15-story apartment tower proposed in the heart of Uptown PAGE A7 • Voices from the pandemic PAGE B4
July 9–22, 2020 Vol. 31, No. 14 southwestjournal.com
Parks still a refuge for unsheltered people
38th Street
DREAMS
Public health, safety concerns at Powderhorn encampment
George Floyd’s killing amplifies mission to lift up Black lives on the corridor
Before a police officer killed George Floyd, 38th Street was already known for Black history. The corridor was home to a barrier-breaking Black business hub starting in the 1930s, Prince’s junior high school and the state’s oldest operating African American newspaper. The city of Minneapolis was poised to designate 38th Street from Nicollet to Bloomington as a cultural district this year, working with residents to draft a 10-year vision for communityowned development that uplifts the cultural identity and keeps it intact for years to come. Floyd died at 38th & Chicago, the center of the district.
In a small group of tents on the south end of Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Kingfield, a group of unsheltered people has started to feel comfortable. Sisters Nikki and Lola Stand have been staying in the park for just over a month. The neighbors have been kind and supportive, they say, and outreach workers from St. Stephens are trying to get them into an apartment. Living in the park, they said, is much better than sleeping by the highway or being inside the large encampment at Powderhorn Park to the east. “We feel safer here than we do anywhere else,” said Nikki Stand. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) voted to designate parkland as a refuge for unsheltered people in June, a move that granted permission for tent encampments citywide. On July 1, a divided board of commissioners voted to remove an item from their agenda that would have placed limits on the number and size of encampments at city parks and ended the designation of parks as “refuges” starting in September. That vote was sparked by the emergence of Minnesota’s largest-ever homeless encampment at Powderhorn Park, which began after people were removed from a former Sheraton hotel that had served as a temporary refuge during the unrest.
SEE 38TH STREET / PAGE A14
SEE ENCAMPMENTS / PAGE A13
Anthony Taylor at the site of Dreamland on 38th, a project to build a gathering space for African Americans to launch and expand small businesses. Photo by Isaiah Rustad
By Andrew Hazzard
By Michelle Bruch
Floyd’s death a tipping point for Calhoun names Institutions in Southwest move away from old lake name By Andrew Hazzard
The name George Floyd will be memorialized in Minneapolis, but his death may serve as a tipping point for removing a name once omnipresent in the city. Major institutions in Southwest Minneapolis have announced their intention to rebrand themselves to remove the name “Calhoun” since Floyd was killed. Shopping centers, gyms and apartment buildings have announced plans to distance themselves from the legacy of John C. Calhoun, a 19th century vice president who was a proponent of slavery and a leading designer of some of the nation’s most damaging policies toward Native Americans, and played a role in crafting the Indian Removal Act.
Ice cream shop opens in Uptown PAGE A4
“It’s something we’ve been hoping would happen for a long time,” said Carly Bad Heart Bull, executive director of the Native Ways Foundation. When Floyd was killed, the monuments started to topple and names began to change nationwide. Now, Calhoun Square, the Calhoun Beach Club and the Calhoun Towers apartments have all announced intentions to change their names, and other organizations are examining changes more seriously than before. Bad Heart Bull was involved in the process of restoring the Dakota name Bde Maka Ska SEE CALHOUN / PAGE A11
Outdoor reunion PAGE B1
Calhoun Square’s new ownership group, Northpond Partners, removed the large sign adorning the building on June 20. A new name for the shopping mall has yet to be announced. Photo by Isaiah Rustad
A past attempt at police reform PAGE B2
Summer poetry PAGE B6
A2 July 9–22, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
southwestjournal.com / July 9–22, 2020 A3
WHITTIER
Rock, Paper, Scissors finds new home at 24th & Lyndale Rock, Paper, Scissors has moved from 48th & Chicago to 24th & Lyndale. Photo by Andrew Hazzard
Ashes to Ashes (MINUS THE FLAMES)
We honor pre-plans and memberships from societies. For more info or to plan ahead, call 612-724-3621.
READY TO GO GREEN? South Minneapolis gift and record store Rock, Paper, Scissors is finally getting settled in its new Whittier home after moving plans were disrupted by the pandemic. Couple Tes de Luna and Jason Hughes opened their first Minneapolis store at 48th & Chicago in 2018, but when their lease was ending and they saw the former Cliche space being advertised at 24th & Lyndale, they jumped at the opportunity to be closer to their home. The plan had been to open their new location in mid-March, but coronavirus-related retail closures statewide put a hold on that. The shop opened on May 27, only to board up its windows two days later as civil unrest swept over the city following the killing of George Floyd. In its first week back, Rock, Paper, Scissors donated 10% of all sales to local nonprofit Black Table Arts. So far, business has been better than expected, Hughes said, with people coming by to browse around and check out records and other goods. Locals have been supportive, and some have remarked how happy they are to be able to browse through a store again. “All things considered, we’re doing OK,” Hughes said. De Luna and Hughes met in Seattle, where they had shops next door to each other: He ran a record store; she had a boutique and gallery that sold clothing, jewelry and gifts made by independent designers. At Rock, Paper, Scissors, they’ve combined those goods under one roof. The store has a new local artist featured each month on its wall space and (in nonpandemic times) at an art reception party. Creative workshops and art classes for
3131 Minnehaha Avenue S. Minneapolis, MN 55406
612.724.3621 • BradshawFuneral.com
Creating new beginnings. Tes de Luna and Jason Hughes, founders of Rock, Paper, Scissors, have relocated their store to Whittier. Submitted photo
Judy Shields:
adults and kids are also offered at Rock, Paper, Scissors, though those are happening virtually for now. Like other retailers, Rock, Paper, Scissors is sanitizing as much as possible, requiring customers wear masks and observe social distancing. No more than four shoppers are allowed in the space right now. The store is offering curbside pickup for goods and records. Hughes said the new Other Lives record, “For Their Love,” and local group Muun Bato’s self-titled debut release are some of his favorite new vinyls. “Everyone’s just got to be careful,” Hughes said.
Passionate. Effective. Realtor.
952-221-1723
— Andrew Hazzard
jshields@cbburnet.com
Rock, Paper, Scissors Where: 2403 Lyndale Ave. S. Info: rockpaperscissorsgoods.com Shields Judy SWJ 061120 6.indd 1
6/2/20 4:58 PM
A4 July 9–22, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Clear Aligner Orthodontics Simple cases
Get the smile
you’ve always wanted!
Dr. Nelson is an Invisalign Preferred Provider.
BEFORE
as low as
$400
Complex cases $3800
• Free consultations • Free whitening included • Offering ClearCorrect, Exceed, and Invisalign All cases are a flat fee and include retainers, impressions, and all office visits.
AFTER
BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT AT NICOLLETDENTAL.COM OR CALL 612-866-8550
CASEY NELSON, DDS
6101 Nicollet Ave S, Minneapolis nicolletdental.com • 612-866-8550 Nicollet Dental SWJ NR2 6.indd 1
12/7/18 10:02 AM
Our Introduction to Zen Meditation is Now Online! Our four-part introduction happens online via Zoom each Sunday from 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Join us any Sunday morning and then return the next three Sundays to complete the four-week cycle. The four parts are not sequential, so you may attend them in any order. These classes are open to all so please consider inviting friends.
Chriz Dominguez, an employee of La Michoacana Pink Ice Cream, stands next to a mural painted on the plywood covering the shop’s windows. Photos by Becca Most
LOWRY HILL EAST
Mexican ice cream shop comes to Uptown Minnesota Zen Meditation Center 3343 E. Calhoun Parkway Minneapolis, MN 55408
http://mnzencenter.org MN Zen Meditation Center SWJ 070920 6.indd 1
6/30/20 10:16 AM
10 % OFF
Any Purchase of $20 or More Not valid with other coupons, offers or specials. Expires 7/31/20
A WIDE SELECTION OF MEAT PRODUCTS WE ARE OPEN! We are following CDC guidelines for the health and safety of our valued customers and our employees. Hours: Monday – Saturday: 10 AM–7 PM Sunday: 10 AM–4 PM 3747 NICOLLET AVE. S • MPLS
612.823.4494 FinerMeatsAndEats.com Finer Meats SWJ 070920 6.indd 1
25 LB. Meat Pack • 4 lbs. Steaks — Assorted • 4 lbs. Roasts — Lean Chuck • 4 lbs. End Chops or Country Ribs or Beef Ribs • 5 lbs. Ground Beef • 1.5 lbs. Pan Sausage — Regular or Hot • 5 lbs. Chicken — Whole or Cut • 1.5 lbs. Monthly Special
Shielded by colorful ice-cream cone art on its plywood-covered windows, a new ice cream shop near 28th & Hennepin reopened its doors on June 27. It first opened in May but closed for a couple weeks amid the civil unrest. With popsicle and ice cream flavors like pine nut, strawberries and cream and tequila, La Michoacana Pink Ice Cream offers a sweet relief from the summer heat. “Our flavors are actually inspired by homemade flavors back in Mexico,” said manager Victor Galicia. “We try to make it as authentic as we can.” Alan Parez owns a second La Michoacana Pink Ice Cream parlor in St. Paul, which has been doing well enough that he decided to expand to Minneapolis. While the St. Paul location normally attracted Hispanic customers, Galicia said he wanted the shop to reach a broader audience. La Michoacana is a popular chain of Mexican ice cream parlors, and versions of the eateries have spread around the United States, including two other shops in Minneapolis, near the
Midtown Global Market. Although sharing similar names and logos, these La Michoacanas are not formally owned by a franchise and the shops are usually family-run businesses. At Pink’s St. Paul location, all of the popsicles and ice cream are made by hand using fresh ingredients and produce. Customers can choose to season snacks and desserts with chamoy (a sweet, sour and salty chile sauce), Tajín (a condiment made with chile peppers, lime and salt) and other Mexican candies and toppings. Although the timing for opening a new shop wasn’t ideal, Galicia said, the team has spent the extra time they were closed adding decorations to the interior. “There aren’t many ice cream places like us, so we might as well just give it a try and see how well it goes,” he said. “We decided to build here, and hopefully we’ll gain support.” — Becca Most
La Michocana Pink Ice Cream Where: 2829 Hennepin Ave. Info: 612-552-8438
Not valid with other coupons, offers or specials. Expires 7/31/20
50 LB. Meat Pack • 8 lbs. Steaks — Assorted • 8 lbs. Roasts — Lean Chuck • 5 lbs. End Chops or Country Ribs or Beef Ribs • 10 lbs. Ground Beef • 3 lbs. Pan Sausage — Regular or Hot • 10 lbs. Chicken — Whole or Cut • 3lbs. Monthly Special • 3 lbs. Wieners — Assorted Kinds
Not valid with other coupons, offers or specials. Expires 7/31/20
7/8/20 1:09 PM
All of Pink’s popsicles and ice cream use fresh ingredients including kiwis, blackberries, strawberries and pine nuts.
southwestjournal.com / July 9–22, 2020 A5
LYNLAKE
Tweak the Glam rising from looting
Tweak the Glam, a beauty boutique specializing in eyelash extensions and microblading, hopes to fully open in August after being damaged by looters. Submitted photo
Tiwanna Jackson was trying to put the finishing touches on the new Lyndale Avenue storefront of her business, Tweak the Glam, when the statewide stay-at-home order came down. Then at the end of May, as she was preparing to open at a limited capacity on June 1, looters taking advantage of civil unrest smashed in her windows and stole items from the studio. But Jackson is determined to open her store in its new home soon and is looking forward to being a destination for people hoping to look and feel their best, and those trying to learn skills of the beauty trade. “I want to keep going with what I’ve been doing,” she said. Jackson is a licensed esthetician, and at her
beauty boutique, she specializes in eyelash extensions and microblading, a tattooing technique that uses semi-permanent ink to accentuate features like eyebrows. She launched her business in the Sherwin Williams building in the North Loop in 2014 but was attracted to LynLake for its on-thestreet prominence. She moved to the space in January and began renovations. Those renovations were delayed by the pandemic, and she was challenged again by the looting that took place in the unrest after George Floyd was killed on Memorial Day. A television, an iPad, a laptop and professional lighting were stolen, and her new floors were damaged. She said insurance claims have gone smoothly so far. Entering the store again for the first time “left an empty feeling inside” for Jackson. But the more she goes back into the studio, the more she feels like she can rebuild and fill the space with love. Part of her goal with Tweak the Glam is to help others learn skills like eyelash work and microblading, both growing fields, so they can improve their lives. “I want to help people who want to do this, and I want to help them be successful,” Jackson said. In August, Tweak the Glam hopes to host a formal grand opening celebration with other businesses on the block, old and new, to encourage people to come out and remind the community there are many places eager to serve them in the area. “Uptown is like our melting pot in the city, and it should remain one of those places we can go and get everything we need,” she said.
Serving the Minneapolis Lakes area for over 15 years.
Contact me for a free assessment of your home’s value. Zuehlke Josh SWJ 091919 6.indd 1
9/11/19 11:51 AM
Southwest Minneapolis! Three Park Board plans for the future of your area parks are seeking your comments!
MINNEAPOLIS PARK AND RECREATION BOARD WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Minnehaha Parkway Regional Trail Master Plan is open for a 45-day public comment period until August 3, 2020. www.minneapolisparks.org/masterplans
Southwest Service Area Master Plan public comment period has been extended to July 31, 2020. Plans are online and posted outside recreation centers in SW. www.minneapolisparks.org/sw
Parks for All, the MPRB 2021 Comprehensive Plan, is currently underway and will be available for public comment in fall 2020. www.minneapolisparks.org/parksforall
— Andrew Hazzard
38TH & NICOLLET
Petite León coming to Kingfield A new neighborhood restaurant hoping to bring an approachable, diverse menu is coming to the former Blackbird Cafe space at 38th & Nicollet. Petite León, a new project from two co-owners, chef Jorge Guzman and bar specialist Travis Serbus, is coming to the food-centric node in Kingfield. Guzman is perhaps best known locally for his time leading Surly’s Brewer’s Table, a wellregarded kitchen for which he was named a finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef Midwest” award in 2017. A native of Mexico, Guzman said Petite León will incorporate flavors and themes from his home nation, as well as the U.S., Spain and France. “We want it to be good tasty food; we don’t feel we need to put a classification on it,” Guzman said. He’s confident the menu will have something for everybody and said burgers, roasted chicken and octopus will all be in the offering. He said the kitchen will cook with the seasons, but he hopes to have regular items that people crave. “What’s going to set us apart is going to be our hospitality,” Serbus said. “We want to get to know people on a personal level.” The plan is to build up a following of dedicated regulars in the neighborhood. They were attracted to the Kingfield corner by the diversity of language and cuisine. Opening during the pandemic is “a little scary,” Guzman said, “but we’re rolling with the punches.” Petite León intends to have a strong takeout presence, with heat-and-serve family meals
Following public comment periods, the plans will be revised based on public feedback and brought to the Board of Commissioners for adoption. Thank you for your input!
Co-owners Jorge Guzman and Travis Serbus are opening Petite León at 38th & Nicollet this fall. Submitted photos
that will mirror the menu but contain distinct features, according to Guzman. Guzman and Serbus are joined in the project by Benjamin Rients and Dan Monosack. It’s the first restaurant from the newly formed Duck Soup Hospitality. Having four restaurant professionals involved has helped ease their minds about opening during the coronavirus pandemic, Serbus said, because if need be, the four of them can run the operation themselves. The team hopes to open in the early fall. The Blackbird space had “great bones,” they said, but they are making some tweaks to give it a new look. “We’re trying to build a family-friendly place for the neighborhood,” Serbus said.
Save thousands on the sale of your home!
4.5% – 3.5% – 2.0%
I’ll sell your house faster, for top dollar with less stress & more money for you.
Profit from my 30+ years of knowledge, experience and expertise.
