New name for West Calhoun PAGE A8 • Kmart to host post office PAGE A8 • Size limits on encampments PAGE A13
July 23– August 5, 2020 Vol. 31, No. 15 southwestjournal.com
Pop-up food shelf
INSIDE LIQUOR STORE
Volunteer-run distrib ution sites fill in gaps as hunge r rises
South Lyndale Liquors plans a move A4
Citations, temporary shutdowns at reopened restaurants Hoban, Stella’s cited for lax enforcement of regulations
CRANE CRASH
By Andrew Hazzard
Construction crane topples at SWLRT site A8
NEW PRINCIPAL
A leadership change at Justice Page A9
VOICES FROM THE PANDEMIC
Stephani Pescitelli and Erin West give away vegetables on MCAD’s campus on July 21. In the building behind them, other volunteers assembled custom grocery packages for families. Photo by Isaiah Rustad
By Becca Most
A line of families stood in sections outside a teal and pink building on the Minneapolis College of Art and Design campus on July 7. Masked volunteers efficiently sorted and distributed donations of food and supplies as children played in the parking lot or sat under the shade of adjacent trees. Started in mid-June by a Whittier artist collective known as the People’s Library, this site is one of dozens of food shelves and distribution centers that have popped up organically around the Twin Cities area since March. Mainly run by volunteers or through loose collaborations with local businesses or nonprofits, community members have come together to support those hit hardest by pandemic-driven unemployment, chronic poverty and the civil unrest following George Floyd’s killing.
Stories from local residents A11
PRIMARY VOTER’S GUIDE
Profiles of candidates running in contested races B1
GET THEM TO THE GREEK
It’s Greek to Me’s triumphant return B8
SEE FOOD SHELVES / PAGE A14
District mulling late start to in-person classes
Attempts to reopen restaurants for dine-in service in Minneapolis in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic have had mixed results, with COVID cases shutting some establishments and government enforcement making others clean up their operations. In Southwest Minneapolis, some restaurants have shut themselves down due to exposures, while others, including Stella’s Fish Cafe and Hoban Korean BBQ in Uptown, have received citations or warnings from government officials enforcing regulations on how service is conducted during a pandemic. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) sent warning letters to 10 bars and restaurants across the state that had violated rules around capacity, mask wearing and social distancing after investigators with the alcohol and gambling enforcement division surveilled 919 establishments between July 4 and July 13. Among those issued warnings were Uptown’s Hoban and two Downtown bars, Cowboy Jack’s and Breakfast Bar. No fines were issued, but the state hopes the warnings will lead to better compliance, according to DPS assistant commissioner Booker Hodges. Failure of employees to wear masks and clustering of groups in violation of social distancing requirements were the most common issues, state officials said at a press conference. Letters were only sent to establishments violating all three major restaurant requirements: masks for employees, limiting customers to 50% or less indoor capacity and failing to spread out tables or limit group size. Further violations could result in revocation of liquor licenses. “We don’t want to get in a situation where we need to roll things back,” Hodges said. SEE RESTAURANTS / PAGE A15
By Nate Gotlieb
As Gov. Tim Walz considers whether to mandate remote education this fall, Minneapolis schools are working to improve their digital infrastructure and ensure buildings are safe for in-person classes. At some point before Aug. 1, Walz will announce whether classes can be held in person and, if so, what rules will determine classroom capacity. While schools won’t be able to accommodate more students than allowed by the governor, they can choose to be more restrictive. That means districts can decide to continue with remote learning. A draft resolution from Minneapolis School Board member Bob Walser (Downtown/ SEE SCHOOLS / PAGE A14
A spring 2018 gathering at Lyndale Community School. A draft School Board resolution would delay in-person instruction until at least Nov. 15. Social distancing will be a component of any plan to reopen schools this fall. File photo
Stella’s Fish Cafe was cited by Minneapolis health officials for failing to enforce social distancing regulations. Photo by Andrew Hazzard
A2 July 23–August 5, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
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southwestjournal.com / July 23–August 5, 2020 A3
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
LYNLAKE
Pharmacie closes after COVID struggles
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
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!
Ashes to Ashes (MINUS THE FLAMES)
Pharmacie, a men’s clothing and home goods store, closed its brick-and-mortar location in LynLake on June 30. Photos by Andrew Hazzard
An independent Minneapolis men’s apparel and gift shop has closed its brick-andmortar location in LynLake due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pharmacie, which opened at 28th & Lyndale in 2014, had no prescription for the hardships of COVID-19. Shop co-owner Roger Barrett said the store will continue to sell goods online and hopes to be back in a physical store in the future. “Being closed for nearly four months during our most profitable time of year was just too much for us to weather,” Barrett wrote in an email. “We plan to continue online and look to the future for a new &
improved experience.” Known for a curated selection of hardto-find men’s denim and other apparel, Pharmacie also carried a range of home accessories and furniture. The store closed on June 30. “Thank you to everyone that came through to chat more than to shop, and to those who shopped and then paused to chat,” the store posted on its Facebook page.
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Sur La Table closes shop
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Sur La Table, a retail shop specializing in cookware and kitchen accessories, has declared bankruptcy and will be closing its 50th & France location in the coming months. The Seattle-based brand, known for its culinary goods and cooking classes, announced it is filing for bankruptcy and will “restructure its retail footprint” in a July 8 press release. Part of that restructuring will be the closure of its two Minnesota stores, at 50th & France and in Woodbury. The exact closure date of the 50th & France location is unknown. The company’s website says it will close in August or September. Employees at the store said it will remain in business until most items are sold. A closing sale is ongoing for now.
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Sur La Table’s 50th & France location will close in the coming months after the company filed for bankruptcy. Photo by Andrew Hazzard
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A4 July 23–August 5, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
KENNY
South Lyndale Liquors plans new store
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yo u r fr i e n dly c o m m u nity hub, n ow wi th South Lyndale Liquors is planning to move into a new space in the Kenny neighborhood. Photo by Isaiah Rustad
o u t d o o r p a tio dining, c u rb si d e to-g o a n d conta c tle ss h o m e del i ver i es
South Lyndale Liquors is planning a move to a new store on three parcels two blocks south of its existing building. Plans submitted by owner Dan Campo and approved July 6 by the Minneapolis Planning Commission call for a 14,000-square-foot addition to a two-story office building at 5516 Lyndale Ave. Campo told the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal that he’s outgrown his store and the new, larger space will allow more room for craft beer coolers. A former gas station turned into an Enterprise Rent-A-Car at 5504 Lyndale will be demolished to make way for the addition, and a surface lot at 5536 Lyndale will provide the refurbished building with 55 parking spaces. The new liquor store, which will include a tasting room and walk-in coolers, will take up most of the first-floor space, according to the plans. There will also be two separate first-
floor retail spaces and 2,853 square feet of second-floor office space. Campo told the Kenny Neighborhood Association in February that the move was about 3.5 years away. He said four years remained on his lease at 5300 Lyndale. The three parcels on which the store will sit are worth $2.3 million, according to city property records. They are owned by Kjell Bergh, CEO of Golden Valley-based Borton Volvo, who operated a dealership on the 5400 block of Lyndale until 2014. Bergh said he is planning on completing the sale to Campo later this summer, assuming City Council approval of the project. — Nate Gotlieb
South Lyndale Liquors Where: 5300 Lyndale Ave. (current location); 5516 Lyndale Ave. (proposed store) Info: 612-827-5811; southlyndale.com
c o m m o nro otscafe.com South Lyndale Liquors owner Dan Campo’s proposal to expand a two-story office building at 5516 Lyndale Ave. was approved by the Planning Commission on July 6. File photo Common Roots Cafe SWJ 072320 V3.indd 1
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southwestjournal.com / July 23–August 5, 2020 A5
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Indie folk/pop duo The Sea The Sea plays a show in 2016 at the Warming House. Submitted photo
A 40-seat East Harriet music venue has closed its doors, but its founders plan on reopening in a new location once the COVID-19 pandemic blows over. The Warming House, a nonprofit that operated out of Farmstead Bike Shop’s basement at 40th & Bryant, wants a slightly larger space that’s still cozy, co-founder Brianna Lane said. She said she wants the new space to be wheelchair accessible and for the venue to be able to serve beer, wine and coffee. Lane, an Americana singer/songwriter, co-owns Farmstead Bike Shop with her partner, Greg Neis. Lane, Neis and fellow singer/songwriter John Louis opened the Warming House in May 2016. They considered the venue to be a “listening room,” which Lane said is more akin to a black box theater than a music club. “It is expected that the audience would be quiet and listening instead of drinking and being rowdy,” she said. Lane, who is executive director, said the Warming House hosted between 200 and 300 musical acts each year and paid artists 80% of ticket sales for their performances. The venue also held open mic nights, weekly Saturday morning jam sessions and networking and workshopping sessions for songwriters and people interested in the music business. It offered internships to high school and college students. Lane said that while they enjoyed the
building, she knew it was a “starter space” and that they would eventually want to move to another venue. With the bike shop doing well during the pandemic, she said, it was able to take over the Warming House’s portion of the lease and building utilities. She said they’re in the initial stages of looking for a new space for the Warming House. They’re open to looking outside of South Minneapolis, but Lane said it’d make sense to stay in the area, given that she, Neis and Louis all live in the neighborhood. Programming at the new space will be similar, Lane said, noting that they want a venue with room for up to 100 patrons. They aim to keep the space a listening room and not a club or a restaurant, and they want to maintain elements such as a green room, bathroom and backstage area. They’re gathering community input for the new space via community Zoom meetings this summer and fall. Meanwhile, they’re holding virtual song-and-conversation sessions and community events each week, and they’re also partnering with the Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District to hold virtual street shows on Tuesdays and Thursdays. — Nate Gotlieb
The Warming House Where: 4001 Bryant Ave. S. Info: 612-845-2255; thewarminghouse.org
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Caribou closes East Isles location Caribou Coffee has closed its location at 22nd & Hennepin, the store confirmed. The East Isles location had its last day of business on June 5, according to a company spokesperson. The closure was not due to the pandemic, the spokesperson said. The coffee chain now has four locations in Southwest Minneapolis: inside the Uptown Lunds & Byerlys, at Lake & Excelsior, at 46th & Nicollet and at 50th & France. The 1,800-square-foot space is available for lease at a rate of about $50,000 per year by South Minneapolis’ Community Partners. — Andrew Hazzard
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A6 July 23–August 5, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
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Planning commissioners are largely receptive to a proposal to replace a long-struggling restaurant site in Uptown with apartments and retail space. Chicago-based developer Trilogy Real Estate Group brought its plans to convert the former restaurant space adjacent to the Uptown Transit Station into a seven-floor, 150-unit building before a meeting of the commission on July 9. Five restaurants — most recently, Piggy Bank — have rotated through the space since 2012. The proposed apartment building would have two retail spaces off Hennepin Avenue and walk-up units along Girard Avenue and facing the Midtown Greenway. Architects with local firm ESG told commissioners they wanted the building to look and feel different from others along Hennepin and Girard avenues. The design calls for white paneling on the Hennepin side and more brick and dark paneling on the Girard side. The building would have 107 underground parking stalls and a large loading area in the alley. The plan is to have two small retail spaces totaling 2,700 square feet along Hennepin Avenue, as well as a building lobby space. The project would have a courtyard space facing the Midtown Greenway that would connect to a new public area that will connect Hennepin Avenue to the Greenway on the north side. Curb cuts would be eliminated on both Hennepin and Girard avenues. Overall, planners say, these designs will improve the pedestrian experience in the area. “This project will kind of infill the missing link on the Greenway promenade,” architect Gretchen Camp said. A few planning commissioners suggested architects add rain gardens or solar panels to
