April 21, 2016 by The Southwest Journal

REAL ESTATE GUIDE

First-time homebuyers face short supply Home tour spotlights more than 50 Twin Cities homes Forget downsizing — try rightsizing

April 21–May 4, 2016 Vol. 27, No. 8 southwestjournal.com

[SHORTCHANGED[ An in-depth look at wage theft

COMBATING WAGE THEFT Local leaders examine ways to address the problem

Retail janitors strike outside of the downtown Macy’s. Photo by Uchechukwu Iroegbu

By Sarah McKenzie /smckenzie@southwestjournal.com

Leticia Zuniga and Abraham Quevedo kept noticing hours missing from their paychecks week after week while on the job for a cleaning subcontractor hired for janitorial work at local Macy’s and Herberger’s stores. At the time, they earned $7.25 an hour. They would report the problem to their supervisor who always assured them it would get fixed. But it never did. Zuninga and Quevedo eventually decided to file a class action lawsuit

in federal court along with several other local janitors against the subcontractor, Illinois-based Capital Building Services Group, for underpayment and other state and federal employment law violations. In many cases, workers earned $4 to $5 an hour for their cleaning work. The non-union janitors won a settlement earlier this year with Capital for $425,000 in back wages and damages, which will impact about 600

SEE WAGE THEFT LEGISLATION / PAGE A18

Council approves four-lane redesign plan for 3rd Avenue By Sarah McKenzie / smckenzie@southwestjournal.com

Park Board moves ahead with goats, glyphosate ban By Eric Best / ebest@southwestjournal.com

Park commissioners approved new tactics, from a reduction of glyphosate-based herbicides to using goats, in its fight against invasive species in the city’s parks. Commissioners of the Minneapolis Park and

Recreation Board voted to eliminate all products with glyphosate as an active ingredient, such as Roundup, from being applied in neighborhood parks. The decision follows a report SEE GOATS / PAGE A21

A redesign plan for the downtown stretch of 3rd Avenue featuring four lanes of traffic and new bike lanes passed the City Council on April 15 despite concerns from biking community leaders who favored a threelane layout for a portion of the street with a planter-protected bike lane. Business leaders had expressed concerns about the impact a three-lane configuration would have on traffic flow. The 3rd Avenue corridor will be redesigned to feature four-lanes of traffic and bike lanes in both directions from 1st Street South to 16th Street South. Planted medians in the middle of the street will be removed, but talks

are underway to identify other areas for green space along the avenue. Construction on the $3 million project is expected to start later this year and be completed in 2017. The bike lanes on the street will feature plastic posts (bollards) separating bikers from cars. Before the final vote, a motion offered by City Council Member Lisa Bender (Ward 10) that called for three lanes of traffic on 3rd Avenue south of 8th Street along with the planter-protected bike lane failed 6-7. Bender, who commutes by bike along 3rd Avenue, highlighted studies indicating threeSEE 3RD AVENUE / PAGE A7

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Landscape Love has moved into the former 44th Street Nursery, and they’re working to “de70s” the building and green up the site. Submitted photo

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44TH & NICOLLET

Landscape Love The couple behind Landscape Love is moving their office out of the dining room and into the former 44th Street Nursery at 4355 Nicollet Ave. Nan and Steele Arundel plan to green up the site and de-70s the building, stripping it down to look a bit more like its 1950s origins. “We need to tear up a ton of concrete,” Nan said. The building will likely not open to the public this summer, but they expect to create some kind of community space. Ideas that are floating around involve ice cream, a fire pit, plants and food trucks. “It probably won’t be a traditional nursery,” Nan said. “There will be some community aspect to it. … It is important to us that it’s interactive.” Nan teaches yoga at taraNa at 38th & Grand, and she’s co-creator of Gorilla Yogis, a movement that has taken yoga outside the studio to Open Streets, Target Field and other unexpected places.

Nan and Steele have owned their landscaping business for 10 years, and as it’s grown, Nan said the equipment has piled up at their house. The longtime owner of the 44th Street Nursery, Ken Trombley, died in 2014 at age 84. Nan said Trombley’s story is remarkably similar to their own — his business outgrew his home and he needed more space, so he purchased the former gas station in the 1970s. “We love that parallel, that a family owned it for 30 years,” Nan said. They live in the Regina neighborhood, and Nan said they used to drive by the nursery and think: “Wouldn’t it be cool? ...” but never thought it would be possible. A text last year from real estate agent Brian Ehlers alerted them the nursery was closing and wasn’t on the market yet. Within days, they made an offer. “We love this neighborhood,” Nan said.

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50TH & XERXES

Loft Antiques’ 40th anniversary Five women opened Loft Antiques in the 1970s in an apartment above Yankee Peddler Antiques (now Vinaigrette). They heaved merchandise up steep stairs to the loft that earned the store its name. Each room in the apartment had a distinct feel as a kitchen or bedroom, and they moved

the homey atmosphere down the street in the early ‘80s when they took over Fjelde’s storefront at the corner of 50th & Xerxes. The founders’ collaborative business model has lasted for 40 years. Today the shop is home to 14 dealers, each of them stocking a room SEE LOFT ANTIQUES / PAGE A4

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A view of the drop-off area for new senior housing adjacent to the Sabathani Community Center, looking southeast from 3rd Avenue.

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Sabathani Community Center is aiming to build senior housing on its green space at the southeast corner of 37th Street & 3rd Avenue South. “The goal at Sabathani is to try to provide affordable housing with 50 units on our back lot,” said Executive Director Cindy Booker. The housing is designed for residents ages 55 and up who would live independently. Proposed maximum income thresholds are $30,350 for a single senior and $34,650 for two seniors. The L-shaped building would rise four stories along 3rd Avenue and three stories on 37th Street. The field is currently used as a place for kids to play soccer; the community garden and playground on the east side of the lot would remain. A walking path would connect the spaces on the block. According to a 2010 census, Minneapolis residents age 50 and older number 90,544. Of that number, 25,461 are age 65-84, and 5,050 are over age 85. Sabathani offers a senior program that

includes fitness classes, a danceline, political forums, nurse clinics and legal help. The idea for affordable senior housing came from residents in the program. “Once people reach a certain age, they have to leave the community,” said Booker. She said residents must leave behind friends, churches, and their grocery store. Booker noted that the Minneapolis City Council adopted goals in 2013 to create one new senior housing project in each ward by 2025. Sabathani could build the 8th Ward’s project, she said. Sabathani will work to raise $12-$15 million in funding throughout 2016, with hopes to break ground in mid-2017. The exterior design is evolving, and the developer is seeking neighborhood feedback, said Housing Development Specialist Sarah Larson of the Landon Group, the development consultant for the project. The project will go before the Bryant Neighborhood Organization on April 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the Urban League building, 411 E. 38th St.

FROM LOFT ANTIQUES / PAGE A3

“One of the great things about the store is it’s so big,” Gooley said. “When you have 14 dealers, you’re going to have a real variety of stuff,” Monroe said. Staff turnover is rare. The dealers are mourning the loss of Mary Carson, age 69, who died suddenly in March. The dealers are pitching in to sell Carson’s remaining merchandise. A photo and a note stands in her room at Loft Antiques. Gooley is recording the shop’s history by interviewing its founders, and she said the original dealers still love to visit the store. “We all feel that way,” Gooley said. A storewide sale with refreshments and door prizes runs April 29-May 1.

of their own, sharing overhead expenses, and working in the store a number of days based on their square footage. “Nobody has more than seven days a month,” said dealer Sandy Gooley. “…It’s really hard to go back to real hours.” Kaye Monroe’s merchandise appears at the front of the store, including the elaborate chandeliers — “they’re back,” she said. Monroe said she watches buying trends closely. Everyone was buying typewriters for a while, she said, and suddenly no one wanted them anymore. “I do this for a living,” she said. “I have to really pay attention to what’s [selling]. It’s harder than it seems.”

southwestjournal.com / April 21–May 4, 2016 A5

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27TH & HENNEPIN

Walgreens Walgreens has redesigned its store slated for 27th & Hennepin. The design approved by the city Planning Commission is now all brick with a cornice and warmer colors, similar to a Walgreens in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood. The height of the building has increased. It doesn’t function as a two-story building, but second-floor windows will bring light into the store. The developer worked with neighborhood residents on the redesign. “The neighborhood’s objections regarding lack of density still remain, however, there’s no way it’s really going to become a denser building,” said East Isles Residents Association President Andrew Degerstrom. “So instead the focus was on making sure we can get a design that is much more in keeping with the neighborhood and surrounding buildings. … Overall we have been very pleased with the design changes.” Planning Commissioners took the design changes a step further. They voted to move canopies from 12 feet closer to 10 feet, to achieve a more pedestrian scale.

A Walgreens architect said they originally designed canopies high above the ground to avoid people jumping to reach them. Commissioners also voted to relocate the primary entrance from a spot facing the north parking lot to a location within 25 feet of the Hennepin & 27th intersection. The East Isles neighborhood took no position on the entrance location. Degerstrom said in March that he personally thinks a parking lot entrance would be visually confusing when viewed from the corner, and said it shows Walgreens values convenience for car-driving customers over urban design. Howard Bergerud, a consultant for Walgreens, said a parking lot entrance would be easier for store operations and for lessmobile customers. Commissioner Ryan Kronzer, who proposed the change, said he knows Walgreens can redesign the store when necessary. “Given the flatness of the sidewalk and the high level of pedestrians, I don’t see those as impediments to this,” he said.

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43RD & UPTON

43UP The developer of the Famous Dave’s site at 4264 Upton Ave. S. is hoping for an “end of summer” groundbreaking. Jake Schaffer said in early April that the main cause for delay is related to construction. He said scheduling the right construction crew is challenging due to this year’s busy construction season.

He said the delay has “nothing whatsoever” to do with financing. “Financing is already secured,” he said. Schaffer said he expects to have a start date finalized in about a month. Retail tenants are not lined up yet, he said. Plans call for ground-floor retail and 29 apartments in the four-story building.

Noted Fire on the Greenway at 2845 Harriet Ave. S. is changing its name to Uptown Clay. The collabora-

tive of 15 local potters is working to further establish the organization and increase its visibility in the Uptown area. A spring open house is Friday, April 29 from 5-9 p.m. and Saturday, April 30 from 1-7 p.m.

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A6 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

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Man convicted for attempted rape in Uptown A Hennepin County jury has convicted Keith Washington, 39, of Minneapolis for first-degree attempted criminal sexual assault for attempting to rape a woman in Uptown Dec. 6. Washington, a registered sex offender, is expected to be sentenced to life in prison. He was found guilty of two counts of criminal sexual conduct, one count of first-degree robbery and one count of first-degree assault. Washington grabbed a woman on the 2800 block of Emerson Avenue around 4:30 a.m., according to the charges filed against him. He choked her until she passed out. Two adults walked by and reported hearing

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Man pleads guilty in connection with downtown shooting A 26-year-old man has pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree assault for firing several shots into a crowded area at 5th & Hennepin after bar close Sept. 12. Davis-Riley has agreed to have the sentence for each count run consecutively, said Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. He is expected to serve nine years in prison. Davis-Riley and Maurice Carter, 25, were charged with several counts of first-degree assault for shooting in the direction of police officers after firing into the area near the LRT station around 2:30 a.m. About 50 people were in the area, including several police officers. Six people were hit by bullets and taken to HCMC for non life-threatening injuries. Police saw Carter file several shots into the intersection, and chased Davis-Riley into an alley and arrested him after seeing him with a handgun, according to the criminal complaint.

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Davis-Riley admitted to Hennepin County District Court Judge William Koch that he fired 17 shots in the area that night and of the six people shot, he was responsible for two of them. Carter’s trial is set to begin June 13. A third man involved in Sept. 12 shooting, Demarco Gunn, has also pleaded guilty to seconddegree assault. Forensic scientists who responded to the scene found 27 discharged cartridge casings from at least two weapons, according to the criminal complaint. “This reckless and highly dangerous gunfire in Minneapolis must stop,” Freeman said after the shooting. According to recent Minneapolis Police Department crime statistics, 74 people have been victims of gunshots this year — up 85 percent from the same period last year.

Woman shot four times in road rage incident on Hennepin A woman was shot four times while driving on Hennepin Avenue near the Walker Art Center during rush hour April 5 after she honked at a vehicle that had cut her car off, according to Minneapolis police. The car pulled alongside her and a passenger shot her three times in the arm and once in the abdomen, police said. She sustained non-life threatening injuries. The woman was driving southbound on Hennepin near Groveland Avenue around 5 p.m. Police are asking the public’s help in finding the shooting suspect. The car is described as a lighter tan or beige four-door Jeep Cherokee with tinted windows. The victim said the suspects were black males in their 20s. The shooter had a black handgun and shoulder-length dreadlocks. Anyone with information that can help police identify the suspects or suspect vehicle are asked to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). People can also contact the MPD’s Tips Line at (612) 692-8477, or use the free MPD Tip 411 app, or text MPD + your tip to 847411 (Tip 411). MPD Tip 411 is anonymous. You can

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muffled screams and seeing a man on top of the victim. They asked if she was OK and Washington said, “She’s fine,” according to the charges. Police later found Washington with the woman’s cellphone and ID card. He also had belongings of another woman who told police that she had been choked to the point of unconsciousness and sexually assaulted a few blocks away. That case was dropped because the woman was not available to testify against Washington, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Washington was also convicted of rape in 2000.

reference case number 16-118480. Police offer the following tips for dealing with road rage incidents: • Find detailed recommendations at your car insurance company or at places like: go.usa. gov/ceJGG, goo.gl/FEuKpP, goo.gl/utdsdd, or go.usa.gov/ceJA3 • Call 911 on suspicious activity at the time you see it. This includes helping others by calling 911 if you witness a crime or someone possibly in trouble. • When calling 911, describe the suspect so officers know who to look for upon arrival. If the situation changes (such as an escalation or suspects leave), call 911 back. • If a vehicle is involved, if at all possible provide the license plate. If that is not possible, try to describe the vehicle, including anything that makes the vehicle stand out. • If the suspicious persons/vehicle leave, call 911 back and let them know.

southwestjournal.com / April 21–May 4, 2016 A7

An illustration of a redesigned 3rd Avenue with new protected bike lanes. Submitted image

FROM 3RD AVENUE / PAGE A1

lane streets are safer than four-lane streets. She said biking along the street can be “pretty terrifying in some spots.” “It is a safer road for literally everyone, including drivers,” she said of the three-lane configuration. Her favored design would have also saved planted medians in the middle of the street paid for by downtown businesses and championed by City Council Member Lisa Goodman (Ward 7). She also argued that moving ahead with a three-lane configuration would have minimal impacts on traffic flow. City Council Member Jacob Frey (Ward 3), who also frequently bikes on 3rd Avenue, also spoke in support of Bender’s motion. He said he’s spent time monitoring traffic flow on the street and has seen very little difference between traffic speeds on three and four-lane stretches of the avenue. He said the three-lane configuration with the planter-lined bike lanes would better align with the vision of a greener downtown. “The bollards in many cases don’t quite cut the mustard in terms of a visual. The planter protection is significantly better,” he said.

Ethan Fawley, executive director of the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, said the coalition is disappointed the Council didn’t go with the “safer, greener” proposal for the street, which would have featured the city’s first planter-protected bikeway. However, he’s pleased to see wide support for the new bike route. “This is a critical biking connection for the whole city,” he said. “We’re very excited to have that connection.” Bike lanes on 3rd Avenue will fill a gap for bikers downtown since there aren’t any protected north-south routes on downtown’s east side. The new Nicollet Mall, once complete, won’t feature protected bike lanes. Council Member Cam Gordon also offered a motion to test out the three-lane configuration for a year, but it failed 5-8. In coming weeks city leaders will also be reviewing plans for the reconstruction of Hennepin Avenue between Washington and 12th Street in 2020. There is discussion about moving the protected bike lanes on 1st Avenue to Hennepin Avenue, Fawley said. People make about 48,000 trips per day on Hennepin, according to a city fact sheet.

Council honors noted artist, community organizer who died in car crash Kirk Washington Jr., a beloved local artist and community organizer who died in a car accident April 4, was honored with a special resolution April 15 at the Minneapolis City Council meeting. The resolution noted that Washington, a fifth-generation Minnesotan, spoke the “gospel of the Northside.” “Kirk Washington Jr. told his story and the stories of the forgotten, the oppressed and marginalized with verve,” said Council Member Blong Yang (Ward 5), reading from the resolution. Washington, 41, was one of 12 poets who contributed to the poem, “One Minneapolis: A City in Verse,” which was read during Mayor Betsy Hodges’ inauguration. As part of a collaboration between Intermedia Arts and the City of Minneapolis, Washington worked with city staff to improve digital access for low-income people and communities of color. He lived in the city’s Harrison neighborhood. He worked in a variety of mediums as an artist, including theater, music, design, painting,

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photography and sculpture, among other things. He was also a featured artist in the Hennepin Theatre Trust’s Made Here urban walking gallery. The Journal interviewed him about his work in August 2014. A post on the Intermedia Arts website reflected on his vision: “He believes the collective imagination is the path that art can offer the world. He also believes this genius happens when life societies and their citizens realize and lean into their brokenness. It is there where the wounds are that we have the highest chance to heal.” Washington is survived by his wife Aster Nebro and daughters Azalea and Keah.

