to find some of the best resources we can use for curriculum on our Google Classroom. It’s a big shift for us, going from a hands-on, lab-based classroom. I’m trying to start small and simple and not add in too much technology too quickly so that kids can be successful. I don’t want them sitting in front of a screen all day. One of our biggest hurdles right now is that not all of our kids have devices. The internet providers are making getting online a lot easier. But you’ve got to have a device. The district hasn’t made a commitment to put a device in every kid’s hand. We have a lot of kids right now who don’t have a device or who are sharing one device for every kid in the family. That is a huge concern for our teachers and our administrators. Teachers have had really limited formal training in online learning. It’s another language. You can really see people are at different comfort levels with technology. It’s hard to support each other when you can’t be there in person. What I’m going to try during the first week of distance learning is to post a week of science, essentially. If you were the learner, you could engage in that for 25 minutes a day, if you wanted to have a really set schedule. Or if you were responsible for babysitting and had limited access to the device, you could sit down and spend a longer chunk of time on it. Some things it’s important to have daily practice with, but I SEE VOICES / PAGE A16
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Voices from the pandemic FROM VOICES / PAGE A15
think I can be more flexible with science. I’m also going to try to include ways that I hope the kids can still be really social.
THURSDAY, MARCH 26 We continue to be super concerned about kids who don’t have devices. That’s the real struggle and worry. We struggle with equity issues all the time, but in the walls of my classroom, there are a lot of equity issues that I can tackle. I think my colleagues and I feel really powerless right now about the devices, because we don’t have an ability to get a device into a kid’s hand who needs it, and we don’t know when that’s going to happen. Overall, I feel optimistic about our health. Of all of the kids I’m corresponding with, so far everyone has said they’re healthy and their family is healthy. I feel like our governor has been pretty aggressive about trying to flatten the curve, so I feel optimistic about that. I’m not to that point of optimism yet with the online learning, but I’m hopeful. If every kid gets a device and online access, then my hope can become optimism. We’re asking a lot of kids and families right now. We’re asking really young learners to advocate for their education in a way that they’ve never had to do before. Up to this point, it’s, “Go to school every day.” Now it’s, “Get online every day. Get a device in front of you. Turn it on. Get to the right place.” We’re expecting they can be way more independent than any of them have ever been before. We just need to make sure that everybody has the tools that they need. This is like the crux of these gaps that we have in education right now. Take the pandemic away and put us back in regular school; we still have a system where
there are large numbers of kids who don’t have what they need to be successful in school. Every day. That’s no different than right now.
Parissa Delavari, emergency room physician, North Memorial Medical Center WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25 I live in Linden Hills. I work at North Memorial Medical Center as well as Maple Grove Hospital. I have a 10-year-old daughter and a 7-year-old son, and my husband is a high school teacher at El Colegio charter school. We’ve really loved the Southwest Minneapolis area. We’ve been here for 10 years now and I would say life was pretty perfect before all this. Now it’s drastically different. My husband has been working from home and has been able to continue daily homeschooling with the kids. I have an older mother who lives in Edina and would come here quite a bit and help out with child care. My mother is almost 70 and has some medical problems, so we’ve been distancing ourselves from her. That’s been the biggest change for us. I try to go on walks with her once a day and FaceTime with her. The biggest challenge has been separation from loved ones. Initially, the number of patients in the ER dropped significantly with people staying home unless they were sick enough to need emergency services, which allowed us time to prepare for what’s coming and get our protocols down. Now it’s starting to pick up and we’re seeing respiratory cases. A lot of the testing is backlogged, so it’s hard to know if they’re actually COVID positive or not. But it
certainly seems pretty consistent with that. My biggest fear is that we’re going to run out of beds, ventilators and, truly, doctors and nurses — because we’re all going to get sick. A lot of people with COVID are asymptomatic and in places they’ve been able to test everyone, they found a lot of asymptomatic providers were still practicing and [probably] spreading to patients. Most of us now wear masks in every room we go to regardless of the chief complaint, so we’re not being a vector of spread. Any respiratory patients, we have full barrier precautions on — including masks, face shields, gowns, head protection. Ideally, we would change these between patients, but that’s not possible. We’re already running low and rationing personal protective equipment. We have been instructed to use the same mask, essentially as much as we can. You worry about cross-contamination on the outside of the mask getting on the inside. We’re reusing face shields, meant for one-time use, over and over again. We’ve been running low on gowns, which help us stay fully covered so we’re not exposing the patient in the next room to the virus. It’s actually difficult to breathe through an N95 for a prolonged period of time, so we take them off between patients. The situation is bad enough where every nurse and every doctor has a big paper bag. At the end of our shift, we try to wipe down our personal protective equipment and put it back in that big paper bag. Because we’re that low on supplies. Think about that! They don’t know how long the virus can live and be pathogenic on a surface and when you think you’re throwing all that protective gear in one paper bag overnight until your next shift, it’s a huge risk for people working there. At the trajectory we’re on, we’ll run out quickly, so I really don’t think we have much of an option at this point. I put a cooler in my front yard that says “N95 mask donations” and posted about it on