A proposed mixed-use building would add 150 apartments and two retail spaces to an ill-fated restaurant site at 2841 Hennepin Ave. Submitted image
the roof, which designers said they will try to incorporate when the project is brought forward for approval. Planning Commission chair Sam Rockwell suggested the developer include larger yards for walk-up units to give residents a sense of ownership. He recommended moving away from a “downtownish” all-glass exterior for the retail spaces to better match the Uptown neighborhood. The current site zoning is C3A, a community activity center district, and the project will require a conditional use permit to build higher than four stories. The Minneapolis 2040 plan designates the site as Transit 10, meaning designs up to 10 stories are generally accepted. The project will need to be brought back to the full Planning Commission for approval. The developer has made presentations to the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association and the Midtown Greenway Coalition. — Andrew Hazzard
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Plans for a three-story, five-unit condo building overlooking the Walker Art Center in Lowry Hill have been rejected by the Planning Commission. The commission voted unanimously on July 6 to deny the plans by Mohsen and Julie Sadeghi for their property at 35 Groveland Terrace. The couple, who have lived in the existing three-story house on the site for over four decades, had planned to demolish the building in order to build the condos. The Department of Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) recommended denying the project, which would have occupied a site slated for small-scale development of up to 2.5 stories under the 2040 plan. The plan generally allows for up to three units in lower-density areas close to downtown, such as this one, but it says larger lots can have more than three units. Carol Lansing, an attorney for the Sadeghis, stressed that 2.5 stories is guidance for the site, not the maximum allowed by law, and also said the project would meet other goals of the 2040 plan, such as promoting sustainable development. CPED did not object to the number of units proposed for the site, but the department recommended denying the three-story project because it would be taller than
allowed under the 2040 plan. The existing house on the site is three stories. Commissioner Amy Sweasy, who made the motion to deny the project, said she was particularly concerned by the Sadeghis’ reason for proposing it — that they want to ensure the property is suitable for them as they age. “This is a project that clearly doesn’t meet the goals of the 2040 plan, let alone the law,” she said. In comments to the city, two of the Sadeghis’ neighbors said they supported the project, arguing that it would be a long-term benefit to the community and enhance the look of the neighborhood. Five neighbors opposed the project, saying the building would be ugly and out of scale with the neighborhood. Opponents also urged protection of the site’s 111-year-old house, the demolition of which was approved by the Heritage Preservation Commission last year. “This building is part of the historic fabric of Lowry Hill and should remain,” neighbor Ed Kodet wrote. As proposed, each of the condos in the Sadeghis’ building would have had three bedrooms and about three bathrooms and been between 2,610 and 3,325 square feet. — Nate Gotlieb
southwestjournal.com / July 23–August 5, 2020 A7
Budget revisions a starting point for policing cuts
Team Larry Trusted for Twenty Years
Proposals far lower than activists’ goals
By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com
The city of Minneapolis still needs to make nearly $100 million in budget cuts to account for revenue lost amid the coronavirus pandemic, but the mayor and City Council are unlikely to meet that figure by dramatically slashing police funding. Activist groups like Reclaim the Block have called for city leaders to strip $45 million from the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) this year, but so far budget changes proposed by Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council would cut less than $700,000 from policing. “I think the cuts will be less in dollar amount than what folks are asking for in this budget,” Council President Lisa Bender (Ward 10) told constituents at a virtual community meeting hosted by the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association. Frey’s revised budget proposal calls for a $50,000 cut to the MPD, mostly eliminating a new program that tracks pawn shop sales of stolen goods. Members of the City Council, who have budget authority, have approved amendments that would take an additional $605,000 from the MPD’s 2020 budget and redirect it mostly to the Health Department and the Office of Violence Prevention. Council Member Alondra Cano (Ward 9) proposed the largest MPD cut, in an amendment to reallocate $500,000 in police funding to the Office of Violence Prevention to train and fund neighborhood patrol groups. “Folks feel this is the time to be given the resources and tools to do what they find works,” Cano said. Her amendment passed 9-2, with council members Lisa Goodman (Ward 7) and Linea Palmisano (Ward 13) opposed. Just over $100,000 would be taken from the MPD to support programs combating HIV/ AIDS, supporting healthy living in low-income housing and providing youth services in Cedar-Riverside under amendments proposed by Council Member Cam Gordon (Ward 2). More changes to the MPD’s budget could be coming. Council Member Phillipe Cunningham (Ward 4) said he plans to introduce amendments on July 24 shifting dollars from the MPD to the Office of Violence Prevention. The amendments would fund five teams of violence mediators across the city and fund two additional staff positions within the office. He also proposed funding to help the office connect with those likely to commit violent crime. The amendments would total about $1.5 million. “We have the opportunity to identify what’s working and scale it up,” Cunningham said. Council Member Steve Fletcher (Ward 3) said he plans to bring four additional amendments that will integrate MPD functions like communications and records management with the larger city apparatus but did not indicate the budget impact of those moves. Palmisano, who chairs the budget committee and voted against all proposals cutting MPD funding this year, said the revised 2020 budget is not the place for large structural changes and urged her colleagues to save major moves for the 2021 budget process, which will begin in August. “We can’t, as a City Council, be doing things separately from the mayor’s office
right now,” she said. About 80% of MPD costs come from payroll, Palmisano said, and she’s concerned about the cumulative impact of making cuts to first responders. Linea Palmisano Council Member Jeremiah Ellison (Ward 5) noted that MPD staff numbers are far below the 888 officers budgeted for in 2020 and said the council should “right-size” the department’s finances to the current staffing level to free up spending elsewhere. About 65 officers have left the department so far this year, according to the Star Tribune, and more than 100 officers are out on medical leave. Ron Mauser Jr., a local attorney, has said he is processing nearly 200 post-traumatic stress disorder claims from MPD officers.
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With the pandemic decimating typical city revenues driven by Downtown visitors, the city will be making cuts across the board. “Making it through this crisis will require sacrifice from every member of this enterprise,” Frey said. Actions taken at the onset of the crisis, like a wage and hiring freeze, helped patch a portion of the projected $156 million revenue shortfall, but there remain about $98 million worth of cuts to make, according to budget director Micah Intermill. Frey’s proposed revisions call for saving about $4 million via voluntary furloughs and payroll reductions, patching the budget using $57.7 million in cash reserves and eliminating about $23 million in one-time spending for 2020. “This will cut directly at some of the most visible work of the city,” Intermill said. It could take multiple years for the city to recover from COVID-19-related budget shortfalls, he said. Goodman said she felt the mayor’s proposal called for too many shifts and not enough cuts and that the city shouldn’t put itself in a situation where it’s pressured to raise property taxes during a crisis. She suggested holding money from the 20-year street improvement plan for savings. “Maybe for two to three years, we shouldn’t be doing capital improvement projects,” Goodman said. Public Works Director Robin Hutcheson said the department will be finishing projects that have started but that it will be thinking about work planned for 2021 “in a very different way.” Council members amending the mayor’s proposed budget sought to use unused funds in various city departments to patch planned cuts to programs dedicated to combating payday lending, preserving affordable housing and increasing training for the fire department. “The reality is there are no easy answers,” Intermill said. The City Council is expected to vote on the revised budget on July 24.
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A8 July 23–August 5, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
PUBLISHER Janis Hall
Crane failure in Kenilworth Corridor
jhall@swjournal.com By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com
CO-PUBLISHER & SALES MANAGER Terry Gahan tgahan@swjournal.com GENERAL MANAGER Zoe Gahan zgahan@swjournal.com EDITOR Zac Farber 612-436-4391 zfarber@swjournal.com STAFF WRITERS Nate Gotlieb ngotlieb@swjournal.com Andrew Hazzard ahazzard@swjournal.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Sheila Regan
A crane failure in the Kenilworth Corridor led residents of a Cedar-Isles-Dean townhome community to temporarily evacuate and disrupted construction of the Southwest Light Rail Transit project. The incident happened at about 3 p.m. on July 15, when the boom closest to the crane cab broke and crashed into the press-in piler, according to project spokesperson Trevor Roy. The accident occurred because the crane operator left the cab while the machine was in operation, according to an initial Metropolitan Council investigation, a violation of policy for the project contractor, the Lunda-McCrossan joint venture. The incident occurred just south of Cedar Lake Parkway, and residents in about 10 Cedar Lake Shores townhomes were evacuated for about five hours, according to the Met Council. No injuries were reported, and no damage was found outside of the construction zone. The crane operator who left the cab has been removed from the project, according to the Met Council. The crane that failed was also removed and will be sent to the manufacturer for inspection. The crane is used to feed sheets used for tunnel construction into a press-in piler. The contractor held an additional safety meeting after the incident, and the Met Council says it will increase inspections of cranes throughout the project.
A crane used to insert steel sheets into a piler for tunnel excavation failed and collapsed in the Kenilworth Corridor on July 15. Photo by Andrew Hazzard
For some in the area, the incident highlights safety issues with the project. Mary Pattock, president of the Cedar-Isles-Dean Neighborhood Association, said it was just a matter of chance that nobody died. “If the piler had not been there, it would have crashed into townhouses and killed people,” she said. “We have said a million times that it is dangerous to construct that close to the freight train and it is going to be dangerous to run it.” She said the crane incident is part of a pattern
of mistakes on the project that will eventually lead to injury. In June 2019, flaggers managing traffic in the Kenilworth Corridor improperly allowed freight trains to enter the construction zone while people were working; no one was hurt. The 14.5-mile extension of the Metro Transit Green Line will connect Downtown Minneapolis to Eden Prairie. Now in the second year of construction, service is expected to begin in 2023. Zac Farber contributed reporting to this story.
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Temporary post office coming to Kmart
West Calhoun to become West Maka Ska
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By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com
Before it’s demolished to clear the path for the much-anticipated reconnection of Nicollet Avenue, the recently closed Lake Street Kmart will become a temporary post office. Minneapolis is leasing 36,500 square feet in the western half of the building to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), as the agency rebuilds two offices destroyed in the civil unrest following George Floyd’s killing. That includes the post office at 31st & 1st in the Lyndale neighborhood. Starting Aug. 1, USPS will pay the city $30,416 a month to rent the space, which also includes exclusive access to a loading dock. The six-month lease runs through January 2021, but the post office retains the right to renew it up to three times through July 2022. The city said that it will take the agency 12 to 24 months to rebuild the destroyed stations. (A USPS spokesperson declined to comment.) The city also said that the lease does not “negatively impact” its plans for reopening Nicollet Avenue at Lake Street. It had planned to demolish the Kmart and a former Supervalu store immediately next door in 2020. A spokesperson did not respond to a request to
By Zac Farber / zfarber@swjournal.com
The U.S. Postal Service will rent space in the Lake Street Kmart starting Aug. 1. File photo
provide an updated timeline. The city bought the 7-acre site in 2017 for $8 million, and in March bought out the 33 years remaining on Kmart’s lease of the site for $9.1 million. A group of housing advocates is mulling a proposal that would turn the Kmart into a 196-unit temporary shelter, complete with a dining room, showers and laundry. The group does not have an agreement with the city, and City Council President Lisa Bender told the Minnesota Reformer that she questions having so many people live in one shelter.