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A8 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

PUBLISHER Janis Hall jhall@southwestjournal.com

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

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

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

STAFF WRITERS Michelle Bruch mbruch@southwestjournal.com

Eric Best ebest@southwestjournal.com

CONTRIBUTORS Andrew Heiser Andy Prasky Madison Rude Jim Watkins CREATIVE DIRECTOR Dana Croatt dcroatt@southwestjournal.com

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

Lauren Walker 612-436-4383 lwalker@southwestjournal.com

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

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Valerie Moe vmoe@southwestjournal.com

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Amanda Wadeson

By Jim Walsh

Love in bloom

he power of romantic love as a motivating force behind new business is a real thing, but rarely has it been on more beautiful display as it currently is on 44th and Nicollet this fine spring. The former home to 44th Street Nursery is where Nan and Steele Arundel have set up shop for their 10-year-old design landscape business Landscape Love, whose slogan goes, “Mindful landscapes for modern families.” “It started on a bit of a lark,” said Nan, 35, sitting with Steele outside the couple’s new digs Monday afternoon. “I quit my desk job, and Steele got inspired by my newfound freedom and quit his job.” “We were in love, starry-eyed, and I just wanted to follow her wherever she was going,” said Steele, 34. “This was in April when all this happened, so springtimes have been big times of change for us throughout our history, and every year we’ve grown. It’s grown from me and Nan working out of the back of a Volkswagen station wagon to a pick-up truck to now we have six trucks running around and machines and crews. It’s been 100 percent word of mouth.” The growth of Landscape Love (landscapelovegardens.com) mirrors the growth of the couple’s marriage, which thus far has produced a toddler son, Junah, and a business that allows them to travel in the winter and, until now, was run exclusively out of their Regina neighborhood backyard shed. But by this time next year, Landscape Love will be a funky fixture and welcome addition to a booming neighborhood that already includes the Driftwood Char Bar, Roadrunner Records, and Bull Run Coffee. “Nature is perfect,” said Nan, a yoga instructor and co-founder of Gorilla Yogis. “It is so inherently beautiful, and Mother Nature does everything right: the trees, the plants, the bulbs, and I feel like part of our work when we’re actually physically doing gardens is, ‘What can we do to most honor what’s already perfect and right?’ Another ethos is just that everyone who has ever worked for us becomes part of our family. So the ‘Love’ in Landscape Love is true. It’s rooted in Steele and I, who are in love, and we have been for 10 years.”

Nan and Steele Arundel. Photo by Jim Walsh

Nan and Steele both grew up in South Minneapolis, where the abundance of lakes, creeks, flora and forest made a lasting impact. That experience, along with summers spent at their families’ respective cabins on the North Shore and Canada, proved inspirational to their professional dreams. “I grew up playing down at the [Minnehaha] Creek, so all summer we would just be out in the forest down by the creek, building forts and being outside. That’s what we did, you know?” said Steele, a gifted songwriter who recently released his debut CD “Cloudhouse,” and who performs in the Hammsmen with his father and fellow gifted singer/ songwriter/restaurateur Jeff Arundel. “So you’re right in the middle of the city, right in the middle of South Minneapolis, and you’re in nature. That’s one of the coolest things about this city. “Just being outside in Minnesota is kind of the ultimate. So we were like, ‘Man, if we can do this… If we can make this work, and we can be together, this would be really special.’ And I think that’s been the undercurrent running through it: This could be awesome, so let’s make it awesome.” For now, the lovers’ vision is just coming into focus. But if hanging out with them for even just an hour is any indication, good energy and good times via Mother Earth are on the way …

Nan: “This corner needs life again. We want to feel out what this lot is going to be, and what the community wants it to be. Should it be a little ice cream shop, or a garden, what should happen on this corner? Should the Farmer’s Market move over here?” Steele: “From our travels, we’ve just seen a lot of weird awesome places that don’t fit. You go to Portland, or Austin, or Bangkok, and there’s weird collections of funky stuff, like, ‘Oh, that’s awesome: there’s garden stuff for sale here, and there’s also like some sort of party scene over here.’ I think this corner is a big canvas for us to do some really cool stuff with.” Nan: “There’s a palpable feeling around here about the springtime. Like this past weekend when it was nice, everyone was out and everyone was so excited. And what’s fun with our work, we feel like we get to help people with that feeling, like ‘What else can we do?’ We can eat this season up. We can feed ‘em.” Steele: “To go back to the nature metaphor, these seeds were in us somehow, and as the conditions have presented themselves, of time and sticking with it and response from the community, we’re blooming right now and this corner is sort of our blossom that we’re working on.” Nan: “Love is at the center of it. Everyone who works for us, we want them to be up to what’s good for their hearts, too. And hopefully the landscapes are good for people’s hearts, too. That’s totally what we’ve felt this spring, and you can feel the ripples. If you start with something good, it does ripple out from there.” Steele: “I’ve always loved what [writer and mystic] Carlos Castaneda said: ‘All paths lead nowhere, so choose one with heart.’ Meaning, a million paths open up to you, and a million options are open to you, and you know when it’s a path with heart and you know when you’re on a path that doesn’t have heart, and you don’t have to stay on it. This is our path with heart.” Jim Walsh lives and grew up in East Harriet. He can be reached at jimwalsh086@gmail.com

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Minneapolis could be a solar city It’s here, the first perfect spring day. Minnesotans have been waiting for this day since snowflakes hit the ground, and with the sun hitting my neck and warming my skin I can’t help but think about how that warmth can actually create energy. Solar power has been a frequent and persistent

topic of discussion in news outlets across the state this year. We have seen everything from praise to ridicule. I have heard advertisements for community solar with companies like SunShare on the radio, and I have read letters from residents in rural areas who have qualms with solar being so close to their property lines and taking up farm land. As the future of solar is continually in the spotlight, I am hopeful that the issues will be solved, the rough edges smoothed out, and the policies refined. A recent report from Environment Minnesota, “Shining Cities,” shows that Minneapolis came in 35th out of 64 major cities across the U.S. for total solar installed. We don’t stand out as a solar city, but we do have the potential to become a leader in the

solar movement if we take initiative. We need our state leaders to invest in rooftop solar on public and government owned buildings. We need strong pro-solar policies, and our community needs solar to be available and affordable so that we can take the opportunity to push solar forward as well. As summer approaches, I am more optimistic than ever that Minnesota, and Minneapolis can lead the way on solar. Megan Spear Environment Minnesota Campaign Organizer

southwestjournal.com / April 21–May 4, 2016 A9

Viewpoints

By Jim Watkins

Apathy and disillusionment: Inaction cut from two very different cloths

ust 38 percent of voters 18 to 24 years old participated in the last presidential election, according to the U.S. Census. That number increases by an underwhelming 7 percentage points when you include voters up to 29 years old. That dismal participation rate, I posit, is not due to apathy, but rather disillusionment. The millennial generation may be many things, but they’re not apathetic: More than half of young Americans volunteer their time to causes or organizations they care about. Many of the country’s young elite eschewed banking and consulting jobs to “Teach for America,” and they have been largely credited with bringing social entrepreneurship into the mainstream. Yet, millennials increasingly see electoral politics as irrelevant, ineffective and corrupted by money. This younger generation is repelled by “attack” campaigning and the current dysfunction of our two-party system. We need to remember, this generation was raised not just to think, but to believe to the core that they can do anything. This is not a mindset of entitlement, but instead an unabashed impatience for the status quo. A recent Harvard poll found that more young people identify as independents than as Democrats or Republicans. Gridlock and black and white thinking are quite simply

intolerable to the millennial generation. I suspect this disillusionment contributes to the swelling support for Bernie Sanders, who is unlocking a populism that seems to transcend party lines. His appeal cannot be disputed among young democrat voters and you need only spend a few minutes on reddit (a thing for millennials) to see the unlikely support young Republicans are throwing behind the Senator. Millennial support for a white male septuagenarian seems to have little to do with where he falls on the political spectrum and much more to do with his call for structural change. Young voters are done with politics as usual. And they see Sanders — who’s spent most of his career as an independent — as refreshingly unbeholden to political parties, corporate interests or the status quo. I share the fatigue with a system that forces voters to choose from the lesser of two evils. That’s why I’ve gotten involved in the movement for Ranked Choice Voting. As a Minneapolitan, I’ve experienced firsthand how it transforms politics into something more constructive, inclusive and representative of what voters really want. In the 2013 Minneapolis mayoral race, RCV seemed to disrupt the electoral cycle in all the right ways. It mitigated the influence of money, gave voters more choices, allowed

We need to remember, this generation was raised not just to think, but to believe to the core that they can do anything.

voters to “vote their hearts” without trading off the use of their heads, attracted a more politically diverse candidate field, eliminated a low-turnout primary, undermined PAC spending on negative attacks and yielded a city government that looks much more like the people it serves. Folks critical of the process were stakeholders interested in maintaining their power as political brokers. St. Paul experienced the same success last year. The action was in the competitive multicandidate Ward 2 which saw the highest voter turnout for the area in years. Voters of all ages, income levels, ethnicities and education levels demonstrated their understanding of RCV and that they like having more power and choice in choosing their elected officials.

The debate on the effectiveness of RCV has been settled in Minneapolis and St. Paul. But this transformative change should not stay relegated to our local elections. At the state and national level this electoral reform could have the same kind of disruptive and rejuvenating effect for which so many millennial voters clamor. We should keep our eyes on Maine, a state that will be considering statewide RCV this year. My only disappointment with Maine’s consideration of this issue is the possibility Minnesota won’t be leading the charge on this important change. We’re not going to stem the trend of cynicism and political disengagement by tinkering around at the margins. Young people can feel in their bones that bold, systemic change is what’s needed. I’m proud to help advance a movement that’s about making democracy itself work better — not just for the revolutionary youth, but for all Americans. Jim Watkins lives and works in northeast Minneapolis. He volunteers as a board member for Fair Vote MN, an advocacy group for Ranked Choice Voting in Minnesota.

A10 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

News

By Dylan Thomas / dthomas@southwestjournal.com

Board OKs two community partnership schools Plans submitted by Southwest High School and FAIR School Downtown to become the district’s latest community partnership schools won approval from the Board of Education in April. They join four other community partnership schools that a year ago were granted some autonomy from district rules in hopes of spurring innovation and ultimately improving student outcomes. The district fast-tracked the application process for FAIR and Southwest this spring while four additional schools were still preparing community partnership school plans.

FAIR plans to use the autonomy to retain the unique character it developed while part of the West Metro Education Program, an urban-suburban integration district, before it was conveyed to Minneapolis Public Schools last year. At Southwest, there are discussions around changes to the school calendar, flexible class scheduling and expanded opportunities for students to earn at least 12 college credits before graduation. In both cases, the schools’ plans for autonomy are expected to change and evolve. The two new community partnership

Share your views on the next superintendent school agreements approved by the board run through the 2018–2019 school year. That gives the schools three full years to demonstrate their ability to improve student outcomes. Just how well the first four community partnership schools are doing after one year of autonomy should become clearer in the coming months. The district began an annual review process at all four schools in March.

DFL endorses four for Board of Education Four candidates for the Board of Education — just one of them an incumbent — won endorsements at the Minneapolis DFL City Convention held April 10 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. All four candidates were previously endorsed by Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, the district’s teachers union. They are: KerryJo Felder in District 2; Bob Walser in District 4; Ira Jourdain in

District 6; and Kim Ellison, the board’s vice chair and current District 2 representative, who won union support in her bid for an at-large seat. Walser is set up to challenge first-term incumbent Josh Reimnitz in District 4, and Jourdain will go up against another first-term incumbent, Tracine Asberry, in District 6. Asberry was the DFL’s endorsed candidate in 2012.

This is Walser’s first run for school board; Jourdain ran for a citywide seat in 2014 but finished with the fewest votes out of four candidates. The District 2 race has attracted at least one other candidate, Kimberly Caprini. The official filing period for school board candidates runs May 17–May 31.

Minneapolis Public Schools scheduled six listening sessions in April and May to gather feedback on the ongoing search for the district’s next superintendent. The listening sessions are meant as an opportunity for district stakeholders to share their views on the direction of the district and the qualities they’d like to see in the next superintendent. The information shared during the listening sessions will be given to the superintendent candidates. Four evening sessions run 6 p.m.–7:30 p.m.: April 21 at Bryant Square Park, 3101 Bryant Ave. S.; April 25 at Sabathani Community Center, 310 E. 38th St.; April 29 at Brian Coyle Center, 420 15th Ave. S.; and May 5 at Minneapolis Urban League, 2100 Plymouth Ave. N. Two daytime listening sessions are scheduled for April 23 at Windom Northeast Recreation Center, 2251 N.E. Hayes St. and April 30 at Elliot Park, 1000 E. 14th St. Both run 10 a.m.–11:30 a.m. EPU Consultants, selected by the school board to manage community outreach during the superintendent search, will lead the listening sessions. The firm’s CEO, Radious Guess, also sits on the 11-member Superintendent Selection Committee. That committee is scheduled to begin reviewing candidate resumes by the end of April, according to the district’s search timeline.

Armatage teacher honored for excellence Armatage Montessori School teacher Christian Houdek was named recipient of a 2016 WEM Outstanding Educator Award for Teacher Achievement in April. The recognition comes with $15,000 award for Houdek, a veteran teacher with 18 years of

experience. He teaches fourth- and fifth-grade students at Armatage, and according to the school’s website he also teaches graduate-level Montessori math courses at University of Wisconsin–River Falls. WEM Foundation honors two Minnesota

teachers each year with its statewide Teacher Achievement Awards. The awards go to teachers whose outstanding classroom work is demonstrated through student achievements. WEM Foundation is an independent charitable foundation founded in 1988 by former

Cargill CEO Whitney MacMillan. The WEM Outstanding Educator Awards Program launched a decade later, and it also includes the Ethics in Education Award and the Academic Challenge Coach Award.

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southwestjournal.com / April 21–May 4, 2016 A11

By Sarah McKenzie / smckenzie@southwestjournal.com

Community leaders outline agenda for addressing racial gaps

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SPRING RUG CLEANING SPECIAL A coalition of black leaders have unveiled a legislative agenda with a long list of ways to tackle the state’s racial disparities, including $75 million in startup capital for black businesses. The United Black Legislative Agenda includes several criminal justice reforms and economic development initiatives. Anthony Newby, executive director of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, said addressing the state’s racial gaps should be a top priority for legislators this session just like the Real ID issue and extension of unemployment benefits for laid-off workers on the Iron Range. Gov. Mark Dayton has proposed $100 million in his supplemental budget for racial equity efforts. “We are at a pivotal moment in this state, both with some of the largest racial disparities in the country, and in a movement when black people from communities across the state are demanding not only equal treatment but equal opportunity and equal investment,” Newby said. Jeff Hassan, executive director of the African American Leadership Forum, said black Minnesotans were the one demographic group to see incomes drop between 2013 and 2014. Median income for black households in the state dropped from $31,500 to $27,000, according to the U.S. Census. “That was a wake-up call for all of us,” he said. As for economic priorities, the agenda calls for the creation of a $75 million business capital fund to support African and African American businesses. Hassan said black-owned businesses hire people of color at higher rates than other businesses. It also seeks more support for summer jobs program for youth of color who experience unemployment at much higher rates

than white youth and family friendly workplace policies that offer flexible work schedules and paid sick time. On criminal justice, the agenda seeks a ban on grand juries for police-involved shootings, a ban on private prisons, sentencing reform addressing the mass incarceration of people of color, voting rights restoration for people who have served their time, and body camera policies that emphasize policy accountability. Asha Long of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis said the state needs to stop the “criminalization of black people.” “Our communities need economic investment and opportunity, not prisons. We need policies that will hold the police accountable, not allow them to escape responsibility,” she said. The agenda also calls for an increase in hate crime penalties to address the increase in Islamophobia throughout the state and more investments in job training and education for Somali youth. House DFL Leader Paul Thissen of Minneapolis said it’s time for legislators to take action. “We must listen. And more importantly, we must act,” he said. “Because it’s not enough to merely acknowledge that racial disparities in our state are a problem. We must follow through with real solutions that create opportunity and economic security for Minnesotans of color who are being squeezed in an unbalanced economy that favors the wealthy few. With the clock ticking on the 2016 session, we call on the House Republican Majority to get serious and get moving on this vitally important priority for Minnesotan’s future.”

Report tracks energy consumption of city’s largest buildings A new study analyzing the energy use of the city’s largest public and commercial buildings found the potential for avoiding 120,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions if the buildings increased energy efficiency by 15 percent. The latest Energy Benchmarking Report reviewed the energy use of 429 public and commercial buildings. The report also concluded that the buildings could save $24 million in energy costs annually if energy efficiency was collectively improved by 15 percent. The report analyzed energy use in 2014. Combined, the buildings surveyed include 96 million square feet of floor space and use as much energy as roughly 89,000 households — about half of the homes in the city. Overall, the buildings included in the report account for 17 percent of the city’s citywide greenhouse gas emissions. City leaders have set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Minneapolis 30 percent by 2025 and 80 percent by 2050 based on 2006 levels. Commercial and industrial buildings’ energy use in Minneapolis makes up about 46 percent of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The median Energy Star score for the public buildings in the report was 68 and 78 for private buildings. The Energy Star program developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency measures how buildings perform compared to similar buildings nationwide. A score of 75 or higher means a building is a top performer in terms of energy efficiency and is eligible for Energy Star certification. Hospitals and places of worship showed the most potential for improvements in energy efficiency, according to the report. Mayor Betsy Hodges kicked off an energy challenge for the city’s largest commercial buildings in October and recently honored high performers in energy efficiency. The challenges asks buildings to commit to a 15 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent by 2020 through energy efficient improvements and increased use of renewable energy. Buildings larger than 50,000 square feet can participate in the challenge.