Nextdoor. I’ve been getting a lot of donations. I’m taking what anybody has, like goggles, disposable gowns, gloves. People have been dropping off masks they have from construction projects. I get asked if I’ll take used masks, and I’m happy to take those. If we get desperate, we’ll dust off some dusty masks and use those too. There is a little stockpile of random masks in people’s basements. It’s heartbreaking to me because I’m talking to my friends in New York and California, where they’re already running out of supplies. They’re having to make the decisions of whether to go to work and put themselves and their families at risk. One of my friends is a pregnant ER physician in California who is struggling with this ethical dilemma. I’ve been mailing some masks to her, because she would otherwise have to use fabric masks or bandanas. If we run out of resources, people are going to die. If we get inundated with patients, we just won’t have enough resources to take care of all of them, and we’ll need to make some difficult decisions about loved ones’ lives. I’ve worked in other countries before and there are often shortages. But I think I’ve been naive because I thought that in the United States this wouldn’t be happening. In a country with this much wealth, the fact that we don’t have a stockpile of masks and gloves and face shields is shocking to me. I don’t know exactly where the blame lies. It’s not difficult to foresee that a pandemic like this could have come here, so I’m very surprised we don’t have a stockpile of these relatively cheap items that are invaluable. It would be difficult to plan for this on the level of hospitals, but we should have planned for it on a national level better. Hopefully we will going forward. The CDC had a pandemic committee that was cut during this administration. I think the mixed messages from the administration currently has really hindered my job. People are asking to be tested who have no indication to be tested just because they heard that everyone can be tested — and that’s not the case. There’s
southwestjournal.com / April 2–15, 2020 A17
been a lot of misinformation from the top down that’s been very frustrating as a physician. I feel super fortunate. I have a good support system and, financially, I’m more secure. I have some anxiety over the battles that are coming and the lack of resources, but other than that, I’m really appreciative of what I have. I’ve been trying to text neighbors who are older and don’t have as much family around to see what we can do to help them. The kids and I went out and wrote nice chalk messages for people at higher risk who are homebound, saying, “We love you, we miss you, we can’t wait to hug you.” This is a good time to reach out to people around you. Because my mom is at higher risk and does still enter our house at times, I am now showering at work and completely changing before I come home. Hopefully, I decontaminate a little bit that way. I’m not as concerned about my family, specifically speaking. My husband and I are in our 40s, we’re healthy, we have two healthy kids, so my anxiety for my immediate family is pretty low. I think of it more as a public health issue. My biggest anxiety is I don’t want to be where Italy was, making these horrible ethical choices about which lives to save and how long do you keep a patient on a ventilator. In Minnesota, so far, everyone seems to have been ahead of the curve.
Jen and Marcus Wilson, co-owners, True Grit Society gym
the money they make teaching for us, so we wanted to make sure they knew we were going to pay them for the rest of the month. We’ve given our instructors access to the gym at any time. Some of them have come in and filmed videos and were writing down exactly what the workout is. We film it at the gym so it doesn’t look like a random guy posting his iPhone against the wall doing his workout in tube socks. We’re trying to feature friendly faces and keep it light. A lot of members said, “We want to pay you.” We said, “You don’t have to pay us.” At the end of the day we are very blessed and thankful for where we’re at. As a small business owner, it’s exhausting, and, to be completely honest, the break has been nice. I haven’t gotten this much sleep since before our daughter was born. I feel weird. I feel oddly well-rested and it’s just not a feeling that is normal to us. Marcus has had injuries for a while, and this is providing the opportunity for him to recover, at least a little bit. I don’t want to sound flippant about people who are dying from this, but the good thing is this has allowed everyone to slow down. I feel horrible for people who are struggling with serious issues and can’t pay their rent and can’t get food and don’t want to get sick. From that perspective, we’re very blessed. But I did not think we would get any kind of break for, I’d say, five years. And this is really the only way any small business owner gets a break, is when everything stops.