And then there were none. The West Calhoun neighborhood has voted to change its name to West Maka Ska, becoming the last of three Southwest Minneapolis neighborhoods around Bde Maka Ska to disassociate itself from the legacy of John C. Calhoun — and the first Minneapolis neighborhood to embrace the lake’s Dakota name. The West Calhoun Neighborhood Council (WCNC) voted 8-0 on July 14 to request the name be changed after hearing from nearly two dozen residents, none of whom opposed the new name, said board president Allan Campbell. “Those who commented thought recognizing the Dakota heritage was a positive,” he said. The Minneapolis Park Board voted to change the lake’s name in 2017, following a push from activists who said it was wrong to honor Calhoun, a defender of slavery who helped orchestrate exploitive treaties separating Native Americans from their land. Changes to street names and some business names followed. SEE WEST MAKA SKA / PAGE A12
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southwestjournal.com / July 23–August 5, 2020 A9
Voices
Justice Page hires new principal
Leading on climate
Shannon Tenner comes from Washburn High
The new principal of Justice Page Middle School at 50th & Nicollet was most recently an assistant principal at next-door Washburn High School. Shannon Tenner began her job at Justice Page, Southwest Minneapolis’ largest middle school, on July 17. She has been a paraprofessional, special education teacher, instructional coach and dean of students during her 20-year education career in Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools. Tenner replaces four-year principal Erin Rathke, who has been named assistant superintendent of the Eastern Carver County School District. In Rathke’s first year at Page, the school was renamed after former state Supreme Court justice and Minnesota Vikings football player Alan Page. It had previously been called Ramsey Middle School in honor of 19th-century Minnesota governor Alexander Ramsey, who expelled the Dakota people from Minnesota and called for their extermination during the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War. In June, a Change.org petition by former Edison High School student PJ Stebbings called for Rathke’s resignation on the grounds that she “weaponized” police officers at his graduation ceremony. Stebbings said he was arrested and escorted out of his graduation for smelling like marijuana, even though he hadn’t smoked.
Shannon Tenner
Erin Rathke
In a statement posted on Eastern Carver County’s website, MPS said it investigated the incident and found there was no violation of district policy and that Rathke was not involved in the situation. “We did not request Principal Rathke’s resignation, and the only reason we accepted it is because she has an opportunity we cannot provide in Minneapolis at this time,” the statement read. “She will be a strong leader in Eastern Carver County with a commitment to racial and educational equity, an unrelenting focus on students, and a growth mindset — for herself and for others.” Rathke declined to comment on the petition, which has been taken down. — Nate Gotlieb
I’ve had the privilege to team up with Rep. Ilhan Omar since she was elected to office, and she is a strong partner for residents in Southwest Minneapolis. As your representative in the Minnesota House, I know how much our community cares about clean energy. I’ve collaborated with Rep. Omar on this issue because she is a national leader on climate change who knows how to get things done. I attended a Climate & Clean Energy panel Ilhan hosted in Uptown featuring local and national elected officials, experts and more than 500 constituents. I greatly appreciated her bringing us together. And because it was Ilhan organizing the event, the room was packed with hundreds of folks who wanted to take part in this vital conversation. Ilhan’s leadership is apparent in the 18 bills she’s introduced, including legislation to end the waste crisis that is fueling climate change. Her MEALS act, which provides more than 20 million kids with school lunches, was signed into law as part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. In addition, she drafted legislation for The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which recently passed the House. The bill includes her Federal Relief Fund to help communities rebuild, which is greatly needed in Minneapolis following the recent civil unrest. There’s no question Ilhan stands out, but it’s hard not to when you’re the first Black woman from Minnesota to serve in
Congress, the first African-born member of Congress and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress. But Ilhan uses her platform deftly to improve the quality of life for Minnesotans and all Americans, not just the wealthy few. I am excited to vote for Ilhan in the primary because I know she will continue to be our partner and fight for our community. Rep. Jamie Long District 61B
Another friend of Fred Thank you for the piece on the Lake Street post office (June 25 issue, page A12)! I’ve viewed Fred Brumbach as a staple of the neighborhood for the 15 years I’ve lived in the South Uptown/Lyndale area. As others mentioned, chores at the post office can be tedious, but Fred, speaking numerous languages with ease to his customers, put a smile on everyone’s face. Quick with a joke, he’d talk at auctioneer speed, listing off other things you might need that day or, if you were dropping off a package, amusing you with a list of potential hazards. I’ve thought of him whenever I passed the post office over this last month, and I didn’t know if I’d ever see him again. I was so surprised to see his name, and it really made my day that you were able to find him for this article. Cinnamon Whaley Lyndale
A10 July 23–August 5, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
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Representing while Black in Minneapolis By Ralph Remington
I
am a former Minneapolis City Council member. I am the first and only African American ever to be elected from Ward 10. When I served, the ward was 80% white. Serving on the council was one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life. I felt the need to run because, in addition to founding Pillsbury House Theatre, I wanted to help leave some positive policy impact on the city that I loved. I naively thought that I’d be joining forces with others who felt the same way. I couldn’t have been more mistaken. I started my term in January 2006. On the morning of my inauguration, I got up before dawn, put on my suit and tie and headed out to my car. Someone had let the air out of my tires overnight, telling me they weren’t too pleased I was about to take office. After I filled my tires up with air, I went to City Hall. I was headed toward a highly white, isolating environment for any person of color, particularly a Black man. When I pulled into the parking space I’d been assigned, a garage attendant ran out and yelled at me for parking in a council member’s parking space. I told him that I was a council member. Even then he didn’t believe me and commenced to calling the authorities because I walked away and headed to my office. I wish that I could say that this was the last time that a City Hall parking attendant didn’t believe that it was my space. This happened several more times my first year. It was unfathomable to them that there would be a new Black man in City Hall. This wasn’t the first time that I had faced this kind of discrimination while trying to represent the people who elected me. During my campaign, I was told by a white couple that I must be running in the wrong ward. When I knocked on doors, many people wouldn’t answer if they saw me; however, if my wife, Mary, who is white, rang the same bell, they would answer the door. And even when they’d come to the door, they would direct their attention and their questions to my wife. This kept occurring until we devised a plan where she would focus her attention towards me until they would be forced to look at me. Similar things happened once I took office. Many white people who had appointments would focus their attention on my white policy aide — not looking at me even though they were asking for my assistance. I say all of this to set the stage for how white supremacy works. A reality of my time in Minneapolis was a constant friction with the police force. Once, while driving back to work from lunch, I was pulled over and grilled about whether I was selling drugs out of my car. Another time, when I called in an act of domestic violence I overheard in a neighbor’s apartment, the two white women cops responding didn’t believe I had called for help. They physically apprehended me, insisted on entering my attic apartment and only left when they heard a bang coming from downstairs. They told the beater to take a walk around the block to cool off. Then they left. They let the criminal go and tried to apprehend the Good Samaritan. I’ve experienced other incidents, too numerous to count, of being followed by Minneapolis police officers at night, who often turned off their headlights and rode on my bumper for blocks in an effort to intimidate. Courtesy of white supremacy, Black folks come into contact with the police disproportionately. Even though Ward 10 was overwhelmingly white, in addition to my ward responsibilities, I considered myself an at-large council member for the Black community.
Ralph Remington. Photo by Aminda Villa
We constantly had to settle cases where police had abused Black and brown citizens. Nine times out of 10 we’d throw a few thousand dollars at people, who had never seen that much money in their lives, and the cases would go away. I was sick over this. We were complicit in enabling the police to continue their criminality. I would voice these concerns openly, while some of my colleagues would take deep breaths, murmur and suck their teeth because of being forced to endure their Black colleague’s anguish. However, my eyes were really opened when the council treated our own Black police officers as poorly as we treated Black and brown citizens who had been abused by white police. This happened with the case brought forward by the five Black officers suing the city for racial discrimination. Police Chief Tim Dolan, a named defendant, was allowed to debate council members in closed session, thereby generating a chilling effect on our ability to settle their suit and institute massive police reforms. If Council President Barb Johnson didn’t like a particular line of questioning or argument, she would shut it down. I was the lone vote against Dolan when he was appointed. When the position opened up, I had pressed Mayor RT Rybak to hold an open community selection process and to mandate the new police chief live in Minneapolis. Both requests were rejected; I was swatted down as if those were all preposterous ideas and Dolan was selected after a perfunctory bureaucratic process. RT said to me: “What’s the point in having a community process when I know that I’m hiring Tim Dolan at the end of the day anyway?” I told him that the people expect transparency. RT later reappointed Dolan as police chief after a string of complaints over racial discrimination in his department that demoralized the Black community. My council allies and I tried to get police reforms instituted and we were largely unsuccessful because we didn’t have the backing that was needed up the political chain to take on the Federation. There is a severe psychic toll to be paid by every conscious Black leader swimming in an ocean of unassailable whiteness. Some of those white folks in Minneapolis political leadership, like Mayor Rybak, went on to bright and shining careers and now, all of a sudden, are woke in regard to the policing of Black people. RT acts as if he didn’t know, while I was shouting it from the rooftops all along. RT manages to sort of take responsibility while also puffing himself up with humblebrags. So forgive me, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, if I find these mea culpas opportunistic and disingenuous. We as a body should have been better. The people deserved better. The politicians chose to uphold white supremacy instead of choosing to fight it. And that, as we have seen, can have deadly consequences. Ralph Remington served as Minneapolis’ Ward 10 City Council member from 2006 to 2009.
southwestjournal.com / July 23–August 5, 2020 A11
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 a nursing assistant at a senior home and a pair of small business owners. All interviews are edited for length and clarity. Reporting for the stories included in this issue is by Zac Farber and Andrew Hazzard.
Agatha Lamin, nursing assistant, Jones-Harrison senior home
“If I abandon my patients, what conscience do I have?” THURSDAY, JULY 9 I’m from Sierra Leone in West Africa, and 17 years ago I came over here to seek refuge because of the war. I am a U.S. citizen now. I have worked for Jones-Harrison for almost 16 years. I am a nursing assistant, but I am currently in school for nursing at Anoka-Ramsey Community College. I live with my 20-year-old daughter, Florence, in Coon Rapids. Before the pandemic, I worked in JonesHarrison’s 18-bed “Hilltop” Alzheimer’s unit. I worked with the patients like they were family. Soon after the start of the pandemic, two of our patients got the disease, and they decided to choose Hilltop as the COVID unit. It was all scary at the beginning. They took all our patients out of the unit into other areas. We were all crying. People would talk about COVID, and the next thing you thought was somebody’s going to die. So I found myself in the car crying, but
I had to come to work. I was fearful for my patients and myself and my coworkers, because we are all like family. We didn’t know what was really going to happen. We were given a choice of whether to work on the COVID unit, and I felt kind of brave when I decided to do it. I was thinking, “If I say no, where is my compassion?” They were vulnerable, for one. And also: This unit was my unit. They were my patients before COVID. I was fearful, but as a believer, a bornagain Christian, I just committed everything into God’s hands. One of my colleagues asked me, “What are you doing on the COVID unit? Is it because of the money?” And I replied to her, “Honestly, $3 [per hour] is equivalent to my life? No, it’s not because of the money, but if I abandon my patients, what conscience do I have?” When we started working with the patients, it was stressful seeing people with high fever, suffering and trying to breathe. I found myself crying a couple of times when someone passed. Seeing the patients dying and the testing was not what it is now — as much as I was crying for the patients, I was fearful for myself. Some of our staff got sick, but, thank God, none of them died. Eventually hope came. Because I saw 80-something-year-old people recovering from the COVID unit and walking out of here. That was a joy. Sometimes we would even dance together. It gave me back hope that not everyone would die, and it gave me life. And the staff and administrators, all of them helped out on the COVID unit — so we were not abandoned. Right now I have five patients. It’s just one nurse and me. When the ward is full, you have nurses, two aides and you can call for help if you need to. Once you’re in the COVID ward, you get your patients ready as usual — cleaning up, washing, dressing, sitting them up so you can feed them. When it’s time for a break, you take off all your garments. The way we are dressed is kind of heavy at times. You’re not really getting the air you’re supposed to with those N95 masks, another mask over it, goggles and then a shield. We wear one set of clothes over our own garments and then another one when we are going into the patients’ rooms. So it’s kind of hot, but we need it for protection. I don’t think I’ve gotten sick. That’s
another mystery that I cannot even explain. At one point I was so sure that I was sick and asymptomatically spreading it. But I have been tested six times and all of them have been negative. At first, I could not really tell my daughter what was going on at my job because it’s so related to death. But then one day, she said to me, “Mommy, you’re working too much. You have to be careful the way this thing is going.” And then I lied to her, saying, “Well, in my facility we’re OK. We don’t have something like this going on.” She said, “Don’t lie to me, mommy, it’s on the internet.” [Laughter.] So I had to let her know that it was happening. She’s proud of me; she calls me a “frontliner.” For me personally, the fear is now gone. I was afraid of touching the patients, but now I am not. Maybe I am adapted to this new environment. I’m looking forward to this ending and for us to go back to normal life. Life is not really normal with COVID. We are living in a time of uncertainty.