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A12 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

Quality

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A unit train travels through the North Loop neighborhood in the fall of 2015. File photo

Bill would mandate more transparency from railroads A bill requiring railroads to be more transparent with local officials about the shipment of hazardous cargo and emergency response plans is gaining traction at the state Capitol. The measure, sponsored by state Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-61A), requires railroads to provide more detailed information to state and local officials, including schedules for the transport of hazardous materials, inspection reports for bridges that have hazardous rail cargo traffic and detailed emergency response plans in the event of a derailment. It also increases the number of state rail inspectors from four to six. It expands on legislation addressing the safety of oil trains in 2014. A companion bill is also moving forward in the Senate. “Emergency managers and first responders know the risks of transporting oil, ethanol and hazardous materials though Minneapolis neighborhoods and downtown,” Hornstein said. “It is only reasonable for the railroads to provide public safety officials with the information they need to keep our communities safe.” Eric Waage, director of emergency management for Hennepin County, said it’s critical for local first responders to get access to that information from the railroads. So far, the information they have received has been minimal and too generic to be useful. “Missing information creates a serious weakness in our ability to plan,” he said at a House Transportation Policy and Finance Committee hearing April 6. Coon Rapids Fire Chief John Piper said first responders need to have access to the railroads’ emergency plans, including information about the equipment they have and what personnel would respond to a disaster scene.

“We need that information to come up with a game plan to address what would be a major incident pretty much anywhere in the state of Minnesota,” Piper said. Cathy Velasquez Eberhart, one of the founders of Citizens Acting for Rail Safety (CARS-Twin Cities), said the bill is a “common sense” way of improving the “safety, transparency and accountability of the railroads.” Eberhart lives in the Como Park neighborhood of St. Paul near a number of rail lines, some carrying crude oil. “These are trains going past our homes, our backyards, playgrounds, neighborhood schools, senior centers, daycares and so forth,” she said. Sarah Erickson, a lobbyist for the Minnesota Regional Rail Association, said railroads have been proactive about training first responders and communicating with local officials. She said an app has been developed that provides real time information in the event of a train accident and noted that railroad companies have trained more than 4,000 first responders in the past two years in Minnesota. The discussion of improving rail safety comes in the wake of recent train accidents in the region, including the explosion of a tanker car in Callaway, Minn. after it collided with a train at an at-grade rail crossing. In the fall, Gov. Mark Dayton expressed concerns about oil train traffic in downtown Minneapolis. He admonished BNSF for failing to alert local and state officials about the temporary reroute of oil train traffic on tracks that go under Target Field and through the North Loop and Nicollet Island.

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southwestjournal.com / April 21–May 4, 2016 A13

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The City of Minneapolis is poised to donate used fire trucks, a booking van and crime lab equipment to its sister city Bosaso, Somalia. The City Council voted April 15 to approve the $5,000 donation. City Council Member Abdi Warsame (Ward 6) said the donation will help strengthen Minneapolis’ relationship with Bosaso. The cities have had a sister-city relationship since 2014. “We as a nation are living through a period of time when the politics of hate and division are being trumpeted by some who seek to lead our country,” Warsame said. “We, as a city, have the opportunity to defy this rhetoric. Already we have forged a first-inthe-nation relationship with Bosaso. This connection allows us to act on our values of openness and acceptance and strengthens the bonds that tie us all together.” He said the donated equipment “will be put to use protecting our friends in Somalia.” In a letter sent to Mayor Betsy Hodges and Council members, Bosaso Mayor Yasin Mire Mohamud said the city has a small fire department lacking in resources and is in the process of creating its first crime lab. He also thanked city leaders for their partnership.

“It is fitting that Minneapolis, which has become home to the largest population of Somali immigrants, would take the lead on building this wholly unique international connection with Somalia,” he wrote. Council Vice President Elizabeth Glidden, who co-authored the resolution approving the donation with Warsame, said the gift symbolizes the city’s commitment to its relationship with Bosaso. “We want to stand apart from some very ugly rhetoric that is happening across our country and say for the City of Minneapolis we reject that hateful rhetoric. We value our partnership with the Somali community and with the sister city of Bosaso,” she said. The City Council approved the sister-city alliance with Bosaso in October 2014 — making it the first city in the country to have a sister city in Somalia. Bosaso is Somalia’s third largest city with about 700,000 residents. Minneapolis has 11 other sister-city alliances with cities across the world, including Santiago, Chile; Kuopio, Finland; Ibaraki City, Japan; Novosibirsk, Russia; Tours, France; Winnipeg, Canada; Harbin, China; Uppsala, Sweden; Eldoret, Kenya; Cuernavaca, Mexico; and Najaf, Iraq.

New federal study provides insights on homeless youth More than half of homeless youth surveyed for a new federal study became homeless for their first time after a parent or caregiver asked them to leave. The study by researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln focused on 873 youth, ages 14 to 21, in 11 cities, including Minneapolis. It was designed to increase the federal government’s understanding of what services young people need when they are experiencing homelessness. On average, youth spent two years living on the streets. More than 60 percent also reported being raped, assaulted or robbed while homeless. Nearly 30 percent of the study participants identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual and nearly 7 percent identified as transgender. Rafael Lopez, commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said data collected during the study will help federal officials work with local agencies on

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efforts to end youth homelessness. “It is unacceptable for any youth to become homeless in America,” he said. “The findings of this study will help us more effectively target out street outreach programs so that we can help our youth receive the help they need, when they need it most. With data detailing the problem in cities across our country, we can work with local agencies to end youth homelessness.” The study found that on average, youth first became homeless at the age of 15 and about half had been in foster care. Youth with a foster care history experienced homelessness for longer periods than other youth — about 27.5 months compared to 19.3 months for youth who hadn’t spent time in foster care. In Minnesota, youth on their own age 24 and younger make up 16 percent of the homeless population, according to the most recent Wilder Research study.

A14 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

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woman, who spoke through a translator and requested not to print her name. Since taking a different job, she’s brought hundreds of pay stubs in to Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL), the nonprofit that translates as The Center of Workers United in Struggle. She showed the court pay stubs that initially list all hours paid at one rate — 97 hours in a two-week pay period at $12 per hour, for example. Later pay stubs document 80 hours per pay period, she said, with her overtime hours switched to a separate line item called “Commissions” also paid without a time-and-a-half rate. LaMac owner Nugzari Zedania said the allegations are “not right,” and declined to discuss the issue. “We did pay commissions, vacations, everything,” he said. A judicial officer determined April 15 that the employee is entitled to a judgment of more than $4,000. The woman said she wants to see more workers fight for what they are owed. “I did something so that people stop abusing us workers,” the woman said. “Us immigrant workers, we come here to struggle, to progress, to not stay on the bottom. That’s why we work so hard, to get ahead and to have something in life, but sometimes you can’t.”

SHORTCHANGED An in-depth look at wage theft

‘So many stories’ Minneapolis painter Dameon Jones said he’s gone weeks without pay for his work. Photo by Michelle Bruch

WORKERS FACE UPHILL BATTLE GOING AFTER WAGES By Michelle Bruch / mbruch@southwestjournal.com

A former employee of LaMac Cleaners in Lynnhurst and Tangletown went to court this month asking for thousands in overtime pay she

said she was shorted over the course of five years. “We knew that we were entitled to it, but out of need we never said anything,” said the

CTUL reports that its recent survey of 173 Twin Cities workers in low-wage industries found that half of respondents experienced wage theft. A 2008 survey of more than 4,000 workers in low-wage industries in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City (funded by the Ford, Haynes, Joyce and Russell Sage Foundations) found that more than two-thirds of respondents experienced at least one payrelated violation in the previous work week. Twenty-six percent of respondents were paid less than minimum wage, and 76 percent were not paid overtime rates. Lyndale resident Irene Gomez said she was paid a flat monthly rate for cleaning work in Minneapolis, and when she did the math, she realized she was only making $2-$3 an hour. Her son Javier Martinez said his paychecks bounced last year while he worked for a subcontractor cleaning P.F. Chang’s at Southdale Center. When he pursued the matter, he said he learned the contractor Coast to Coast went bankrupt and closed, and said he lost nearly $4,000 in wages. A spokesman for P.F. Chang’s did not respond for comment, and Coast to Coast

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could not be reached for comment. “There are so many stories, and everybody has one,” Gomez said through a translator. “It feels like discrimination to me.” While Gomez was discussing the issue at a Lake Street shop, a passerby stopped to listen and shared her own story. The Whittier resident said she was owed $600 or more from Las Mojarras Restaurant on Lake Street. She found another job and encountered the same issues there, she said through a translator. Las Mojarras did not respond to voicemails for comment. “Big stores or small stores, they do the same thing,” Gomez said. “They take advantage of people who don’t have documents, and they use that to intimidate you,” said the Whittier resident. “They say, ‘If you speak, then I’ll speak. If you speak about me not paying you, I’ll speak about your status.’” “Many of us are afraid,” Gomez said. “Sometimes I think it’s my right, I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m not stealing … I just want my money that I worked for.” Bryant resident Jose Gomez’ paychecks for construction work bounced so frequently, bank staff said they would call the police if it happened again, according to CTUL Organizer Terin Mayer. Gomez is preparing to seek nearly $7,000 in payment from Parada Roofing & Remodeling for work in 2015. Enoc Parada Garcia could not be reached for comment. “This is such an important issue for our clients and the entire community,” said Martha Delaney, deputy director of the Volunteer Lawyers Network, in an email. “When people aren’t paid their wages, they can sink into homelessness (which is difficult to recover from) and even be pushed on to public assistance. People who steal from those in poverty are stealing from our community as a whole, not just the people who suffer directly.”

One man’s wage war Willard-Hay neighborhood resident Dameon Jones said weeks without pay from his employer had a major impact on his life — he was facing eviction, and he was involved in a custody battle over his son at a time when lost wages meant he couldn’t pay the bills. He said he worked for Jamek Engineering beginning in 2012 at projects including the Jackson Flats in Northeast and the Emanuel Housing project near the Vikings stadium. When Jones renewed his personal business certification, a city compliance

southwestjournal.com / April 21–May 4, 2016 A15

officer alerted him that he was eligible for prevailing wage pay, significantly more than what he was making at Jamek, according to a determination by the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights. Under the law, contractors and subcontractors must pay the prevailing wage for projects that use more than $2,000 in federal funding. Jones said his boss refused to pay him unless he signed an affidavit affirming that he was properly paid. So Jones said he signed the affidavit. “At that time, I really needed the income. They still made me wait several weeks before they gave me money,” he said. Jones said he dealt with other issues that made him uncomfortable. The hours on his time sheet were changed, he said. On one occasion, he said Jamek owner James Ekhator watched him cash a paycheck at the bank and asked for $300 back, saying he paid Jones too much. “I started keeping track of everything I was doing,” Jones said. “I would take pictures of my time sheets and checks.” When asked about the allegations, Ekhator said he’s had issues with Jones. He pointed to a 2013 police report he filed for a paint sprayer Jones allegedly did not return. He also pointed to a judicial decision in May 2014 that determined Jones was not eligible for unemployment benefits after leaving Jamek, under the reasoning that Jones did not quit for a good reason caused by the employer. U.S. Department of Labor spokeswoman Rhonda Burke said there is an open investigation of Jamek Engineering involving alleged violations of prevailing wage laws. Additional investigations into Jamek concluded in July 2014 and ordered payment to Jones and other workers for back wages owed, she said. The Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) awarded Jones findings of probable cause in 2015 for employer discrimination and retaliation, and ordered a $20,000 judgment in Jones’ favor last March. According to the MDCR investigation, bank statements show Jones was paid thousands of dollars less than a Caucasian painter on the same job site, and Jones was paid on a less regular basis. MDCR also determined that Ekhator’s police report was filed less than a week after Jones filed a discrimination complaint with the city, at a time when Ekhator knew Jones had the sprayer. Jones said the experience has been discouraging. “I’m scared to get back into the field,

because I don’t know if I’m going to come across a guy like that,” he said. He said he hasn’t been able to collect funds awarded in the MDCR ruling.

A challenge to collect Minneapolis resident Cecilia Guzman is still owed thousands awarded in Hennepin County District Court for a job cleaning an Uptown apartment building, said Mayer of CTUL. Court records indicate that a writ of execution to secure $4,570 in back pay was unsuccessful, because HD Cleaning LLC had closed its bank account. The court recently agreed to order the company to file a financial disclosure form. HD Cleaning could not be reached for comment. Glen Drew, resource attorney at the Volunteer Lawyers Network, said he sees many employees left without pay when a restaurant or business closes. If the business dissolves or files for bankruptcy, securing lost wages becomes extremely difficult, he said. “Collectability is usually No. 1 for these clients,” said Drew. “…Oftentimes I’m giving people bad news.” Ryan Hanson of Coon Rapids said he did recover back pay for lost wages. He said he was installing carpet and vinyl flooring in late 2014 for Hunt’s Carpet Service Inc. when he learned from a co-worker they were entitled to prevailing wage pay. He recalls they were making $17 an hour, when the prevailing wage rate was more than $46. CEO Robert Hunt declined to discuss the issue. After a yearlong process working with Hennepin County and the Fair Contracting Foundation, Hanson received one of two checks for several thousand dollars in back pay last Christmas Eve. “It was a good day,” he said. “…I had the short end of the stick other times, where I basically end up walking away. They just file for bankruptcy or whatever they do, and nobody recovers a dime.” A 2015 agreement between Hennepin County and Hunt’s Carpet Service calls the prevailing wage settlement a compromise of a disputed claim and not an admission of guilt; the principals agreed not to work on any government projects for five years. “It was a nice change of pace to have something go right,” Hanson said. “I am a guy who does an honest living and just wants an honest check.”

HOW TO ENSURE FAIR PAY ON HOUSEHOLD PROJECTS The U.S. Department of Labor found more than 5,500 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act by employers in Minneapolis between 2005 and 2014, according to Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL, The Center of Workers United in Struggle). “We have wage and hour laws being broken with impunity,” said CTUL Organizer Terin Mayer. “A lot of homeowners don’t even know this.” Mayer said it’s common for bonded and licensed general contractors to turn over work to subcontractors, who may in turn also hire subcontractors. “The amount of money starts diminishing, and the amount of risk and responsibility gets pushed down to the workers at the bottom of the chain,” he said. Attorney Justin Cummins, who handles wage theft cases, recommends asking general contractors pointed questions: Are workers on the job classified as employees or independent contractors? “If they are independent contractors, you can virtually guarantee there is going to be a problem,” he said. Employees misclassified as independent contractors are often denied minimum wage, overtime pay, family and medical leave and unemployment insurance, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. According to the Minnesota Department of Labor, an individual is only an independent contractor if they maintain an independent office and equipment, file self-employment tax returns with the IRS, and operate a business dependent on business receipts and expenditures. Cummins recommends asking contractors other pointed questions as well: Do you comply with wage and hour laws? Do you comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations? Do you pay overtime rates? “They can lie to you, but asking the question is a start,” Cummins said. He said homeowners can get a feel for the business based on the response, and they can set the expectation that workers are paid fairly. Peter Jaworski, business manager at Roofers & Waterproofers Local 96, suggests calling the Better Business Bureau to see a report on the contractor. He also suggests talking to workers on the job, and asking people who know the industry about specific contractors. The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry offers the following recommendations. Before hiring a contractor: Ask for the contractor’s license number, and contact (651) 284-5069 or 1-800-

342-5354 to verify the builder is currently licensed and find any disciplinary history. The status of a contractor’s license can also be verified at secure.doli. state.mn.us/lookup/licensing.aspx. Ask for references and check in with former customers Check the contractor’s litigation history on the state court system’s website at

pa.courts.state.mn.us/default.aspx. Avoid contractors that: Arrive in an unmarked truck or van Appear to be willing to do the job at an unusually low price Provide only a post office box as a business address Refuse to provide a license number issued by the state of Minnesota Use high-pressure sales tactics

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A16 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

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SHORTCHANGED An in-depth look at wage theft

ON THE WAGE THEFT BEAT By Dylan Thomas / dthomas@southwestjournal.com

If labor activists have turned up the volume on the discussion around wage theft, that’s a good thing, said John Aiken, director of the Apprenticeship and Labor Standards Division of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, the state agency that investigates worker complaints. “What that is doing is raising the profile of this issue and, hopefully as one of the consequences of this, is driving people to this office to seek the assistance that they deserve,” Aiken said. The department receives more than 20,000 inquiries each year. While some of the phone calls and emails concern child labor laws, the majority of complaints fall into the category of illegal activity commonly known as “wage theft,” including workers who never received a final paycheck from a previous employer, weren’t paid overtime or had illegal deductions taken out of their wages. The increased attention being paid to wage theft has thrown a spotlight on the laws that are meant to protect workers, employers who seem to flout the rules and the resources that are available to go after lawbreakers. Both state agencies and their federal counterparts at the