MONDAY, MARCH 30
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25 Jen: What we did right away was set up a Facebook group for our instructors to communicate as quickly as possible what we were going to do. We know a lot of our instructors rely on
I looked at all the aid packages coming down for small businesses and the state one doesn’t apply to us because we haven’t been open a year. We’re a month shy. And our employees, who we are still paying because they need the money, they’re considered contractors. So we also wouldn’t get money to pay contractors because they are not considered employees by the state.
So we’re kind of screwed on that front. Additionally, we don’t want to take out loans, because we don’t know when business will be back. And even if we have to pay, it’s like, “What are you agreeing to when you start making money again — if you start making money again?” We have a lot of members who were furloughed or laid off, and some of them can’t afford to live here anymore; they’ve had to break their lease and move back home with their parents who don’t live near the gym. There’s a lot going on right now. We don’t even know what’s going to happen. It’s been a weird couple days trying to figure stuff out. Now it’s settling in. Bills are due and there are a bunch of articles that have come out about: What do you do? Do you take out a loan? Because you don’t know what’s going to happen. There are a lot of businesses preferring to shut because they don’t want to deal with all the financial implications that come with staying open. That’s the thing with our business: We’ve been operating with no overhead other than day-to-day and monthly expenses. Now to say we might need a loan and pay that back while you’re getting things going, it’s such a Catch22. It took us 11 months to build up relationships to get 60 members, and now, by no fault of our own, we could lose half of those and have to start from the beginning. We’re down to do that, but in the meantime, it’s tough.
Marion Greene, board chair, Hennepin County FRIDAY, MARCH 20 I keep a journal where I write one sentence every day. It’s hard to transport myself back to pre-Tuesday.
Behind the scenes, we have been very united on the board. Because we are kind of the big organism in the state of Minnesota, besides the state itself, we have a lot of existing contact and communication with the state. But there are still things that are different. In the normal world, we can signal to each other and it doesn’t require a phone call. Now we’re in a situation where we’re doing things so quickly that we want to call and give other jurisdictions a distinct heads up. [Puts phone call on hold. Returns.] You’ll laugh — I’m working at home and we have a tree stump in the boulevard in front of the yard, and the city wants to come to take it out. That’s totally fine but the problem is — and this is probably the reason the tree died in the first place — our internet fiber cable runs near the tree stump. We might have to ask them not to do it because this is not the time for the internet to come down. Moments of our time. Thank goodness some of the city functions, like water and trash, are still functioning. Today was the first day I felt like we might be pointed toward the new normal. On March 18, it was just a lot of phone calls. I was attached to my phone and to Skype. Today there was one meeting that was sort of mundane. We just wanted to establish that this group was going to continue to operate and meet about youth in Minneapolis — that’s still important. There were other meetings that were much higher stakes where we were discussing: Have we done the right things in terms of how we’re supporting employees? Have we done the right thing in terms of closing the public service centers? Do we need to be more aggressive? I really am so grateful for the state team and the county team. They are making data-driven decisions … with whatever information they have. What is making me nervous is the national situation, with testing for example. It’s insane how far behind we are on testing compared with what other countries have pulled off. We might just get half the testing order. I was just texting SEE VOICES / PAGE A18
CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Tablet compatible with Apple Pencil 5 Just short of the A-list? 10 Entice 14 “Yikes!”
To all our students, families, faculty and community members:
15 Snorkeling spots 16 “Marriage Story” actor Alan 17 Strict prerequisite 19 Telegraph taps
We wish you well during this difficult time.
Supporting excellence at Southwest High School
20 Circus prop 21 Good dog’s reward 22 Powerful force for innovation
Stay safe, take care of each other, SOUTHWEST and we look forward to seeing HIGH SCHOOL you again soon.