Jen and Marcus Wilson, co-owners, True Grit Society gym
“It’s hard to look at our business and think it’s going to get any better.” THURSDAY, JULY 9 Jen: I did an NPR interview with Angela Davis. Someone contacted me and said they wanted to talk about gym reopenings, and I told them, “Our story is a little more complicated than that.” They had one woman who manages Lifetime Fitness in Plymouth and a woman who has a Pilates studio in Wayzata. They both had, like, 85% of their members back, and I was thinking, “Either you’re lying or there’s something more to be said for people who have been traumatized who live in the city, because they’re just not ready to let all of that go and get back into a normal routine.” Because we’re not seeing anything like that; we’re still at 20%. I really truly feel that the protests took a lot out of people, and I don’t know if
they’ve got it back enough. Or maybe they’re just not ready to get back into a normal life because things are not normal yet. We know a lot of people who are still going to protests. I was talking to Marcus the other day, and I said, “Look, the business right now is scary.” The concern is that these people who have quarantined for four or five months now, then been involved in the protests, they’re not going to wake up and say, “Today is the day.” There has to be something that happens that makes people feel safe going around people again and taking that chance. And it’s actually going backwards from that — things are getting worse with the virus. It’s hard to think that it will change because things are sort of going backwards; they’re not really getting better. I don’t think it helps when Trump is running the Southern strategy and getting certain voters to side with him. It’s retraumatizing, like when he said, “kung flu,” and you see videos of people harassing minorities in public and it’s like, what the heck? All of it together, it’s hard to look at our business and think it’s going to get any better. It’s tough. We’re still checking in with most of our members to see how they’re doing. They understand that it’s not a pressure to come back — it’s simply, “How are you doing?” The problem, though, is I don’t think there’s any confidence in a movement toward making this better. And really what you see is it getting worse in some states. I have my foot in two states: I work for a company in Arizona and live in a state where we are doing things completely different, and you can see the difference between the two. My company in Arizona had 30 COVID cases; we had layoffs because we can’t make the product we produce. This company for many months said, “You can wear face masks if you want, but it’s not required,” and now we have 30 people who have COVID. I’ve seen their steps along the way, and I’ve seen what we do here. This has been our thing the whole time. Who is the one saying businesses should be open? Is it businesses themselves or is it somebody else? I know a lot of businesses that have shut down, many deciding to do it because they don’t want to work twice as hard to make half as much. Is it that they got behind and their landlord isn’t giving them time to pay back their rent? We know a lot of people in that situation.
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A12 July 23–August 5, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com
Repair assistance goes virtual in Hennepin County
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virtual repair appointment. Residents need an internet-connected device for a visit, and it’s helpful to have a second person in your household for camerawork and help with disassembly and repairs, the county says.
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In lieu of Fix-It Clinics, Hennepin County is connecting residents to volunteers for help repairing household appliances, electronics and other goods during the COVID-19 pandemic. Submitted photo
In 2018, the Calhoun Area Residents Action Group (CARAG) adopted the name South Uptown. And late last year, East Calhoun residents voted to change the name of the East Calhoun Community Organization to just ECCO — the group’s acronym stripped of its meaning. Following George Floyd’s killing, a number of large private institutions — including Calhoun Square, the Calhoun Beach Club and the Calhoun Towers apartments — have announced plans to rebrand. Campbell said that West Calhoun has been getting more emails recommending a name change since Floyd’s death but that the name change had already been on the agenda for a May annual meeting, which was canceled amid the pandemic. The WCNC had discussed a name change a number of times in the past few years. In May 2019, the results of a survey were released that showed 35 of 65 residents polled supported keeping the West Calhoun name, though Campbell said homeowners were overrepresented in the survey and it wasn’t “representative of the neighborhood.” “We decided we couldn’t keep putting off [a vote] just because of COVID,” he said.
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Hennepin County is offering free virtual volunteer help to residents seeking to repair household appliances, electronics and goods without leaving home. For the past month, the county’s Energy and Environment Department has been connecting residents to volunteers with expertise in repairing household appliances and electronics for one-on-one video sessions. The volunteers help residents navigate repairs they may otherwise not be able to make on their own. The virtual sessions are the county’s temporary replacement for the Fix-It Clinic program. At Fix-It Clinics, volunteers provide in-person assistance to help residents learn basic troubleshooting and repair skills for household appliances and electronics and to keep such goods out of the landfill. The county has held them since 2012 but hasn’t held one since February. Waste reduction and recycling specialist Nancy Lo said there has typically been at least one virtual session per day since they began in mid-June. About 10 volunteers are helping with the virtual repair sessions, she said. They’ve helped residents fix household goods that are typically brought to Fix-It Clinics, but they’ve also been able to help fix larger items that can’t be brought to clinics, such
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southwestjournal.com / July 23–August 5, 2020 A13
Park Board limits size, number of homeless encampments The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is limiting the number and size of homeless encampments and drastically reducing the size of large tent camps at Powderhorn Park in a reversal of last month’s decision to declare all parkland a “refuge” for unsheltered people. Park commissioners voted unanimously July 15 to limit encampments to 20 parks citywide and cap the number of tents in each encampment at 25. Each encampment now requires a permit that can be issued to volunteers, nonprofit organizations or government entities that would be responsible for oversight. Nonpermitted encampments will be disbanded. “Large encampments are completely untenable and unsafe not only for the people living there but for people living nearby,” Park Board President Jono Cowgill (District 4) said. The Park Board tried to do the right thing when it voted to declare parkland a refuge for unsheltered people in June, said At-Large Commissioner Londel French, but the situation at Powderhorn has become unsafe. “We may have bitten off a little more than we could chew,” French said. French, who spent a lot of time at the Powderhorn encampment, said he hopes residents will press other government entities to help house the people. Before the vote, dozens of residents of the Powderhorn neighborhood told commis-
sioners they felt increasingly unsafe in their neighborhood and felt the park was dangerous for inhabitants, volunteers and local residents. There have been reports of physical and sexual assault in Powderhorn and at other parks, according to Park Police Chief Jason Ohotto, including a man exposing himself and a fight where a man was pistolwhipped at Kenwood Park. Assistant superintendent Jeremy Barrick said staff have expressed concern for their safety and that morale is low. The original resolution would have exempted Powderhorn Park from size limits, but a unanimously approved amendment from board Vice President LaTrisha Vetaw removed that exemption. “I want all our parks to be treated the same,” she said. It remains unclear which parks will be home to permitted encampments and where in those parks the encampments will be placed. As of July 15, MPRB staff said, there were encampments in 29 parks, ranging from just over 300 tents in Powderhorn to small groups of three tents elsewhere. In Southwest, encampments were in place at Lake Harriet, Lake of the Isles, Lyndale Farmstead, The Mall, Martin Luther King Jr. and Kenwood parks. Kenwood Park had the second largest encampment in the city, with 21 tents.
One of the two encampments in Powderhorn was cleared by police on July 20. An encampment with about 85 tents remains on the west side of the park, down from a high of 250 tents on July 9, according to a Park Board spokesperson. Some commissioners are skeptical that the permitting process will be successful or enforceable. “My question is, what’s our plan?” Commissioner Kale Severson (District 2) said. He said there should have been a list of which parks camps will be placed in before a vote took place. MPRB assistant superintendent Michael Schroeder said staff have been trying to determine which parks are most suitable for encampments. The ordinance stipulates that only 10% of any given park may be dedicated to camping areas, and an amendment to the ordinance will prohibit encampments within school zones. Schroeder said the plan is to create “buffer zones” between encampments and popular park assets to ensure access for park users and create more privacy for inhabitants. The ordinance further limits which parks can host encampments and where those encampments can be. The current tent group at Lyndale Farmstead, for example, will have to relocate from its location near the Theodore Wirth home to areas in the south-
west portion of the park. Once a permit is obtained, the MPRB will place portable toilets and other amenities at the site within 48 hours. The limit of 25 tents per site includes any tents used by volunteers to distribute goods and tents residents use for storage but don’t sleep in. The permitted encampments are subject to park rules surrounding alcohol, tobacco and narcotics use. Police enforcement to remove noncompliant camps is a “last resort,” staff said. As of July 22, three applications for permits had been submitted to the MPRB, and all remained under review. Commissioner Brad Bourn (District 6) fears the Park Board was putting too much bureaucracy into being homeless. “I think some of our expectations might be unrealistic,” he said. The resolution continues long-voiced Park Board calls for the city of Minneapolis, Hennepin County and the state to assist with finding a dignified solution for people staying in parks. “We know the Park Board is not the agency to solve this crisis,” Superintendent Al Bangoura said.
cart unless they live in the same household. Club rentals are not available, and all water stations, ball washers, benches and rakes for sand traps have been removed from courses. The cups on the putting greens have been modified so golfers no longer need to touch the pin when retrieving their balls. Umphrey said courses have generally been able to accommodate the additional demand for golf carts. Tee times have been spaced eight minutes apart, like in past years, but courses have been
blocking off spots on the tee sheet to ensure that groups stay spaced apart. Umphrey said rounds were slow in the beginning of the year but have sped up since the Park Board began renting out golf carts. “We’re happy people are out playing golf,” he said. “We’re in a spot that no one wants to be in, but we’re navigating the best we can.”
— Andrew Hazzard
Rounds up at golf courses More people are teeing it up at Minneapolis’ public golf courses this summer, as the COVID-19 pandemic limits other recreational and athletic activities. “We’re on pace for our best year in a decade,” said Larry Umphrey, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s (MPRB) director of recreation programs and golf. The Park Board reported that 80,596 rounds had been played as of June 30 on its five 18-hole and two nine-hole courses, which opened in April.
Umphrey said that MPRB courses are operating at “95%-plus capacity” on most Fridays and weekends and are slightly less busy Monday through Thursday. Golf revenue is up roughly 15% over last year, despite limited beverage sales, he said. MPRB golf courses are taking precautions to limit close contact between players and staff and to eliminate high-touch surfaces. It has asked golfers to arrive at its courses no more than 20 minutes before tee times and is not allowing golfers to drive together on a golf
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A14 July 23–August 5, 2020 / southwestjournal.com FROM FOOD SHELVES / PAGE A1
Pet food is being collected at the Lyndale Animal Hospital, meals are being served on Tuesdays at MLK Park in Kingfield and volunteers are stocking supply tents at homeless sanctuaries in Lyndale Farmstead and Kenwood parks. Established food shelves in the area say the pop-ups have been pivotal in bringing aid to various parts of the city, and their smaller sizes have been especially important in the effort to keep social distance. Information about the food shelves is typically spread by word of mouth, on social media and through websites like the Twin Cities Mutual Aid map, which pinpoints places around the cities that are accepting donations or volunteers. The map also indicates what goods are needed and where, with details usually updated daily. Nancy Hicks, a volunteer coordinator with the People’s Library, said the MCAD distribution center originally came about in response to helping the Eat Street restaurant Pimento Jamaican Kitchen deal with an influx of donations after it started accepting and distributing food and supplies on May 28. A spokesperson with Pimento said the restaurant is currently scaling down its efforts as the supply distribution was part of a temporary relief effort. For the People’s Library, Hicks said, it was a little hectic at first. Coordinating volunteers, distributing what goods they had and navigating language barriers were problems the team had to troubleshoot. But as more volunteers joined, many of whom had volunteered at similar sites before, coordination became easier and wait times shrunk. Looking back, Hicks said with a laugh, “We weren’t 100% sure what we were doing.” Now a month in, they’ve been able to adjust though they’re still ironing out the creases. Although most of the pop-ups work independently, Hicks said, the People’s Library has been working to form long-term relationships with farmers markets and local eateries like Penny’s Coffee and Provision Community Restaurant, which have donated baked
goods. The team also coordinates with other distribution spots — sharing produce and other perishables and making sure to be open on alternating days. “It’s really important this sort of support can continue because Minneapolis has such a crisis [with] housing and support,” Hicks said. “And it’s only increased because of COVID.” After an initial spike in aid and support, Hicks said, the number of donations has been dropping in recent weeks even though need has not gone away. More expensive goods like shampoo, feminine products and dental hygiene supplies are always in demand but can be more costly to buy in bulk. Since mid-July, volunteers at the MCAD site moved away from only distributing meal and supply kits and have been printing out checklists with grocery items listed in English, Somali and Spanish, so families can choose additional items they need rather than receive some items they don’t. Although this is more work for the volunteers, Hicks said, it results in less waste and helps them accommodate cultural and dietary restrictions.