U.S. Department of Labor are noticing. “As a person who does law enforcement, I would always like a bigger staff,” David King, district director for the federal Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division office in Minneapolis, said. “We could always find work for people to do. There’s lots of things that can be done to help protect workers. That’s just a reality.” The authors of Employers Gone Rogue, a 2013 study that drew on surveys of 4,387 lowwage workers in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, described a “current weak penalty and enforcement regime in the United States” for employers who break the rules. The researchers, from the National Employment Law Project, Cornell University and the University of Illinois at Chicago, wrote in the report that a lack of data makes studies like theirs difficult, but added that “an emerging body of evidence suggests that the systemic violation of employment and labor laws is common in a number of low-wage industries.” “It’s basically criminal activity, in a sense, and it’s hard to get accurate reporting,” said Aaron Sojourner, a labor economist at the

University of Minnesota. Sojourner said the Employers Gone Rogue report is “probably the best evidence out there that this is more or less common.” Sojourner said “more cops on the beat” would help to protect both workers and lawabiding employers, who may have a hard time competing in industries where cheating is almost a part of doing business. There are nine full-time investigators based in Minneapolis who look into violations of federal labor laws, including two trainees. Another investigator works out of a field station in Duluth. King said six industries drive the majority of complaints and investigations: restaurants, health care, construction, retail stores, hotels and motels and temporary help firms. During the most recent fiscal year, from October 2014 to September 2015, King’s staff completed 142 investigations and found about $1.8 million in wages not paid correctly. Over that same period, they collected $43,000 in civil penalties from employers who broke the law. Sara Ellstra, state program administrative director for DLI’s Labor Standards Unit, said the agency employs six labor investigators who respond to claims of labor theft, up from just three investigators when she started at the agency in 2007. The unit also includes one person charged with public outreach and four staffers who focus specifically on enforcement of prevailing wage laws for state-funded construction projects. In 2015, the agency recovered more than $655,000 in final wages for 1,144 workers who didn’t get their last paychecks after leaving a job. Another 7,317 workers received back wages totaling nearly $387,000 after the agency intervened. The penalties paid by employers who broke the law totaled just less than $184,000. When there’s evidence of a violation by an employer, the agency first tries to negotiate a voluntary settlement. If no agreement is reached, the agency can issue a compliance

order, at which point the employer has to pay double the back wages owed. If the employer still contests the agency’s findings, the case moves into the court system. Workers, too, have the option of taking private action in district or conciliation court. Aiken said complaint originate primarily in the service industry, coming from restaurant employees, janitors and health care workers. If federal law offers greater protection to the worker, state investigators will refer them there, and vice-versa, he added. DLI Labor Standards Unit investigations are primarily “complaint-driven,” Aiken said, but it is shifting, tentatively, toward a more proactive enforcement approach. “Last year was my first year here, and one of the things I wanted to do when I came in was to begin a directed-investigation initiative — pilot it, give it a try and see if that would help us meet our mission of promoting broad compliance in industry,” Aiken said, adding that the initiative is still “just in the beginning stages.” The restaurant industry is getting some of that additional attention from DLI because of a high volume of inquiries regarding tip pooling and minimum-wage violations from restaurant workers, Aiken said. “We’re putting together a process that will be effective and an initiative that we can grow based on the resources we have,” he said. A better-informed public, one that knows about the rights of the workers who clean their offices and hotel rooms, prepare their food and show up for work at construction sites, may also be part of the solution, Sojourner suggested. “We think about law enforcement as being located in government, but actually all kinds of law enforcement really rely on an active citizenry to an active public that’s engaged,” he said. “... It really requires everybody on the ground to be paying attention, too.”

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work were adhering to the law. And so they created the Fair Contracting Foundation, the very first for the state.

SHORTCHANGED An in-depth look at wage theft

WAGE THEFT WATCHDOGS By Eric Best / ebest@southwestjournal.com

The Fair Contracting Foundation of Minnesota is one of the Twin Cities’ leading organizations in the fight against wage theft. The foundation is one of just a few dozen organizations across the country that focus on wage theft in the public sector construction industry, and the only one in Minnesota. Created in 2011, the nonprofit labor management committee employees three investigative attorneys who pursue complaints and cases of wage theft, from local contactors not paying prevailing wages to employees misclassified as independent contractors, in all levels of government across the state. We spoke with Mike Wilde, the foundation’s executive director, to talk about FCF’s work and wage theft.

MORE INFO For more information on the Fair Contracting Foundation, visit fcfmn.org.

What does FCF’s work look like?

The FCF promotes prevailing wage law education, compliance and enforcement. It advocates for practices, policies and laws that ensure fair government contracts, a strong local industry and protection of the public interest. It operates like a small law office. We take leads, calls and questions from various sources about people who are cheated on public construction. Sometimes they’re from individual employees who speak out, trade representatives who see red flags or its competing contractors who want the law to be followed. Those are the three big ones. What we usually do is get all the information we can and we present it to the enforcing agency, like the Minneapolis Department of Civil Right, Minnesota’s Department of Labor and Industry or the U.S. Department of Labor. Are there types of wage theft that are increasing?

A really fast and growing one is what’s called employee misclassification. All of the laws that are labor and employment-wise are established based on the employee-employer relationship. But a lot of companies are saying, “I don’t have employees, I just hire independent contractors.” A man with a van and a paintbrush is a painter, Joe’s Paint Company, and it’s a scam. And that way the employers don’t pay Social Security, any FICA taxes, any state or federal taxes, or worker’s comp. So they drive bids down. And what happens is all those laws go out the window. And the people on the receiving end think they’re empowered because they’re self-employed, but they’re employees misidentified as independent contractors. So there’s a lot of victims in that — the state coffers, the federal coffers, and in my mind its Social Security fraud. There’s a lot of legality involved on whether that’s the case.

Mike Wilde

Why was the foundation created? Mike Wilde: The FCF was created as a

program sponsored by the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council to address some of the wage theft and unlawful practices in the publicly funded construction industry. The [council] had seen many laws go unenforced for a long time and they wanted to make sure all the contractors that were bidding on public

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What’s the punishment like for contractors that cheat workers?

Up until recently there was none. [Regarding] repayment, a lot of people joked that it was an interest-free loan where they had to pay back what they should’ve paid in the first place, and that’s it. Usually they just get a lawyer and negotiate it down to some sort of middle dollar figure. Now in public construction, there’s a state law called the “responsible contractor” law that started Jan. 1, 2015. There are certain threshold that if the contactor cannot verify that they’ve passed those thresholds then they’re not deemed responsible and can’t bid on public sector work. The standards are pretty high. If you have a bookkeeping error you’re not going to run afoul of that law. Now, all of sudden, businesses have an added incentive to pay their workers according to the law. And quality, lawabiding contractors appreciate it. Everyone has to play on the same level playing field. What can people do to stop wage theft?

Support prevailing wage, understand and support the “responsible contractor” law, and be aware what your government is building. Public construction is our infrastructure so the public dollar should be spent to lift local economies and the citizens, not deprive them.

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A18 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

[

SHORTCHANGED An in-depth look at wage theft

paystub to workers, but standards vary as does enforcement.

Local efforts to fight wage theft FROM WAGE THEFT LEGISLATION / PAGE A1

workers, Quevedo said. Zuniga and Quevedo, members of the Minneapolis-based workers advocacy group Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL), recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to share their experiences with wage theft with federal lawmakers. “People should not remain silent. They should get legal help,” Quevedo said during a recent interview, speaking through a translator. “The more people that speak up the better so these companies change their policies.” Zuniga said people need to realize that wage theft is a widespread problem in the Twin Cities that is not isolated to one bad actor. She said it’s a major burden for low-wage workers who already face challenges making ends meet. “We lost our money and we also lost our time,” she said of the legal battle against Capital Building Services. In the class action lawsuit, lawyers for the janitors noted that subcontractors are under significant pressure to cut costs. “Increasingly, Minnesota businesses subcontract out to the lowest bidder labor traditionally performed by their own employees,” they wrote in the complaint. “The result is a classic race-tothe-bottom, where unscrupulous subcontractors compete for contracts by exploiting vulnerable workers to keep costs low. In this new ‘fissured workplace,’ some of the most egregious mistreatment of workers occurs right under the noses of some of Minnesota’s most esteemed businesses and retail establishments.” Low-wage workers, often recent immigrants with limited English proficiency at the “margins of economic life,” are the most vulnerable to exploitation, the lawsuit noted. Brian Payne, co-director of CTUL, said workers need to feel empowered to speak up when they’ve been victimized. “So long as workers live under the constant fear of losing their livelihood if they complain about workplace issues, wage theft will never end,” he said. “Real change requires ensuring that workers have a voice in their workplaces.”

Federal bill would mandate paystubs Sen. Al Franken and Congressman Keith Ellison are backing federal legislation requiring employers to provide workers with pay stubs as a way to combat wage theft. It sounds like a simple measure, but many

low-wage workers who have been shortchanged by their employers don’t get pay stubs, making it difficult for them to challenge their employers and go after the money owed to them. Franken has sponsored the proposed Pay Stub Disclosure Act in the Senate and Ellison is a co-sponsor of the bill in the House of Representatives. “Americans are spending more hours working than ever, but all too often, they aren’t compensated fairly — and as a result working families suffer,” Franken said. “While a majority of employers are playing by the rules, wage theft is a real problem that’s causing workers to not receive the money they have earned. … Our bill will combat this crooked tactic by giving each employee a pay stub, allowing them to make sure that employers aren’t shortchanging their hours, wages or overtime pay.” A recent survey of a 173 low-wage workers in the Twin Cities found that nearly half had experienced wage theft by employers. CTUL and the Advocates for Human Rights surveyed workers in a variety of industries, including janitorial services, restaurants, retail, construction, manufacturing, hospitality and temp work. The average annual salary for workers was $14,737. The problem was especially prevalent for janitors like Zuniga and Quevedo with twothirds reporting they had experienced wage theft. The Pay Stub Disclosure Act would require employers to provide pay stubs to workers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage or overtime rules with the number of regular and overtime hours worked and the employee’s pay rate. Workers would also have the right to copies of their own payroll records. The legislation would also codify a 1946 Supreme Court ruling that presumes an employee’s own credible evidence and testimony about his or her pay is true when an employer fails to keep pay records. Rep. Bobby Scott, a Democrat from Virginia who cosponsored the House bill with Ellison, said many workers are unaware that they are victims of wage theft. “This injustice occurs because employers are under no state or federal requirement to produce a pay stub itemizing wages and deductions,” he said. “Given the prevalence of this problem, we must work to ensure that workers have the tools necessary to fight back against wage theft.” Currently 42 states, including Minnesota, require employers to provide some sort of

The City Council also recently voted to update its prevailing wage ordinance — one of its main tools to fight wage theft. The update codifies the city practice of wage enforcement for city contracts worth at least $50,000, said the city’s Civil Rights Director Velma Korbel. Wage violations for smaller city contracts are reviewed when complaints are filed with the city. “Just last year through its prevailing wage monitoring, the Civil Rights Department recovered almost $200,000 of unpaid wages to workers on city projects,” Korbel told a Council committee April 13. City Council Vice President Elizabeth Glidden (Ward 8), who co-authored the update to the prevailing wage ordinance with Council President Barb Johnson (Ward 4), said constituents are sharing stories with Council members about their experiences with wage theft and urging local officials to take more actions to fight the problem. “The challenge is that good employers are following the law, but there are bad actors out there,” she said. “We have people being taken advantage of and we do not have the resources invested in making sure our good system of laws is being enforced to their fullest, and that we have more standard compliance across the line.” Another recent case of wage theft to make the headlines involved the case of an electrical company that underpaid workers for electrical work on a state transportation project. In March, Hennepin County District Judge Tamara Garcia found Laura Plzak guilty of 16 counts of failing to pay workers the prevailing wage. She was convicted of 13 counts of theft by swindle over $35,000 and three counts of theft by swindle over $5,000. Her sentencing hearing has been set for May 13. Plzak, president and CEO of Honda Electric, which she runs with her husband Jeffrey, had a contract with the Minnesota Department of Transportation for electrical work on a project at I-35W and I-694. Her husband pled guilt to similar charges in federal court last year and was sentenced to 22 months in prison. She was found guilty of falsifying government documents to make it appear that she was going to pay workers on the project the prevailing wage. State officials started investigating her after a former Honda employee told investigators he was paid $17 an hour instead of the $58.50 an hour he was supposed to make under the prevailing wage law.

RESOURCES Learn more about wage theft and efforts to fight the problem Workday Minnesota (workdayminnesota.org): The project

of the Labor Education Service at the University of Minnesota recently published an investigation on wage theft in Minnesota. The project also outlines ideas for fighting it. Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (ctul.net): CTUL organizes

low-wage workers across the Twin Cities and has collaborated on reports examining wage theft. The Advocates for Human Rights (theadvocatesforhumanrights. org): The Advocates for Human

Rights has partnered with CTUL on investigating the exploitation of low-wage workers in the Twin Cities.

For low-wage workers, particularly new immigrants, fear can be a major factor to overcome in addressing wage theft. CTUL has a Workplace Rights Defenders Program that provides workers with information about their rights and encourages them to feel empowered when confronting employers. Workday Minnesota, a project of the Labor Education Service at the University of Minnesota, also recently published an investigation into the state’s wage theft problem on its website — workdayminnesota.org. It also outlined solutions to fight the problem, including more education about workplace rights, improved government enforcement and more organizing among workers. Madeline Lohman, a senior researcher with the Advocates for Human Rights in Minneapolis, said workers can face a lot of barriers when they try to go after money owed to them. “Workers face this gauntlet of navigating all of these different referrals and they may get lucky and get the right phone number to begin with or they may not, and all of that makes it less and less likely that they are going to get helped,” she said. Zuniga of CTUL, who still works for Capital Building Services, said she wants more people to become aware of the problem and help fight it. “There needs to be real consequences for companies who violate the law,” she said. “There needs to be actual punishments.”

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Development

Westminster expands to make church greener, more inviting By Sarah McKenzie / smckenzie@southwestjournal.com

Westminster Presbyterian Church has embarked on a major renovation project to expand its footprint and open up its spaces to the community on Nicollet Mall. Construction started April 10 on a new 40,000-square-foot wing designed by James Dayton Design that will open onto Nicollet Mall & Marquette Avenue. A quarter of the new wing will be dedicated to an onsite community outreach partner, said Tim Hart-Anderson, Westminster’s senior pastor. The church is in talks with an alternative high school and a nonprofit that offers early intervention programs for children that have faced trauma, he said. The wing will be a glassy, contemporary counterpoint to its historic and stately 1897-era building with flexible spaces for worship and community gatherings. There will also be new green spaces for the community to enjoy, a green roof on the new wing and a system to collect rainwater for reuse inside and outside the building. “We’re creating a four-block outdoor room that will make this part of the city lovely, livable, walkable and children friendly,” HartAnderson said. Westminster will be a book end for the new $50 million Nicollet Mall redesign led by James Corner Field Operations, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. He said the expansion project will help prepare the congregation for the future. The church has just over 3,100 members and draws

Westminster celebrated a groundbreaking for its expansion project April 10. Submitted photo

people from all over the metro area, but mostly from downtown-area neighborhoods. “The goal of the project is to position this congregation for the next 100 years in downtown Minneapolis. Across the country downtown congregations have seen challenges of one sort of another,” he said. “Westminster feels like it will meet many of the challenges by providing much better access, better visibility in the community and a building that is more of a 21st century design.” To make way for its new wing, the church is demolishing an eight-story office building on Marquette. It is also adding new underground parking behind the church and renovating the historic church to make room for new libraries

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and co-working spaces, among other things. Architect James Dayton, whose great-great grandfather was an early member, called the church a “cornerstone of the city.” “We believe these new spaces will inspire and invite people with their warmth and light,” he said. Westminster also purchased an apartment building on Marquette in 2012 in preparations for its expansion and paid moving costs to resettle 60 tenants. The church has also committed to supporting 150 affordable housing and supportive housing units in the downtown area as apart of its $7 million “Open Doors Open Futures” campaign. So far, the church has invested in 62 units of affordable housing at the Rose, a new afford-

able housing development south of downtown at 1928 Portland Ave., and apartments in the building once home to the King and I Thai restaurant in Loring Park, Hart-Anderson said. Westminster is also working with HCMC to build 90 units of housing near the medical center for medically fragile people experiencing homelessness. Construction at the church is expected to take two years. A group of eight people founded Westminster in 1857 and raised $2,000 to build a church on 4th Street, according to the church’s website. After a major growth spurt it moved to 7th & Nicollet in 1883. Then a major fire prompted the church to move again to its current site at 12th & Nicollet in 1897. Westminster was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. The church is also known for its Westminster Town Hall Forum series, which launched in 1980. More than 250 noted speakers have been featured, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Eli Wiesel, Salman Rushdie and Tom Brokaw. Hart-Anderson said the church is focused on helping advocate for the common good through its ministries, outreach worker and speaker series. “We have a highly polarized society these days and the church, I hope, can be a force for civic engagement and civic dialogue,” he said. City Council Member Lisa Goodman (Ward 7) called the church’s renovation project a “gift to the city.” “The church’s investment in our downtown and its plan to make its spaces open and welcoming to all is a remarkable statement,” she said. Minneapolis Downtown Council CEO Steve Cramer also offered praise. “Westminster has given great thought to how it can best serve this city,” he said. “The new building, the green spaces and the commitment to affordable housing are major contributors to a growing downtown.”