26 Softly hit hit 27 Senior advocacy group 28 Spanish eight 29 Certain Muslim 32 Part of an all-in-one printer 35 Spoke frankly 38 Go (for) 39 Like pop tunes 40 __ collar
CONGRATS TO OUR 3 STRINGS GUITAR GROUP!
DOWN
21 Preakness horse’s age
42 Ponder
1 Platform for 1-Across
22 Yosemite climbing spot featured in “Free Solo,” for short
43 Stocky
2 Honor society letter 3 New England cape
41 Shiny fabric
4 Makes the world a better place
42 Crete peak: Abbr.
5 UCLA player
43 Trattoria seafood dish 49 Seismic event
6 Washington portraitist Rembrandt __
50 Certain believer
7 Slow, musically
51 Push 52 Aquarium collection 57 Hawkish god 58 Set straight 59 Playing to break a tie, briefly 60 Newbie 61 Full of gossip 62 Some hosp. scans
8 Eerie sky sight 9 W-9 or W-2 ID 10 Often unjust accusation 11 Presumed 8-Down pilot
23 Like four Koufax games
46 47
25 Cartoonist Guisewite or her title character
48
52 Ticked off
26 Western neckwear
53 Journalist Velshi of MSNBC
29 Passport mark 30 Suite spot 31 Fortune rival 32 Belong 33 Cell terminal 34 TV ally of Hercules
13 Hint 18 Makeup-removing swab
41 In this way
Crossword Puzzle SWJ 040220 4.indd 1
45
24 Belief system
36 Part of an ancient boast
12 Baggage requirement
44
Thanks to the generosity of parents and community members, the Southwest Education Fund has raised more than $1 million since 2004. “i give to the Get a move on Southwest education Fund The money helps buy things like textbooks, teaching because i know my contribution Wild party and counseling staff, math and writing tutors, will be well spent. Few places instructional development for teachers, classroom provide such value for your “Luther” actor Elbaand media materials, a new auditorium money. my contribution is an and much more. Want to help? to learn more investment that will reap Bay sound generous returns.” or to help reach this year’s goal of $150,000, CONGRATULATIONS to Southwest High School's 3 Strings Band! They were chosen Weasley sister visit www.sweducationfund.org.
37 “Don’t make waves”
Please visit our website for COVID-19 resources and information: southwest.mpls.k12.mn.us
Catch the Wave!
to perform at the National Association for Music Education National Convention in Orlando, FL this November out of more than 385 applicants.The 3 Strings will perform at the Key Note
Named #1 HigH SCHool iN miNNeSota by tHeinnovative WaSHiNgtoN PoSt, 2011 Address as the featured ensemble demonstrating music education regarding inclusion.
54 Common wordending letters that can be pronounced five ways, as demonstrated in five long puzzle answers
The methodology created by director, Ruth LeMay and Special Education Assistant Artisha Knight,
Excellence in Academics, Arts and the Athletics! isInspiring titled UnlocKeD and will be available to music educators attending conference in hopes that they West will create theirStreet, own 3 Strings program. Three Strings began at SWHS in the winter 3414 47th Minneapolis, MN 55410 of 20 15 as a pilot project for students with special needs to be included in guitar education. http://southwest.mpls.k12.mn.us • 612.668.3030
Ruth and Artisha were astonished at the music these young people created and they have been stunning audiences ever since. Look out Disney, Here They Come!! To help fund their trip to Orlando contact: ruth.lema)'@mpls.kl2.mn.us Securing copyright for UnlocKeD is in process.
SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL
3414 West 47th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55410 612-668-3030 southwest.mpls.k 12.mn.us
55 Highway hazard 56 Presumed 8-Down crew Crossword answers on page A20
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Voices from the pandemic FROM VOICES / PAGE A17
progress, but in a way, because I am stuck at home, it’s easier to adhere to some things. Every day I’m on the verge of forgetting to eat lunch, and then Bart [Greene’s husband] will wave to me on a call and say, “Do you want me to make you a peanut butter and honey sandwich?” I’m struck every day by how grateful I am for that.
with a friend yesterday who has family in Spain about lack of ventilators and Catalonia and the federal government disagreeing. To see that that might happen here, it’s like, “No, no, no, we can’t have infighting.” I don’t want to pit the state versus the federal government. That’s a very important symbiotic relationship, too.