More in need
At more established food distribution centers, the current need hasn’t been this drastic since the Great Depression, said Elizabeth Cooper, spokesperson for Second Harvest Heartland. Since March, the nonprofit has been supplying goods to pop-ups and food shelves around the Twin Cities and is anticipating Minnesota food shelves will see a 65% increase in demand through the remainder of 2020 and into next year. Cooper said the collaboration with pop-up food shelves has been pivotal, especially in a
Bethany Johnson has been a member of the People’s Library since her sophomore year at MCAD. Johnson graduated in 2018 and the group, which started as a radical book club, has become more focused on community engagement in recent years. Photos by Isaiah Rustad
pandemic where people need to be socially distant. Their help has made it possible to reach more people in need. “We have seen a record number of donations coming in [since March], which is good,” Cooper said. “We need every dollar.” Part of the work also comes with destigmatizing the act of asking for help, especially when it comes to accepting food, she said. Acknowledging and accepting help is a sign of strength and trust in the community, and without addressing hunger, existing inequalities can worsen. “We know that hunger is connected to a wide variety of health issues, so really, if we let this hunger crisis continue, it is going to deepen and broaden the impact of the pandemic,” she said. “As a community, we can’t let that happen.” Alex Richardson started volunteering for the Lyndale Farmstead Sanctuary in June, when people experiencing homelessness first moved into Lyndale Farmstead Park. (The
GET HELP OR GIVE HELP The Twin Cities Mutual Aid map is continually updated with information about how to receive food and supplies and where you can go to make a donation or volunteer. Info: tinyurl.com/tc-mutual-aid Community members wait in line to get food from the People’s Library on July 21.
FROM SCHOOLS / PAGE A1
Chain of Lakes) would require the district to start the school year remotely and not resume in-person instruction until at least Nov. 15. A School Board Committee of the Whole meeting is scheduled for July 28; Walser said that he thinks he has the votes to pass the resolution, which is also supported by board member Ira Jourdain (Southwest), though it has yet to be added to the board’s meeting agenda as of press time. In Minneapolis, public and private schools are waiting for the governor’s announcement to share their plans, but they’ve been preparing for multiple scenarios. A 150-plus-member Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) committee has been working on a distance-learning plan that would allow for better technology access and more studentteacher interaction. The district has also anonymously surveyed staff about accommodations they might need in order to return to school. It declined to say how many teachers have requested to telework or to take a leave of absence for the coming school year. Currently, there are no plans to incentivize in-person work with extra pay. The district is not yet sharing details on what its hybrid-education model could look like. A
spokesperson said building capacities could constrain how many students could return. The district is looking at city and state data collected on the spring distancelearning experience. A statewide survey that yielded over 134,000 responses found that 64% of parents would be comfortable sending their kids back to school. The rate was identical for the 7,211 Minneapolis parents included in the poll. About 56% of the Minneapolis parents reported that the remote-education experience was either “bad” or “very bad.”
‘A lot of uncertainty’
Many families and educators are hesitant to send students back to school until more is known about the effects of COVID-19 or the outbreak is better contained in the region. Michael Jischke, a Lynnhurst parent of three, said the spring remote-learning period was really challenging because his kids missed out on the social relationships they have at school. “Seeing their classmates online just wasn’t really a replacement for that,” he said. Jischke, who works full time at home, said it was difficult to devote the time to help and keep track of what his kids were supposed to do. But he said that he and his wife are still undecided about whether they would send
their kids back to school. “There’s a lot of uncertainty and questions about how they’ll protect students [and] teachers,” he said, adding that it would be challenging to follow social-distancing protocols in the classroom. Greta Callahan, president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, said most MPS teachers don’t yet think it’s safe to return to school. The union has started a petition in conjunction with the St. Paul and Anoka-Hennepin teachers unions that asks Walz to stop schools from holding in-person classes until a series of conditions are met. Those include: • Barring schools from opening until the number of COVID-19 cases in a community declines for 14 straight days. • A commitment to close any school for two weeks if someone who has been on site tests positive for COVID-19. • Free COVID-19 testing for all students, employees and families. • Improved heating, ventilation and airconditioning systems. • A student-teacher ratio of 10-to-1. The petition had over 8,150 signatures as of July 21.
Park Board has voted to limit the size of encampments and require permits, and the sanctuary’s future is uncertain.) Although he works full time, Richardson spends a couple hours every evening at the park coordinating volunteers, distributing food and supplies and facilitating activities. He said it feels good to see people come together and fill the immediate needs of those in the sanctuary, but he’s frustrated that the government is not the one providing direct aid. “We shouldn’t have to do these things,” he said. “It’s been great seeing the response of the city; it feels really good to know that we live in a city that cares so much. We just wish our elected officials shared that.” Lorrie Sandelin, director of Joyce Uptown Foodshelf, said food insecurity has always existed. Since March, the food shelf has seen more visitors than average, although its June numbers were closer to pre-COVID times, which Sandelin attributed to other community pop-up donation centers addressing those needs. One noticeable change she sees now is more first-timers. “It doesn’t take much to go from being a food-secure household to a food-insecure household, and I think what is happening in our world highlights that,” she said. “It’s just brought these needs to the forefront, and people realize that food insecurity can happen to your neighbor. It can be anybody.” Moving forward, Sandelin said, food shelves will have to be flexible and continue to rise to the challenge. Already Joyce Uptown Foodshelf is planning to purchase a van to make food deliveries and plans to open its main floor back up to allow clients to choose the goods they want. “I think this is going to be more of a marathon than a sprint,” she said. “I’ve just been really humbled by the amount of community outpouring. … I think that is pretty amazing.”
Increased private school queries
Across the state, private schools, which wouldn’t be bound by Walz’s decision, have seen increased queries about their fall plans and availability, said Tim Benz, president of the Minnesota Independent School Forum. With a median student population of 90 kids, Benz said, many private schools have additional room for students. The pre-k-8 Carondelet Catholic School, which has campuses in Fulton and Linden Hills, said it’s planning to announce whether students will return in the last week of July. So is the Blake School, which has its high school campus in Lowry Hill. A statement from the Minnesota Association of Independent Schools, which includes includes Blake, City of Lakes Waldorf School in Whittier and Lake Country School in Kingfield, said most of its member schools are planning to reopen with some in-person capacity. Many of the schools in the consortium have seen increased interest from prospective families and have been outfitting buildings with signage for physical distancing, handwashing and sanitation stations and proper air-circulation and filtration equipment. Many also are repurposing multi-use spaces as additional classroom space and are preparing hybrid learning models.
southwestjournal.com / July 23–August 5, 2020 A15 FROM RESTAURANTS / PAGE A1
Restaurants across the state are often left to enforce the regulations among themselves and make determinations on the best course of action in the event of an exposure. In Minneapolis, some restaurants have shut down briefly after a worker or customer reported a case, including Mortimer’s in Whittier and Nico’s Taco Bar in East Isles. Nico’s announced it would close for contact tracing, testing and extra sanitizing on July 14 after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. It reopened on July 18. “We are lucky to have employees who stay home when they are sick and feel they need to be tested,” the restaurant posted on social media. Mortimer’s co-owner Jasha Johnston announced he had tested positive for COVID-19 and would be temporarily closing the restaurant to allow for staff testing on July 16. The restaurant worked to contact everyone on their reservation list to let them know, he wrote on Facebook. He and his wife, Carrie McCabe-Johnston, also run Nightingale at 26th & Lyndale and have temporarily closed that restaurant while they quarantine. “We can open back up once the rest of the staff results come back ‘not detected,’” wrote Johnston, who noted that he is asymptomatic. Neither restaurant responded to requests
for comment by press time. The Minneapolis Health Department has been doing its own investigations to ensure bars and restaurants are complying with coronavirus regulations. Three bars were issued citations for violations between July 16 and July 18: Stella’s Fish Cafe in Uptown, Conga Latin Bistro in Northeast and Wild Greg’s Saloon in Downtown, according to city spokesperson Sarah McKenzie. Stella’s was cited for failing to keep groups separated on its rooftop patio and not ensuring groups larger than four were from the same household, according to a copy of the citation obtained by the Southwest Journal. It was fined $200. The Minneapolis Health Department has done three sweeps of bars since limited dining began in June, McKenzie said. Inspectors introduce and identify themselves to management and point out any issues in real time. In the most recent inspections, inspectors examined 16 bars on Thursday, July 16, and returned to those with issues over the weekend. The problems at Stella’s had been corrected on reinvestigation, McKenzie said. Stella’s management did not respond to requests for comment by press time. There have been 243 complaints to 311 about businesses failing to adhere to citywide indoor mask requirements from June 1 to July 22, McKenzie said.
‘Bad out there’ for service workers
Stella’s was cited for failing to keep groups separated on its rooftop patio and not ensuring groups larger than four were from the same household. It was fined $200.
For restaurant staff, returning to work has been “very stressful,” according to Sarah Webster Norton, executive director of the service industry advocacy group Serving Those Serving. The nonprofit works with restaurants across the Twin Cities, including Black Sheep Pizza and Iron Door Pub in Southwest, to provide access to support services like mental health treatment. In a typical month, it will help about two people
Mortimer’s owners Jasha Johnston and Carrie McCabe-Johnston, shown in this 2018 file photo, temporarily closed their Whittier restaurant on July 16 after Johnston tested positive for COVID-19.
with crisis calls, but in the first two weeks after restaurants reopened, it fielded more than two dozen. Restaurants vary widely in how well they are handling reopening, Norton said. Places known for being well-run and good to staff before the pandemic are doing well, she said, but establishments that were doing poorly before are often failing to create a safe environment. She’s heard from industry workers about packed restaurants with little mask use and establishments hiding COVID cases to avoid losing revenue. Many longtime workers are stressed and considering leaving the industry. “It’s bad out there,” Norton said. Adam Borgen, chair of Serving Those Serving and a bartender at Smack Shack in the North Loop, said while his restaurant has taken COVID regulations seriously, he
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and other workers are concerned about the inconsistencies restaurant to restaurant and anxious about customers bouncing between different establishments that vary in how well they are adhering to regulations. Norton said workers in the area have redubbed the North Loop “the COVID den.” Borgen has worked in the Minneapolis restaurant scene for 24 years and knows people at several establishments in the city. Many places, he said, are taking shortcuts. He is hoping service workers can seize the moment to improve conditions and change the industry culture so that employers stop pressuring them to work through illness. Borgen said people who are going to bars and restaurants should have fun but respect the rules establishments have in place to protect workers and fellow customers. “The biggest thing is be kind,” he said.