A20 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

By Dylan Thomas / dthomas@southwestjournal.com

Minneapolis parks due for a spring cleaning The annual Minneapolis Earth Day Cleanup, described by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board as “the largest communityservice project in the city,” is 9:30 a.m.–noon April 23. Recent years have seen more than 2,000 volunteers turn out to help collect litter in city parks and on the shores of lakes, streams and the Mississippi River. This year, they’ll be gathering at three dozen different cleanup sites spread across the city. The first Minneapolis Earth Day Cleanup was held in 1995, and the Park Board estimates the event has removed more than 140,000 pounds of trash from streets and parkland since then. Volunteers should bring gloves if they have them, but both gloves and trash bags will be available at the cleanup sites. While there’s no need to register, large groups of 20 or more volunteers are encouraged to contact Erica Chua at echua@minneapolisparks. org or 230-6479 ahead of time to see where they’re needed. Boom Island is one of this year’s cleanup sites and it’s also host to the inaugural 5K Bee Run/Walk/Cleanup put on by local nonprofit Great River Coalition in collaboration with the Park Board. The event aims to draw attention to efforts to preserve and

Arboretum hosts Urban Waters Forum Earth Day cleanup events will be held throughout the city on April 23. Submitted photo

expand habitat for bees, butterflies, birds and other pollinators along the full length of the Mississippi River, from Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. The course takes participants from Boom Island to Nicollet Island and across the Stone Arch Bridge toward downtown. From there, runners and walkers head up West River Parkway to the Plymouth Avenue Bridge for the return to Boom Island. Race-day registration ($40) opens at 7:30

a.m., but runners and walkers can also register in advance ($35) at greatrivercoalition.com. The race starts at 9 a.m., and participants are encouraged to join the cleanup after they cross the finish line. For a list of all the cleanup sites and more information on the Minneapolis Earth Day Cleanup, go to minneapolisparks.org.

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southwestjournal.com / April 21–May 4, 2016 A21

By Eric Best / ebest@southwestjournal.com

Council leaders working on compromise funding proposal for parks City leaders are working to create a last-minute funding alternative to a referendum that would raise money to repair neighborhood parks. Council members discussed a neighborhood park funding plan drafted by Council President Barb Johnson (Ward 4) and Council Member Lisa Goodman (Ward 7) during an April 13 Committee of the Whole meeting. The proposal is one of several options before the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to fund a backlog of maintenance issues in the city’s neighborhood parks. Council members and Mayor Betsy Hodges

are working on an additional proposal that would address both park funding and an annual $30 million need to maintain the city’s street infrastructure, as the city’s Public Works department detailed to council members earlier this year. The council is expected to vote on a proposal before May when the Park Board could move forward with a fall referendum to raise roughly $300 million over 20 years. The Johnson-Goodman plan, the current proposal making its way through the council, would guarantee about $11 million in additional funding for parks. The agreement, based

off concurrent ordinances, draws from $8 million from various existing sources, about $2.5 million in local government aid that the board has historically received and $3 million for operating costs based on a 1 percent increase of the city’s tax levy. Council Member John Quincy (Ward 11) and Hodges introduced their own plan in early April that would raise $300 million, including $10 million for the Park Board and $20 million for street repairs annually over 10 years. Hodges said in a statement that the proposal is “another step” in the process in crafting a compromise.

“I am confident that by putting all the best ideas on table we can move forward together,” she said. The council’s Ways and Means Committee and Committee of the Whole are slated to discuss the additional details of the JohnsonGoodman plan. Park Board Superintendent Jayne Miller will present a five-year investment plan during the board’s April 20 meeting, after this issue went to press.

FROM GOATS / PAGE A1

and the board’s contractors applied very little glyphosate products in neighborhood parks. “We use so little in our neighborhood park system… that’s why it made sense to start there,” he told The Journal. “We would much rather have a more sustainable park system if we can.” The ban puts the onus on park staff to find alternatives to glyphosate-based products, Long said. “Roundup has been considered safe in the past, however, recent research raises some concerns as to whether this is true. The Operations Committee chose to err on the side of safety for residents, our employees, and envi-

ronment,” said At-Large Commissioner John Erwin, who also works as a horticultural science professor at the University of Minnesota, in a Facebook post. Commissioners also approved a trial run to use goats to target invasive species like buckthorn in two areas of the park system. Park staff will select the sites, though commissioners have tossed around an area at Theodore Wirth Park. The board hopes that by using goats they can better eradicate invasive species because the animals can get to steep and wooded areas and are more efficient than having staff mechanically cut away at the weeds. Plus, they’re not expen-

sive, Long said. Long was a part of Atlanta’s park system when it tried using goats to eat away at ivy and kudzu. The goats “decimated” them, he said. While goats aren’t a silver bullet, Long said they give the board another option in its management of invasive species. “It’s another tool in the process. I don’t think it’s been ruled as a solution,” he said. Long expects to use goats on the two sites this year.

that park staff presented in March detailing the board’s use of herbicide across the system. The board may continue to apply the widely used chemical, which the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified last year as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” in the system’s golf courses, regional parks and existing projects already underway, such as in Loring Park. The Park Board has been phasing out the chemical for years. Assistant Superintendent Justin Long said that prior to the ban, park staff

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A22 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

News

By Michelle Bruch / mbruch@southwestjournal.com

The Hennepin Theatre Trust coordinated a new mural from artist Greg Gossell at Hennepin & 10th. Photo by Eric Best

Hennepin Theatre Trust receives $200K grant to enhance Hennepin The Hennepin Theatre Trust plans to use a grant from Southwest Airlines to liven up Hennepin Avenue. The trust announced April 12 that it has received a $200,000 grant from the airline’s Heart of the Community program. The organization will work with placemaking non-profit Project for Public Spaces to bring public art, greening efforts and multicultural offerings to a five-block portion of Hennepin between 5th and 10th streets. The project, known as “5 to 10 on Hennepin,” falls within the trust’srecently launched WeDo cultural district. The organization, which operates four theaters along Hennepin, has also brought two murals — the five-story Bob Dylan mural at 5th and another at 10th — pop-up parks and its Made Here storefront art initiative to the thoroughfare. “As we activate the larger WeDo Cultural District

initiative, we have an opportunity to create a significant impact in a designated area and build on the success for the future,” said Tom Hoch, president and CEO of the trust, in a statement. “We’re lucky to partner with national experts of public space planning which will bring tangible benefits to our local community.” Minneapolis was one of five communities that received grants from the program, which supports placemaking efforts. More than 90 applicants across 60 cities were in the running for the grants. The trust will solicit public input to guide programming for the five-block site. The goal of the initiative is to build a shared vision of Hennepin “where everyone feels welcome and comfortable,” according to a press release. — Eric Best

Nonprofit hosts children’s book author at Barnes & Noble The nonprofit Start Reading Now will appear at Barnes & Noble near Lake Calhoun April 23. The event from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. includes free face painting, games and author Kristen Heimerl, writer of the children’s book “Inspector Dewey.” Ten percent of the day’s in-store proceeds will go to the nonprofit. Barnes & Noble is located at 3216 W. Lake St.

Start Reading Now, founded by two South Minneapolis residents, aims to reduce the achievement gap and prevent summer learning setbacks by providing vouchers for 2,000 children to purchase 10 books each. Book fairs at the highest-need elementary schools in Minneapolis are June 1-2, and the organization is looking for volunteers for the event. For more information, visit startreadingnow.org.

New community garden in Kenny The Kenny Neighborhood Association is launching a new community garden at 1501 W. 54th St. The garden land and storage space will be provided by City Church. Volunteers expect to prepare the garden plots in time for this year’s growing season. A garden tool donation drive is underway. Dona-

tions can include wheelbarrows, spades, shovels, rakes, hand tools and chicken wire. To sign up for a garden plot contact Stu Nostdahl at stuart.nostdahl@gmail.com.

Armatage Neighborhood Association (ANA): Board meets 3rd Tuesday monthly at Armatage Park, 57th & Russell. Bryn Mawr Neighborhood Association (BMNA): Board meets 2nd Wednesday monthly at Bryn Mawr School, 252 Upton Ave. S.

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

Calhoun Area Residents Action Group (CARAG): Board meets 3rd Tuesday monthly at Bryant Square Park, 3101 Bryant Ave. S.

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

Cedar-Isles-Dean Neighborhood Association (CIDNA): Board meets every 2nd Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m. at JonesHarrison Residence, 3700 Cedar Lake Ave.

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

East Calhoun Community Organization (ECCO): Board meets 1st Thursday monthly at St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church, 3450 Irving Ave. S. East Harriet Farmstead Neighborhood Association (EHFNA): Board meets 1st Wednesday monthly at Walker Methodist, 3737 Bryant Ave. S. (Health Service door) East Isles Residents Association (EIRA): Board meets 2nd Tuesday monthly at Grace-Trinity Community Church, 1430 W. 28th St. Fulton Neighborhood Association (FNA): Board meets 2nd Wednesday monthly at Pershing Park, 3523 W. 48th St. Hale Page Diamond Lake Community Association (HPDL): Board meets last Monday of the month at 5144 13th Ave. S. Kenny Neighborhood Association (KNA): Board meets 3rd Tuesday monthly at Kenny Park Building, 1328 W. 58th St.

Lyndale Neighborhood Association (LNA): General membership meetings are on the 4th Monday monthly at Painter Park, 34th & Lyndale. Lynnhurst Neighborhood Association (LYNAS): Board meets 2nd Thursday monthly at 6 p.m. at Lynnhurst Community Center, 50th & West Minnehaha Parkway. Stevens Square Community Organization (SSCO): Board meets 3rd Thursday monthly at the Loring-Nicollet Community Center, 1925 Nicollet Ave. S. Tangletown Neighborhood Association (TNA): Board meets 3rd Monday monthly at Fuller Park, 4800 Grand Ave. West Calhoun Neighborhood Council: Board meets 2nd Tuesday monthly at 6 p.m. at The Bakken, 3537 Zenith Ave. S. Whittier Alliance: Board meets 4th Thursday monthly at the Whittier Recreation Center, 425 W. 26 St. Windom Community Council: Board meets 2nd Thursday monthly at Windom Community Center, 5821 Wentworth Ave.

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

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News

Bryant Square Park prepares for a makeover The Bryant Square Park playground and wading pool will close for construction late this summer. The new playground design is not finalized, but it will likely double the number of swings and include the longest zip line possible, at the request of neighborhood kids. A water feature in the playground will allow children to make sand pies. The new wading pool will have a zerodepth entry. The CARAG neighborhood group plans to contribute funding for the park as well, perhaps spending the money on water features, shade structures or air conditioning. The neighborhood is also interested in salvaging the pool’s concrete dolphin and reusing it somewhere in the park. The $4,000 price tag

raises questions about how to fund the project, however, and board members are considering a kickstarter or help from donors. “We have every intention of doing what we can,” said Diana Boegemann, president of the CARAG board. The playground equipment dates back to 1996, and the pool dates back to 1970. The Recreation Center at 3101 Bryant Ave. S. will also close for about six weeks in June for replacement of the roof, furnaces and flooring. A new mosaic will appear on the exterior of the building. A public hearing to approve the playground design is May 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board headquarters, 2117 West River Rd. N.

One of several preliminary design concepts for the new Bryant Square Park playground. Image courtesy of Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

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Southwest Journal April 21–May 4, 2016

REAL ESTATE GUIDE

A recently sold home in Uptown. Photo by Sarah McKenzie

First-time homebuyers face short supply Tight market for starter homes in Minneapolis challenges would-be homeowners

By Dylan Thomas / dthomas@southwestjournal.com

It’s the toughest market in at least a decade for first-time homebuyers shopping in Minneapolis. The supply of homes in the Twin Cities metropolitan area hit a record low in January, according to the Shenehon Center for Real Estate at the University of St. Thomas. In Minneapolis, experts say the market is tightest for homes in the range of $150,000–$300,000 — exactly where many firsttime buyers are looking. “I’ve got data that goes back 10 years, and I’ve never seen the market look quite like this in terms of the short supply,” said Herb Tousley, director of real estate programs at the University of St. Thomas. “That’s the big thing about this market that seems to be different, is that the number of homes for sale is just at historically low levels and has been for the last couple of years.” Lauren Novak, a real estate executive with Re/Max Results in Edina, said there’s “a learning curve for buyers who are getting into the market.” This spring, desirable homes were selling within 24 or 48 hours of being listed, Novak said, which meant buyers had to act fast and understand that, with so many homes attracting multiple offers, sellers have a lot of leverage. Minneapolis is considered a very affordable housing market compared to other metropolitan areas. But data compiled by the University of St. Thomas showed home prices rising faster than incomes, a sign that the imbalance in supply and demand is making it harder for some to achieve homeownership.

The house hunt Anna Martin, a Kingfield renter who is just starting her home search, said she’s noticed the effect of creeping housing prices since she began perusing the listings late last summer. Martin, 31, a project manager for Capella University, plans to focus her house hunt on the Longfellow neighborhood where a friend recently purchased a home. “I just feel like earlier in my search there were more houses coming to me that were in my price range but still had a lot of what I’m looking for,” Martin said. She’s not the only one who’s noticed. “My buyers have commented, too, that the houses have started to feel a little less good at the prices that they’re focusing on,” Novak said. “It’s not anything drastic, but they’re not getting better.” Still, well-prepared shoppers are finding success. The key for Joanna Olson was doing her research in advance, so when the right home came up she was ready to act. In April, the 31-year-old communications manager for Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota was looking forward to closing on a home in the Standish neighborhood, her first, which she plans to share with her partner, Ben, who also works for a nonprofit. Going in, Olson expected the search to take a few months, but couple spent exactly one Saturday morning in March looking at homes with their real estate agent. SEE HOUSE HUNT / PAGE B10

Where We Live

A JOURNAL COMMITMENT TO HIGHLIGHTING GREAT COMMUNITY CAUSES

The Sheridan Story

A Sheridan Story volunteer packs a weekend food bag into a student’s backpack. Photo courtesy of the The Sheridan Story

Northeast-based nonprofit provides thousands of Twin Cities children with extra food each week

A crusade against hunger The Sheridan Story launched in 2010 after school leaders at Sheridan Elementary in Northeast started noticing students grabbing extra food on Fridays so they would have something to eat on the weekends. School leaders turned to the nearby Mill City Church and asked the pastor for help. Soon church members started providing weekend food bags to 27 kindergarteners. It expanded to all grades in the school two years later and added Delano Elementary School in the spring of 2013. Now the nonprofit has weekend food programs in 91 schools across the Twin Cities. Over 200,000 children face hunger in Minnesota, including 100,000 in the Twin Cities. Location Sheridan Story board member Wendi Jarson, a former assistant principal at Sheridan Elementary, said she noticed kids 740 Hardin St. NE Suite B were more excited about coming to school on Fridays once the weekend food bags started arriving. They were also more likely to bring their backpacks to school, because they didn’t get food without them. Contact Jarson led an effort within her own church to sponsor the program at Mississippi Elementary School in Coon Rapids. 612-568-4003 She and a group of 12 volunteers distribute food to 34 kids each week. info@thesheridanstory.com She told one story of a mom who started crying out of gratitude after a teacher suggested the program to her. That family didn’t have any money at the time, Jarson said, and had been eating bread and peanut butter for the previous Website week and a half. thesheridanstory.com “There’s stories like that everywhere,” Jarson said. “It’s such a way to give back to the community. It’s a great way to give back to the kids.” Year Founded Each week, the Sheridan Story provides an estimated 3,800 Twin Cities kids with about five pounds of food on Friday 2010 afternoons at no cost. The nonprofit sources, packages and distributes the food to the schools, where local sponsors, such as churches or businesses, distribute it. The organization has distributed more than 500,000 meals in its six-year history in an effort to provide a solution to childhood hunger. “It’s not that we (as a society) don’t have enough food,” said Sheridan Story executive director Rob Williams. “It’s that it’s not in the homes where the kids need it. …Ours is really a distribution solution and a logistical solution.” The organization works primarily with elementary schools, whose kids can be most susceptible to hunger, Williams said. It doesn’t require that students qualify for free or reduced lunch to participate, and families need to opt in to the program to receive food. A typical bag of food includes the following: a canned fruit, vegetable, protein (such as tuna or chunk chicken), carbs (rice, oatmeal or pasta), and a chili, soup or stew. The Sheridan Story does not include junk food or snacks. “It’s a very smooth program,” said Laura Saatzer, principal of Farnsworth Aerospace Magnet School in St. Paul. “It’s something that we know that (families) are really counting on.” About 100 Farnsworth students utilize the program, Saatzer said. Volunteers come to the school each Friday and discreetly put the food in the kids’ backpacks, helping the families fill the weekend food gap. “In order for kids to be really ready to learn, they have to have those basic needs met,” Saatzer said. “We can work really hard to teach them, but if they aren’t properly nourished, that’s a problem.”