TUESDAY, MARCH 31
MONDAY, MARCH 23 It’s definitely harder to separate work and life and right now. My husband is understanding. I want to do everything and be everything I can be in these difficult days, especially these first days. I do want to pace myself and not burn out. Anytime I check in with anything at the federal level, I just think, “Oh, my gosh.” We at the state and the local level have got to be what’s missing from Washington. When I get in touch with that, I really feel like I need to have stamina and pace myself. The big thing for me this week is the fact that we are the social safety net and we have a correctional function. We have a jail and a workhouse. For me those are the spaces where I really want to make sure we’re being as aggressive as we can be to push out and create good public health protocols in the jail. And also, what are we doing about housing? We are one of the only counties that provide financial support to food shelves. Increasingly what we’re hearing is that it’s a big issue and food insecurity is real, and what can be done about it? In my regular life I’m not the best at having a set schedule. In the life of a county commissioner, every day is different. With this I do see how for my own health, for my own ability to be a smart, thoughtful leader, it’s important to get my eight hours a day of sleep and eat regular meals. I’d say I’m sort of a work in
Last week we had our first remote board meeting. That was kind of unusual to prepare for. It definitely was a sign of the times and we’re going to have more of those obviously. For me, legislatively, the focus is to remove barriers for county administration. They need to move as fast as they can and respond to realistic needs for new supplies as fast as they can. But of course, even in these times, there are checks and balances. It is this mixture of maintaining oversight, but also removing barriers. Everyone wants to feel like they’re doing as much as they can. I certainly wrestle with, “Is this as much as I can do? Should I be rolling bandages at night?” Our mindset is that more cases are going to go way up, and we need to be ready. I don’t want to diminish the mathematics of the situation, but we can’t get caught up in it. In this situation, I feel a little divorced from the numbers because I know we have to get as ready as possible. Although, of course, as the numbers mount, it’s definitely alarming. When we heard of the first death, I thought, “OK, this is the beginning of that news and it’s just going to get worse.” Like anything at this time, there’s this unknown. How bad is it going to get? How long is it going to go on? In every facet, stamina is needed. The acts of kindness abound. It’s incredible to see people’s creativity and see the
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community rising to the situation. I’ve gotten a number of emails from constituents saying, “I know this person; I want to connect them with you and your supplychain person.” We need every one of those connections, for those reading at home.
Jesse Vasquez, Uptown resident
FRIDAY, MARCH 20 I was working at Jax Cafe in Northeast Minneapolis around 25 to 30 hours a week. I got the call last Monday that the restaurant completely shut down because of the virus. I was shocked. You’d hear about it in other places. You’d hear how things are starting to close down. Because Jax has been around so long, we thought it probably wouldn’t happen as soon as it did. With the virus, it’s kind of like breaking up the family. It’s being at home a lot. You can only wash the dishes so many times and deep clean the house so many times. Luckily, we have dogs so we can go to the dog park, but there’s nowhere to go, nothing to do. It’d be easier if the restaurant was open. The major thing is figuring out what’s going to come next. Day to day, we’re figuring out if anywhere is still hiring. It’s just difficult to know what’s going to be open for now and closed tomorrow. I feel like we’ll be fine economically. We’ll figure it out, and hopefully it doesn’t last much longer. It’s going to be what it’s going to be for a while. It’ll get figured out hopefully.
FRIDAY, MARCH 27 I’m lucky enough to have a very personable and understanding landlord. My boyfriend
and I are paying half the rent into April and May and then just adding the remaining months’ balance throughout the rest of next year. I knew putting a little bit away would be a better plan than just kind of holding onto all of our money. We have a couple of friends who work in a call center downtown. We have gone through the application process for that. With this last kind of push with the [$2.2 trillion federal stimulus], it’d be more worth our time to just wait it out and have kind of a lean budget for the next few months rather than getting a full-time job and working 40 hours a week and making $200 a week more. If at the end of that four months, that federal money runs out, I think that will kind of make us desperate enough to look for other employment. Both of us applied for unemployment benefits. We had no issues. I had gone through the system before, so I kind of knew the different menu options. The money was in our account by Wednesday, minus taxes. The next thing we’re looking for is kind of when the federal benefits will kick in — the $600 a week and the $1,200 check. When the state benefits are a few hundred dollars a week, an additional $600 is a big leap. Today we just dropped off a present for my cousin, who turns 31 this week. We usually do a big celebration for him. We heard Menards has toilet paper and cleaning supplies, so we’re going there and getting some dog food. I’m not going stir-crazy quite yet. I think if it gets a little bit more intense, I might feel a little trapped. Once you get more information about all of the things that could go wrong, it’s hard not to focus on that. I’m avoiding that mindset and just trying to be cautiously optimistic.