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There’s also information on the Democratic and Republican candidates seeking their parties’ nominations for the 5th District U.S. House seat, which covers Minneapolis. Our guide does not include detailed information on local candidates without primary challengers (they’ll be profiled in our pregeneral election voter guide) or those running for president or U.S. Senate. A list of these candidates can be found on page B7. 394
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he Senate District 62 DFL primary pits a leading Minnesota Democrat against a progressive challenger who won the party endorsement in May at a virtual convention. State Sen. Jeff Hayden has served in the Legislature since 2009, first as a representative before winning a 2011 special Senate election. He is one of four Jeff Hayden assistant minority leaders in the 32-member Senate DFL caucus and has said that his skill set and experience with health and human services would be invaluable in upcoming legislative sessions. Meanwhile, challenger Omar Fateh, a Democratic socialist, has said the district needs new leadership that’s more in sync with residents’ progressive stances. He wants to bring a single-payer health care system and free universal two- and four-year college to Minnesota and to repeal a statewide ban on rent control. Hayden’s priorities include a statewide $15 hourly minimum wage, rent freezes amid the COVID-19 pandemic, eliminating the educational achievement gap by 2024 and ending racial disparities. His Senate accomplishments include helping to pass a state minimum-wage increase in 2014, requiring foster parents to maintain a smokefree environment and championing a 2016 package to provide $35 million in state funding to job-training, education and small-businessassistance programs for people of color. Since George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer, Hayden has made a renewed push to pass a series of criminal Lake reform bills, including ones that would justice Harvey impose residency requirements on Minneapolis and St. Paul police officers. The package also includes bills to restore 100
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mail-in ballots must be postmarked by that date. Those voting in person should note that 50 of Minneapolis’ 125 polling places have been relocated to ensure voter safety Miscan during the pandemic. Your polling place s be found online at pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us. Read more about the city’s polling place relocation at tinyurl.com/swj-polling-place. The general election is Nov. 3. 35W
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The best places to find information on how and where to vote are the city and Secretary of State websites (vote.minneapolismn.gov and mnvotes.org). Voting by mail is open to all voters and is being encouraged by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Make sure to flip your ballot over, since School Board races are on the backside. Primary election day is Aug. 11, and
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hoosing candidates for public office isn’t easy; with dozens running for Wirth Lake local, state and national offices, it can be hard to keep them all straight. The Southwest Journal is here to help. Our voter guide has stories on School Board and state Legislature candidates on the primary ballot in the Bryn Mawr neighborhood and the 20 neighborhoods south of Interstate 394 and west of Interstate 35W.
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voting rights to felons Lake and give the state of the attorney general authority to prosecute police Isles officers who use deadly force. Hayden also applauded the School Board and Park Board in Minneapolis for cutting ties with the city’s police department in the wake of Floyd’s death. Fateh has also called for systemic police reform, and he said on Facebook that he Maka Ska supports aBde proposed charter amendment that would allow Minneapolis to dissolve Omar Fateh its police force and replace it with a new public safety agency. In addition, he wants to ban the use of tear gas, allow for greater civilian oversight of police and explore ways mental health crises and other problems can be solved without turning to police. Another priority for Fateh is housing protections, including a constitutional amendment to make housing a guaranteed right for all Minnesotans. He also wants to make it legal across Minnesota to build fourplexes on all residential lots, as was originally conceived under the Minneapolis 2040 plan, Lake and pass a renters’ bill of rights.Harriet Fateh also supports a $15 minimum wage, and he is calling for driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants, the elimination of cash bail and divesting the state’s pension fund from fossil fuel interests. This is the third run for public office for Fateh, 30, a business analyst at the University of Minnesota. In 2015, he ran unsuccessfully for the Fairfax County, Virginia, School Board, and in 2018, he finished third in the DFL primary in House District 62A, which includes Stevens Square and Whittier. At the virtual District 62 DFL convention in May, Fateh won 72% of 582 votes cast to
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earn the endorsement. He also has endorsements from Our Revolution Twin Cities and five Minneapolis-based elected officials, including Park Board members Jono Cowgill and Chris Meyer and School Board members Diamond Lake Ira Jourdain and Josh Pauly. 35W
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Mi Sweeney ss Dehn said he is focusing on equity issues, iss Lake meaningful police reform and housing legislation that improves affordability and provides shelter for all.Â
“All of this stuff is interconnected,â€? he said.Â
Dehn said he was a bit surprised to lose Wirth Lake the party nomination but said he felt tranMis sitioning to a digital convention due to s COVID-19 altered the way the process played out, so he decided to run in the primary. “I believe I have a strong record of representing the people in the district on the issues that are critical for them,� Dehn said.  Brownie Agbaje said the main differences between Lake her and Dehn come from different life experiences and perspectives. Her experiDistrict 59B includes Bryn Mawr, the North Loop, most of Downtown and North Side ence as a lawyer, she said, has given her the ability to work with and against people Cedar Lake neighborhoods Harrison, Near North and Willard-Hay. who have different goals. If Republicans don’t want to act, she said, the DFL caucus Lake priest, Agbaje grew up all across the state in Dehn said, and should let them own the failure. of the while he knows many are Isles cities like Brainerd and Faribault. She spent skeptical of the project, he believes it can Dehn believes his experience working time working for the State Department continue to be made better and pay off for with people in various state departments and attended Harvard Law School before the area in the long run if there are strong and other elected officials sets him apart and returning to Minnesota. She is a firstrequirements for affordable housing. he can reap dividends for residents. With the generation Nigerian-American. “I think it could have a huge positive state budget being strained due to COVIDJeffery Strand, chair for DFL Senate impact,� he said. 19, he said, he can work to ensure the District 59, said Agbaje’s team worked hard Dehn rst elected to the Legislature district isn’t harmed by any financial cuts. Bdewas Maka fi Ska for the party endorsement and that she is in 2012 and was a candidate for mayor of “Those are critical relationships when it a “great spokesperson for DFL values.� He Minneapolis in 2017, coming in second to comes to serving the district,� Dehn said. said 2020 has been an “extraordinary� year Mayor Jacob Frey. He is an architect by trade. When it comes to developing the Upper to have an election and that the party has Agbaje represents patients as a medical Harbor Terminal site, Agbaje said current transitioned to phone and text banking malpractice lawyer and volunteers with plans do not benefit North Side residents. and direct mail pieces, to remind residents tenants in eviction court. This is her first “When we do this project, we need to there is an active primary and increase race as a candidate, though she has previstart with the community,� she said. turnout. The party, he said, will support ously volunteered and been involved with The Upper Harbor Terminal project has whoever wins the primary. campaigns. The daughter of an Episcopal been improved by community concerns, 100
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emocrats in District 59B will choose between an experienced incumbent and a new challenger who secured the party nomination on Aug. 11. Rep. Raymond Dehn, a four-term incumbent, is facing DFL-endorsed attorney Esther Agbaje to represent the district that includes Bryn Mawr, Harrison, Near North, Raymond Dehn Willard-Hay, North Loop and Downtown. Agbaje, 35, bested Dehn, 62, on the third ballot of the District 59 DFL convention. She said housing, environmental justice, public safety reform and transit are her high-priority issues. “Housing really is a human right; it’s the stability that makes things work for families,â€? she said. Agbaje said she wants to bring a sense of urgency to St. Paul and that even if Republicans continue to hold the Senate, the DFL caucus needs to work to get smaller Esther Agbaje wins, like preventing evictions from being put on renters’ records instantly when filed, regardless of the outcomes of their cases. “If we keep waiting, we’re going to be in the same situation 10 years from now,â€? Agbaje said.Â
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SENATIECT DISTR9 5
Entrepreneur challenges two-term senator Twin Lake
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from asking about criminal history on job applications or during interviews. Bills he authored during the 2019-20 Crystal Lake Legislative session included proposals to restore voting rights to felons, limit cash bail usage and aid businesses owned by Bobby Joe people of color. Champion The one bill he carried that became law during the 2019-20 biennium allows a parent whose parental rights were stripped by a court order to petition to re-establish guardianship. Previously, only county attorneys were allowed to petition for the reinstatement of parental rights. He also helped secure $2 million in funding for the North Market grocery store Twin Lake and community center, which Sweeney opened in Lake December 2017 in North Minneapolis. Champion said he plans on continuing to advocate for the restoration of voting rights to felons, for increasing homeownership and Wirth Lake housing options and for investing in jobs for people of color, women and veterans. He also said he wants to see “meaningful� investments in special education and more teachers of color. In 2018 he ran a short-lived congressional Brownie campaign for the 5th District U.S. House Lake seat that was later won by Ilhan Omar.
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n a district that includes part of the Bryn Mawr neighborhood, plus North Minneapolis and Downtown, an entrepreneur is trying to unseat an attorney who’s been in the Legislature since 2009. Suleiman Isse, who has started an interpreting/translation services company and a mental health clinic, is challenging Bobby Joe Champion in his bid for a third Senate term. Suleiman Isse Champion has been endorsed by the DFL. Isse, a first-time candidate for public office, said he hasn’t seen a lot of change in District 59 in the last 10 to 15 years. “Everything is getting worse,� he said, adding that residents are suffering because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lingering effects of the Great Recession. If elected, he said, his top priority would be increasing mental and chemical health access, adding that there need to be more community-based clinics. He also wants to create an emergency-preparedness plan for COVID-19, to fund afterschool programming in District 59 and to encourage minority and female developers to build housing. He also supports a $15 minimum wage, legalizing marijuana and expunging cannabis-related convictions. Champion said he wants a third term to build upon his work over the past 11 years, which has included authoring “ban the box� legislation that prevents employers
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District 59 includes Bryn Mawr, the North Loop, most of Downtown and all of North Minneapolis.
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B4 July 23–August 5, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
L SCHOO D BOARIC T4 R T S I D
Three first-time candidates vie for open seat By Nate Gotlieb
T
he District 4 primary pits a Spanish dualimmersion parent against a Hennepin County social worker and an entrepreneurturned-schoolteacher. Adriana Cerrillo, Christa Mims and Ken Shain, all first-time candidates for public office, are seeking election to a seat that covers Downtown, the ECCO neighborhood and the seven Southwest Minneapolis neighborhoods north of Lake Street. One-term incumbent Bob Walser is not running. The Minneapolis DFL endorsed Mims over Cerrillo and a third candidate, Kirsten Ragatz, during a virtual convention held April 25-May 4. Ragatz did not file for election. Shain said he would have sought the DFL endorsement but didn’t because he thought Walser was running; he said he had planned to support Walser for the seat. Walser declined to comment on when and why he decided not to run but said he would support Shain over Mims and Cerrillo. “Ken’s values are the closest to mine,� he said. The Minneapolis teachers union did not endorse a candidate in this race.
Adriana Cerrillo adrianacerrillo.com
Cerrillo, who has her own consulting business and has been active in fighting for immigrants’ rights, is the guardian of her 11-year-old nephew, who attends Emerson Spanish Immersion
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Learning Center in the Loring Park neighborhood. She is on the school’s site council. Since moving to Minnesota in 2013, Cerrillo has sat on the Minneapolis Police Conduct Oversight Commission, advocated for a sanctuary platform for undocumented immigrants and urged the firing of a Chaska police officer accused of racial profiling. From 2018 to 2020, she helped over 100 families — mostly families of color — navigate the local education system as a family advocate with the nonprofit Minnesota Comeback, now called Great Minnesota Schools. Cerrillo said she feels that she has a duty and obligation to run for School Board, adding that she wants to work on “policy that makes sense� and that the board should reflect the community. She is calling for “solutions� instead of suspensions, equality in funding for schools and diverse curricula and staff. She said she’s passionate about getting therapists into every single school and that the district needs to provide students with the resources they need in order to close achievement gaps. All schools should have health care professionals working in them, she said, and the district should look to community partnerships to provide students with support when it doesn’t have resources. “We need to be radical in our approaches when it comes to education,� she said. Cerrillo opposed the Comprehensive District Design (CDD) restructuring plan, passed on a 6-3 vote in May, which she believes was more about reducing transporta-
tion costs than addressing inequality. District leaders said the goals of the plan, which redraws attendance zones, reprograms schools and restructures high school careertechnical education programming, are to reduce segregation and give all students a well-rounded education. Cerrillo said she would attend parentteacher association and site council meetings at District 4 schools if elected. “We need to be at the table with families,� she said.