By the numbers

Number of schools in the Twin Cities served by The Sheridan Story

3,800

Approximate number of Twin Cities students who receive weekend food bags each week

500,000 Number of meals The Sheridan Story had distributed to students as of February since it launched in 2010

$130

Cost for The Sheridan Story to provide food to one student for a year, which covers approximately 134 meals

What you can do Sponsor your local school. For more info go to the thesheridanstory.com/sponsor-a-school. Host a food drive. The Sheridan Story has resources on its website to help people implement a successful food drive. Go to thesheridanstory.com/food-drive. Donate at The Sheridan Story website with a check, via United Way or another payroll program.

About the Where We Live project This project is an ongoing series spearheaded by Journals’ publisher Janis Hall showcasing Minneapolis nonprofits doing important work in the community. The editorial team has selected organizations to spotlight. Nate Gotlieb is the writer for the project. To read previous features, go to southwestjournal.com/section/focus/where-we-live.

southwestjournal.com / April 21–May 4, 2016 B3

Paddlers who were part of the first Minnesota Outward Bound class in the BWCA open to women. Submitted photo

Pioneering paddlers By Madison Rude / Murphy News Service

Maxine Davis lights up the dark filmmakers lounge of St. Anthony Main as she talks about her film, “Women Outward Bound.” It’s easy to see why. The documentary, which took over 10 years to make, resonated with the sold-out theater, because it so clearly resonates with her. Davis, 67, of Linden Hills was one of 24 women and four instructors who took on the challenge of surviving a month in the Boundary Waters in 1965 as part of the first Minnesota Outward Bound class open to women. “I decided 40 years later that I wanted to have a reunion. Outward Bound meant so much to me and I wanted to see if it meant as much to them,” Davis said of why she made the film. This pioneering group was the first to prove that women could not only accomplish the same grueling outdoor tasks that men could, but they could thrive at them. “I want girls, women, boys, fathers, to learn that there was a different time when some opportunities weren’t available to girls,” Davis said. “I wanted people to see that girls can do almost everything boys can do.” The film debuted at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival on April 10. Ten of the original 24 women were in attendance for the film’s premier. After the film, the women held a Q&A session and many attendees spoke to the film’s heartwarming message. Several of them even shed tears as they told the women just how inspired they felt after watching this story played out on the big screen. The film’s combination of sweeping Boundary Waters scenery, moving interviews with the original members of the program and touching messages of female triumph made it hard not to fall in love with the story. “I think the real reason [Max] made it is that . . . what she went through was during a time when girls were supposed to be ladies,” said Melody Gilbert, the film’s producer. “It was the beginning of the acceptance that women could

do exactly what men could do.” The film follows the story of the young women as they went through the grueling month outdoors. Many of them were from different backgrounds and none of them knew each other prior to the trip. “They purposely had half the kids on a scholarship so we had a wide range of income levels and social classes,” said Davis, who was the only Jewish girl in attendance. Other girls were raised in Catholic families and one of them was sent to the camp by a social worker. Cathy Crowson thought she would be attending a traditional girl’s summer camp and got quite the surprise when she realized she’d be spending a month just trying to survive the brutal wilderness of the Boundary Waters. “Even though Cathy thought she was coming to ride horses and do her nails she really loved it,” Davis said. The women were taught several outdoor tasks throughout their month-long experience, including orienteering, whitewater canoeing, portaging, and rock climbing. Each of them also had to spend three days completely alone with three matches, a knife, fishing equipment, and a pot to boil water. “We had the clothes on our back, we had a whistle in case there was an emergency, and we each spent three days out there by ourselves,” Davis reflected. Their experiences in 1965 changed them all and it demonstrated the hardiness women are capable of, but it also changed those around them for the better. “I think the fact that we went to Outward Bound changed our daughters. And our husbands had a different sense of who we are because they had the sense that maybe they were marrying a different kind of woman,” Davis said. Since the first 24 girls participated in Outward Bound, countless women have had the opportunity to go through the same experience.

‘Women Outward Bound’ will be featured during the film festival’s Best of the Fest at St. Anthony Main Theatre on April 26.

“Thousands and thousands of women have gone to the outward program — 1,500 a year have gone since then. Women . . . are out in the world doing almost everything,” Davis said. After all those years of the program’s success, Davis was able to reunite some of the original group and capture their return to the Boundary Waters on film. “The reunion was the key. I just wanted to get all these women together and see who we all were,” Davis said. Davis decided to film the reunion at the last minute and she and Gilbert enlisted the help of outdoor videographer Nick Clausen. “Nick is an amazing outdoor videographer. He’s quiet. He’s genuine. He’s gracious in a very quiet way so he was with all of us and he was like a fly on the wall,” Davis said fondly. “He just followed us around for three days.”

The women returned to the camp in 2012 and got to see how the program has evolved since its inception. They were toured around by current instructors and got to go out canoeing and swimming in the frigid waters again after 47 years. There were many tearful moments as they reflected on the experiences they shared all those years ago. “I cried a lot then. I cry in the film to. I’m a big crier,” Davis said with a chuckle. Many of the women grew tearful in the film and during the Q&A session afterward, but it only proves that emotion and strength need not be mutually exclusive. These women are shining examples of perseverance in their lives to this day. Patricia Giebink became a doctor in a time when women hardly ever attended medical school and now takes a month off each year to volunteer in countries around the world. Elizabeth Kilanowski went on to get her bachelor’s and master’s degree in geology from the University of Minnesota and Western Washington University. She currently lives on a boat in Bellingham, Wash. Janice Fraser took her abusive husband to court and was the first woman to do so in Hennepin County. Above all, the film encapsulates what this group of women accomplished for all women in a time when girls weren’t provided the same opportunities as men and told they were inferior. It’s a moving story of perseverance, strength and teamwork and a heartwarming reunion of women who changed the face of history. “Let’s have our girls, our daughters, be the strong women we came to be a little sooner,” Davis said. “And please, please, take your children out into the woods. Let them experience nature and what it means to survive the outdoors.” Madison Rude is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.

B4 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

Ask Dr. Rachel

By Rachel Allyn

Coping with jealousy Q

My husband is really into yoga and has developed friendships with some of his teachers. These instructors are all much younger than me and happen to be attractive women. I want him to enjoy his passion of yoga and make friends, but I feel tension when he insists on going to one of their classes, especially when it disrupts our schedule. He tells me I have nothing to worry about. How can I stop being jealous over something so minor?

Jealousy can make us feel crazy. Granted, some people who feel jealousy actually are crazy (think of the movie Fatal Attraction). Pathological jealousy includes preoccupation, violence and a split from reality. Sadly, this goes beyond the movie screen: spousal jealousy is the leading cause of spousal murder worldwide. I gather you’re a reasonable person with self-insight who is experiencing normal jealousy (your husband may beg to differ). Whatever the degree of jealousy, you can damage a relationship if you don’t get a grip on it. As they say, paranoia will destroy ya. Jealousy has been called the shadow of love. Yet showing jealousy over minor things is not an expression of love, it’s an expression of insecurity. Insecure people destabilize their relationships and make them insecure; the very situation they fear becomes the one they create. These individuals become jealous of anyone else who takes attention away from their partner, whether it be a friend, a hobby or a child. Jealousy often leads to anger, which is then regulated by trying to control their partner. This is driven from a sense of competition with the perceived (or real) object of attention. Typically this only backfires and pushes their partner away. Given you don’t mention a history of

deceit or infidelity in the relationship, I suspect your reaction is about you and not him. This isn’t your intuition telling you he’s straying. It’s your fears creating a warped perspective. This is rooted in your formative years, namely your childhood but perhaps also your earliest romantic relationships. Your jealousy is the result of insecure attachment from these caregivers. Your inner child feels threatened and fears humiliation or abandonment. If your husband’s passion were hunting or golfing with the fellas, you might be less emotionally triggered by his hobbies, but you’d still be ticked if it disrupted your schedule together. This is because your insecurity seeks to keep a tight reign on him. Persuading him to only attend yoga classes taught by unattractive, older men is no solution; you’ll never be able to shield him from engaging with cute women on occasion, on or off the mat. A healthy relationship allows space for each person’s interests and outside friendships — male or female, student or teacher. Trust your husband’s ability to maintain boundaries. Trust that the vast majority of yoga teachers recognize their influence and do not abuse it. That being said, sexual scandals between a “guru” and his/her students have occurred in the yoga community. These

This isn’t your intuition telling you he’s straying. It’s your fears creating a warped perspective.

scandals are the exception and not the rule. No doubt there is something palpable about the energy generated in a yoga class, beyond the fact that people are breathing, sweating and moving together. The practice invites a deeper connection to the body compared to other types of movement classes and can draw those seeking transformation during a vulnerable time. For example, a time such as the one you’re currently experiencing. It’s natural to feel the occasional pang of envy toward pretty women who garner your husband’s time and energy. A hint of jealousy just might be beneficial, reminding you that this person waking-up next to you every day with morning breath is desirable to others as well. This might re-ignite passion, giving

you a fresh perspective and preventing you from taking your husband for granted. Don’t overlook the ways his involvement in yoga is an asset to the marriage. Interfere with such a valuable outlet for him and he’ll be more on edge, tired and irritable. Plus, encouraging him to get to class means a more patient, refreshed and friskier playmate for you. Rest assured you are not crazy, just working through old wounds. You have to comfort this part of you as if you were soothing an innocent child. Validation must come from within. Engage with people and activities that remind you how lovable you are. Involve yourself in meaningful and novel pursuits, both within and outside of the marriage to help feel more confident. Focus on your purpose and meaning, your accomplishments and your unchanging essence. After all, it’s this unique, one-of-a-kind essence that led your husband to choose you in the first place. Dr. Rachel Allyn is a licensed psychologist in private practice. Learn more about her unique style of therapy at DrRachelAllyn.com. Send questions to Rachel@DrRachelAllyn.com.

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southwestjournal.com / April 21–May 4, 2016 B5

BUSINESSES HONORED FOR PROMOTING TELECOMMUTING By Andrew Heiser / Murphy News Service

As part of the lead up to Earth Day on April 22, the eWorkPlace project is recognizing employers in the Twin Cities who encourage their employees to occasionally telecommute or work from home. The project, which is funded by the Metropolitan Council and partly managed by the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, promotes teleworking as a way to reduce traffic emissions and congestion, as well as improve employee well-being and productivity. The list of Twin Cities “Telework Champions” comprises a variety of organizations that use teleworking as part of their business strategies. The full list of employers can be found on the eWorkPlace website. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows at least 130,000 Minnesota workers, or about 5 percent of the statewide workforce, engage in some form of teleworking. The eWorkPlace program has about 4,200 participants from almost 50 area employers. The project says these participants collectively save 8.2 million pounds of carbon dioxide annually by teleworking, which it estimates as the equivalent of planting 1,000 acres of forest. The eWorkPlace also highlights more direct benefits for both workers and employers. For example, working from home can save time and expenses that would otherwise be spent on commuting, and the added flexibility can reduce stress and increase job satisfaction. The project suggests that teleworking can increase overall workplace performance, commitment, and engagement while simultaneously reducing facilities costs. Supervalu Vice President of Communication Jeff Swanson said the company, which eWorkPlace recognized as a Telework Champion, launched a “mobile work environment” in its Eden Prairie offices several years ago. “This change from traditional work cubes was really aimed at providing a flexible and convenient workspace for our employees,” Swanson said. “The change has been a positive for the organization and a great benefit for our

employees, who have more flexibility in where and how they work in the office, as well as the opportunity to work from home or a mobile location one or two days a week.” But telework is not for everyone. Many workers prefer a separation between work and home, and some find it easier to focus in an office environment. A balance of part-time telework may help employees work without distractions, eWorkPlace suggests. The University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies has said that many employers remain skeptical of telework policies because they are unfamiliar with the potential

economic benefits. Although every workplace is different, one U of M research team recently studied several different organizations and found that “employees and managers expressed high levels of satisfaction with a flexible work environment, and high employee usage rates were noted.” An organization that utilizes telework may be able to use its office space more efficiently, but it will also need to make sure it has the technology to make effective telework possible. An eWorkPlace report said teleworkers need to effectively interface with specific applications and data to perform their job tasks, so the right

systems should be in place to prevent disruptions. Some jobs, such as office, research, and administrative positions with individual assignments, lend themselves more to telework than others, and many organizations simply find that telework arrangements are not practical for them. The U of M is currently conducting more research into the benefits of telework. Andrew Heiser is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.

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B6 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

Grows on trees

By Eric Braun

Family grocery bills: What’s normal?

he other day, I asked my son if he’d like to tag along on my Costco run. This is a sneaky way of scoring quality time with him. But he was waiting to hear from friends who were planning to get together. Even when I added the extra temptation of getting burgers on the way (usually a slam dunk to get our kids to hang out with us), he still said no. Like many teens, he suffers from FOMO — fear of missing out. That left me alone with my FOGO — fear of grocery outings. It’s not just the bumper-car action in the Costco parking lot I’m afraid of (or the bumper-cart action in the Costco aisles). It’s the bumper crop of cash being harvested from my bank account. Ever feel like you’re spending your kids’ future college tuitions just to keep them fed? Many a time I’ve walked out of Costco with bulging boxes and wondered how it can possibly cost this much to feed a family of four. Whether you stock up at a bulk food warehouse or make weekly trips to the grocery store or hit your neighborhood market nearly every day, grocery receipts add up quickly — more so than I ever would’ve guessed before I had kids.

I started to wonder Is it just our family? Are we spending way more than everyone else on food? So I did some quick research, and I found that, according to the latest report on consumer spending by the U.S. Department of Labor, families spent an average of $4,000 at the grocery store in 2014 (roughly $333 per month). However, because that average is for all “families” — including singles, roommates and people with 11 kids — as well as all incomes, it didn’t really tell me a whole lot about whether my family is spending way more or (or way less) than average. It turns out there’s another food cost report (from the U.S. Department of Agriculture) that breaks it down a little more, showing the weekly and monthly costs for individuals and families. You can even see the difference in cost between a family of four with one 2- or Sylvestre Remodeling & Design SWJ 042116 V3.indd 1

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3-year-old and one 4- or 5-year-old and a family with one child age 6–8 and another age 9–11. Now that’s more helpful. And they break it down into price points — thrifty, low-cost, moderate or liberal. See where you fit in!

The cost of food at home As helpful as the table is, it doesn’t acknowledge the elephant in the kitchen — well, actually you’ll find this particular elephant not in your kitchen, but at your family’s favorite restaurant or fast-food spot. That’s right: It’s the food we don’t buy at the grocery store that most often tanks our food budget. So, if you’re looking at the numbers above and realize that you have particularly low grocery bills, you might want to look at your eating-out receipts before patting yourself on the back.

The cost of eating out With a little more poking around online, I uncovered another interesting piece of data: Typically, it costs between $12 and $25 per person to eat dinner at low- to mid-range restaurant. Even if you score half-priced kids’ meals, that can be about 50 bucks for a non-extravagant meal out. Do that a couple times a week, and you can spend as much eating out as you do on groceries. It doesn’t take a math whiz to know that cutting out just a couple meals a month can have a big impact on a food budget. In the face of these numbers, my FOGO may be fading. I realize there’s a pretty good payoff to braving the grocery store and cooking at home — even before I factor in the bonus of scoring face time with the kids over a more nutritious meal than the burger joint offers. Eric Braun is a Minneapolis dad of two boys and the co-author of the forthcoming book for young readers, The Survival Guide for Money Smarts: Earn, Save, Spend, Give (Free Spirit Publishing, September 2016). Send comments or questions to ebraun@mnparent.com.

southwestjournal.com / April 21–May 4, 2016 B7

REAL ESTATE GUIDE

TIPS FOR BUYING IN A TIGHT MARKET

Southwest market hot as inventory remains low

Sarah Duerson suggested that buyers secure preapproval for a mortgage, so they can act quickly when they are ready to make an offer.

By Michelle Bruch / mbruch@southwestjournal.com

Early notice of home listings shows up on neighborhood Facebook pages and the private neighborhood site Nextdoor. Wood said some sellers post outdoor for-sale signs before they’re ready to share the listing online — one client agreed to sell the house while they were still in the process of moving and de-cluttering. The quick sale allowed them to skip a flood of disruptive showings while they juggled life with a newborn.

The Southwest Minneapolis housing market remains tight, and agents say the local inventory this spring is feeling tighter than last year. The March supply of homes for sale in Minneapolis was down 27.5 percent from the prior year, according to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR). Across the metro, the price range that sold most quickly was $190,001$250,000, and homes under $250,000 had the biggest declines in inventory from last year. Local realtors have noticed — homes in Armatage, Kenny and Windom priced at $250,000-$300,000 seem to fly, said Realtor Erik Wood of Edina Realty. Some homes under $500,000 are fielding multiple offers within days of hitting the market, with some houses selling before they reach the open market at all. Realtor Sarah Duerson said she’s seen homes priced around $200,000 in the metro generate up to seven offers in a week. According to data compiled by Wood: Between March 1 and April 6, 37 homes in the zip codes 55419, 55410 and 55409 sold in 10 days or less. Seven of those homes sold at zero days on the market, before the home was listed online. Two of the homes sold above $1.1 million. “If the property is priced right and staged well, it’s selling very well,” said Realtor Manny Duerson. To explain the tight market, MAAR cites Steve Cook of Real Estate Economy Watch, who states

Duerson said it’s always nice to include a personal note with the offer, which can be meaningful to sellers who loved their home and want the next buyer to love it as well.