5341 Oliver Ave. So.
follow me on facebook @scottharnessteam
— Andrew Hazzard
Petite León Where: 3800 Nicollet Ave. Info: petiteleonmpls.com
DAYS IN 8ST PRICE! D L SO VER LI O FOR
Scott Harness
CRS, GRI, Broker, Owner
Owner Options Realty SWJ 062520 6.indd 1
6/18/20 11:42 AM
A6 July 9–22, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
*On Settergren’s Referral List*
ROOFING • SIDING • GUTTERS
612-869-1177
Charter amendment could replace the MPD
Roofing • Siding Soffit • Fascia Gutters • Insulation
A Rating BBB Licensed • Bonded • Insured MN License #5276
By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com
Serving the Twin Cities since 1980
Topside SWJ 031920 6.indd 1
3/10/20 9:37 PM
NOW OPEN! We believe in talking with you, not at you. Come experience open & transparent dentistry. SCHEDULE ONLINE OR CALL 612.424.6850 Dr. Sam LaChance
2309 Lyndale Ave S | greenwaydentalmpls.com @greenwaydentalmpls Greenway Dental SWJ 101719 6.indd 1
Council wants voters to decide policing future
10/7/19 3:09 PM
2232 Hennepin Ave S, Minneapolis | 612.377.6108 | adtdental.com
Minneapolis residents may decide this fall whether to maintain the current police force or transition to a new community safety model. The City Council voted unanimously to put the question of public safety on the ballot in November in the form of a charter amendment that will replace current requirements for a municipal police force with a department of “community safety and violence prevention.” “I certainly believe the public deserves to take this issue up,” Council Member Lisa Goodman (Ward 7) said. But to ensure that voters can decide this year, typically slow governmental processes would need to move quickly. State law requires the Minneapolis Charter Commission review the ballot language and submit recommendations to the City Council. Typically, Council President Lisa Bender (Ward 10) said, there would be a longer back and forth between the council and Charter Commission about a proposed change, but City Council members want to expedite that process to make the Nov. 3 ballot. State law gives the Charter Commission 150 days, starting July 1, to submit its required report. But the law also requires all measures on the ballot be finalized 74 days before the election, setting a deadline of Aug. 21 this year. The City Council hopes to be able to vote to finalize the ballot language on Aug. 14. The Charter Commission — a board consisting of 15 members appointed by the Hennepin County District Court’s chief judge — has scheduled two public hearings on the amendment, at 5 p.m. on July 15 and at 6 p.m. on July 21. Members of the City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey are also scheduled to address the Charter Commission about the amendment on July 8, shortly after this paper goes to press. The charter serves as the city’s constitution. Currently the document requires the city maintain a police department and that the department have the equivalent of 1.7 officers for every 1,000 residents. The proposed amendment would replace the police department with a department of community safety and crime prevention that provides safety through strategies that prioritize public health. That could mean more mental health professionals, addiction specialists and other non-armed employees responding to non-violent situations, council members say. The head of the department would be nominated by the mayor and appointed by the City Council. Eligible candidates would have experience in non-law enforcement community safety, like public health. The amendment also requires the department contain a “division of law enforcement services” that would retain traditional statelicensed peace officers.
The amendment would also give the City Council significantly more power over the new public safety department than it has over the Minneapolis Police Department. Today, the MPD is the only charter department the mayor has “complete power” over, though the City Council does have influence over the MPD by controlling the budget. “I’ve seen time and time again how the lack of the council to have any policy making authority over the police department has made it very difficult and challenging to make the changes people want,” Council Member Cam Gordon (Ward 2) said. Frey, in a press conference, said he feared the council having more policy control over law enforcement could result in there being too many bosses directing the department and variations in how community safety worked ward to ward. If voters approve the measure, the MPD would not immediately disband. The charter change itself would go into effect on May 1, 2021, and would allow the City Council and mayor to begin implementing public safety changes. The council has committed to a year-long public engagement process to shape the new department. “It’s a structural change that allows us to invest in a holistic approach to safety,” Bender said. Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins said while the ordinance is important, even if voters approve the measure in November, and the council does ultimately replace the police with a new department, there will still be a need to root out systemic racism. “We’re going to have a new name with a new public safety measure with the same underlying racist foundations that has been involved in the formulation of this country forever, so we must be dealing with both those issues simultaneously,” Jenkins said. Some Southwest Minneapolis activists have pushed for the measure to be placed on the ballot. Over 25 supporters of the amendment showed up at the Linden Hills home of Ward 13 City Council Member Linea Palmisano on June 25, asking her to vote to advance the proposal. “I think this is the City Council that could pave the way not only for deep, deep change in Minneapolis but could help create a model for other towns and cities to use,” said Laurie Bushbaum, a retired Unitarian Universalist minister who organized the group. “I think this is the moment where it’s suddenly possible.” The South Uptown Neighborhood Association voted to submit a letter to Bender last month calling for budget reductions to MPD and redirecting funding into public-health based safety strategies. Nate Gotlieb contributed reporting to this story.
Protesters gather outside City Council Member Linea Palmisano’s Linden Hills home on June 25, asking for her support in advancing a proposed charter amendment that would replace the police force with a “department of public safety and violence prevention.” Photo by Nate Gotlieb
LaS
veland Ter o r Gr
e ac
southwestjournal.com / July 9–22, 2020 A7
15-story tower proposed in Uptown
Team Larry Trusted for Twenty Years
55
94
A proposed 452-unit apartment building would become the tallest building in Uptown. Submitted image
Lyndale Ave S
Locally Owned, Community Focused
ep
nn
He
Proposed apartment Mall formerly known as Calhoun Square
Fremont Ave
Parking garage for mall
W Lake St
W 31st St
pond over nine other groups to develop the site. Rents in the building would range from just above $1,000 for a 350-square-foot studio to “somewhere in the $3,000s” for a fourbedroom apartment. The apartment’s exterior has yet to be designed, but the BKV architecture group intends to include 158 studios, 118 onebedrooms, 163 two-bedrooms and 14 fourbedrooms, according to tentative plans presented to South Uptown residents. The building would include a rooftop terrace and sixth-floor deck overlooking the shopping mall. “[The building] is something that people can live in comfortably that’s not going to break the bank,” Malomud said. Local residents’ reaction to the proposal at the neighborhood Zoom meeting has been mixed. Some have said they appreciate the added retail space and added density and that they hope a high percentage of units can be affordable. (The full breakdown of rents has not been announced.) Many have expressed concern over the building’s height, calling it “massive and not inviting.” “I think 15 stories is grossly out of scale,” Aaron Rubenstein said during the meeting. The building would be the tallest in Uptown and the only in the neighborhood above 10 stories. The site was slated for development of up to 84 feet in the 2008 Uptown Small Area Plan, but the 2040 plan increased allowable building heights in many neighborhoods well-served by public transportation. The 162-foot-tall apartment tower would be three blocks from the Uptown Transit Station. The aim is to increase the number of people living in the city and the number of affordable units near transit centers. Mary Bujold, president of Maxfield Research, said the Uptown housing market has remained strong but that units haven’t been leasing as quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the area’s long-term popularity could be dependent on the ability for businesses to bounce back in the wake of the pandemic and the unrest following George Floyd’s killing. The city of Minneapolis is reviewing applications for the project. LOCAL Ventures plans to conduct a traffic study and an environmental review. The company hopes to start construction next spring and open the building to tenants in 2023.
11/6/19 1:49 PM
LICENSE # 1095
Your Sign of Satisfaction
952-512-0110
roelofsremodeling.com
Blaisdell Ave
in A ve
Lavercombe Larry SWJ 111419 6.indd 1
A proposed 15-story apartment tower would redraw the Uptown skyline, rising on a surface parking lot just east of the mall formerly known as Calhoun Square. Early plans call for a J-shaped building with 452 apartments aimed at young professionals, 307 indoor parking spaces and more than 11,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space facing Lake Street. Parking would be distributed throughout the building’s lowest five levels, though the garage wouldn’t be visible from Lake Street or Fremont Avenue. The building would require a conditionaluse permit for height, since the Minneapolis 2040 plan calls for developments of between two and 10 stories on the site. The developer, St. Louis-based LOCAL Ventures, said the project merits the extra height because of the neighborhood’s walkability and proximity to high-frequency public transit. “It’s kind of like the ideal site to put density from our perspective,” Marina Malomud, the company’s vice president of development, told the South Uptown Neighborhood Association on July 1. The parking lot at 1301 and 1409 W. Lake St. was purchased for $4.5 million by Northpond Partners in October 2019, around the same time the Chicago-based developer bought Calhoun Square. LOCAL Ventures, which has experience building college housing, was chosen by North-
Girard Ave
W Franklin Ave
612-845-5273 | DianeandLarry.com | larry@larrylavercombe.com
W 22nd St
Hennepin Ave
LaSalle Ave
By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com
Three generations of exceptional remodeling
and renovating of homes around the Lakes area and Southwest Minneapolis.
Roelofs Remodeling SWJ NR2 6.indd 1
12/27/18 11:46 AM
W Lake St
A8 July 9–22, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
PUBLISHER Janis Hall jhall@swjournal.com
East African business owners face added barriers to aid
CO-PUBLISHER & SALES MANAGER Terry Gahan tgahan@swjournal.com GENERAL MANAGER Zoe Gahan zgahan@swjournal.com EDITOR Zac Farber 612-436-4391 zfarber@swjournal.com STAFF WRITERS Nate Gotlieb ngotlieb@swjournal.com Andrew Hazzard ahazzard@swjournal.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Michelle Bruch Sheila Regan EDITORIAL INTERN Becca Most CREATIVE DIRECTOR Valerie Moe vmoe@swjournal.com DISTRIBUTION Marlo Johnson 612-436-4388 distribution@swjournal.com ADVERTISING sales@swjournal.com 612-436-4360 PRINTING APG
NEXT ISSUE DATE: July 23 News and ad deadline: July 15 32,000 copies of the Southwest Journal are distributed free of charge to homes and businesses in Southwest Minneapolis.
Southwest Journal 1115 Hennepin Ave, Mpls, MN 55403 phone: 612-825-9205 © 2020 Minnesota Premier Publications, Inc Subscriptions are $39 per year
PRINTED WITH SOY INK ON RECYCLED PAPER
By Becca Most
Zainab Hussein sat on a chair under rows of rolled-up fabrics, carpets and colorful dresses, looking out into the quiet hallways of the Karmel Mall. It was 1 p.m., and she’d been sitting in her shop for six hours, but she still hadn’t had any customers. Before the pandemic, Hussein said, she would often see more than 100 customers each day, some driving in from other states to shop for traditional clothing and fabrics. Now, about a month after the Whittier mall fully reopened, Hussein, like many other East African business owners, is worried about her livelihood during the pandemic and uncertain about where to find relief. Although she applied for several small business loans, Hussein said she is not eligible for some because she is her business’s sole employee. With her income essentially vanished, she has needed to solicit help from her family to keep the shop open and has taken a second job as a custodian at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport to make ends meet. “It’s very hard,” she said. “I used to earn enough to manage daily life, and now, nothing.” While nearly all businesses have been hard-hit by the pandemic in recent months, East African business owners are facing language and cultural barriers that make it especially difficult to find loans and navigate bureaucracies. The unrest following George Floyd’s killing has brought an added burden, with East African immigrants owning many of the worst damaged businesses on Lake Street. These business owners say it’s hard to see a future without financial assistance. And with partisan gridlock and a slow government response, many say they are falling through the cracks. After closing during the pandemic’s first months, Sulekha Ibrahim reopened her mental health and community clinic, Healing Path Wellness Services, on May 26, the day after Floyd was killed. The Whittier clinic offered therapy services, wellness classes and culturally sensitive care to many people of color, immigrants and refugees in South Minneapolis. On May 28, Ibrahim’s clinic was vandalized and destroyed. Everything was stolen, and much of what remains is ash. “To have that space on Lake Street, it was needed. People would come together and see providers that looked like them ... feel that their culture and their traditions are well received and respected,” she said. “And then for it to be destroyed and burned down, it was just devastating for everybody.” Although Ibrahim considers herself one of the luckier business owners — she’s raised more than $95,000 on GoFundMe — she said she’s only about halfway to the amount it will take to rebuild. Ibrahim said misinformation about the number of grants business owners can apply for and what they need to qualify has made many worried or anxious. Some applications take a lot of time and energy, and even for the few who have been able to receive grants, the funding is often not enough.
Sulekha Ibrahim’s Whittier mental health clinic, Healing Path Wellness Services, was burned down during the civil unrest. Photo by Becca Most
Listening session
During a June 25 community listening session at the Jigjiga Business Center in South Minneapolis, around 60 East African business owners in the area shared their experiences with elected officials and city and state staffers. Many expressed disappointment at the government’s response to protecting their businesses and said they felt left behind in aid and assistance. For Kaltuma Hassan, owner of Bismillah grocery store in the Phillips neighborhood, the night of May 28 was especially difficult. While she was trying to board up her shop, a couple of men cornered her behind her grocery store. They beat and robbed her at gunpoint, and the next day, when her shop was broken into again, her security camera showed five people dousing the building in gasoline before burning it down. When she saw the shop the next morning, she said, she felt like her “entire life had collapsed.” Without her main source of income, Hassan said, it has been difficult to pay her bills and she cannot send money to her family back home in Somalia. “We need the government to support us, maybe at least to rebuild our building and finance us to start the business again,” she said. ‘That’s our only hope.” Suad Hassan, who owns the Ayeeyo Childcare Center on Lake Street, said she stood outside the building with her family during the unrest, trying to protect it. Despite being unarmed and facing people with guns, Hassan stood guard for two weeks, begging looters and rioters not to destroy her building. “I called 911 so many times I cannot believe it,” she said. “I felt helpless. I felt very disappointed that our government watched us in pain.” Hassan said she hadn’t received any guidelines on how to reopen safely and wasn’t sure how she could even feel safe to reopen when every building on her block was boarded up or damaged. “A sense of security has been lost,” she said. “I want to say to people that represent us, that take our votes, that asked us to vote every single day, to stand up for us and help us.”