Christa Mims
christamims.com
Mims, a Hennepin County senior social worker who works with Indigenous youth and families in child protection, envisions a school district with a strong academic reputation that retains its students and makes them feel welcome. “I think that we’re absolutely capable of all of those things, and I really do believe that’s where we’re headed,â€? she said. “We have to be willing to do the work, and we have to be willing to make changes where they’re needed.â€? She said her top priorities if elected would include closing racial disparities, investing in teachers and staff of color, empowering parents and families and ensuring the district’s financial stability. Decisions need to be made using a raceequity lens, she said, curricula need to be culturally responsive to students and the district should talk with teachers of color to see what barriers there are to recruiting more teachers of color. While Mims declined to comment on the specifics of the CDD — “I don’t think it is helpful to ‌ dwell on that decisionâ€? — she said the district needs to be transparent as it implements the plan. “I know there were a lot of very upset
people,� she said. “I hear that, and I want those families, those teachers, all of those people to feel like they still have a voice in the transition process.� Mims is endorsed by state Sen. Scott Dibble (District 61) in addition to the DFL. She has a master’s degree in social work and is on the board of the nonprofit Domestic Abuse Project. She is also a fellow with a progressive nonprofit leadership group called the New Leaders Council. She and her wife live downtown.
Ken Shain ken4ed.com
Shain, a longtime entrepreneur who began teaching full time in 2014, said his priority if elected would be ensuring MPS’ survival, adding that he’s worried about the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating its recent financial troubles. He also said that it’s critical that public education isn’t privatized because privatization would lead to variable educational experiences and “rampant� resegregation. Shain, who was on a panel in the 1980s that advised Georgia’s governor about engineering curricula, said students should learn skills they’ll need when they enter the workforce. He said the district needs to do a better job of screening out teachers who harbor racial prejudices and that teachers who are racist should not be in the classroom. “Every teacher in the district should be able to look their students in the eye and see a little brother or sister,� he said. Shain said many teachers in the district have asked him to run because they were afraid the other two candidates “weren’t committed to public education.� He said he thinks the CDD vote was rushed and that district leaders used listening SEE DISTRICT 4 / PAGE B5
7/17/20 11:15 AM
southwestjournal.com / July 23–August 5, 2020 B5 FROM DISTRICT 4 / PAGE B4
sessions this past winter as a way to sell the plan to the public instead of taking feedback. He called for community oversight of the CDD as it’s implemented and predicted that the plan will change as registration patterns shift. Shain was one of 132 teachers statewide
named as a candidate for the 2017 Minnesota Teacher of the Year award. He has spent much of the past three years at Stadium View, which is for students in Hennepin County’s juvenile detention center. The Bernie Sanders-inspired progressive group Our Revolution Twin Cities has endorsed his campaign.
Longtime board member faces four challengers
L SCHOO BOARRDGE AT-LA
By Nate Gotlieb and Becca Most
A
n eight-year School Board member faces a perennial candidate, a Wenonah neighborhood resident, a lifelong North Minneapolis resident and a former community college dean in her bid for a third elected term. Kim Ellison was appointed to the board in January 2012 to fill a vacant citywide seat. She has since been elected twice — once to the North Minneapolis seat and once to an at-large seat. She’s being challenged in her bid for a third term by William Awe, Lynne Crockett, Michael Dueùes and Doug Mann. Ellison, who is endorsed by the Minneapolis DFL, was the only candidate to seek the party endorsement. The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers did not endorse a candidate in this race.
William Awe Awe, who lives in the Wenonah neighborhood in South Minneapolis, does not appear to have a website or an active social media presence, and
he did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story. His LinkedIn account shows that he received an MBA from Benedictine University in 2016 and works as a tax specialist at the Department of Revenue.
Lynne Crockett
families-empowered .com
Crockett said people have been asking her to run for the School Board at-large position for 15 years. Heavily involved in the community for over 53 years, Crockett served as a parent liaison for North High School from 2003-13 and now volunteers for a variety of North Side advisory and community boards that oversee education, community, parks, youth violence prevention and public safety. Crockett wrote on Facebook that she was compelled to run because distance learning has “failed� and she disagrees with the School Board’s vote on the Comprehensive District Design plan.
Another reason for her candidacy is the loss of Minneapolis Police Department officer Charles Adams at North, which she wrote was “like throwing the baby out with the water.� Adams was one of 14 school resource officers (SROs) working in the district. The board in June voted to cut ties with the MPD and end the SRO program, a decision that was criticized by students at North. As a volunteer, Crockett said, she’s seen firsthand many parents who’ve felt disrespected and unheard by school officials for decades, she said. Grappling with language barriers, cultural differences and the achievement gap, she said, she’s seen parents driven away from her district because they feel powerless. “The system’s the problem,� she said. “And the policies are what drives the system, so a dramatic change is needed.� Although she often wakes up in the morning thinking she’s too old to run for office, the 75-year-old said she constantly receives requests for help and advice from community leaders, parents and students, which motivates her to keep pushing for change. If elected to office, she wants to empower parents and make them feel more welcome and involved in their schools, hire more people of color and change policies that discriminate against students of color. “I am the people I am trying to represent,� she said. “Teen mothers, battered women, [people in shelters], kids who get into trouble, family members who have problems with drugs, family members with problems with mental health — I’m you. I understand who you are because I’ve been there, I’ve done that.�
Michael DueĂąes
michaelduenesmps. com
DueĂąes, who has a doctorate in political science, was dean of liberal arts and global
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education at Brooklyn Park-based North Hennepin Community College through 2018. He’s currently self-employed as a policy analyst specializing in education and racial disparities, and he recently co-authored a report on higher-education disparities. He said in an email that his top priority would be supporting students, families and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. Other priorities include implementing and funding educational-equity programs that are based on best practices, transparent and accurate budgeting and recruiting and retaining students. Dueùes was a vocal critic of the CDD, which he said falsely claims to address the educational opportunity gap and doesn’t accurately account for the costs of building renovations and shuing students between schools. He said the plan lacks educational-equity programming and that the district should have done an equity audit, as required for major policy changes. If elected, Dueùes said, he would demand an equity audit and a fiscal audit of the CDD by an outside agency. He also wants to see the district’s major stakeholders, such as the teacher’s union, principals and other communities, included in the implementation. To address achievement gaps, Dueùes said, the district needs to implement best practices and provide dedicated funding to support them. That includes increasing student and family engagement with schools, potentially through ethnic studies courses, language-immersion programming and community partnerships. In a Q&A with the teachers union, he said the district’s budget needs to be laid out more clearly so available resources can be more accurately determined. He also said there needs to be a districtwide discussion about how resources can be more equitably shared. SEE AT-LARGE / PAGE B6
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B6 July 23–August 5, 2020 / southwestjournal.com FROM AT-LARGE / PAGE B5
marriage, were made public that fall, after an ex-girlfriend accused Keith Ellison of abuse.
Kim Ellison (Incumbent) facebook.com/ EllisonforMplsSchool AtLarge
Ellison, a former alternative school teacher who is the board chair, said she’s seeking a third elected term because she wants to finish work around closing achievement gaps. This year, she led passage of the CDD, which she said will help ensure schools across the city have the resources they need, in part by reducing busing costs. “You shouldn’t have to leave your neighborhood to find success at school,� she said. “I believe that the [CDD] can do that for families and staff by providing the right resources where they’re needed.� Ellison said priorities for a third term would include implementation of the plan, adding that she’ll be looking to see diverse curricula and mental health supports for students. She also wants to introduce ethnic studies classes and increase the number of staff of color. She said she thinks the district needs to proceed slowly when it comes to reopening buildings, adding that she would like teachers to be leading the discussion. “I think we need to do it safely,� she said. “I don’t think that means all students and staff at schools on the first day in September.� She also said that she’s pleased with the performance of Superintendent Ed Graff, who she said is thoughtful and listens to different communities. In 2018 Ellison considered runs for the Hennepin County Board seat and the 5th District Congressional seat that opened when her ex-husband, Rep. Keith Ellison, decided to run for state attorney general. The couple’s divorce filings, in which Keith Ellison said Kim repeatedly hit him during their 25-year
Doug Mann
socialist2001. wixsite.com/mann forschoolboard
Mann is making his 12th consecutive School Board run since he first sought a seat in 1999. He also ran for City Council in 2005 and mayor in 2013. He has never been elected and said that getting onto the School Board has not been his priority. “My priority is to change policy,� he said. Specifically, Mann wants to enact policies that would require the district to keep more probationary teachers — those in their first three years with the district — with the goal of reducing teacher turnover. He does not know how many probationary teachers leave the district each year and said the district never responded to a 2018 request for data on the subject. Mann predicted that the district would see less teacher turnover and lower special education enrollment if the district were to retain more probationary teachers. While he said that policies haven’t changed because of his past School Board runs, he thinks he’s raised awareness about the issue of teacher turnover. Mann said he thinks schools need to reopen for the fall without requiring students to wear masks or socially distance, adding that it was possibly a mistake to close schools in the first place. Mann is a vocal opponent of face masks and, on his Twitter account, he has shared a link to a YouTube video, titled “Why Face Masks DON’T Work, According to SCIENCE,� featuring Ben Swann, a former TV personality who has helped spread alt-right conspiracy theories such as Pizzagate.
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USE O H . S . U ISTRICT 5THD
Ilhan Omar challenged in bid for second term By Nate Gotlieb
A
n Uptown mediation lawyer is posing the best-funded challenge to first-term DFL Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose left-wing policy views and status as one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress vaulted her to national prominence but who has been criticized by Republicans and some in her party for comments on the political influence of Israel. DFLer Antone Melton-Meaux raised over $3.2 million between April and June in his bid to unseat Omar, and he had almost twice as much cash on hand as of June 30. (More than 90% of Melton-Meaux’s funding comes from individual contributions over $200; about 40% of Omar’s money is from large donors.) Also running to represent the DFL are John Mason, Daniel Patrick McCarthy and Les Lester. The primary winner will be heavily favored in the general election in the staunchly Democratic district. Three Republicans are vying to become their party’s nominee, including Lacy Johnson, a North Minneapolis businessman who has the party’s endorsement and has also been endorsed by President Trump. Omar was endorsed by the DFL. The Southwest Journal asked the three Republican and five DFL candidates to submit statements on why they’re best for the job and what their priorities would be if elected. Every DFL candidate except John Mason responded. Republican Danielle Stella did not respond. Dalia Al-Aqidi will be listed on the ballot, but she said she has suspended her campaign and is supporting Johnson.
Here are the candidates’ answers to our questionnaire:
DFL Les Lester leslester.org Occupation:
Reporter, author and teacher Endorsements:
Did not seek formal endorsements Why he is best for the job
Les Lester, a MacArthur Fellowship recipient, has done research on sustainable development and global change. He says the world’s economy would have evolved into utilizing a universal basic income (UBI) by 2030, because of A.I. He urges a $2,000 per person UBI. He says the money will be reinvested into the economy creating jobs and additional taxes. He maintains that the nearly 40-year elusive attempt to find a vaccine for HIV/AIDS portends the coronavirus’ future. Top priorities if elected
(1) Les will work to ensure the implementation of the universal basic income (UBI), if there has not been a cure found for the coronavirus. (2) Since a vaccine may not be found in the near future, he will look into initiating SEE DISTRICT 5 / PAGE B7
southwestjournal.com / July 23–August 5, 2020 B7 FROM DISTRICT 5 / PAGE B6
a framework for ongoing remote online education, which could save millions of dollars in heating, building maintenance and transportation costs. (3) He will continue the work to ensure single-payer health care is realized in the U.S. (4) He will work to reinstate the FCC’s fairness doctrine, which required contrasting views to be presented on American television. He says with its repeal, in 1987, the advent of non-vetted ideas proliferating on TV worked to open the gates for unprecedented cultural changes heretofore unimagined. (5) Racism reduction. He says he will work to ensure the Secretary of Education is sensitive to the need to espouse the full classical Black history in America’s schools. He says this will contribute to raising Black esteem and mitigating the school-to-prison pipeline, lessening crime rates.