MEDIAN DAYS ON THE MARKET $414,999 or less $415,000 or more

Homes in Southwest 70

Buyers should be comfortable with the price range of their search, Wood said. Even if homes fetch multiple offers, he recommends that buyers continue to be pragmatic and smart when de termining the value of a highly sought-after property. “Today’s buyers are very savvy and know the market; this allows them to make informed choices for their needs,” he said.

20 Jan 2013

Jan 2014

Jan 2016

Jan 2015

NORTHSTAR MLS DATA PROVIDED BY REALTOR ERIK WOOD

that one in five homeowners with a mortgage doesn’t have enough equity to sell. He said buyers who bought during the 2004-06 boom are still waiting to make a profit. Inventory shortages are squeezing move-up buyers, he said, and the boomer timetable has been delayed. Despite the low inventory, Sarah Duerson said this market doesn’t have the frenzied feel of 20032006, when buyers seemed to feel more urgency. Buyers are more selective today, she said.

Realtors said buyers are looking for homes that are move-in ready, with updated kitchens and bathrooms. The neighborhood and proximity to the lakes continue to be major factors, they said. Houses priced over $500,000 are taking longer to sell, however. “It’s definitely a tale of two worlds with days on the market,” said Wood. Real estate agents say higher-priced homes generally take longer to sell, but the number of

days on the market has crept up in the past year. Realtor Julie Regan, a lead member of Hornig & Regan Group at Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty, said the market is cyclical. Homeowners remain cautious about listing their houses for sale until they find a new place to live, and current options are more limited. Minneapolis remains a popular destination, she said.

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B8 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

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The housing inventory for downtown and northeast Minneapolis remains tight, leading to increased prices and a challenging market for new buyers. Developers have started pitching new condo projects in the downtown area after focusing on high-end apartment towers in recent years. Fritz Kroll of Edina Realty said he’s excited to see the talk of projects move toward construction. “I think key words for 2016 are new, luxury and tall,” he said. “I believe the cost of new condos will make the market even tighter for existing condos because many buyers will go for value, rather than new.” Kroll said the strong rental market has been an asset for downtown. “All of the new rentals that have come online have been wonderful for the downtown for sale market because they have helped make downtown more vibrant, and many downtown renters become downtown buyers,” he said. Joe Grunnet, owner of the North Loopbased real estate company Downtown Resource Group, said limited inventory downtown might prompt would-be buyers to remain renters. “I personally think the downtown and riverfront condo market will stay strong for the next three to even five-plus year, my big concern is really affordability,” he said. “With the resale markets prices climbing so fast and zero new inventory coming on in the near future for first time buyers, first time buyers may be stuck in renting.” A new rental development in the pipeline includes the proposal to convert the Northstar Center office building into a 266-unit apartment tower at 6th Street & 2nd Avenue. As for large condo developments on the horizon, condo developer Jim Stanton has proposed a 14-story, 374-unit development for a surface parking lot in the Mill District. The 726,000-square-foot tower named Legacy would go up at 13th Avenue & 2nd Street. It would be loaded with amenities, including a playground, pet exercise area, bike racks, green roof, exercise room and pool/spa, among other things.

Meanwhile, across the river, developer Bob Lux has plans for a 40-story condo tower with 207 units in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood. The tower site is 200 Central Avenue, which is now home to a Washburn-McReavy funeral home. The project has faced neighborhood opposition because of its height. According to the latest update from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR), there were 131 homes for sale in downtown neighborhoods in March — down 19.1 percent from a year ago. The median sales price for homes in the downtown area year-to-date was $275,000, up 10 percent from a year ago. MAAR includes Downtown East, Downtown West, Elliot Park, Loring Park, North Loop and Stevens SquareLoring Heights in the downtown market. Downtown East topped the list of downtown neighborhoods for highest median sales prices year-to-date at $518,500. In Northeast, there were 65 homes for sale in March, down about 28 percent from a year ago. The median sales price for Northeast neighborhoods year-to-date was $208,755, up 16.7 percent from the same period a year ago. St. Anthony West neighborhood had the highest median sales price year-to-date at $290,500. Overall, the median list price in the Twin Cities was $222,000. MAAR president Judy Shields said despite the lack of inventory sellers still need to be smart about listing price. “The small gain in seller activity was nice, but it falls short of the supply levels needed to sustain the demand we’re seeing,” she said. “That should be motivating for sellers, but it’s still important to understand that your home needs to be priced right.” MAAR president-elect Cotty Lowry said buyers need to be ready to act fast. “Serious buyers should be prepared to make their strongest offer right up front this spring,” he said. “Traffic at open houses is as strong as I can recall, which makes additional options on the supply side of the equation that much more critical.”

southwestjournal.com / April 21–May 4, 2016 B9

REAL ESTATE GUIDE

MINNEAPOLISST. PAUL HOME TOUR Anoushka Haas and Robert Greene built out an entertainer’s kitchen in their renovated Bryn Mawr home. Submitted photo

Home tour will spotlight more than 50 Twin Cities homes

Entertaining in Bryn Mawr Anoushka Haas and Robert Greene transformed their aging duplex into the entertainment home of their dreams. When Haas moved into the Bryn Mawr home it was a duplex that she owned and rented to friends downstairs. She theorizes the 1912 home started as a one-room house that’s been slowly added onto over the years. “It might’ve been a stable for all we know,” she laughed. “I don’t think anyone who was doing the

work was a professional.” The wife-husband team decided to completely makeover the home so they could have a contemporary design — a rarity in Bryn Mawr, Haas said. “The best option was to renovate so we could stay in the neighborhood and keep our neighbors, but get the look and the life that we wanted,” she said. They only kept a few windows and a guest bathroom that they had added themselves, though that had to go when sewage started to flood out from under the new marble floors. The new, three-bedroom home features an entertainer’s kitchen with a six-burner stove, double gas ovens, a pullout pantry and a wine fridge. It’s perfect for Haas and Greene so they don’t have to fight for cooking space when they host Thanksgiving each year. The entertainment area, handled by Partners 4 Design, also features in-ceiling speakers and LED lighting. Because the house sits atop a hill, the two and their guests get views of the downtown skyline during the cold months and of a full tree

When: Saturday April 30 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, May 1 from 1-5 p.m. Cost: Free Info: msphometour.com

tour this year. Community manager David Lepak will be running tours of the preserved spaces. Moroni said the A-Mill has several unique advantages, including an upcoming hydroelectric project that will power a portion of the community’s energy. And with so many other artists in the building, naturally their art covers the walls of common areas. The A-Mill is also located in Marcy-Holmes, the first neighborhood in Minneapolis, and has views of charming Main Street, the Stone Arch Bridge and the downtown skyline. The mill’s history isn’t lost on Moroni either, who appreciates the community’s reused milling artifacts and reclaimed materials. “It was really important to what makes Minneapolis and the history of our city,” he said. “It’s a very much a magical place.”

Building up in Linden Hills

By Eric Best / ebest@southwestjournal.com

Twin Cities homeowners will once again open their doors during the Minneapolis-St. Paul Home Tour, showing off transformative renovations, historic reuse and unique design trends. The tour, in its 29th year, will showcase more than 50 homes across Minneapolis and St. Paul on April 30 and May 1. From whole-house overhauls to historic preservation, the tour’s homemakers all have stories to tell about their home.

Where: Locations throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul

canopy during warmer months. “In the summer it’s like living in a tree house,” she said. The two finished the renovation in 2014 and have gotten through two Thanksgivings without fighting over the stove, Haas said.

New life in historic mill Aldo Moroni calls his home a “magical place.” The sculptor moved into the new A-Mill Artist Lofts in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood last year. Plymouth-based Dominium rehabilitated the 19th-century milling complex to have more than 250 affordable lofts for artists and shared studio spaces for just about any medium. For Moroni, who has lived in warehouses for several decades, the traditional apartment setup and ability to work and sell out of his twobedroom loft is life changing. “It’s a big step for me,” he said. “It’s a chance to have a normal life.” Moroni’s unit is one of three A-Mill lofts in the

For Julie Ramsland and husband Mike Mason, their Scandinavian-style home in Linden Hills is far from the small house that originally sat on the lot. When Ramsland moved into the original home in 2001, she loved it, but its studio-like setup was a hindrance to starting a family. “We didn’t want to raise a family in a onebedroom with an open floor plan,” she said. The two decided to keep the narrow urban lot and build up. Their new home, designed by Dale Mulfinger of SALA Architects — one of their neighbors — and built by Ridge Construction last year, now has three bedrooms and a study. “He did a really good job of making it feel open, spacious,” Ramsland said. The two decided to go with a Scandinavian theme with a bright blue exterior, light woods throughout the house and even a Scandinavian stove. To bring down the project’s cost, they used creative materials like plywood for the floors upstairs. The two did their own tiling, saved appliances and reused furniture so they could splurge on other things to make the home easier to maintain. They’re also still finishing up their basement.

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B10 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

REAL ESTATE GUIDE

Joanna Olson, pictured with her partner, Ben, is eagerly awaiting closing on her new home in the Standish neighborhood. Olson got lucky: Even though the housing supply is at record lows, the first-time homebuyer found a place on her first round of viewings with a real estate agent. Photo by Courtney Lowe

FROM HOUSE HUNT / PAGE B1

“The house we put an offer on was the third one we saw that day,” Olson said. “We went to Chipotle at the end and my partner and I were going, well, that house isn’t going to be there tomorrow, probably, so if we want it we should probably put an offer on it. “So we just did.” Olson offered asking price, which was just under $170,000 for a recently renovated 800 square feet, two bedrooms and one bathroom. When she found out there was another offer on the house, she sweetened the deal by offering to pay closing costs. “In the grand scheme of things, we found a place we like, so what’s a couple grand?” Olson said. She found the right combination of amenities — proximity to parks, easy access to bike trails and transit — and cost. Her mortgage payment won’t be much more than rent on her

apartment in Northeast. “We got really lucky,” Olson said.

Leverage Novak said buyers offering to pay closing costs is more common in market where sellers are seeing not just one or two but multiple offers on their homes. “If you’re in a competition, you just have to know somebody else is, at a minimum, going to pay the true full price without asking for any concessions,” she said. While some houses were still selling right out of the gate this spring, Novak said, some savvy sellers were responding to the market and adopting a new strategy. They wait to view offers, inviting multiple bids that drive up the sale price. “They have the leverage to do that,” she said. Novak said it’s hard for some of her clients to get around the “mental block” of making a bid

Housing Solutions

above asking price. But she said it can be the right move if, after careful consideration, the home seems to be as good or better than many of the homes on the market in the same area for a similar price. “It has to be justified,” she said. “If the data doesn’t support that and it doesn’t stack up well against competition, then you don’t necessarily want to be making an emotional decision and offering over asking price just because you want this house.”

Looking ahead Tousley said the extremely tight housing supply is at least partly due to the lingering effects of the Great Recession and the crash in housing values that accompanied it. While the median home price has largely recovered since the recession, there are still a number of homeowners who have either negative equity or near-negative equity in

their homes. Tousley said those in the latter category might want to move to a more expensive home, but can’t afford to without more time to pay on their mortgages and a continued rise in home prices. “A lot of these people are still sitting on the sidelines waiting until their equity positions get better, and at that point you’re likely to see more homes coming onto the market,” he said. It’s not just that the supply of homes is tight, he added. Low interest rates are enticing more buyers into the market. “I think the demand, because interest rates are still relatively low and people’s perceptions are for the rest of this year they’re going to stay low, people are still looking at that as an opportunity to buy,” Tousley said. Rising home prices should bring more sellers into the market, potentially easing the shortage for starter homes through the summer and fall. But Tousley predicted the market would remain tight at least through the end of 2016.

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B12 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

REAL ESTATE GUIDE

Forget downsizing Consider rightsizing when your housing needs change

By Andy Prasky

As the saying goes, “Home is where the heart is.” If you’ve spent decades filling a house with belongings, memories and love, you know how true this statement can be. But as we get older, and our lifestyles and needs change, we’ll likely have to decide whether to stay in our homes, buy something else or rent. Often we consider downsizing as a way to simplify our lives — but the mere thought of such a change can be daunting for anyone of any age. That’s why I suggest we look at the transition in a whole new way. Forget downsizing — consider rightsizing instead.

What’s rightsizing? It’s finding the home and space that’s right for your budget, needs and lifestyle. Most of my clients who are retiring or already retired are making “lateral” moves such as going from $400,000 multi-level homes with big backyards in the suburbs to $400,000 lofts downtown. Rightsized homes are not only easier to maintain, but they’re also often located in neighborhoods or areas with easy access to amenities such as

lakes, restaurants, nightlife and even health care. To figure out if rightsizing is a good idea for you, make sure you consider the following before making a move:

Crunch the numbers The most important thing to consider when rightsizing — whether you decide to stay or go, buy or rent — is the cost. You may think a smaller home may mean smaller monthly mortgage payments or smaller maintenance costs, but that may not always be the case. Remember to factor in any possible association fees if you’re moving into a townhome or condo. And speaking of moving, don’t forget to add in any moving, storage and new furniture or appliance costs, too.

Consider your lifestyle The baby boomer generation sometimes is called the “go-go” generation: They’re always on the go! When you decide to rightsize, you have the opportunity to relocate closer to all the new lifestyle amenities you’ll want to enjoy.

Ask yourself: “What do I want to do or enjoy doing in my free time?” “Where do I want to spend time golfing / playing tennis / biking?” “Would I prefer living in the city with restaurants, theater, shopping and museums — all within walking distance or in a quieter, more open setting where I might need to drive more or find transportation?” Rightsizing may allow you to live closer to the lifestyle you want — and ideally, depending on where you choose, you’ll have a bit of monthly cash leftover to enjoy it.

Take family into account Many people often choose to move or rightsize because they want to be closer to family. In fact, multigenerational housing — such as properties with mother-in-law apartments or spaces set aside for the parents of grown children — is expected to remain strong in 2016. Multigenerational housing allows families to be closer to each other (and sometimes even live under the same roof), but it’s also a wonderful way for mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, and the kids to cut down on costs. Family plays a big part

of our lives, so it’s only fitting that you consider including them in your decision-making process.

Simplify your stuff Lastly, if you’re seriously considering rightsizing — start going through your things now and declutter! This can be difficult, both emotionally and physically, especially if you’ve accumulated a lot of things over several years. But simplifying your stuff before you make a move will help give you a better idea of what you need for space and storage in your next home. If you’re worried you won’t be able to live in a smaller space, think about renting for a year or two before you buy. Remember, rightsizing may also mean you decide to stay put and hire out maintenance services instead, like lawn care and snow removal. You may be surprised when you run the numbers that keeping your current home — even with those added expenses — may still cost less than moving. Andy Prasky is a real estate professional with RE/ MAX Advantage Plus in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

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southwestjournal.com / April 21–May 4, 2016 B13

By Linda Koutsky

Turn a new page at these fine bookstores

ick up a good book lately? Statistics say you probably did. The Twin Cities frequently numbers high in the list of most literate cities in America. We also have one of the largest clusters of Little Free Libraries in the world. We’re also a maker of fine books. Numerous publishers are spread throughout the metro area and entire state and Downtown is home to many. Three nationally acclaimed literary presses reside here: Coffee House Press, Graywolf Press and Milkweed Editions. Lerner Publishing is one of the largest independently owned children’s book publishers with more than 5,000 books in print. Quarto Publishing Group is the largest international producer of illustrated books and carries several imprints including Voyageur Press, Motorbooks and Rockport. Free Spirit Publishing creates self-help books for children and teens as well as parents and teachers. Fortress Press concentrates on religious scholarship. The University of Minnesota Press was established in 1925 and produces 110 new titles a year in both academic and general interest subjects. And there are so many more! Clearly, we like to read. Help celebrate Independent Bookstore Day by browsing through hand-curated selections in Twin Cities’ locally owned bookstores. We are lucky to have so many independent bookstores still in the Twin Cities and more keep springing up. Support them at the second annual Independent Bookstore Day on April 30.