Loan and grant process
State Rep. Hodan Hassan, whose district includes many businesses damaged on Lake Street, said she is currently working to introduce more grants and loans to help her constituents rebuild. More than 1,000 buildings were damaged during the unrest citywide and 53 were destroyed. Staff estimate that the cost of the damage could top $500 million, with much of that expense left uncovered by insurance. The pandemic and civil unrest have made navigating insurance and loan processes even more challenging, especially for business owners who speak English as a second language, said Hassan. Some of the seminars or workshops set up by the city are operating via Skype or other online platforms, which some do not have access to or know how to navigate. Others have never applied for a grant before and don’t know where to start. The state’s $30 million emergency loan program, Hassan said, didn’t even scratch the surface in providing help to business owners in her district. “Most people that got those loans were people who had their ducks in a row, people who had accountants, who had their paperwork ready, and the loans were gone just like that,” she said. “They SEE EAST AFRICAN BUSINESSES / PAGE A14
TO OUR READERS We know there is great interest in the upcoming primary elections and that with early voting now open, many of you have begun to consider the candidates. The Southwest Journal will print a guide to candidates in competitive local primary races in our July 23 issue. To request a mail-in ballot, visit mnvotes. org. Make sure to leave time for election officials to mail your ballot. To ensure your ballot is counted, make sure it’s postmarked on or before election day — Aug. 11.
southwestjournal.com / July 9–22, 2020 A9
MCAD plans return to campus in fall Southwest Minneapolis’ lone college is planning on having students return to campus in the fall, but it won’t exactly be business as usual. The Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Whittier is planning for a “blended” teacher-and-learning experience, with classes being taught remotely and faculty being able to hold limited face-to-face meetings. It plans to stagger student housing move-in days and follow expert recommendations on face coverings, hand washing and disinfection protocols. In addition, it’s not requiring students to return to campus after Thanksgiving break for the final two weeks of the semester. Students can come back if they choose to. MCAD, a private college located near the Minneapolis Institute of Art, has about 720 students and offers 14 undergraduate programs and three graduate programs. The school offered students the chance to
take courses on a pass-fail basis during the spring semester, which was held virtually after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of campus in March. Leaders have said that getting kids back on campus this fall is a priority. MCAD plans to have students move into campus housing starting on Aug. 21 and start classes Aug. 31. The fall semester will end Dec. 11. The school plans to hold a commencement ceremony for spring and winter 2020 graduates on Dec. 12. Other colleges are also making plans for an in-person fall semester. The University of Minnesota says about 25% to 40% of coursework will be in person, MPR News reported, and the University of WisconsinMadison also plans to have students back on campus. — Nate Gotlieb
MCAD is planning a blended experience this fall, with classes being taught remotely but still some face-to-face meetings. Photo by Victoria Sung
SWLRT Update
Cedar Lake Parkway closed; freight lines shifting Work on the Southwest Light Rail Transit (SWLRT) project has continued as planned during the pandemic and major construction activity continues in the Kenilworth corridor in Southwest Minneapolis. Construction schedules have not been impacted by the pandemic because work was allowed throughout the statewide stayat-home order, project director Jim Alexander said. “Things haven’t slowed down at all,” Alexander said. In Southwest Minneapolis, construction of the half-mile tunnel in the Kenilworth Corridor continues, with a new 16-day closure of Cedar Lake Parkway between Xerxes Avenue and Burnham Road that began July 6. Crews will be installing tunnel sheeting across the parkway road and will then repave the street before returning later this year to excavate the tunnel, in a closure expected to last about five and a half months. An agreement between the Metropolitan Council and the Minneapolis Park Board requires the project to limit its total closure of the parkway to six months. Alexander said project staff and contractors have been adjusting to ensure they can complete all their work under the roadway within that window. Pedestrians and bikes will continue to have access to the parkway during the closure. The MPRB’s closure of the parkway west of Sunset Boulevard to assist social distancing will remain in place through July. North of the parkway, crews are continuing
to construct bridges over the Cedar-Isles Channel. This month, construction of a new freight rail bridge is expected to conclude and freight lines will be shifted. Once the shift occurs, construction on the new light-rail and pedestrian bridges will begin. Near the future 21st Street and Bryn Mawr stations, massive piles of dirt, called surcharges, have been gathered, helping compress soft soil for stable building foundations. Construction on the 21st Street station is expected to begin later this summer, while the Bryn Mawr surcharges will remain in place into the fall. Alexander said SWLRT staff have worked to improve bike and pedestrian detours near the future Bryn Mawr station along the Cedar Lake trail. Right now, people moving through the trail are detoured up Kenwood Parkway to access Downtown while utility work is completed near Linden Yards. Southwest neighborhoods with the most construction activity have had varied responses to the project. Mary Pattock, chair of the Cedar-Isles-Dean Neighborhood Association, said while she knew the project would lead to a major loss of trees, seeing the impact on the Kenilworth Corridor has been tough. She said the neighborhood group remains concerned about safety during construction and of access for first responders to the area during the closure of Cedar Lake Parkway. The Met Council, she said, listens but doesn’t engage the group in a real dialogue. SEE SWLRT / PAGE A12
A10 July 9–22, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Six-level Kingfield apartment signals a denser Nicollet Avenue By Zac Farber / zfarber@swjournal.com
A 46-unit, six-level apartment building has been approved at the edge of the 43rd & Nicollet commercial district anchored by Revival and the Lowbrow. It will be the first building above three stories to rise on a stretch of Nicollet Avenue earmarked for greater density by the 2040 plan, which designates Nicollet a highfrequency-transit corridor and allows building heights up to six stories down to 47th Street. “We are the first, but we definitely will not be the last,” said developer Michael Pink of Left Lane Corporation. Chris DesRoches, the president of the Kingfield Neighborhood Association (KFNA), said the organization has a message for affordable housing developers: “[Kingfield] is begging for you to build projects here. We are ready to support and make it happen.” The building, located at 4220-30 Nicollet Ave., will have 32 parking spaces accessed via two rear-alley ramps. Pink said about a third of the units will be affordable to families making between 65% and 75% of the area median income — roughly $65,000 to $75,000 for a family of four. The building will include a mix of units: 450-square-foot studios, a pair of twobedrooms with private rooftop decks and two ground-floor walk-ups with patios facing Nicollet. In all, there will be 11 studios, 22 one-bedrooms and 14 two-bedrooms. Shared office spaces are planned for both the first and
second levels. All units will have bike parking. A single-family home, a duplex and a small commercial building will be razed to make way for the new structure. The commercial building was last occupied by the 4Points Body Gallery tattoo shop and is topped by an apartment unit. The new building’s facade will be primarily brick, stone and metal paneling, with wood accents. A grade change means it will appear as five stories from the rear. From the front, the first story will have high ceilings and include a mezzanine level, while the top story will be recessed from Nicollet. “We’re trying to get this to read as a four-story building,” Pink said. “You can’t really see the top from the street.” At a June 23 Kingfield Neighborhood Association committee meeting, questions were raised about the removal of trees, the amount of parking and the height of the building. Pink said that while the city, which doesn’t have a parking minimum for the site, asked for less parking, “I pushed back and said, ‘I go to this corner, I know what it’s like, and we need as much parking as we can get.’” He said building subterranean parking is “inordinately expensive and you have to pay for it somehow.” Part of the reason the building ended up six levels, he said, is because of the “economic puzzle of, how do you make all of this work?” The Planning Commission approved the project on July 6 on its consent agenda. The
A six-level apartment building on Nicollet Avenue near 43rd Street will be the first building above three stories in the area. Submitted image
site will be rezoned to OR2 office-residential space. The Planning Commission granted a conditional use permit to build to a height of 65 feet and approved setbacks on the south and
Nicollet Avenue-facing sides of the building and a variance to allow patios for the walk-up units. Pink said he hopes to start construction in October and wrap up work by July 2021.
WE ARE OPEN and we can’t wait to work out with you! Come try us out and experience our community for yourself.
START YOUR ONE MONTH FREE TRIAL TODAY!
COMMITTED ADVOCACY FOR THE INJURED
Follow @TRUEGRITGYMCO 2800 Lyndale Ave S | 612-293-8093 | truegritsociety.com •
CLEAN
•
COMMUNITY
True Grit Society SWJ 070920 H12.indd 1
•
SOCIAL DISTANCING
•
LOTS OF SANITIZING
•
6/26/20 11:14 AM
Find Your spot for summer
Representing clients with Personal Injury, Wrongful Death, and Workers’ Compensation claims throughout Minnesota.
fun
For a free initial consultation call: (612) 436-1810, or toll-free: (800) 279-6386.
Jake R. Jagdfeld Attorney/Partner
Bike Rentals
Como Lake: 651-487-8046 Minnehaha Falls: 612-729-2660 Lake Nokomis: 612-729-1127
WheelFunRentalsMN.com Wheel Fun Rentals SWJ 051619 6.indd 1
Water Rentals
Como Lake: 651-487-8046 Lake Nokomis: 612-729-1127 Lake Harriet: 612-922-9226 Lake Calhoun: 612-823-5765
5/15/19 10:04 AM
JOHNSON BECKER, PLLC
444 Cedar Street, Suite 1800, Saint Paul, MN 55101 johnsonbecker.com
Johnson Becker SWJ 022020 4.indd 1
1/29/20 10:31 AM
southwestjournal.com / July 9–22, 2020 A11 FROM CALHOUN / PAGE A1
to Lake Calhoun, a process that formally ended when the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in May that the Department of Natural Resources had the authority to change the name of the lake. In Minneapolis, the debate over the name had been of interest to Native American activists for years but gained prominence in 2015, when the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board first added signage recognizing the Dakota name. To Bad Heart Bull, the changes were bound to happen eventually, and she wasn’t surprised that Floyd’s death reinvigorated the conversation over names. “Like many issues that are being elevated right now, this isn’t a new conversation, but there are more people joining the conversation,” she said. In Southwest Minneapolis, Calhoun Square’s new ownership group, Northpond Partners, removed the large sign adorning the building at Lake & Hennepin on June 20 when it announced it would “expedite” its process to rename the mall “in solidarity with Minneapolis and the Black Lives Matter Movement.” The firm is “actively working with members of the community” on a new name for the building, according to Alistair Parry, a vice president at Northpond. The Calhoun Beach Club, a large apartment complex and gym on the north side of the lake, sent an email to residents and members that it will remove “Calhoun” branding in the coming weeks and will work on a new name for the building. A spokesperson from the building’s parent company, Amico, said the process by which the new name will be chosen is still being determined. Calhoun Towers, a large apartment building west of the lake, will now be known as West Lake Quarter, according Colleen O’Brien,
a leasing specialist with the building. Bader Development, which owns the tower, recently began work on an expansion that will bring 746 new units across four buildings to the area. The company is in the process of changing its signage and intends to be fully transitioned to West Lake Quarter branding by the end of the year. For now, she said, the company is using both names so they don’t lose business. “When Lake Calhoun changed, we knew we were going to take Calhoun out of the name,” O’Brien said. The West Calhoun neighborhood is also likely to change its name in the near future, according to board president Allan Campbell. The neighborhood had been scheduled to discuss the name at its annual meeting in May, but that was postponed due to COVID-19 until August. The neighborhood association has surveyed residents about the name and received many more emails this spring asking for a change to be made. With the state Supreme Court ruling in May and the flurry of name changes after Floyd’s death, the momentum seems to be there, he said. The board will vote on whether to change its name to West Lake at its July 14 meeting. “We don’t want to push off the issue of the name too long,” Campbell said. West Calhoun would be the third Southwest neighborhood to remove the vice president’s surname from its title. The Calhoun Area Residents Action Group (CARAG) changed its name to South Uptown in 2018 and the East Calhoun Community Organization voted last year to be redubbed simply as its former acronym — ECCO — stripped of the words it once stood for. Others may be changing, too. Chris Martin, a writer and poet who lives in ECCO, said he reached out to several entities to ask about name changes in an attempt to seize the moment. He said representatives with the Ackerberg Group told him the firm would be
John C. Calhoun, the seventh vice president of the U.S., was the namesake of Southwest Minneapolis’ largest lake and many nearby entities. The Southerner was a staunch defender of slavery and helped design Indian Removal policies in the 1820s. Several local entities have announced they will remove Calhoun’s name from their titles since George Floyd was killed. This daguerreotype was taken by Mathew Brady in 1849.
changing the name of Lake Calhoun Center on the north side of the lake. Messages left with the company seeking to confirm the change have not been returned. Martin, who studied local Indigenous culture and history during a residency at the Minnesota History Center, said he hopes groups will consider using the Dakota language when selecting a new name and try to learn about Native American history here. Bad Heart Bull said she would like to see more Dakota language in the right context and that she’d be happy
to help any group considering that type of name change. “It’s an amazing opportunity to reacquaint yourself with where you live,” Martin said. When Luke and Mary Breen changed the name of their Hennepin Avenue bike shop from Calhoun Cycle to Perennial Cycle in March 2016, they thought plenty more would be changing alongside them. It was an awareness thing, Luke Breen said. Once they learned that the lake was named for a man who advocated for slavery and played a key role in repressing Native Americans, changing that name was the obvious right move. Breen assumed others would change once they learned, too, and was surprised when that didn’t happen. When the shop rebranded as Perennial, people reacted with either curiosity or support, he said, and the positive responses have far outweighed the negative. In late June, he received an email from a first-time customer in Seattle who’d read the store’s blog post explaining their name change and thanked them for the move. The store hired a marketing company to come up with a new name and logo and had some concerns about their branding and name recognition, but Breen said they are happy with the change. “It was scary, it was expensive, but six months later it felt so good,” he said. Three years ago, Bad Heart Bull gave birth to her son in a medical office at Lake Calhoun Center. She was grateful to have him in a place where her family had such a connection and history. During the debate over restoring the Bde Maka Ska name, she said, those opposed would say the act was erasing history or didn’t matter. But she thinks the name is about making space for collective history and that resistance to changing names from Calhoun shows how ingrained white supremacy is in everyday life. “It’s so symbolic of the larger issues we have as a region and a nation,” she said.
Apartment Living • Assisted Living • Dementia Care • Assisted Living Care Suites
Silvercrest Properties SWJ 043020 H2.indd 1
4/20/20 11:10 AM
A12 July 9–22, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com
Recycling the plywood from boarded-up businesses A local nonprofit dedicated to reducing waste is working to ensure a second life for the thousands of plywood boards nailed onto storefronts during the unrest following George Floyd’s killing. ReUSE Minnesota is collecting the plywood boards and offering them free to local nonprofits. As of June 25, it had collected about 500 pieces of plywood and redistributed about 100, board president Jenny Kedward said.
FROM SWLRT / PAGE A9
“Of all the concerns we’ve had in the past, none of them have been lessened by the realities,” she said. Allan Campbell, chair of the West Calhoun Neighborhood Council, said many in the neighborhood were complaining about construction noise last month but that activity has quieted down more recently. He said the neighborhood group receives constant updates from project staff, but that occasionally they are surprised by certain activities. “There’s a lot of coordination and sometimes there are slip-ups and we don’t get warned about things, but I guess that’s an issue with a big project,” he said.
plywood has gone out to organizations like Pillsbury United Communities, which used it as flooring at a food-distribution center. Reused plywood was also used to help build a stage for a George Floyd memorial concert and repurposed into crates to send personal protective equipment to Bolivia. ReUSE Minnesota is still deciding whether it wants to charge individuals who ask for plywood for personal projects, she said.
“We wanted to make sure that as the plywood was coming down, it wasn’t just getting incinerated or landfilled,” she said. Founded in 2012, ReUSE Minnesota promotes recycling-related businesses and legislation and participates in events such as the State Fair Eco Experience. Kedward said the organization is partnering with the University of Minnesota to process and store some of the plywood. So far,
If the plywood is not reused, much of it would likely go to waste-to-energy incinerators or landfills. Kedward said landfilling wood doesn’t have the environmental consequences of throwing away other objects but that making the plywood is an energy-consuming process. “It’s useful wood, [and] we should use it,” she said. Visit tinyurl.com/plywoodmn to learn more about the project.
CEDAR LAKE PARKWAY DETOUR Cedar Lake Parkway will be closed between Xerxes Avenue and Burnham Road until July 23 while crews install tunnel sheeting. The road will close again for nearly six months later in the year for tunnel excavation. LRT Station LRT Alignment Road Closure Local Access Only Regional Traffic Detour
— Andrew Hazzard
Environmentally Friendly Family Owned & Operated Since 1950
SALES OR SERVICE OVER $50
• No Odor • Non Toxic • No Allergies • Gentle on All Fabrics • All Work Done on Premises
WITH THIS AD.
Colonial Cleaners, Inc.
Independent. Local. Welcoming.
4001 Bryant Ave S., MPLS 55409
GARMENT CARE PROFESSIONAL
612.823.8095
Expert Sales and Professional Service
3701 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis www.colonialcleanersmn.com
612.824.9300 farmsteadbikeshop.com Farmstead Bike Shop SWJ 090519 H12.indd 1
Colonial Cleaners SWJ 020917 H18.indd 1
by SW Journal Readers
$10 OFF
Green Dry Cleaning & Wet Cleaning
VOTED BEST BIKE SHOP
Graphic courtesy of the Met Council
Looking for local fresh produce?
2/3/17 2:39 PM
GREEN PAINTING SOLUTIONS
8/26/19 5:03 PM
Quality Work by Experienced Craftsmen decoratorsserviceco.com (763) 383-2955
Decorators Service Co SWJ 031920 H18.indd 3
Check out weeds-greens.com for local baby greens, microgreens, herbs, edible flowers. Produced year-round in a controlled indoor environment and harvested fresh to order. Grown within the metro, you won’t find anything more fresh and local!