ONGOING COVERAGE Keep reading local residents’ stories as the crisis evolves at tinyurl.com/ voices-from-the-pandemic.
southwestjournal.com / April 2–15, 2020 A19
Moments in Minneapolis
By Karen Cooper
The Minneapolis roots of a pre-vaccine polio treatment “Polio was a plague. One day you had a headache and an hour later you were paralyzed. How far the virus crept up your spine determined whether you could walk afterward or even breathe. Parents waited fearfully every summer to see if it would strike. One case turned up and then another. The count began to climb.” — Richard Rhodes
P
olio epidemics came in waves, the most cases in the summer. Originally, the disease seemed only to affect small children. It was commonly called infantile paralysis. But as the 20th century wore on, older people began to contract it more often. Elementary-age kids, college students and young adults became victims of polio. It was considered infectious but not contagious. Polio had little tendency to spread within households. For many years, it was unclear how the disease did spread. The mystery made it more frightening. The polio virus lived in the nasal passages and intestines and was spread by fecal matter. Blame unwashed hands, sometimes of someone handling the food supply. It spread by saliva, which meant kissing or sharing utensils, and it spread via uncovered sneezes and coughs. But this information and the obvious common-sense precautions were not widely known. Polio was a Grim Reaper of a disease, taking healthy children and twisting their limbs or killing them outright. In the epidemic years of the 1930s, there would be hundreds of cases all over the country. By the 1940s, those numbers grew to tens of thousands. About three-quarters of those infected with polio had no symptoms at all, and another 24% had a minor illness. But paralytic polio occurred in about 1% of cases. The virus would enter the nervous system. Those who lived might never walk again. Those paralyzed and unable to breath would die. The first artificial breathing machine (the “iron lung”) came to Minneapolis in 1930. At first, there was only one. People were terrified. Rumors spread in Minneapolis that one could catch it from swimming in the lakes. In 1930, Health
Over Forty-Eight Years of Quality Service
Commissioner Dr. F. E. Harrington reassured the public, “There is no infantile paralysis in the water and the lake is all right for bathing. Of course, all lake water suffers when bathers by the hundreds and thousands use it, but there is absolutely no danger at Harriet.” The case counts grew and grew and grew, and so did the public terror. In epidemic years like 1946 there were 25,000 cases of paralytic polio in the U.S., and Minneapolis was especially hard hit. Children were not allowed outside. The streets were empty of traffic, and the restaurants had no one in them. There was no cure for polio, and there still is not. In the early days of these recurring 20th century epidemics, doctors treated it with “serum,” a blood transfusion with the blood of someone who had survived the disease. The problem with that was the shortage of blood. Researchers in the 1930s turned their attention to producing immunity. And their vaccine was ultimately so successful that it has nearly eradicated polio everywhere in the world. Those who had the paralytic form of polio in those pre-vaccine years were cared for as well as medicine knew how. The illness caused painful muscle spasms. Many children were left with twisted weak limbs and permanent deformities. Doctors believed that deformities were caused by these spasms when the stronger muscles would pull bones out of alignment when they were in spasm. As a solution, they encased patients’ limbs in rigid casts and braces, sometimes for months. And in those cases healthy muscles would also atrophy and lose strength due to lack of use. Into this frightened and desperate time came an Australian woman named Elizabeth Kenny. She was a self-trained nurse who had earned the honorific “Sister” from the Australian Army. She volunteered for troop transports, nursing the injured soldiers of World War I. Later, as a trained nurse, she was called to a cattle station where a child was unable to walk due to her twisted legs. Kenny had never seen polio before. The doctor was reached by telegraph. He told her what it was and that there was no cure. She should “do the best you can.”