There will be exclusive deals on new releases available only on this day. Pick up a limited edition, signed and numbered Kate Di Camillo novel or an exclusive Neil Gaiman coloring book illustrated by Chris Riddell. Several local bookstores are participating in a Bookstore Day passport giveaway. Pick up your passport at any of these 10 stores and receive a stamp. If you get stamps from all 10 stores on April 30, you’ll receive a $10 gift card from every participating bookstore — $100 in all! Have fun and remember what Groucho Marx said: “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”

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217 Como Ave., Suite 108, St. Paul / books and crafts

891 Grand Ave., St. Paul / childrens’ books

James & Mary Laurie Booksellers

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6 W. 5th St., St. Paul / new books

250 3rd Ave. N., Suite 115 / used and antiquarian

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Bookstores participating in the Indie Passport program

Ancestry Books

(all stores located in Minneapolis unless noted) Birchbark Books and Native Arts

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38 Snelling Ave. S., St. Paul / new books Daybreak Global Press

720 Washington Ave. SE Dreamhaven Books and Comics

2301 E. 38th St. Moon Palace Books

2720 W. 43rd St. / childrens’ books

Once Upon A Crime

Other independent bookstores Addendum Books

478 S. Cleveland Ave., St Paul / young adult Juxtaposition Arts, 1104 W. Broadway Ave. N. / indigenous authors and authors of color Big Brain Comics

1027 Washington Ave., S. / comics and graphic novels The Book House in Dinkytown

1316 4th St. SE / used and rare The Book Trader

5344 S. 34th Ave. / used books and vintage collectibles Boneshaker Books

2820 E. 33rd St. / new and used

2002 23rd Ave. S. / specializing in radical and progressive literature

Magers & Quinn Booksellers

Eat My Words

3038 Hennepin Ave. / some new, mostly used

681 17th Ave NE / used and rare

1228 2nd St. NE / used books

604 W. 26th St. / mysteries and thrillers, new and rare Mayday Books

301 Cedar Ave. / a volunteer collective selling left-wing literature Micawber’s Books

2230 Carter Ave., St. Paul / a cozy neighborhood fixture that just moved around the corner Midway Books

1579 University Ave. W., St. Paul / used books Sixth Chamber

1332 Grand Ave., Saint Paul / used books, toys, and fun things Uncle Hugo/Uncle Edgar’s

2864 Chicago Ave. S. / science fiction, mystery, and fantasy

For more adventures, follow Linda Koutsky on Facebook.

B14 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

Items from Señor Smokes, Northshore Creamery and the Loon Cafe. Photos by Eric Best

A tour of Target Field treats By Eric Best / ebest@southwestjournal.com

The Minnesota Twins not only unveiled new stadium fare available to fans this season but new venues to enjoy them. The team recently led media and season ticket holders through new eats, from a bolder Bloody Mary to an array of ice cream, as well as $5 million in enhancements to Target Field’s center field. On the first level of center field, the team has added Catch, a private suite available to season ticket holders, which it has been planning since last year. Access to the 112-seat bar and restaurant space is all-inclusive and includes small plates and drinks. On the second level, the team has added a new Pizza Luce stand and Red Cow stand. Red Cow, which debuted at the ballpark last year, is expanding its menu with its award-winning turkey burger and poutine. The general admission space also includes the Twins-themed Minnie and Paul’s pub, which serves Minnesota-branded food options.

The Minnesota Twins unveiled the 112-seat Catch, a private suite available to season ticket holders.

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Target Field’s food service provider Delaware North has introduced several items to the ballpark this season. Hot Pretzel Bites & Brews will have a cart in section 101 that will serve three kinds — savory, sweet and local — of fresh pretzel bites. Hrbek’s is offering a new signature drink, the Buffalo Chicken Bloody Mary, which will have, among other toppings, a chicken wing and a pepperoni stick. The drink can even be upgraded to include a burger slider. Izzy’s Ice Cream is coming to several sections of the ballpark now that Northshore Creamery will carry its soft serve ice cream and Izzabella! Gelato by Izzy’s will be available in sections 119 and 202. Hot Indian Foods, another debut last year, is adding the mango lassi, a yogurt-based drink with fresh mango and spices, to its menu this season. Minneapolis-based Loon Café will serve its signature Grape Ape with Pinnacle Citron vodka and grape soda, along with its Pecos River Red Chili. Senior Smokes in sections 105 and 205 will serve two burritos from Barrio, one vegetarian and one with barbacoa. The Twins hosted their home opener on April 11, losing out to the Chicago White Sox 4-1.

southwestjournal.com / April 21–May 4, 2016 B15

By Meleah Maynard

A bit of good news for us and the planet

ell gardener friends, at this dark time when we are up to our eyeballs in bad news about pretty much everything and politicians are compounding our worries by behaving like raised-by-wolves toddlers, let me offer a spot of sunshine. In case you haven’t heard, two positive things have happened for the planet—or at least our local slice of it—in recent weeks. Good thing number 1: At long last, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture has confirmed that neonicotinoids, a commonly used group of pesticides, are highly toxic to honeybees—even when they are used in accordance with the law. How is this good news? You ask. Well, despite mounting evidence, the suggestion that neonics are likely one of many things contributing to the decline of honeybees remains heatedly disputed. Now, investigators from the state Department of Agriculture have found that in fact the hives of two beekeepers were decimated by toxic dust that drifted from the cornfield of a neighbor. The seeds the neighbor planted had been coated with clothianidin, a neonicotinoid that is routinely used to coat agriculturally grown corn and soybeans in the United States. The insecticide protects the seeds from insects in the soil. It also protects the plants themselves because all parts contain the toxin, making the whole corn or soybean plant poisonous. According to a Star Tribune story on March 20, Bayer CropScience, the maker of neonic pesticides, has acknowledged that toxic drift from cornfields planted with treated seeds can be harmful to bees and other pollinators. However, they say the problem is rare. Beekeepers and bee researchers beg to differ, countering that drift is a common and ongoing issue. Both beekeepers will be compensated for the loss of their hives under a 2014 law that enables beekeepers to collect damages even though, technically, no law was broken because seed treating is not currently considered a pesticide application. What? Anyway, yes there is much to be done on this issue, but the Department of Agriculture’s action makes Minnesota the first state to declare, as a finding of fact, that neonics are harmful to bees.

Fellow gardeners, the seeds available to us are not coated with neonics, but we can continue to do out part to help bees and the Earth by saying NO to plants that are sprayed and/or soil-drenched with the neonicotinoid pesticides. Ask before you buy. Together we can make a change.

Good thing number 2 On March 16, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) voted to stop using glyphosate (the active ingredient in the weed killer, Roundup) in neighborhood parks. Activists have been calling on the park board to ban chemical use in Minneapolis parks for several months. (See the Southwest Journal story I wrote on the issue in October http:// www.southwestjournal.com/news/2015/10/ activists-residents-pushing-for-pesticide-freeparks/.) Little progress has been made so far. But during a park board meeting on the 16th,

more than 40 people showed up to voice their opposition to the use of pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals in public parks. Many others called and emailed. This public outpouring of concern about the health effects of glyphosate and other chemicals, in addition to a recent update board members received on when and where staff use chemicals, seems to have sparked the move to stop using Roundup. But eliminating the use of one chemical in neighborhood parks is a long way from the shift to chemical-free, organic park management that activists would like to see. In the absence of glyphosate, which has been increasingly linked to health and environmental problems, the board is free to continue using many other pesticides and herbicides that could potentially cause harm. The vote also allows them to continue using Roundup in regional parks at Lake Calhoun and Minnehaha Falls, as well as on ball fields and golf courses.

Based on what has been said about the issue, only commissioner Brad Bourn is openly in favor of moving to an organic approach to managing Minneapolis parks. Commissioner John Erwin strongly supports reducing the use of chemicals. The rest of the board—all of them elected by the public—don’t seem to see chemical-free parks in our future. Do you? If so, now is the time to email the commissioners (minneapolisparks.org/about_us/leadership_ and_structure/commissioners/), particularly Scott Vreeland, who has repeatedly said this is an issue that only activists care about. From what I hear from neighbors and readers who frequent our parks with their children and dogs, I am certain he is mistaken. Check out Meleah’s blog: everydaygardener.com for more gardening tips or to email her a question or comment.

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Focus “The Diary of a Wimpy Kid” focuses on the highs and lows of the life of a middle schooler. Photo courtesy of the Children’s Theatre Company

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By Dylan Thomas / dthomas@southwestjournal.com

Ricky Falbo is 13 years old, in the 7th grade and, as such, perfectly positioned to test the truth of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” on the ground. The report back from middle school: Jeff Kinney gets it. “Everybody can relate to it, and I think it’s awesome,” Falbo said. Kinney’s fantastically popular children’s book series charts the triumphs and traumas of those pivotal middle-grades years through the experiences of Greg Heffley, who’s writing it all down in his journal. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” began life as an online serial, became a bestselling book with nine sequels (and counting), has inspired three Hollywood film adaptations and, in April, arrived on the Children’s Theatre Company stage as a world-premier musical, the capstone to the theater’s 50th-anniversary season. Along the way, Kinney’s creation has earned praise for its pitch-perfect rendering of middle schooler dialogue and its pimples-and-all portrayal of adolescence — a time of confusion, striving and just wanting to fit in somewhere. “Everybody can relate to a certain character,” Falbo, who’s read every “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” book, said. “Some people are really popular. Some people aren’t so popular and don’t care about it, like (Greg’s friend) Rowley. “And some people are trying too hard to be popular, and that’s Greg.” While he considers himself “more of the Rowley kind of type” in real life, the Chicagobased actor stars as Greg in “Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical” and is onstage for every minute of the highly anticipated, two-hour show. It was developed at Children’s Theatre Company in cooperation with Fox Stage Productions and Broadway producer Kevin McCollum, who took home Best Musical Tony Awards for “Rent,” “Avenue Q” and “In the Heights.” That makes speculating about where “Diary

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID THE MUSICAL When: Through June 5 Where: Children’s Theatre Company, 2400 3rd Ave. S. Info: childrenstheatre.org, 874-0400

The musical is based on the bestselling book series by Jeff Kinney and film adaptions. Photo courtesy of the Children’s Theatre Company

of a Wimpy Kid the Musical” might be headed next is almost irresistible. But the actress who plays Greg’s mom, Autumn Ness, said the cast and crew are taking it day-by-day. “We can’t really worry about that now, today,” Ness said in an interview a few hours before one of the mid-April preview performances. “Today, we open this show here in Minneapolis for this 750 people, and then tomorrow we make it better for that 750 people.” Children’s Theatre Artistic Director Peter Brosius said the potential of a promising new work can be a distraction, “but what’s been so cool about this team is everyone’s been focused on this production.”

“Then you just wait and see,” Brosius said. “You see how it plays.” Brosius said he’d been a “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” fan ever since his son read the first book. “Then I stole it and read it myself,” he added, describing it as smart, hilarious and touching. It’s not just about Kinney’s writing. Once an aspiring newspaper cartoonist, Kinney peppers Greg’s journal with illustrations. Those drawings become an integral part of the stage production, too; a giant piece of lined notebook paper serves as both a backdrop to the set and a screen onto which Kinney’s drawings are projected. The books don’t, of course, include any

music or lyrics. Translating Kinney’s source material into musical theater, Michael Mahler said he and co-music director Alan Schmuckler attempted to reveal the emotions that are sometimes hidden between lines of Greg’s journal. “We really approached writing the score as trying to explode what it feels like to be in middle school,” Mahler said. “To us it felt like everything is happening in a big way all the time, all at once. When there were moments for big musical gestures, we went for it.” Mahler and Schmuckler drew on their own middle-school experiences when they were composing, and they said Kinney’s writing transported them back to what can be an emotionally turbulent time of life. “You truly believe that he’s writing a dispatch to you from the frontlines of middle school,” Mahler, who grew up in Minnetonka, said. “It feels so immediate and right there.” Brandon Brooks, who plays Greg’s older brother, Roderick, said that feeling of not quite fitting in is universal, which is why people of all ages find a way to identify with Greg Heffley. “Everyone had that experience at some point — maybe not in middle school, maybe in high school, maybe earlier than middle school. But everyone had that experience at some point, of being that wimpy kid, of being that misfit, outcast, at some point or another, in some way or another,” Brooks said. “I know I definitely did. Until I found theater I had no idea what my place was.”

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14 Good, in Granada 15 Chorus syllables 16 Give __ to: approve 17 Trader for whom a northwest Oregon city was named 18 __ impasse 19 Texas flag symbol 20 Part of the Three Little Pigs’ chant 23 Baby beaver 24 Mouse-spotter’s shriek 25 Extremely well-pitched 26 Gray shade 30 Clean Air Act administrative gp. 33 Heads, in slang 36 Persian Gulf cargo 37 The “Original Formula,” soda-wise 41 “__ go!”

60 Arabian Peninsula port

9 Is unable to

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42 French 101 verb 43 Pot contents

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44 Bakes, as 50-Acrosses

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48 Exit poll target 50 Breakfast food

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8 Killed, as a dragon

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B18 April 21–May 4, 2016 / southwestjournal.com

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

5K BEE FUN RUN/WALK What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to get outside and, while you’re at it, do a little cleaning up of the city’s parks? The Great River Coalition is hosting a 5K Bee Run/ Walk and river cleanup where runners and walkers can take to Boom Island Park for a 5K run/walk at 9 a.m. and then clean up the river at 9:30 a.m. Participants can also enter to win club seats at U.S. Bank Stadium or even a 55-inch TV. Registration opens at 7:30 a.m. and includes a shirt, honey packets and a bee headband. Bags and gloves are provided for the cleanup.

Where: Boom Island Park, 724 Sibley St. NE When: Saturday, April 23 fro, 9 a.m.–12 p.m. Cost: $35, $40 day of race, kids 6 and under free Info:greatrivercoalition.com

TELLING: MINNESOTA 2016 The Telling Project returns with its presentation of “Telling: Minnesota 2016” at the Guthrie Theater. Jonathan Wei, founder and executive director, and co-founder Max Rayneard created The Telling Project to prompt community discussion and recognition of the realities of military service. The project collaborates with local community organizations to interview and records veterans and families, transcribe them verbatim and construct a script. Then veterans and family members work with a director to perform and tell their story, from deployed social workers to those enlisted. More than 200 military veterans and military family members have taken to stages around the country as part of The Telling Project.

Where: Guthrie Theater, 818 S. 2nd St. When: April 29 through May 1 Cost: Free Info: guthrietheater.org

MAYDAY

Nicholas Kennedy

BOTANICA Light Grey Art Lab is celebrating the arrival of spring with its latest exhibition, “Botanica,” which showcases the world’s flora from 125 artists. Designers, illustrators and crafters have put together art inspired by the plant kingdom — from ferns to fungi — in as many forms, from oil painting to collage, embroidery to jewelry. Light Grey Art Lab’s gallery in Whittier is free and open to the public from 12-7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 12-5 p.m. on Sunday.

Where: Light Grey Art Lab, 118 E. 26th St. Cost: Free Info: lightgreyartlab.com

When: Through May 13

For many in Minnesota, MayDay is a quintessential Minneapolis event to welcome spring and connect with their community. MayDay is a day of performances, festivities and a parade from In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre. The parade begins at noon at Bloomington Avenue South and 25th Street East, traveling south on Bloomington and ending at Powderhorn Park. The parade culminates with the Tree of Life ceremony, a multi-generational ritual after the parade with giant serene puppets and live dancers. The festival follows the ceremony and features live music, dancing, food, canoe rides and more.

Where: Powderhorn Park, 821 E. 35th St. When: Sunday, May 1 at noon Cost: Free Info: hobt.org

DANDELION DAY If you’ve never visited the Ard Godfrey House, you’ve probably passed it on your way to work or a Northeast Minneapolis taproom. A perfect time to visit the historic 1849 home, tucked among the hustle and bustle at University & Central, is The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis’ Dandelion Day celebration. The day celebrates the introduction of dandelion seeds to the St. Anthony Falls area. Both adults and kids can learn to make dandelion necklaces, bracelets and crowns; get dandelions painted or temporarily tattooed; and even bring recipes home for dandelion coffee and more. Guests can also tour the historic home with hostesses dressed in period fashion .

Where: Ard Godfrey House, 28 University Ave. SE Cost: Free Info: womansclub.org

When: Sunday, May 15 from 1-4 p.m.

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FIGHT LIKE A MOTHER The ColorWheel Gallery is hosting its seventh year of “Fight like a Mother!” exhibition. The exhibition’s 20 local artists, all mothers, were asked to response in their art to “What does ‘Fight like a Mother’ mean to you?” and the results — from painting and collage to sculpture and textiles — express the power, love and struggle of women and motherhood. The exhibition will feature live performances every 30 minutes throughout the day with poetry and spoken word.

Where: ColorWheel Gallery, 319 W. 46th St. When: Saturday, May 7 from 2-8 p.m. Cost: Free Info: colorwheelgallery.com

SIDEWAYS STORIES FROM WAYSIDE SCHOOL

KENTUCKY DERBATANTE Northeast Minneapolis’ local faux country club is once again hosting its own twisted version of a Kentucky Derby event. Betty Danger’s Country Club will have a derby hat contest, live ponies and an ‘80s dance party. If that wasn’t enough to transport you to the horse capital of the world, then perhaps dancing at a derby ball and a mint julep — one is included with admission — will do the trick.

For generations the wacky classrooms, quirky students and unique teachers of the “Wayside School” series has captivated young readers. Now, the Youth Performance Company is bringing the books to life, interpreting the classroom comedies for the theater. The show, recommended for second grade and up, is a delightful way to introduce kids to theater as the kids of Mrs. Jewls’ classroom solve a silly mystery on stage.

Where: Betty Danger’s Country Club, 2501 Marshall St. NE When: Saturday, May 7 from 3-9 p.m. Cost: $16.95 in advance Info: bettydangers.com

Where: Howard Conn Performing Arts Center, 1900 Nicollet Ave. When: Friday, April 29 through Sunday, May 15 Cost: $15, $12 for children and seniors Info: youthperformanceco.org

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southwestjournal.com / April 21–May 4, 2016 B23

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EST. 1914

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