Free delivery on all orders over $20!
we are
open! 1934 Hennepin Avenue S, Mpls
1934 H E N N We E PI NareAV E. S SAN D W ICH EStue-fri 10-5 offering curbside takeout sat 9-4 M P L S, on M Nall55 4 0 3 shop and pantry items butcher as well as our full sandwich menu
Weed’s Greens 701-429-0505 weedsgreens@yahoo.com
Collage Architects - Weeds Greens SWJ 043020 9.indd 1
3/9/20 5:36 PM
closed sun-mon
DE LICAT E SS E N
Please visit LOWRYHILLMEATS.COM for current offerings and text us your order at 612.999.4200
4/27/20 Lowry 1:06 PM Hill Meats SWJ 041620 H18.indd 1
4/2/20 Park 1:44 Tavern PM SWJ 061120 9.indd 1
6/4/20 10:43 AM
southwestjournal.com / July 9–22, 2020 A13 FROM ENCAMPMENTS / PAGE A1
Since the Park Board voted to declare parkland a sanctuary for unsheltered people, the camp has swelled to contain more than 400 tents and is estimated to have about 600 residents, a number that has public health officials concerned. The resolution would have led to the dispersal of the Powderhorn encampment and would have limited groups of unsheltered people staying on parkland to 10 parks, with no more than 10 tents allowed at each location. It also would have ended parkland’s “refuge” status on Sept. 1. Commissioner Londel French (At-large) requested the resolution be removed from the agenda, a motion that passed on a 5-4 vote. Several residents of the Powderhorn Park encampment spoke at the meeting and asked for Park Board and city officials to not disperse residents, because constantly moving makes it harder on unsheltered people. Many asked for a more permanent housing solution. Others asked the board for more time for residents and volunteers to organize a safer community there. Outside of Powderhorn smaller encampments have emerged in more than 30 parks citywide, according to MPRB Superintendent Al Bangoura. Some of those encampments are informal, like the small group in MLK, while others, like an encampment that has developed near Bangoura’s residence in Lyndale Farmstead Park, are direct offshoots of the Powderhorn Park community. Bangoura said MPRB staff are trying to meet the basic needs of people living in Powderhorn and other parks. The organization is spending about $18,000 per week on portable toilets, electricity and staffing at those sites, he said, but is not equipped to help residents. “We are woefully unqualified to provide the health and human services people in the park need,” Bangoura said. Park Police Chief Jason Ohotto said there have been reports of physical and sexual assaults at Powderhorn and other encampments throughout the park system. He said the past two weeks have been “extraordinary” and unlike any time in his career in park policing. There have been three rapes reported at Powderhorn Park, according to the Star Tribune; one incident of rape was also reported at an encampment at Washburn Fair Oaks Park in Whittier and one at The Commons in Downtown, Ohotto said. At an encampment on The Mall in Uptown, park police have responded to fights where crowbars and hatchets were used, he said. French and Commissioner Brad Bourn (District 6) cautioned against sensationalizing the crime in the encampments at a time when violent crime has increased citywide.
Aaron, a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, native who asked his last name not be printed, stayed at an encampment in Lyndale Farmstead Park over the Fourth of July weekend. He said he’s staying in the park as he figures out his next move. Photo by Isaiah Rustad
Southwest encampments
At MLK Park, the encampment is small and portable restrooms have not yet been added. Nikki Stand said they walk down to 46th Street to use the bathroom. For the most part, the group has felt safe at MLK, though Stand said she was physically assaulted by a stranger there one night. Chuck Anderson had been staying at the park until about two weeks ago, when he suddenly felt ill and was taken to the hospital, where doctors found a cyst blocking blood flow to his brain and had to remove it immediately. Anderson stayed in the hospital for 10 days, and while Catholic Charities helped him find housing when he was discharged in late June, he returned to MLK Park on June 30 with a long band of stitches bisecting the top of his head to check on the Stand sisters. Residents around the park have gotten to know them, Anderson said, and neighbors have been kind and generous. “We feel comfortable around here,” Anderson said. A few blocks west in Lyndale Farmstead Park, about 10 tents have been erected and volunteers are accepting donations to meet resident needs. The Lyndale Farmstead encampment is composed of people who had been staying in Powderhorn Park, but were seeking a less crowded environment, according to Danielle Enblom, who volunteered at the Powderhorn encampment. She said the group of volunteers has used the same mutual aid structures in place there to establish the group at Lyndale Farmstead, which was chosen in part because of its proximity to Powderhorn. She said they reached out to local churches and businesses before making the move and have largely been supported by neighbors. The plan is to keep the encampment small. The group receives a lot of dry food and beverage
donations but is in constant need of warm meals for breakfast and dinner, as well as weatherproofing items like tarps, she said. Speaking the afternoon before the July 1 Park Board meeting, she said she was hopeful the refuge would not be rescinded by the board. Volunteers have also moved some people from Powderhorn to Kenwood Park. While she knows parks can’t be a long-term solution, the land does provide temporary relief. “Having public parks as an option right now is really important,” Enblom said.
A ‘big task in front of us’
David Hewitt, who leads Hennepin County’s Office to End Homelessness, said Powderhorn Park is about twice the size of the 2018 encampment at Franklin & Hiawatha, which was previously the largest homeless encampment in state history. He said large encampments always pose a risk for residents due to dangers of potential sex trafficking and infectious disease, which was a concern before the coronavirus pandemic and is a bigger fear now. “Large encampments, as a general rule, we consider very dangerous, particularly to the people living in the camps,” Hewitt said. Hennepin County has a right-for-housing policy for families with children, and right now has about 50 residences available for unsheltered families through People Serving People and St. Anne’s Place. He said he “desperately” wants families who are living in Powderhorn and other parks to come there to receive housing and assistance from trained staff. Breaking up the large encampment at Powderhorn Park and spreading people to smaller encampments in the area would make it easier to provide more services, Hewitt said. Parks officials have stressed the need for other government entities like the county, city and state to help find a solution that gives people a digni-
Gardening Angel Garden Design Residential & Commercial
Design • Install Maintain
fied place to go. The struggle now, Hewitt said, is that unlike 2018, when the Franklin & Hiawatha encampment was the major issue facing the area, there are multiple crises to manage. The county has already been providing more funding and services than ever before for unsheltered people during the pandemic, including operating its own shelters for the first time and placing more than 500 high-risk individuals in former hotel spaces the county board purchased. The main issue, Hewitt said, is that the county’s trained staff is already stretched thin. The process of finding out who is staying in the encampments and figuring out what options are available to those people will take time, he said. “This is a big, big task in front of us,” Hewitt said. Park Board President Jono Cowgill, who authored the resolution limiting encampment size, said people staying in the parks must be treated with dignity but said the size of the Powderhorn encampment is not sustainable. “Right now, the Powderhorn space is not a refuge because it is not a space where everyone feels safe,” Cowgill said. Cowgill has been in conversation with other government partners about solutions but said he hasn’t heard any firm commitments on action steps at this point. He said he will try to bring forth a resolution most commissioners will support at the July 15 meeting. Mayor Jacob Frey said he did not agree with the decision the Park Board made. He said the city does not have the resources to house and serve 600 people at once, and that the size of the Powderhorn encampment is concerning. “In its present state and in the direction that it’s going, it’s not safe,” Frey said.
NOTED: Southeast Beach at Lake Harriet has been temporarily closed after E. coli bacteria was detected. The Park Board said it will close the beach, as well as a beach on Lake Hiawatha, after samples found E. coli levels exceeding state safety guidelines on July 7. So far, there have been no reports of illness related to people swimming at those beaches, the MPRB said in a press release. Parks officials believe the E. coli was likely caused by a mixture of recent rainstorms and “an unusually high amount of ducks and geese” on the beaches. Bird feces can be washed into the lakes by stormwater. Last year, E. coli levels closed several major beaches in Southwest. Lake Harriet’s North Beach remains open.
— Andrew Hazzard
CARING FOR YOUR PETS SINCE 1973 COVID RESPONSE:
Curbside Service at Westgate Pet Clinic To keep you and your pet safe during this time, we offer Curbside Service for your veterinary needs. See our website for more information on how we at Westgate Pet Clinic are caring for patients through this crisis.
WESTGATE PET CLINIC HAS 11 DOCTORS AND OVER 175 YEARS OF COMBINED EXPERIENCE!
Margi MacMurdo gardeningangel612@gmail.com
612.206.7089 4345 FRANCE AVE. S. MINNEAPOLIS MONDAY–THURSDAY 7AM–7PM FRIDAY 7AM–6PM | SATURDAY 8AM–1PM 612.925.1121 // WESTGATEPETCLINICMN.COM Gardening Angel Garden Design SWJ 032218 9.indd 1
1/26/18 12:45 Westgate PM Pet Clinic SWJ 062520 9.indd 1
6/16/20 11:51 AM
A14 July 9–22, 2020 / southwestjournal.com FROM 38TH STREET / PAGE A1
“The reasons to continue with this work have only been amplified,” said Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins. “We need to now think about a permanent memorial to commemorate this moment, to acknowledge and recognize the site of a global movement focused on racial equality.” The permanent memorial is still under discussion. Meanwhile, Black-owned businesses are pursuing other big ideas that will shape the street. Construction may start next spring on Dreamland on 38th, a project to build a cafe and Black business incubator at 3800 3rd Ave. S. It’s inspired by the namesake Dreamland Cafe that served celebrities like Lena Horne and Frankie Lymon as a rare social center for African Americans when it opened at 38th & 4th in the late ’30s. The project is a partnership between the nonprofit Cultural Wellness Center (CWC), which co-owns the Midtown Global Market, and property owner Dr. Freeman Waynewood, CEO of KingField Family Dental at 38th & Nicollet. Waynewood grew up attending segregated Texas schools and remembers only a handful of businesses owned by people of color, including a hotel, a service station and an insurance agency. Waynewood invested in the early ’80s to help purchase the state’s first Black-owned railroad, the Minnesota Valley Transportation Co. in southern Minnesota. “That was the beginning, but I’ve always supported Black entrepreneurs in whatever way possible,” he said. “Support, I think, that’s the key thing. Encouragement.” Waynewood said there are budding ideas to redevelop his Kingfield dental office as well. “We’re at the western end of 38th Street, and with the George Floyd issue, with the potential for a memorial of some sort, I can envision this corridor as being a unifying as well as an identifying point in the city for people of color,” he said. Dreamland and CWC Associate Anthony Taylor will lead “Slow Roll” bike rides down 38th this summer to historical sites, which now include the site where Floyd was killed. “Communities west of 35W, they can’t imagine that someone would do that, because their lived experience is inconsistent with that. This filming of it, unceasing, unflinching, watching a man die in plain sight, stretched what people imagined and therefore believe,” Taylor said. “People really are deeply impacted because it absolutely did not allow you to look away. You know that corner.”
Living in a protest site
A few doors south of Floyd’s memorial, Gloria Burnett said she wants 38th & Chicago to remain closed, as it is now. She pointed out a street sign where someone had pasted over Chicago Avenue to rename the street George Floyd Avenue. The intersection is finding a daily rhythm, said Rashad West, owner of the Dragon Wok restaurant that relocated in March from Kingfield to 38th & Chicago. In the morning, visitors come for reflection. Later in the afternoon, people start grilling and singing and dancing. It’s been a difficult time for the business. West released May 25 surveillance video showing Floyd not resisting arrest, and the restaurant announced that it stands in solidarity with the neighborhood and the Black community. “It’s bigger than us,” West said. And in the midst of COVID-19, West worries about his friends at other restaurants
FROM EAST AFRICAN BUSINESSES / PAGE A8
didn’t even stand a chance. And many, when you talk to them about record keeping, they had a shoebox in their house. … They can’t afford to hire accountants to be on their payroll.” Some East African business owners emigrated to the United States with a mistrust of the government and others don’t want to take out a loan for fear of high
adjusting to a business model based on takeout and delivery. Dragon Wok is still delivering to the same customers in Southwest, even walking curbside pickup orders a few blocks away upon request. Businesses that make it to the other side of the pandemic will benefit from all the innovation, he said. “We’ve just got to keep putting up a fight,” he said. “38th Street is different, but it’s quieting down substantially from the last two to three weeks back,” said Tracey Williams-Dillard, publisher of the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, the historic Black-owned newspaper with offices at 38th & 4th. She said it felt like the newspaper was initially reporting in a war zone, hearing low-flying helicopters and seeing the National Guard stationed behind the building. “I grew up in that building, my grandfather started the paper in 1934. And at the age of 8, I was going in there doing whatever I could do. To pull up in front of a building that had never been boarded in my lifetime … just hit me really hard,” she said. In November, the city renamed a portion of 4th Avenue South “Launa Q. Newman Way” after Williams-Dillard’s grandmother. When Launa Newman’s husband, Cecil, died, there weren’t many female publishers, and a competitor moved into the building, expecting to take over. But Newman continued running the paper, standing in front of a grid sheet manually pasting up articles until a family member introduced computers to the office. She ran the paper for 30 years before turning it over to Williams-Dillard in 2007. The newspaper hosted a virtual town hall meeting July 2 titled “Call to Action: We Are Not Okay (And That’s Okay).” “The Black community is dealing with two different pandemics. We’re dealing with the COVID pandemic and we’re dealing with the George Floyd pandemic, and it’s just a double whammy on our community,” Williams-Dillard said. As advertisers pull back dollars during the pandemic, the paper is taking donations and selling subscriptions. Knowing that African Americans are disproportionately dying of COVID-19, the paper is heavily focused on health education. “It’s been a struggle at times. But then at the same time it’s been a joy, because I’m seeing the difference the paper makes in the stories we do in the community,” she said. “History is unfolding right in front of our eyes, and we have to make sure that we document that history,” said Tina Burnside, curator of the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum. Long-term plans for the museum include relocating to a site on 38th Avenue, perhaps at Sabathani Community Center. The museum is currently slated to reopen Aug. 4 at Plymouth & Penn on the North Side with new exhibits featuring protest photos by John Steitz, preserved plywood art and video performances by LaTanya Cannady, Joe Davis, Nico Moore and Drea Reynolds. Sixteen artists will paint a Black Lives Matter mural on the Plymouth Avenue roadway July 18. Another new exhibit details the 1920 lynching of three African American men accused of a crime without physical evidence in Duluth. A mob of people dragged Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie out of their jail cells and lynched them from a light pole. Burnside said it’s important to understand the context for Floyd’s death. “Everyone has this view of Minnesota as being a progressive state, and lynching only happened in the South. But no, it happened
here in our own state,” Burnside said. “And now 100 years later, we have the killing of George Floyd, uncovering the veil from police brutality and systemic racism and racial violence against Black people.” Burnside is among those calling for a change in ownership at Cup Foods, suggesting raising money to buy the building and open an affordable grocery store at 38th & Chicago. Other new ideas are coming from the Bryant Neighborhood Organization, which voted to establish a George Floyd Empowerment Center, envisioned as an anti-racist training institute, a memorial and a free community event space. In a recent online call, more than 160 community members joined Council Vice President Jenkins to talk about ideas for a permanent memorial at 38th & Chicago, which include a garden or a sculpture. One idea is a roundabout, although some advocated for closing the intersection, disliking the idea of driving over the space. Jenkins noted that Chicago Avenue carries the most-used bus route in the state. “We have lived for the past 40 years with a major street in our city that was closed down — Nicollet Avenue. It really disrupts the entirety of the whole city,” she said. “If we disrupt that route, we disrupt a lot of Black and Brown people’s livelihoods.” Jenkins expects to quickly rename the 38th & Chicago intersection in honor of Floyd, although the details are still being finalized. She also hopes to rename Columbus Avenue in the future. On the call, Jeanelle Austin asked for the community’s blessing to start composting dried flowers at 38th & Chicago for reuse in community gardens. She started tending the memorial shortly after Floyd died, straightening the flowers and sweeping the streets. Her guiding principle is: “Everything is somebody’s offering. Throw nothing away.” Even the dirt is reused, said volunteer Regina Marie Williams. Living three blocks away, Austin arrives each day around 6 a.m. while the intersection is still hushed. She returns home in time for meetings at her startup, the Racial Agency Initiative. Austin is a racial justice coach, helping churches, corporations and individuals answer the question: “What can I do?” She advises everyone to address racism wherever they are, whether it be at work, at the dinner table or in the mirror. If everyone does their part, change could come fast, she said.
interest rates, Hassan said. This can make it difficult to even foster a conversation about available loan or grant options, she said. “No one wants another loan, and no one wants another burden,” she said. “And today, many people are not sure whether [their business is] going to make it or not. We’re still in the middle of COVID-19.” Zoe Thiel, who heads the city’s Small Business Team, said for businesses damaged by
the civil unrest, much of the current available programs and aid is within the private sector. The Lake Street Council has raised about $7.5 million to help businesses and nonprofits build and reopen, and community organizations like the African Development Center in Cedar-Riverside have been a huge asset to the city, she said. Community partners have been helping business owners report small business loss,
Volunteers tend the flowers at George Floyd’s memorial at 38th & Chicago. Left to right: Jemette Owens, Regina Marie Williams, Toby Hettler and Jeanelle Austin. Photo by Michelle Bruch
She recommends reading history written by Black authors and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech in its entirety. “Everyone loves to say these things take time,” she said. “It only takes time because people don’t want to change. When people want something, people will make it happen.”