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Elizabeth Kenny, a selftrained nurse, successfully treated polio with strengthening and flexibility exercises. Minneapolis’ Kenny neighborhood is named after her. This photo was taken in September 1940. Courtesy of the Minneapolis Star
Sister Kenny tried to relieve the girl’s pain with moist heat. She wrung out torn strips of wool blankets in boiling water and applied the hot wet compresses to her legs. The girl’s pain eased, and she fell asleep. When she awoke, the girl said, “I want them rags that ‘wells’ my legs!” Kenny refined her treatment with strengthening and flexibility exercises. Her results seemed miraculous, and soon she had clinics in Australia where she trained others in her methods. Doctors in Australia provided her with letters of introduction in America. Unfortunately, in New York and Chicago, she was considered too unorthodox. Her insistence on relieving muscle spasms did not sit well with the surgeons who heard her presentations. The Mayo Clinic thought her work sounded interesting, but her next stop was in Minneapolis. Here, she connected with doctors at the university and at several hospitals. She was finally allowed to demonstrate her techniques, at first on patients for whom “obviously” nothing more could be done. The boy who
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could not lower his arm due to shortened tight muscles was home in a few months, happily shoveling snow. Another little one with twisted feet was cured in three days. The doctors asked Sister Kenny if she would “stick around a while.” The University of Minnesota’s medical school studied her methods. Her work to train others began in June 1941. The university published this opinion: “This method will form the basis of all future treatment … 55% full recoveries in 32.6 days.” Sister Kenny stayed in Minneapolis. Eventually the city gave her a house out of sheer gratitude. The Kenny neighborhood, its park and its elementary school are all named after her. On Dec. 17, 1942, The Elizabeth Kenny Institute was opened at 18th and Chicago. Her work brought health back to thousands, necessary in those years before the terrible scare of polio was eradicated. And she did it through two world wars and a depression, through decades of plague years when the invisible illness crept among the people, times when the world seemed too near the edge of collapse.
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A20 April 2–15, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
FRONT STEPS PORTRAITS
Community Calendar.
Graphic designer and photographer Sarah Karnas is requesting donations to Second Harvest Heartland in exchange for five-minute portrait sessions on families’ front porches.
By Ed Dykhuizen
When: To be arranged with the photographer Where: Any home in Southwest Minneapolis Cost: Donation to Second Harvest Heartland Info: sarahkarnas.com/ front-steps-project
SCHOOL AGE CHILD CARE FOR ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEES The YMCA is collaborating with local government and health officials to deliver day care for children in kindergarten through sixth grade for essential employees and critical workers in 38 sites, including the Blaisdell location.
When: 8:30 a.m-5 p.m. Monday-Friday Where: YMCA, 3335 Blaisdell Ave. Cost: $40 per day Info: ymcamn.org/choose-your-child-care
Photo By Sarah Karnas Photography
COVID CONFIDENTIAL
VIRTUAL CONCERTS NPR is maintaining a long list of virtual concerts, including upcoming performances by the Vienna State Opera and jazz pianist Fred Hersch.
When: Almost every day How to view: Online Cost: Varies Info: tinyurl.com/virtual-concerts-npr
EXPLORE THE WALKER’S COLLECTIONS Review the Walker Art Center’s featured artists, collection highlights, exhibition history and more on their expansive website.
When: Anytime How to view: Online Cost: Free Info: walkerart.org/collections
LITTER OUTTA LYNDALE The neighborhood cleanup continues with revised rules: Pick up litter on your own and take a photo that will be entered into a contest for $50.
When: Through April 12 Where: Lyndale Avenue Cost: Free Info: tinyurl.com/litter-outta-lyndale By Stewart Huntington
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southwestjournal.com / April 2–15, 2020 A21
Stay In Guide. By Sheila Regan
In the spirit of social distancing, our regular Get Out Guide feature is turning into a Stay In Guide. We’re offering some great ideas for fun, entertainment and community, while staying safe at home. See them all online at tinyurl.com/swj-stay-in-guide.
MIA AT HOME In this moment of crisis, we need art more than ever. To stay safe you can visit the Minneapolis Institute of Art virtually. The museum has blog posts and articles that tell stories about the vast collection as well as a gallery-by-gallery tour. The website also has audio options, multimedia explorations and even a 3D section.
When: Ongoing How to view: Online Cost: Free Info: new.artsmia.org/art-artists/explore Courtesy of Minneapolis Institute of Art
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A22 April 2–15, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
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