Beginning the work
“I think this moment of solidarity that we see is important. And now we begin the work,” Taylor said. The proposed boundaries of the 38th Street cultural district are Nicollet Avenue to the west, 36th Street to the north, Bloomington Avenue to the east and 40th Street to the south. The draft plan, dubbed 38th Street Thrive, calls for celebrations of arts and culture, a minority small business relief program for shops at risk of closure, a Black Heritage Land Trust to help African Americans own homes and commercial space, a capital fund to leverage low-interest construction loans, and a solar cooperative on Sabathani’s roof. To keep housing affordable in the area, one suggestion would give tax relief to longtime homeowners who see property assessments increase by 15%. Landlords would be encouraged to participate in a city program that offers property tax reduction in exchange for affordable units. Another idea would launch the Clarissa Walker Homebuyers Club, named for the woman who spent 39 years as a constant presence at the community center. The Saturday morning breakfast club could cover topics like credit repair, house maintenance 101 and down payment assistance. An upcoming CWC project would map the area’s historical African American land ownership and look at how wealth did or did not transfer forward over time. Given the current crises, community meetings on 38th Street Thrive are delayed. At the moment, Jenkins is focused on safety. She was devastated by the news that a pregnant woman had died of a gunshot wound inflicted at 37th & Elliott, while her baby was placed in intensive care. “We have to get some control over the safety in our communities,” Jenkins said. “Safety at the intersection of 38th & Chicago is of utmost concern now.” But she still envisions a stand-alone Center for Racial Healing, to give Black people space to heal from everyday trauma. “Hope is what keeps me going,” Jenkins said.
file insurance claims, fill out loan applications, request property tax relief and navigate other forms of aid. Thiel said city staff can direct people to these partners but are not allowed to help citizens fill out loan or grant applications. “If folks are not sure where to start or what’s available, we are happy to work with them to navigate the systems,” she said. “The message I want people to have is that even if it’s a tough environment, they’re not alone in it.”
MNA - CenterPoint Energy SWJ 070920 FP.indd 1
7/2/20 5:23 PM
Southwest Journal July 9–22, 2020
d e t i n u e R es S e n ior hom
allow s
do o r t u o d e s i v uper
v i s it s
By Zac Farber
S
hortly after 10 a.m. on June 30, Martha Engh bounded up a concrete stairwell behind the JonesHarrison senior home in CedarIsles-Dean and saw her grandmother, Dolcie, for the first time since before the pandemic. As they exchanged greetings through plexiglass panels, a Jones-Harrison staffer squirted Martha’s hands generously with hand sanitizer and pressed a temporal thermometer to her forehead. Meanwhile, Martha’s mother, Nancy, handed a slice of chocolate cake over the patio’s iron railing, placing it on a table to be screened by staff. A moment later, the three Engh women were seated in conversation, cracking jokes about moose sightings, the St. Paul Saints and Dolcie’s 100th birthday party, which is scheduled for October. Martha told her grandmother she’s been spending the summer in Jackson, Wyoming,
living with her boyfriend while she interviews for tech jobs via Zoom. “I remember visiting there when I was about your age,” Dolcie replied. “I had a rhinestone cowboy who offered to come and meet my family.” “Did you send that cowboy off on his horse somewhere?” Nancy asked. Dolcie said the cowboy sent her letters, but “I couldn’t read his writing.” Following a change in state guidelines announced June 17, the state’s long-term care facilities have begun allowing supervised outdoor visits. Jones-Harrison has created three visiting stations — separating residents of the assisted living, skilled nursing and memory care wards. The home is allowing each tenant to spend at least 15 minutes per week with their family. Barb Joyce, Jones-Harrison’s infection preventionist, said the rules around the visits
are an attempt to balance residents’ physical and psychosocial well-being. Since the start of the pandemic, 56 Jones-Harrison residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and 20 have died, but facility-wide testing has helped contain the spread of the disease in recent weeks and, as of July 2, the facility’s COVID unit was down to four patients. “Right now people are healthy and the weather is good,” Joyce said. “With the community opening up, it would be nice to get at least one visit per family. Maybe that will help them if we get into a second wave.” Around 10:20 a.m. the morning of the Enghs’ visit, Jones-Harrison’s recreation director, Marnie Lazarus, politely interrupted, informing the women that their time together was over: “I hate to break it up, but all good things must come to an end.” Next up was Rob Dewey, dropping in on his 97-year-old mother, Elizabeth. They chatted
about fried chicken, medical bills and Rob’s seven sisters, with Elizabeth praising her only son as “the best guy in the whole wide world.” It wasn’t long before Lazarus piped up — “That’s the voice of 15 minutes” — and it was Rob’s turn to descend the stairs, grateful for the visit but a little sad. “What I’m really eager to do is get back upstairs and be able to help her in her apartment,” he said. “The sucky thing is not getting to touch her or be with her physically for months and months when you know you’re so lucky she’s around and in such good shape.” He said he had faith things would turn out all right. “When it started, you didn’t know — is it 50-50 that she’s going to make it? She’s basically locked in this dangerous place,” he said. “But as far as I can tell, they’ve done a first-rate job of managing everything. ... I think she’s going to live forever.”
Top: Dolcie Engh, an assisted living tenant at Jones-Harrison, looks through plexiglass at her granddaughter Martha and her daughter-in-law Nancy on June 30. Above: The senior home’s recreation director, Marnie Lazarus, prepares Rob Dewey for an outdoor visit with his mother, Elizabeth. Photos by Isaiah Rustad
B2 July 9–22, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Moments in Minneapolis
By Karen E. Cooper
A failed stab at reforming a corrupt police force
I
n the history of corrupt Minneapolis city politics and terrible policing, every local historian’s lodestar is Albert Alonzo Ames, four-time Minneapolis mayor. In 1903, “Doc” Ames made the national press for his shady racketeering and corrupt police force. His spectacular downfall is chronicled in Erik Rivenes’ 2018 book “Dirty Doc Ames and the Scandal That Shook Minneapolis.” But Ames wasn’t always a crook. Though he was elected mayor four times, Ames never served consecutive terms. When elected in 1882 to his second term, Ames won with a majority of the votes in the largest voter turnout in the city’s history. He was not a straightand-narrow guy but someone who enjoyed a little vice. The powerful men of Minneapolis had no time for someone who made a mockery of their careful ways. Temperance — a life lived without drink — was increasingly their model for a civilized person. Ames was leading the city but had little personal interest in being a traditionalist or conformist. His administration, however, was run fair and square. He was a “law and order” mayor. He gave the police strict orders against hanging out in saloons, increased the size of the force and established police substations in the wards. He improved communications with the police by providing telephones and telegraphs. But his political enemies had their knives out during the election and long after. These anti-saloon Republicans brought hysteria to the newspaper pages of the Minneapolis Tribune. Much of the vitriol against Doc Ames came from this paper, and that was true even when the owners changed. Editorials claimed that “the rum interests” — 270 saloons and the liquor distributors — owned Ames. They claimed he would allow Sunday sales and alcohol sales to children and habitual drunkards. In fact, he explicitly told his police to prohibit these things. The police didn’t follow orders all that closely. They drank in the saloons and then slept on the job. They went off on trips but collected their pay. They were undisciplined and out-of-control, and the chief had little authority over his force. A few weeks into his administration, Ames’ enemies formed the Citizen’s League to combat “the persistent and brazen lawlessness of those engaged in the drink
Mayor Albert A. “Doc” Ames was rebuked for his lax oversight of Minneapolis’ police force by the establishment of an independent police commission, which required a change to the city charter. He called the change an effort “to rob the Democratic mayor of the power vested in him by the people.” Photo courtesy of Hennepin County Library
trade.” They, not Ames, would see to it that existing laws were obeyed. They would “save our youth from dissipation and vice.” The next day, one of Minneapolis’ National Guard units, the Minneapolis
A political cartoon from 1905, three years after Ames resigned from office while being investigated for corruption. Mayor David P. Jones told the police to enforce the city’s liquor laws but had trouble getting them to obey his commands. Image courtesy of Hennepin County Library
Zouaves, disbanded and took on a new name — Ames’ Zouaves. Minneapolis found itself between these two extra-judicial forces, the Citizen’s League and Albert Alonzo Ames’ private military. The conflict never reached a breaking point; there was no pitched battle in the streets. By December, letters to newspapers asked what had become of the Citizen’s League, wondering, “When did it die, and where was it buried?” The Citizen’s League had little presence in enforcing the alcohol laws in Minneapolis, and Ames’ Zouaves demobilized a year later. The vice trade grew. The number of saloons increased to more than 350. Ames’ defenders said this was hardly his fault, that no legal limit of licensing kept the number of saloons down. The agitation from the newspapers kept up. “Lewd women” lounged about in saloons and houses of ill fame. These crimes against the public morals were an outrage. The City Council leaned into the idea of keeping a firmer hand on the police, with the notion that the rising prevalence of vice was due to lax police work. The police just didn’t show up for work or they came in obviously drunk. Some got fired for extracurricular activities like burglary. The council established its own committee on policing, which conducted some oversight at the end of the Ames administration. In April 1884, George A. Pillsbury — Republican, Baptist, teetotaler, anti-saloon reformer and
capitalist — was sworn in as mayor. At this time, Minneapolis was annexing new areas. The population was increasing rapidly — as was the size of the police force and the number of establishments catering to vices. Mayor Pillsbury limited the locations where saloons could be licensed, thereby creating an illegal saloon industry known as “blind pigs.” But Pillsbury failed at reform. The city was still infested with thugs, thieves and burglars. He actually hired onto the police force some of the famous criminals who would later make Ames’ downfall so spectacular. Pillsbury hired Ed. A. Stevens as police clerk, who was forced to resign when he was found to be taking bribes from those “lewd women.” After two years, the Democrats nominated Ames, who defeated Pillsbury and returned to the mayoralty. Ames still had no friends among the city’s conservative elite. The Tribune claimed that his oversight of the police force explained the social ills afflicting the city — that, under his watch, officers were “obliged by their superiors to extend immunity to the gamblers and swindling fakirs that infest the city.” Ames’ opponents mobilized to create an independent police commission, which required a charter amendment at the state Legislature. The charter amendment passed in February 1887, a year into Ames’ third term. This new commission was no City Council committee. The mayor served as president, but other members were chosen from the two dominant political parties and the mayor no longer had hiring or firing control over the force. Ames saw the change as an effort “to rob the Democratic mayor of the power vested in him by the people.” “If the local government were Republican no such commission would have been considered necessary,” he wrote. “In my opinion this is high-handed partisan fanatical legislation against the will of the people. And will give us a Democratic governor and legislature two years from now, when the evils now being inflicted will meet with speedy revocation.” This commission took away the patronage that allowed the mayor to put his favorites on the force. It instituted educational and physical exams, whereupon several officers quit or were disqualified. It increased the size of the force to 169. It also made the questionable decision to allow drunk-on-duty officers to be reprimanded but stay on the force. Not everyone embraced the police commission. The St. Paul Globe said, “Suppose a riot should break out? It requires four votes to secure action. The torch of the incendiary would be waving over the city while the police commission is in deadlock.” Businesses took their requests to the police commission in hopes of getting police services. Some fired cops set up their own “detective agencies,” whose prisoners the commission refused to accept. A common complaint was that the police commission was more poorly suited to judging police accused of assault than a court and jury. With its extra-judicial handling of police affairs, its slowness to act and some highly questionable decisions, the police commission had no friends on the streets of Minneapolis. The committee adjourned in 1891 and its clause in the Minneapolis charter was repealed. This attempt at reforming the police and city government had failed. In another nine years, Ames would be back at the helm of city government.
38th St southwestjournal.com / July 9–22, 2020 B3
Xerxes Ave S
Zenith Ave S
Lynnhurst historic district advances over homeowners’ objections By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com
Jill Hagen
th St
Pkw
yE
doesn’t seem appropriate to designate this part of the city as a historic place,” he said.W 42nd St Other HPC members said they were bound by the language of the existing ordinance, and while they’d ideally like for area homeowners to support the designation, W 43nd St opposition is not an adequate reason for denying the district’s approval. The City Council Business Inspections and Zoning Committee will decide in July W 44th St whether to recommend approval of the district to the full council.
Har
riet
W 45th St Proposed historic district
Lak e
W 46th St
Colfax Ave S
Dupont Ave S
Emerson Ave S
W 47th St Fremont Ave S
It also barred local homeowners from completing exterior renovation projects that would alter their houses’ original exterior materials until it decided whether to designate the area a historic district. The study, completed this winter, found that many blocks north of 46th Street and west of Fremont Avenue wouldn’t meet the threshold for becoming a historic district because of large amounts of reconstruction. But the 66 houses still have their original exterior materials, and almost none have been significantly altered, New History found. They share similar characteristics, such as architectural styles popular with the upper-middle class around the turn of the century, large lots and garages for early automobiles. Two homeowners who testified against the HPC designation said the city should not celebrate a white, upper-class neighborhood that developed during an era of discriminatory housing practices. Lake “I don’t want to be part of a neighborHarriet hood that would embrace the mistakes of the past,” said Emerson Avenue homeowner Rev. Timothy Hart-Andersen, the pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church. Commissioner Ian Stade, who voted against the designation, said at a June 9 meeting that it would preserve “a pocket of white privilege.” “Right now, in this moment in history, it just
Girard Ave S
advanced to the City Council over objections that it would be a burden on homeowners and that the city shouldn’t celebrate neighborhoods from where people of color have been excluded. The Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) voted 6-3 on June 23 in favor of the designation, which would require homeowners to preserve many of their homes’ original exterior features. While specific requirements have not yet been outlined, design guidelines would likely mandate the preservation of original windows, doors, masonry cladding and decorative trim, among other features. The 66 houses, built mostly between 1893 and 1937, are on Emerson, Fremont and Dupont avenues between 46th and 48th streets. They all are worth at least $513,000, according to city property records. Eleven of the 12 homeowners who spoke in two public hearings said they were W 47th St opposed to the designation, and 19 of the 20 who wrote comments to the city said they were against it. The homeowners said that they have been good stewards of their houses even without the designation and that it would increase home-project costs and make the neighborhood less affordable. They asked that the city
not impose the designation on a neighborhood that doesn’t want it. “It’s a real hardship,” said Al Theisen, a Lynnhurst realtor who remodels historic houses and is working on a project in the proposed district. He said restoring historic features like windows and siding is more expensive than replacing them. HPC members said the city-funded report by the firm New History made a strong case for the historic designation under the city’s historic-preservation ordinance, which lays out seven criteria under which a property or district should be designated historic. The small neighborhood just east of Lake Harriet represents a “remarkable concentration” of upper-middle-class houses from the era with historic integrity, according to the report. “It’s incredibly unusual to find particularly a residential district like this where you have such intact resources,” said Michael Koop with the State Historic Preservation Office, which gave its approval for the district. The 66 houses are among 216 east of the lake that were identified in 2005 as potentially being worthy of historic-district status. When a homeowner applied last summer to tear down a house on the 4600 block of Emerson Avenue, the HPC blocked the request in order to further study the area’s historic significance.
Humboldt Ave S
A plan to designate a cluster of 66 Lynnhurst
Whouses 42ndasSt a local historic district has been
W 48th St
W 50th St
Client Focused | Results Driven
Jill Hagen | jill.hagen@cbburnet.com | 612-834-2673 Hagen Jill SWJ 031920 H12.indd 1
3/10/20 6:50 PM
th St
Logan Ave S
Call today! Penn Ave S
Xerxes Ave S
For Sellers: Housing is at a historically low level, buyer demand is strong. For Buyers: Mortgage rates continue to remain low, a good time to invest in a home.
Accepting new patients for Telehealth video and phone appointments. Legacy Mental Health Center’s diverse group of experienced W 54th St therapists offers support to clients from all walks of life. We will match a provider to meet your needs. Our staff and providers are committed to your wellness.
(952) 426-3034 | LegacyMentalHealth.org 6550 York Avenue South, Suite 503, Edina, MN, 55435 admin@legacymentalhealth.org
Legacy Mental Health SWJ 062520 H12.indd 2
th St
6/16/20 2:53 PM
Ave S
Ave S
W 58th St
Roadrunner Records SWJ 070920 H12.indd 1
7/2/20 10:31 AM
B4 July 9–22, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Voices from the pandemic
Stories of coronavirus in Minneapolis How do you tell the story of what it’s like to live through a pandemic? Throughout this crisis, the Southwest Journal is keeping in touch with a selection of local residents including an infection preventionist at a senior home, a bedside nurse, a retired couple and a Hennepin County commissioner. All interviews are edited for length and clarity. Reporting for this project is by Zac Farber, Nate Gotlieb and Andrew Hazzard.
Barb Joyce, infection preventionist, Jones-Harrison senior living
“I want nothing more than to go over to my uncle’s apartment and give him a haircut.” THURSDAY, JULY 2 Things haven’t changed very much. We’re still in a holding pattern where we’re getting one or two positive tests every week. On one side of the coin, you can say, “Dang it, it’s still here.” But on the other side of the coin, you can say, “We have slowed this monster down.” The numbers are greatly diminished, and so is the severity of the illness. We still don’t have any new cases in assisted living, but this week we had the first case on our [long-term care] floor in a while. We’re grateful that even these people who are testing positive are not sick, sick, sick. But that can change at any time. We’re also not seeing the dying like we were in the beginning. I don’t know why this is happening — it could be that the virus mutated — but I’m very happy for it. The period where a lot of people were dying rapidly was very disconcerting because this is our family, and we didn’t have the time to grieve. So that’s still a big piece of the stress we’re carrying as we work through this. Last week our goal was to get to zero cases, but this week our discussion has been: Is that even realistic as the community starts to open up and we start to allow visitations? As people do what they want to do outside of the facility, including going to the bars without thinking about masks? As the nation’s numbers are rising, people travel more and employees take vacations? We have to worry about all of that and prevent the virus from coming into our doors through the summer months. We’re creating a travel policy for employees’ vacations. Some will be asked to test before coming back to work — depending on if they’ve traveled on mass transit, if they’ve traveled somewhere with high incidence or if they’ve attended a wedding, a family reunion or a large gathering. We thought about canceling vacations. But look at how hard we have worked; we need them. With that said, I had to cancel my vacation. I was going home to be with my family and grieve with my family in California over the loss of my mother on April 21. But because California’s numbers are out of control or climbing, I just didn’t want to chance it. We decided as a family that we would postpone her memorial. Grieving is a very big thing. It’s kind of like
a big lump that doesn’t go away until you go through the process. That’s what I am in need of, and I can’t get to it. I can only imagine others are feeling the same way. The lack of grieving, of funerals, of gathering with your families is another big psychosocial thing we just don’t know the ramifications of at this point. But it’s there. I can feel it. I can feel it. My family are all together in Orange County. They’ve had their social distancing time together, and I’m the odd man out because I live in Minnesota. I’m fearful that I’m going to go into the next wave and it will get postponed again. I am taking a week off, and my husband and I are going to go into the wilderness. We’ll do some hiking and biking — Duluth, maybe Wisconsin — just traveling the less traveled path around the park system. At Jones-Harrison, we’re trying to get back to our old normal. That’s a plus to the testing we’re doing. We feel safer knowing the tests are negative. So in our assisted living they are holding small group activities with five people or fewer. They’re socially distanced in some common areas where residents can spread out. Our chaplain is leading chats. Our therapeutic recreation staff is reading the news. It’s a way to be together and bring in some humanity. In our assisted living, they have opened dining again, We’ve reduced the number and increased the space between residents. They are definitely enjoying that. They get to see other people, they get to wave to other people. My uncle lives on this campus, and I get to see him from a distance and wave to him. So it’s definitely a good thing. The new guidance we’re super pleased about is to allow pets into the facility, as long as they’re on a 6-foot leash. An animal can now come sit on our residents’ laps. A resident can pet this animal and love this animal and feel this tangible energy from this unconditional being of love — that’s what pets are. It brings the sensation of touch to our residents. Of course, if you give an inch, people want to take a mile, and I am in the same boat as well. I want nothing more than to go over to my uncle’s apartment and give him a haircut. But that’s still not allowed, so as to avoid crosscontamination. In my head, I’m probably one of the safest people to go over there, but I have to respect these boundaries, because the consistency is how the system works.
Jennifer Vongroven, bedside nurse, HCMC
“I feel like COVID has not gone away and another lockdown may be in our future.” MONDAY, JUNE 29 There are fewer COVID cases now. There are fewer inpatient patients and there are fewer patients in the ICU by far. There’s been a gradual change over the last week or two. As of yesterday, there were four ICU patients and 11 non-ICU inpatients, which is a huge difference. I’m guessing we’re at a quarter of what we were before if not more. [In late May, there were more than 80 confirmed COVID-19 patients at HCMC, about a third of them in the ICU.] My personal opinion is it’s because people were washing their hands, they were staying home, they were quarantining. This definitely helps prevent the spread of the disease. The less vigilant we become, the more the disease is going to spread again and again. We are already trending up in Minnesota. There’s a continuous fluctuation of the
numbers. Yesterday, there were 516 new diagnosed cases statewide. People are getting more comfortable. With the riots that have happened worldwide, people are thinking of something other than COVID, which has been our focus for the past few months. People are getting more relaxed in general. People aren’t hypervigilant anymore. While there is more outdoor activity, which is better if you’re going to be associating with others, more people are being connected. While we are safer in general, I have a suspicion that these numbers will definitely go up again. Our visitor policy at the hospital is still absolutely no visitors unless the patient is a minor. That’s for this exact reason. There may not be as many people hospitalized right now, but it is still just as dangerous as the day we found about it. The change I’ve seen most as a float nurse [during the lull] is I’m not always scheduled for the ICU right now. That’s liberalized my workday a little more, because I don’t think people realize how draining it is to put on that PPE [personal protective equipment] and take it off every time you’re coming in and out of a room. I have not been reading as much national news about the pandemic lately, mostly because of what’s happening around the city and in my own neighborhood. I’ve stepped back from being a street medic because every time I go to the hospital, I am increasing my chance of getting COVID. And I do have asthma and it would be a risk, if I get the virus. Should I get sick, I’m not only putting myself at risk, I’m putting my patients and coworkers at risk and am also short-staffing the hospital. But I have been quite involved with the neighborhood. The Powderhorn Park [homeless] sanctuary is a block from my house. I started riding my bike to work and I ride past the sanctuary every day. It’s definitely a humanitarian crisis that is happening in front of us. What’s different right now in my neighborhood is you can’t drive through Chicago Avenue anymore. It’s a semi-permanent memorial to George Floyd. I’ve been visiting it on a regular basis since the day after he was killed. That’s the new normal. It’s the new normal to have 300 people living in the park. It’s the new normal to have strangers walking by who we don’t normally see. This is a good opportunity to engage in social distancing while still having conversations out in the open. But I can’t go to the stores I’d normally go to because a lot of them have burned down or been destroyed. I’m concerned for my safety. There have been two reported cases of sexual assault in the last two weeks. There is a receptacle for found needles — and that worries me because this is where I walk with my dog. On a selfish level, I want to be able to play in the park with my dog. It’s a change from my normal. I normally drive down Chicago Avenue to go to my bank or my drugstore. I can’t do those things anymore. But it is selfish. When you compare it with what people with homelessness or mental health issues or people suffering from racial disparities face every day, my privilege is showing. I also want people to have adequate housing. I’ll be paying student loans for years to come, but I am privileged in that I am white in America, have steady employment, a home and a dependable network of friends and family. My neighborhood has, through its various meetings, made a conscious effort to not call the police — because people of color are more at risk. I find this concerning, but I understand the rationale behind it. I’ve spoken with several police officers, including a couple with the MPD, about what’s going on. One of them said, “I would give up five cops for five mental health workers.” The police I’ve spoken with believe much along the lines of what the public wants — a reallocation of funds into a more appropriate venue. The 2020 budget for police is $193 million, while for affordable housing it’s $31 million.
My neighborhood watch is still active, but it’s not as busy as it was. There’s definitely more crime in the area. There are fewer helicopters in the area, but when I hear one my heart starts to thump. A month ago, I was dealing with everything that was happening — between the intensity of the ICU and the COVID patients and their family members and the stress at home and the never-ending assault on the senses. It was hard. I was not doing well. I was not eating well. About three weeks after all of these things happened, I hit a shutdown mode and, for a couple of days, I kind of convalesced. I needed to do that for my well-being. Sleep is still a little challenging, but it’s getting better now. I’ve turned on some loud fans at night so the fireworks — or was it a gunshot? — don’t bother me quite as much. Because there’s nothing I can do about it while lying in my bed. I feel like COVID has not gone away and another lockdown may be in our future. I know that’s going to be very difficult on people, but it may be necessary to prevent another jump. We need to understand this disease is not going to go away — that racial disparity is never going to go away — unless we acknowledge it and then do something about it. Until that happens, we’re just going to be stuck in this pandemic rut.
Arminta and Ron Miller, residents, Waters on 50th senior living community
“I really want to be able to do FaceTime with my brother Robert.” WEDNESDAY, JULY 1 Arminta: We are opening up more here. The good news is they opened up the exercise room, though only one person — or couple — can be in there at a time. Ron: We get two 20-minute sessions one day per week. Arminta: Yesterday, I rode the bike, which felt really good to do, and Ron rode the bike and used all the machines. I wish we had more time. They’ve also added an exercise class outside with tai chi. It can only be four people outside at a time because we have to be spaced apart. Ron does that, and I’m thinking I might try it, too. Our apartment is right on the corner next to the garden. They’re starting to do 20-minute outdoor visits with families. We haven’t done it yet, but we’ve watched from our window. We’ve been seeing all these fun reunions. We watched as one of the nice little ladies here, Lois Peterson, had visitors for her 91st birthday. They were giving her presents, and it was just so good to see her out there because we just aren’t seeing people. People are so tickled to see each other. On the Fourth of July, they’ll have a celebration like a picnic, but it’s going to be delivered to our room. It’s usually held outside. One year we even shucked corn. This Lois Peterson is from Iowa, and I remember her teaching us how to shuck corn properly — it was so cute. This year we’ll have brats and cheeseburgers and potato salad. But we won’t be able to get together. I’m trying to learn to use a computer my son sent me. I’m pretty slow at it, and I wish my grandson Aaron could talk me through it while sitting next to me. It’s pretty hard over the phone. But he’s been very patient. I’m sure he thinks his grandma’s not very bright. Ron: We know nothing about computers. Arminta: But I really want to be able to do FaceTime with my brother Robert, who’s at Mount Olivet. He’s 93 and he’s in hospice right
southwestjournal.com / July 9–22, 2020 B5
now, but they say he’s doing very well. He gets angry — he’s got a bit of dementia — but they’re very patient with him, so I’m grateful for that. I want to be able to see him, though I don’t know if he’ll understand it. I feel guilty. Let’s see, what else have we been up to? Our drugs got all messed up because our drugstore, the Walgreens at 54th & Lyndale, got looted. Ron: They’ve finally set up a mobile drugstore, but we had to find other drugstores that have our drugs. There’s one on France and there’s one in Edina. Arminta: It isn’t far — in fact, it’s closer — but it’s just that we’d been going there for so long. Ron: And you know all the people. Arminta: It just got very confusing. One prescription, they said they filled it, but they sent it to Montana of all places. So Ron’s been arguing with them about that.
Marion Greene, board chair, Hennepin County
“It is a time of scrutiny and that feels really terrifying, but on the other hand, it’s what’s needed. I want to not be afraid of that even though it’s making everybody sweat.” MONDAY, JUNE 22 It’s hard to describe how everything has changed. The urgency is huge and appropriate. The easiest and most obvious entry point
for the county is in economic development and finding ways our sort-of-deep pockets can be helpful. Something I’m working on with the board right now has to do with preventing displacement around Lake Street. There’s a concern about gentrification and just wanting to make sure that any gentrification doesn’t cause displacement. How can we prevent displacement? Is it through land acquisition and holding? Is it the use of a land bank possibly? Hennepin County, on the official side, is doing all right because we got our CARES Act dollars straight from the federal department. Where we are disappointed is that we did immediately move — in the wake of the killing of George Floyd — to add police reform to our Legislative agenda. It’s something we’ve supported in the past, but we really wanted to make the step of having that in the platform, expecting that the [state Legislature’s] special session would not only focus on that but yield something. There was a sense of disappointment that the world was watching, and the Senate just walked away and clearly didn’t want to take that opportunity. I thought there was a little more unanimity on the issues. I thought one of the weird elements of the protests and something I took note of was seeing interviews here and there with people who I don’t usually find myself in political allyship with, but who were there to speak in support of Black Lives Matter. So I thought now we’ve turned some corner where we’re all getting this, but then it didn’t materialize. I feel like nobody’s exempt from criticism, not even the county, though we are more distant from this issue. The murder of George Floyd and the MPD — that’s a Minneapolis police force and the destruction has been in Minneapolis. On the other hand, it’s the county attorney who needs to have brought the charges and finally did. So I felt like the eyeballs were on me too — and good. It is a time of scrutiny and that feels really
terrifying, but on the other hand, it’s what’s needed. I want to not be afraid of that even though it’s making everybody sweat. What’s on my mind, and I think it’s a stress and an honor, is: Am I going to be one of the leaders who’s needed at this moment? We have got to collectively pick up the baton that’s been handed to us and carry it forward. People are really engaged and looking to their elected officials for both transparency and leadership. It depends on the day what the topic is. There are issues with bringing the [legal] case. There are issues with the medical examiner’s reappointment. There is also what’s going on in Powderhorn Park and the region’s ongoing challenges with unsheltered homelessness. Homelesness is something I’ve been thinking about and working on for a while, but the presence of the encampment in Powderhorn puts the issue front and center for some folks who haven’t been aware of it. The challenge for us at the county is not a resource question any longer. We’ve had buildings offered to us, and we don’t have the staff. We’ve reached out to our partners at Catholic Charities and St. Stephens, and they don’t have the staff either. We’ve recruited as many Hennepin County employees as we can to work in shelters. Before this time the county never ran a shelter; we always worked with outside contractors. Now we are running shelters and the contractors are running expanded shelters, and everybody is doing everything they can. If somebody were to hand us a multi-million contract, I would say, “I’m sorry, we just can’t accept.” There’s nothing more we can do; it’s beyond a money issue. Even if we were handed several hundred staff, we’d need the staff person to organize them. It’s not just people hours, it’s the infrastructure that supports developing staff to do that work. The other thing on my mind is Hennepin County has made race equity a part of our work in recent years. I think that’s great, but the dial needs to be moved and the people
ONGOING COVERAGE Keep reading local residents’ stories as the crisis evolves at tinyurl.com/ voices-from-the-pandemic. Barb Joyce: tinyurl.com/vfp-barb-joyce Arminta and Ron Miller: tinyurl.com/vfp-the-millers Jennifer Vongroven: tinyurl.com/vfp-jennifer-vongroven Marion Greene: tinyurl.com/vfp-marion-greene Parissa Delavari tinyurl.com/vfp-parissa-delavari Annette Greely: tinyurl.com/vfp-annette-greely Brenda Howard-Larson: tinyurl.com/vfp-brenda-howard-larson Peter Kumasaka: tinyurl.com/vfp-peter-kumasaka Matthew Prekker tinyurl.com/vfp-matthew-prekker Tracey Schultz: tinyurl.com/vfp-tracey-schultz Jesse Vasquez: tinyurl.com/vfp-jesse-vasquez Jen and Marcus Wilson: tinyurl.com/vfp-the-wilsons Marcia Zimmerman: tinyurl.com/vfp-marcia-zimmerman
TOP SHELF REAL ESTATE
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
FOR SALE SOON!
ACROSS 1 Dust __: teensy arachnid 5 Sleep audibly 10 Female pop star 14 “Now!” letters 15 Bounce off a wall 16 Days of anticipation 17 iPhone assistant 18 “Long story short ... ” 19 Greek god story, e.g. 20 Reused file film 23 Nintendo console with a similarly named remote 24 Increase, as the stakes 28 “Climb aboard!” 31 Audiophile’s multidisc holder 35 “__ explain!” 36 Strand on a desert island 37 Musician Yoko 38 Actress Aniston, in tabloids 39 When repeated, nothing new 40 Wee bit 41 Actor Mahershala 42 “People say ... ” 43 Snack 44 Flicks with 007 46 Tethered fliers 47 Tour of duty 48 Tasseled hat 49 Adviser concerned with the starts of 20-, 31- and 44-Across 57 Tree part that yields cinnamon 60 Knighted composer Edward 61 Wander 62 Haleakala National Park’s island 63 Two-wheeled transport with a battery
want to see new urgency in that work. How can we inject new urgency in that work? That’s something that’s on my mind. On the county level, I think about the issue of probation. We might hear county workers say with probation, “We do what the judicial bench asks us to do.” What are ways we can use both our systems — the bench and county administration — to not perpetuate systems of racism?
Vintage & beautiful income-producing Seward 4-Plex!
Ted Bergstrom
We LOVE Referrals!
The Minnesota Real Estate Team RE/MAX Advantage Plus www.TedBergstrom.com
Ted Bergstrom • Realtor | 612-723-5444 | Ted@TedBergstrom.com Bergstrom Ted SWJ 070920 H12.indd 1
7/2/20 11:14 AM
PLEASE SUPPORT THE SOUTHWEST JOURNAL The Southwest Journal, like many news outlets, is facing unprecedented challenges. For the past three decades, we’ve delivered the paper free of charge because we believe everyone deserves access to professional, unbiased journalism. But with advertisers’ budgets being tightened amid the pandemic, our business model has been upended. We’re asking for your help. 64 Agitate 65 Would like 66 In-the-wall security features 67 Sale price come-on adverb
DOWN 1 Sunday service 2 “Ya think?” 3 Poi plant 4 Underdog’s surprising feat 5 “Star Wars” genre 6 Prefix between microand pico7 Approximately 8 10-1 victory, e.g. 9 Actress Watson 10 Humiliate 11 Climbing vine
Crossword Puzzle SWJ 070920 4.indd 1
12 Thoroughly evaluate 13 Campfire residue 21 Family 22 Large piano 25 “This fly ball is mine!” 26 Roman political body 27 Wears away 28 Muslim head coverings 29 Leopardlike feline 30 Pressed Italian sandwich 31 Saharan beast 32 Imagine great things 33 Colorado-based brewery 34 Wait to speak to the next available agent, say 36 Half a fish 39 Searches (through)
43 __ World, DC Comics planet of opposites 45 Ancestry.com apparatus 46 “Jeopardy!” great Jennings 48 Taxi fees 50 Goes out with 51 Idris of “Luther” 52 Relieved end-of-week cry 53 Produce 54 Hired hood 55 Malevolent 56 Depend (on) 57 German luxury car 58 Towing org. 59 Gallop Crossword answers on page B8
7/7/20 11:00 AM
Please consider supporting us with a donation in any amount you are able. VISIT SWJOURNAL.COM/DONATE If you have already donated, thank you from all of us at the Southwest Journal. We are truly grateful. Whether or not you are able to contribute personally, you can help in other ways: • Spread the word on social media and via email to friends and neighbors • Tell advertisers you saw their ad in the paper and patronize their businesses • Place an ad for your business or service by emailing sales@swjournal.com • Send your compliments, critiques or questions to feedback@swjournal.com
Thank you. We exist to serve our community and appreciate your support in any form. Support the SWJ SWJ 043020 6.indd 1
4/29/20 10:50 AM
B6 July 9–22, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Southwest Journal poetry project
Summer poetry It’s been a serious, sad and tragic few months in Minneapolis. Even as the natural world opened up, the pandemic shut us all down. Then the police killing of George Floyd led to grief, anger and civil unrest. All this has taken a toll. We received twice as many poems as usual for this issue — some addressing the hard times, some looking for solace. This collection contains a representative sample. We’ll hold others for future issues. Doug Wilhide is the poet laureate of Linden Hills and poetry editor of the Southwest Journal.
The First Shorts Day Adam Overland
It is in the early days of spring When a snowfall isn’t yet out of the question When the boulevards and gutters reveal winter’s trash collection An unexpected 70 degrees and the quiet sun in a cloudless sky. This is the first day that a reasonable person would wear shorts This is the exact day — not the one before it or the many after it This is the day that you were waiting for That reminds you — This is the day you realize there will be more days like this and you actually start to believe that But soon days like this will become so common you will forget them before they are gone. During the slow drone of winter you seemed to recall there having been these kinds of days But the memory is like a postcard sent by someone too distant to be believed. It is only when this day presents itself again for the first time When you went out and just Did Everything Wearing Shorts It is only when this day comes to an end and tomorrow’s forecast predicts rain, and the weekend, maybe snow…
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
John O’Connor
Slowly the Zorg extends a tentacle. Is this okay? Or does it need more permission? You watch, goggle-eyed, (Though not, of course, as goggle-eyed as your date) As it struggles with inhibition And its pleasure sensors flash off and on. As dates go, he’s a bit of a yawn. He told you his secret mission. He vaporized a waiter who was late. He took you to his spaceship for a ride. And then he explained the government’s Roswell position. But he isn’t married. He isn’t gay. He’s (newly) down to earth. And he’s practical.
Tossed Salad, 2020 Marion Whitney
A fence separates our neighbors and us So imagine my surprise one day When over the fence flew a bag of salad greens and some scallions. Home delivery is popular now as we practice social distancing But never have I heard anywhere of salad flying o’er the fence. It is easy to get fretful and frazzled about things you cannot control But the tossed salad made me smile and think like Louie, What a wonderful world.
Roberto Malini (translation by Glenys Robinson)
Grace Harkness
In Memory of George Floyd
Missed the Easter Parade, Finding TV a bore When will COVID be conquered, Don’t get around much anymore.
Before he died George Floyd said, in a last faint whisper: “I can’t breathe.” “I can’t breathe.”
The weather gets nice, I stare at the door Temptation is strong, and staying home’s a bore.
And he died suffocated, with the weight of the Earth kneeling on his throat.
Missing family and friends, Tired of pacing the floor But we’ll follow the orders, Don’t get around much anymore.
Next to him – not you, not me, not Atlas and no flowers, as of yet, George died out of breath on the asphalt of the Mill City. Without breath, without his breath, without our breath, the oxygen of freedom. Without our breath that must flow throughout the world never ceasing, from Africa to Asia, from Europe to Oceania, as far as the Americas.
It is only then that you realize, suddenly, that this was that day And now it’s gone.
Dating An Alien
Resisting, Breathing
When This Is Over
Without our breath, the beginning of life, photosynthesis of the dream of civilization that we have been pursuing for millennia.
When this is over We’ll connect in Triple D Give a hug to all my friends And not just virtually.
How can we not weep, now, and not yell out that George is still alive in us, in our dream, in our bodies hungry for air, and justice?
We’ll make a big commotion Dance in real live crowds Let’s do the locomotion And party really loud.
So let’s all shout out that we cannot breathe, that the weight of the Earth and the asphalt of our cities are killing us.
Keeping my distance Is driving me insane So close and yet so far away It’s oh so inhumane.
Let us shout out that the measure is full to the brim, that we will no longer endure the gravity of order, the knees of authority.
We must stick together Together we will stand With hope in our hearts We’ll soon walk hand in hand.
We will wait, standing up, on the asphalt for those monsters, this time, with the weight of the Earth beneath us, resisting, breathing.
Maria Verven
I need three dimensions I’m tired of only two When I see you on the screen It only makes me blue. So when this is over And we all get to see Our lives have changed, and rearranged How we were meant to be.
southwestjournal.com / July 9–22, 2020 B7
It’s Too Quiet Carol Rucks
What’s Right Carolyn Light Bell
Her spirit rests on my shoulder to remind me what’s right, as she often did. Even now in the mirror, three quarters of a century later, the wrinkles on my brow replicate hers.
Mayday, Mayday — 5/30/20 Gary Melom
Saigon 1968 normal business went on while people died in the jungle GIs got drunk on Tudo Street tried to pick up girls at the zoo Americans walked down streets ornamented by French architecture munching on food they could not name. Minneapolis 2020 normal business went on while George Floyd died on the street backyard barbecues still smelled better than whatever that was at Lake Street and Minnehaha people came to clean up after the mess while the sound of lawn mowers joined the helicopters overhead always the helicopters they always show up for tragedy and then they leave like all the politicians like everybody else devoid of better ideas.
Seafaring Nights Doug Wilhide
My mind used to be like the bridge on a cruise ship — Streamlined. Clean. Ready for action. At night I could clear the decks, invite a burst of fresh air to drive old thoughts away, blow them into vents, store them somewhere in hidden files. Now I command this rust bucket freighter on a cluttered bridge with odd corners charts uncorrected, communications unanswered flat surfaces full of almost empty pizza boxes twittering greasily. There is no blast of air that will drive this mess away. I toss and turn and replay video tapes of the day, back in the day, other days, other ships, old loves. The sea is still out there; the engines still work, but my course is uncharted. I cruise around in my history’s wake, searching horizons, seeking rest, unsure of a port where I will be welcomed.
Mother was frugal. As I grew, my uniform needed lengthening and the waist needed letting out. Already worn by two sisters, the uniform could last another year. The tailor spun me around as she worked, pulling straight pins from between her teeth, fashioning tiny crosses to mark the hem she would lengthen, the waist she would release.
Down at Manning’s Bar, doors locked. The streets loom wide and barren, parked cars look unused, splattered over with wet spring debris. Sidewalks seem to breath a sign of relief not to be trod on, not to be cracked. Two children toss a ball around, not saying a word to each other, or looking up from a simple game of catch. A woman with a stroller races past me. The Virus has tip-toed through the dead alley of sleeping bicycles and lawn mowers. Too quiet on Talmadge Avenue. Too quiet in Van Cleve Park. City buses creep down Como, a sign above the driver reads necessary travel only. Too quiet on Hennepin. Too quiet on Stinson. Everyone strolls along, eyes cast down, money burning a little hole in their pockets.
In the mirror, Mother’s face looked hopeful that I would grow to be beautiful and good, her subtle flattening of lips, faint glimmer of admiration, a soft smile barely showing that it might possibly come true. When other people are unkind I sit on her heavenly lap, hearing her whispered words: Rise above. Count to ten. And I do it, knowing she was right, coming closer to what she spent her life trying to teach me, at least about that.
Ode to My Left Ear James P. Lenfestey
Oh, original tunnel of love! Heart-pounding love! Blood-whooshing love! My spiral, my drum! I could hear before I was born everything that mattered — heartbeat, music, rumble of warm voices, bass notes, treble cries. Now as I pour drops in you to shrink the tumor, I hear still all that matters: Heart-pounding love. Blood-whooshing love. Calls of familiar voices. Phantom cicada song.
Walk Radio Melissa S. Anderson
I like to tune in to the airwaves when I’m on a walk. The dominant station is, of course, all-talk THEM, which features women talking loudly about yoga, Tom, the cabin, the wedding, and so on. I prefer the music station BIRD. I love to hear Oriole belting it out — man, can he sing! I like The Chickadees’ sweet love songs, and sometimes I catch Cardinal singing, This Land Is My Land. Once in a while, by accident, I turn to reality station LIFE, whose deejay is obsessed with heavy metal — lawn mowers, ambulances, airplanes. My favorite, though, is non-commercial LAKE. Their signal is not very strong, so they don’t have a wide broadcast area, but they play the loveliest silence, broken only rarely by a loon’s call. Sometimes it’s so beautiful that I just have to sit down and listen.
Haiku
Laurie Lykken
Prince Charming’s search ends with Showy Lady Slippers worn on tender stems
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
B8 July 9–22, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Community Calendar.
We may have a long way to go yet before the coronavirus pandemic passes, but we are seeing some opening up of events, especially ones in outdoor spaces and galleries, where you might feel comfortable stopping for a short time to check out the art while practicing social distancing. If you don’t yet feel comfortable attending an event, never fear: There are still plenty of virtual options available by Twin Cities artists and scene makers. Ultimately, we are all trying to figure this out: How do we stay safe and keep our loved ones safe, while still finding ways to connect and share through art and community? What does that look like? See below for a few ideas.
By Sheila Regan
Staying in
STORY CLUB MINNEAPOLIS Amy Salloway and her band of storytellers won’t be hitting the stage at the Bryant-Lake Bowl, their usual spot, but will instead reach you through Zoom. It’s the same delicious storytelling content, delivered from a safe distance. Salloway has a great ear for good storytellers, who bring the sad, funny, painfully embarrassing and poignant together.
When: 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday, July 16 Info: tinyurl.com/story-club-mpls
BLOOMING SEASON: ISOLATION, YEARNING & LOVE
FROGLEG Get ready for an eclectic mix of rock, bluegrass, Caribbean jazz and more when Frogleg takes over HookStream, the Hook & Ladder’s livestream series. Though we can’t do indoor music events yet, the livestream method is one way to get a taste of the great music groups here in the Twin Cities. Advance registration required.
When: 9-11 p.m. Saturday, July 11
Cost: $10
Info: thehookmpls.com/frogleg-hookstream
SUMMER BOOK READ Take a deep dive into Austin Channing Brown’s “I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness.” With the horrifying police killing of George Floyd sparking a national conversation on race, now is an apt time to grapple with the ideas Channing Brown discusses in this important book. It’s hosted by Gathered at Five, a program of Westminster Church.
When: 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, July 15
Cost: Free, $20 with book
Info: tinyurl.com/gathered-at-five
It may still be quite a while before we get to attend indoor music concerts again, so until then, it’s a relief that places like the Cedar Cultural Center are doing the work to bring engaging content to audiences over the internet. In “Rebecca Nichloson: Blooming Season: Isolation, Yearning & Love,” Nichloson brings her earthy vocals to the Cedar’s livestream series. Nichloson debuted her piece “Multicolored Musings: Jewels of Love, Loss & Triumph” back in February. A charismatic and hypnotizing performer, she wraps her listener in a spell. With her new work, she explores the notion of creating during a time of social, political and physical change.
When: 7:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday, July 16 Cost: Free Info: tinyurl.com/cedar-performance
For 40 years Haven Housing has helped break the cycle of homelessness and despair for women and children.
Swedish Motors Learn more at www.havenhousing.org
You can join us in our life changing work.
CROSSWORD ANSWERS
Haven Housing SWJ filler HBC.indd 1
7/9/19 3:52 PM
WE’RE STILL OPEN! AND WE’RE KEEPING OUR PAWS CLEAN Swedish Motors | swedishmotorsmn.com | 612.803.5661
Swedish Motors SWJ 041620 9.indd 1
4/15/20 11:53 Crossword AM Answers SWJ 070920 V12.indd 1
Crossword on page B5
7/7/20 10:57 AM
southwestjournal.com / July 9–22, 2020 B9
Getting out
MUSIC AT FRANCONIA
JODI REEB: PAINTING AS SCULPTURE
For an out-of-town adventure, Franconia Sculpture Park awaits. This summer, the outdoor arts center has been experimenting with socially distanced events, including film screenings and now a music concert. Arrive early, in order to have time to walk around the vast park filled with contemporary sculptures, then find a socially distant spot for music listening throughout the afternoon. Matt Hannah, King Wilkie’s Dream and Pleasure Horse make up a folk lineup.
Artist Jodi Reeb creates sculptural paintings made up of circles, seeds and biomorphic forms. Unable to teach painting workshops because of the pandemic, she spent time in the studio, coming up with these works, her most three-dimensional paintings yet. Hand sanitizer will be available as you stop by to visit the gallery.
When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. MondayFriday; Opening reception, 5-7 p.m. Friday, July 10 Where: Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art, 250 3rd Ave. N. Cost: Free Info: trafficzoneart.com
When: 2-6 p.m. Saturday, July 11 Where: Franconia Sculpture Park, 29836 St. Croix Trail, Shafer Cost: $5 for parking Info: franconia.org
ONE STEP FORWARD
By Stewart Huntington
ARTEPILS Because of state guidelines regarding COVID-19, Utepils Brewing is breaking up its Artepils event into two days, featuring artists, musicians and beer. This entirely outdoor ticketed event features different bands playing on Friday and Saturday, with artist booths spread out around the space.
When: 2-11 p.m. Friday, July 17; noon-11 p.m. Saturday, July 18 Where: Utepils Brewing Co., 225 Thomas Ave. N. Cost: $20 Info: tinyurl.com/artepils
Classifieds LINE CLASSIFIEDS
CONCRETE, ASPHALT
BUSINESS SERVICES
CB Concrete and Masonry LLC
RENTAL PROPERTIES WANTED
CONCRETE WORK
ADS 612.825.9205 SWJ 031920 1cx1.indd 3/16/20 1 2:47 PM apietigconcrete.comAll Done Contracting
CBConcreteAndMasonry.com
A. Pietig Concrete SWJ 031920 1cx1.5.indd 1/27/201 2:51 PM
Custom Brick & Stone “Repair Masters”
Lifetime No Crack Guarantee
CB Concrete and Masonry SWJ 062719 2cx2.indd 2
GARDENING Would you like to have more beauty in your yard? We will restore or expand your existing gardens. Experienced gardeners. www.beautifulgardens.biz. Call Linda 612-598-3949
6/24/19 9:42 AM
Clean up, planting, seeding, weeding, raking with care. Barb at 612-819-3934.
www.twincitiesmasonry.com Owner Operated • Bonded & Insured
612.702.9210
Friendly Professional Service
EXTERIORS
CONCRETE WORKS
YOUR LAST ROOF.
EVER.
BEAUTIFUL LAWN MOWING ALL SUMMER LONG
GUTTER CLEANING Gutter cleaning, complete system flush, maintenance, repair and gutter guard installations. Handyman Services. John 612-802-7670, 612handyman@gmail.com SWJ 070920 Classifieds.indd 1
Chimneys • Steps • Walkways Pavers • Fireplaces • Retaining Walls
Twin Cities Masonry SWJ 040617 2cx1.5.indd 1
YARD LADY / GARDENER
Premier Lawn and Snow. Over 30 years experience. Call Dennis at (952) 545-8055.
Gary 651-423-6666
952.835.0393
651-583-4713 Adin_bly@yahoo.com
Small painting jobs wanted. Jim 612-202-5514
Steps, Sidewalk, Slabs, Excavation, Foundation, Demolition, Bobcat, Dumptruck, Wet Basement
Concrete, Brick Pavers, Stone, Masonry, Foundations & More Commercial & Residential
Adin Bailey
PAINTER JIM
Steps, sidewalks, patios, driveways, etc. Licensed, bonded, insured. Call Tom Seemon 612-721-2530.
CONCRETE & BRICK PAVING INC.
Driveways, Walks, Patios, Slabs, Foundations & more!
HOME SERVICES
Concrete & Masonry New or Repair
A.PIETIG
HIGH QUALITY CONCRETE SOLUTIONS
Time to sell? Cash buyer; no commissions. Call Lucas. 612-741-5112
TO PLACE YOUR AD CALL 612.825.9205
4/1/19 5:28 PM
BUILDING THE FUTURE RESTORING THE PAST
612-861-HAGE HageConcrete.com CALL 612.825.9205 TO PLACE 1/9/19 AN AD IN SOUTHWEST JOURNAL
Hage Concrete SWJ 032119 2cx3.indd 1
SINCE 1983 10:02 AM
quarve.com • (763) 785-1472 Mn Bc 006016
612.709.4980
WWW.SMITHCOLE.COM 7/7/20 10:15 AM
Quarve Contracting SWJ 020917 1cx2.indd 2/6/172 Smith 2:32 PM Cole SWJ 031920 1cx2.indd 1 3/10/20 9:57 PM
B10 July 9–22, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
We know homes! Bungalows, Colonial, Craftsman, Mid-Century, Ramblers, Modern and more. 612-781-3333 • 2536 Marshall Street NE, Minneapolis Monday–Friday 8am–6pm, Saturday 8am–4pm Siwek Lumber SWJ 110118 6cx2.indd 1
10/22/18 12:47 PM
EXTERIORS
TO PLACE YOUR AD CALL 612.825.9205 Serving the community for over 30 years Top quality at competitive prices FREE ESTIMATES Committed to customer service
Your Local Contractor For Over 40 Years!
Foley exteriors
Lifetime Warranty
Licensed Bonded Insured • Lic. RR 155317
ROTTEN WOOD?
TM & © 2012 MGM.
RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL — INSURANCE CLAIMS WELCOME! — SERVING THE TWIN CITIES SINCE 1972
651-690-3956
STUCCO
INSULATE AND SAVE!
Free Estimates • 612-331-6510 • www.FoleyExteriors.comPates Roofing SWJ 072717 2cx1.indd
Mike Mohs Construction
Foley Exteriors SWJ 041513 2cx1.5.indd 2
Honesty & Integrity for Over 50 Years Since 1963 Call Owner Scott Mohs
CALL US TODAY!
•
E X P A N D
Andy 651-698-3156
WINDOWS & SKYLIGHTS 2:07 PM
your business
Window sills, casings & trim replaced, storm windows
– Rubber or Tin
MN # 5276
with us to
HYDE AND HARMSEN
FLAT ROOFING
*On Settergren’s Referral3/25/20 List*
Advertise
GUTTERS
Locally Owned • MN LIC# BC760140 • A+ Rating from BBB
Midwest Exteriors SWJ 040220 2cx3.indd 1 FOR 40 YEARS
7/21/17 1:11 PM
MN License BC005456 4/8/13 4:36 PM
ROOFING – All Types
612-343-3301 · www.midwestplus.com
1
DECKS & PORCHES
612-701-2209 • mikemohsconstruction.com
FLOORING
Mike Mohs Construction SWJ 050516 2cx2.indd 1
harmsenoberg.com TO PLACEexpand YOUR AD CALL 612.825.9205 pattern1 1cx2.5.indd 1 11/15/17
4/27/16 3:26 PM
3:43 PM
Southwest Resident for Over 40 Years
Minneapolis, MN
• Installation • Restoration • Repairs • Buff & Coat
Roofing • Siding • Gutters • Insulation Licensed • Bonded • Insured
YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD COMPANY Rob.olson@topsideinc.net Topsideinc.net
“Our quality will floor you.”
A RATING
Phone: 612-869-1177
Sanding • Refinishing • Repair Install • Recoat • FREE Estimates
612.290.1533
www.harlanfloors.com • 612-251-4290
PG 3 ONLY
LANDSCAPING
Topside Inc SWJ 012320 2cx3.indd 1
TO2cx2.indd PLACE2 4/23/14 Earls 2:57 Floor PM Sanding SWJ 012518
1/20/20 10:33 HarlanAM Hardwood SWJ NR3 2cx2.indd 1
CONSULTATION • DESIGN • PROJECT MANAGEMENT
YOUR AD CALL 612.825.9205 1/18/18
LAWN MOWING
Place your Ad
all summer long
HERE!
PREMIER LAWN & SNOW
Call Dennis today!
952-545-8055
612-825-9205
premierlawnandsnow.com
HGTV’s Curb Appeal
Snow Plowing & Shoveling Cleanup / Dethatching Aeration / Seeding
Lawn Mowing Fertilizer & Weed Control Gutter Cleaning
FREE ESTIMATES!
Premier Lawn & Snow SWJ 041620 1cx1.indd 4/14/20 Our 4:36 2 Readers PM - Your Ad Here SWJ 20168/17/16 1cx 1 filler.indd 2:40 PM 4
TREE TRIMMING • REMOVAL STUMP GRINDING
Window Washing
612-345-9301
612.562.8746 • triolandscaping.com Trio Landscaping SWJ 040220 2cx2.indd 1& Climbing
Pest & Disease Management
N TREEInc. ortheast
Trained & Courteous Staff
PLACE 3/8/19 AN AD IN SOUTHWEST JOURNAL
MAINTENANCE
Matthew Molinaro Minneapolis resident • Owner / operator Certified Arborist with 21 years experience licensed and insured
Certified Arborists (#MN-0354A & #MN-4089A)
612-789-9255 northeasttree.net
1/7/19 12:08 PM
• Painting • Plaster repair • Ceramic tile • Light remodeling • All around repairs
612-239-2508
3:40 PM
www.molinarotree.com
Molinaro Tree SWJ 2cx1.5.inddTO 1
MN- 4551 A
PLACE YOUR AD CALL 612.825.9205 7/12/18
Byron Electric
Questions about Emerald Ash Borer? We can help!
George & Lynn Welles
Northeast Tree SWJ 011019 2x2.indd 1
peterdoranlawn.com
CALL 612.825.9205 TO 3/24/20 11:37 Peter AM Doran SWJ 032119 2cx2.indd 3 Bucket Pruning /Removals
Expert High Risk & Crane Removals
8:45 AM
Get beautiful
26 yrs. Fully Insured
as seen on
10-time Angie’s List Super Service Award Winner
www.earlsfloorsanding.com
1:35 PM
Residential & Commercial
FREE ESTIMATES
612-750-5724
Our specialty is your existing home!® 12/19/19
Byron Electric SWJ 010920 2cx1.indd 1
Houle Insulation Inc.
10:16 AM
CALL TODAY FOR A FREE ESTIMATE ON ATTIC INSULATION • BYPASS SEALING SIDEWALL INSULATION 8327 Little Circle Bloomington
612.267.3285 SWJ 070920 Classifieds.indd 2
Our Contractors have local references
www.houleinsulation.com
763-767-8412
Serving the Twin Cities since 1977
That Handy Guy Greg SWJ 112819 1cx3.indd 11/19/19 16:00 PM Hammer Guy SWJ 2013 1cx0.9 filler.indd 7/31/13 1 8:31 AM Houle Insulation SWJ 010107 2cx2.indd 1
7/7/20 10:15 AM 5/17/16 2:37 PM
southwestjournal.com / July 9–22, 2020 B11
MISCELLANEOUS
PAINTING
TO PLACE YOUR AD CALL 612.825.9205
EXTERIOR • INTERIOR
In the lakes area since 1970
• Interior/Exterior Painting • Wallpaper Stripping/Wall Repair • Wood Stripping, Refinishing & Cabinets • Plaster, Sheetrock, Texture Repair & Skim Coating • Ceiling Texturing & Texture Removal
LINDEN HILLS PAINTING FIVESTARPAINTING.com
Int./Ext. • Paint • Homes Condos • Enamel • Stain Cabinets • Decks • Fences
ADS 612.825.9205
grecopainting.com BBB A+ rating
612.360.2019
FiveStarPainting SWJ 012419 1cx1.5.indd 4/5/19 1 3:43 PM
PLUMBING, HVAC
(612) 827-6140 or (651) 699-6140 PAINTINGBYJERRYWIND.COM
612-227-1844
Painting by Jerry Wind SWJ 082219 2cx1.5.indd 1
Interior & Exterior Painting • Insurance Claims Wood Finishing • Exterior Wood Restoration Water Damage Repair • Patching • Enameling
LOCAL BUSINESSES
When in Disaster Think Pro Master!
612-804-3078 Licensed Bonded Insured Over 29 Years experience
8/8/19 4:29 PM
Free Estimates
TO PLACEGreco YOUR AD CALL 612.825.9205 Painting SWJ 052820 1cx2.indd 5/26/20 1 12:28 AM
Lic. #61664PM
Pro M as t er Plumbing
Experienced craftsmen (no subcontractors) working steady from start to finish. Neat and courteous; references and 2 year warranty. Liability Ins. and Workers Comp. for Your Protection.
ADVERTISE WITH US
Call Jim!
promasterplumbing.com
Insured | References Pro Master Plumbing SWJ 030520 1cx1.indd 2/28/20 12:21 PM
Mention this ad to receive
$20 off
612.888.8207
MCQBROS.COM
WHOLE HOME CLIMATE CONTROL
any plumbing or drain cleaning!
763-425-9461
www. tjkplumbinginc .com
MN Lic#: PC644042
REMODELING
greg@chileen.com
612-850-0325
FREE SECOND OPINION ESTIMATE MATCH CALL 612.888.8207 TODAY!
TO PLACE YOUR AD CALL 612.825.9205 5/13/16 11:37 AM
4/16/19 11:18 McQuillan AM Brothers SWJ 043020 2cx2.indd 1
TJK Plumbing SWJ 041819 2cx2.indd 1
MN Builder’s License BC583780
Family Owned for Over 60 Years
4/21/20 10:36 Chileen AM Painting SWJ 051916 2cx4.indd 1
EPA License #NAT-86951-2
“timeless design, seamless remodeling”
612.332.8000 Kitchen | Bathroom | Interior Remodeling
10% off labor on all projects
*
bruce@knutson-architects.com
ADDITIONS NEW CONSTRUCTION REMODEL 8/31/10 TO PLACE AN AD CALL 612.825.9205
*Must sign in May or June. Some restrictions apply. Call today for your FREE consultation.Bruce Knutson Architects SWJ 090610 2cx1.indd 1
J3 Renovations and Design SWJ 043020 2cx1.5.indd 1
1:41 PM
Your Sign of Satisfaction
952-512-0110
www.roelofsremodeling.com
4/29/20 2:50 AM
Roelofs Remodeling SWJ 073015 2cx2.indd 2
7/28/15 3:01 PM
Create • Collaborate Communicate 612-655-4961 hansonremodeling.com Lic #BC633225
EK Johnson Construction
Hanson Building SWJ 061418 2cx2.indd 1
you dream it
we build it
Living and Working in Southwest Minneapolis Call Ethan Johnson, Owner
612-669-3486
Lic: BC637388
6/1/18 1:05 PM
ekjohnsonconstruction.com
u: for yo an do c e w what Here’s
EK Johnson Construction SWJ 060216 2cx2.indd 1
Design/Construction
ALL YOUR REMODELING PROJECTS!
612-924-9315
reuse or recycle the plastic bag that came with your paper.
FIND A RECYCLING DROP-OFF SITE AT
www.fusionhomeimprovement.com
plasticfilmrecycling.org
Thoughts or questions? Contact us at info@swjournal.com
SWJ 070920 Classifieds.indd 3 Sylvestre SWJ 031920 2x3.indd 1
4/5/12 3:00 PM
2/17/14 3:02 PM
2nd Stories • Additions • Kitchens • Basements Baths • Attic Rooms • Windows
MN License #BC451256
KEEP SOUTHWEST BEAUTIFUL.
House Lift SWJ 041612 2cx3.indd 1
inspiredspacesmn.com 612.360.4180
Remodel • Design • Build
612-861-0188 www.SylvestreMN.com #BC001428
License #BC378021
No project is too small for good design
5/31/16 Inspired 4:49 PMSpaces SWJ 022714 2cx2.indd 1
612.821.1100 or 651.690.3442 www.houseliftinc.com
Specializing in Reproduction Kitchens & Baths
7/7/20 10:15 AM 3/17/20 Fusion 4:45 PM Home Improvement SWJ 021314 2cx3.indd 1
Recycling 1/31/14 10:44 AM filler SWJ 2018 V12.indd 1
4/26/18 11:59 AM
McQuillan Bros SWJ 070920 FP.indd 1
*If installed before July 31
*If installed before July 31
*If installed before August 31
*If installed before August 31
*If installed before September 30
*If installed before September 30
6/26/20 10:14 AM