John Mason
Johnmasonmn.com
Mason did not respond to the Southwest Journal’s questionnaire.
Daniel Patrick McCarthy
mccarthyfordfl5th. org Occupation:
Lawyer and immigration officer (retired) Endorsements: None sought or received Why he is best for the job
McCarthy’s bio highlights: Desert Storm veteran, legal aid lawyer, immigration officer — featuring refugee interviews, two years posted with a US Embassy (in Accra, Ghana), policy analysis, supervision — civil rights/employment attorney, small business owner, volunteer with months’ worth of canvassing in what’s now the Fifth District. Two decades of federal service and 10 years practicing law in varied settings give McCarthy a broad, people-oriented perspective to give voice to metro Minnesotans and reform both justice and government. Top priorities if elected
Pass laws 1) eliminating police unions (unless a comprehensive package of reforms were imposed instead) and 2) requiring that for any disease with pandemic potential the U.S. must immediately adopt any relevant diagnostic test approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) unless and until a domestic equivalent becomes available; and advocate for a bold reallocation of resources in line with vastly transformed 21st-century threats to American security. In foreign affairs, that would entail substantially defunding the oversized, bureaucratic, mission-creep, war-oriented Pentagon and re-equipping the beleaguered State Department to pursue robust diplomacy. For economic security, it’d mean massive investments in infrastructure — especially to mitigate the effects of climate change.
For environmental protection, similar-scale budgetary shifts need to support clean energy and sustainable power consumption. For fiscal viability, a wealth tax aimed mainly at the over-privileged 1% can supplement savings from streamlining our military. In terms of civil service, McCarthy would tirelessly drive oversight to incentivize the recruitment, retention, and promotion of diverse staff with integrity, talent, and dedication to agency missions, while disfavoring favoritism.
Antone Melton-Meaux
antoneforcongress. com Occupation:
Mediation lawyer Endorsements:
Former 5th District candidate Leila Shukri Adan; civil rights leader Josie R. Johnson; former Medtronic CEO Bill George; former U.S. attorney for Minnesota Andy Luger; former Minneapolis NAACP president Nekima Levy Armstrong; Golden Valley mayor Shep Harris Why he is best for the job
I’m the best candidate to represent CD5 because, as an attorney, mediator, and minister, my life’s work is dedicated to bringing people together, finding common ground, and successfully reaching just and equitable solutions. In Congress, my unifying skills will mean that people get real progress on issues that matter to them. This district needs a representative who works on behalf of all of us and delivers results. That’s what I’ll do. Top priorities if elected
In Congress, I’ll be focused entirely on helping the people of the Fifth by addressing the unacceptable inequities that are reality for too many of us. My priorities include ensuring a swift, safe, and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, and I’ll also work to redesign public safety, to reduce police and gun violence, and to improve community safety by investing in crucial community services. We also must prioritize reforming our healthcare system to ensure universal primary care coverage, bring down costs, and improve patient health. We must ensure that no one is left behind in this crisis and that the recovery doesn’t set us back in the fight against climate change as we transition to a clean 21st-century economy. We must also invest in public education to make sure that all of our students are receiving the best possible education and prioritize closing the achievement and attainment gaps between white students and students of color.
Ilhan Omar (Incumbent) ilhanomar.com Endorsements:
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison; Speaker of the U.S. House Nancy
Pelosi; Speaker of the Minnesota House Melissa Hortman; U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders; Minnesota DFL Top priorities if reelected
As your representative in Congress, I’m fighting for big structural changes to address systematic inequalities in education, health, environment, and the economy. This means preventing climate catastrophe with the Green New Deal, ensuring healthcare is treated as the human right it is with Medicare For All, making sure college is accessible to all —not a debt sentence — by canceling student debt, and ending homelessness with my Homes For All bill. Top accomplishments of her first term
Since taking office in January of 2019, I have served as the Whip of the Progressive Caucus, Vice Chair of the Medicare For All Caucus, and Midwest Regional Whip of the House Democratic Caucus. My achievements include: • Leading the entire Minnesota delegation in amendments passed and in legislation introduced.
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• This bill was signed into law as part of Families First Coronavirus Response Act. I’m proud to be one of the small number of freshmen who had legislation that is now law. • The 48 bills and amendments introduced include a bill to cancel student debt, and most recently, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. This bill includes my Federal Relief Fund to help communities rebuild, which is greatly needed here in Minneapolis following the uprising. • Returning $478,000 to constituents through the hundreds of cases my District Office has handled.
Soderlin SWJ 040419 H12.indd 1
• Education • Family
Danielle Stella stella2020.com
Stella did not respond to the Southwest Journal’s questionnaire.
N ALSOAO LLOT B E H T
These candidates will be on ballots in Southwest Minneapolis precincts but do not have primary challengers. They will be profiled in our general election guide. State Senator District 59 Paul Anderson (GOP) State Senator District 61 Jennifer Zielinski (GOP) Scott Dibble (Incumbent, DFL) State Senator District 62 Bruce Lundeen (GOP)
State Representative District 61B Lisa Pohlman (GOP) Jamie Long (Incumbent, DFL)
Lacy Johnson
lacyjohnson.com Occupation:
Computer Technologist & Businessman/ Entrepreneur Endorsements: Minnesota GOP and President Trump Why he is best for the job
I’ve lived in CD5 for over 40 years, much longer than any other candidate. I’ve worked alongside city leads around education, business development, entrepreneurship, criminal justice reform, and neighborhood development. I care about my community as the agenda I am pushing is not to serve myself or my colleagues, but my community. I have over 70,000 donors supporting me. I did not rely on political action committees like my opponents —
State Representative District 62A Arjun Kataria (GOP) Hodan Hassan (Incumbent, DFL) State Representative District 62B Ross Tenneson (GOP) Aisha Gomez (Incumbent, DFL) School Board District 6 Ira Jourdain (Incumbent) U.S. Representative District 5 Michael Moore (Legal Marijuana Now Party)
The U.S. Senate seat held by Tina Smith is also on the ballot this year. The Southwest Journal is not covering that race.
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!
• Radiant Floor Heating • Heating Certification • Humidifier Service & Installation • Electronic Air Filter
Follow @TRUEGRITGYMCO 2800 Lyndale Ave S | 612-293-8093 | truegritsociety.com
...and so much more! 3/22/19 11:10 AM
• Economy
State Representative District 61A Kurtis Fechtmeyer (GOP) Frank Hornstein (Incumbent, DFL)
GOP
• Garbage Disposals • Toilets • Water Filtration • Sump pumps
612-721-4080 | soderlin.com | 3612 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls 55407
Top priorities if elected:
• The 17 bills and amendments passed include my MEALS act, which provides more than 20 million kids with federally subsidized school lunches.
We can handle your needs! Plumbing
but rather the support of U.S citizens who understand I am here for the people of District 5. To put it simply — my character. I am honest, trustworthy, and have a deep concern, understanding, and connection with the people of CD5 and the issues we are facing.
•
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•
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•
SOCIAL DISTANCING
•
LOTS OF SANITIZING
•
6/26/20 11:14 AM
B8 July 23–August 5, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
It’s taverna time again g BY CARLA WALDEMAR
A
s a wise man once explained, it’s déjà vu all over again. It’s Greek to Me, a LynLake landmark since its debut in 1982, changed hands in 2016, then shuttered in September 2019, causing anxiety attacks all throughout Southwest. Now, in an alliance of kin of the original Arambadjis family and Erik Johnson, who brings new blood to the business — it’s back. And it’s busy. That enticing, vine-clad patio was as full as social distancing allowed on the
night I stopped by for takeout, available on a limited menu. (Hey, you can’t set cheese afire and holler “opa!” in the back seat of a car.) The offerings are familiar, and that’s a good thing. Greek taverna fare isn’t complicated, doesn’t depend on tricky techniques mastered at the Culinary Institute, nor ingredients not normally at home in a housewife’s market basket. The secret sauce that knits it is simply warmth and hospitality. Diners swarm here to enjoy themselves, not pass a test.
From the abbreviated list of appetizers ($8-$9), I chose a trio without which Athens, Greece, would be no different from Athens, Georgia. I started with tzatziki. This classic limpid, liquidy Greek yogurt proved plentiful with dill, but I missed the expected cukes. Spanakopita fulfilled its promise as the best way yet invented to enjoy your spinach. It’s an inch-thick thicket of chopped greens bound by eggs and improved with yet more dill and nuggets of feta, with its promised sharp and salty kick, all bound by multiple layers of tissue-thin phyllo pastry. The melitzanasalata, while not a candidate for a photo op with its gray demeanor of pureed roasted eggplant, comes pocked with bits of sweet peppers, garlic (lots of it) and parsley, all moistened with olive oil and red wine vinegar. Dip in a hunk of the kitchen’s robust pita rounds and you’re good to go. The classic Greek salads also get star billing on the menu. On to the sandwich list ($8-$9): gyros, souvlaki skewers and, my choice, loukaniko. Wrapped in a pita along with threads of red onion and wedges of sweet, ripe tomatoes is a
housemade pork sausage — dense in texture and enhanced by sharp-savory spices. I dipped it in tzatziki just because. I followed it up with an a la carte order of paidakia ($5.50), a meaty, char-broiled lamb chop, cooked a bit beyond my specified medium-rare but otherwise a tasty treat enhanced by a wedge of lemon. The surprise hit of the evening was a dinner plate of shrimp saganaki (not listed on the takeout menu but available when you phone in your order, $12). In a pond of gently flavored mustard-wine sauce lounged half a dozen plus-size shrimp, broiled deliciously to justpast-raw. The morning after, I’m still rolling my eyes in homage to their sweet, true flavor and firm but pliant body. They’re joined by tendrils of sweet peppers and a few capers plus generous hunks of feta to provide muscle to the dish’s compliant composition. The dessert menu requires simply a single word: baklava ($5). A phyllo-encased triangle of chopped walnuts visited by cinnamon simply oozes honey syrup. It proved much (much!) too sweet for me to finish. Greek (and other) wines and beers are available, too. Welcome back to the neighborhood; we missed you!
IT’S GREEK TO ME TAVERNA E PAREA 626 W. Lake St. | 612-825-4151 | itsgreektomempls.com
COVID CONFIDENTIAL
By Stewart Huntington
southwestjournal.com / July 23–August 5, 2020 B9
Community Calendar. By Sheila Regan
ARENA DANCES: DINE-N-DANCE While museums and galleries are opening up, it may be a while before we get to see much live dance. Luckily, streaming performance is a thing. With Dine-n-Dance, Arena Dances pairs delectable bites and concert dance with their innovative virtual hangout. The evening includes three American dishes delivered to your door from the restaurant Smith & Porter while you stream Arena Dances’ 2016 performance of “Anthem” via Zoom. A Q&A with choreographer Mathew Janczewski follows the performance.
MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ART
Getting out
Mia is opening up with limited hours, special hours for older people and tickets required. You’ll need to sign up for a time and wear a mask. The coat check is closed.
WALKER ART CENTER The Walker opens its doors once again, by appointment. Among the things to see is a new exhibition called “Don’t Let This Be Easy,” which highlights female artists over the past 50 years. It is presented in collaboration with the Feminist Art Coalition, a national platform that partners with arts institutions to infuse new feminist frameworks. How can an exhibition be a form of self-critique by an institution? See work by Andrea Carlson, Christina Quarles, Kaari Upson and others to find out.
When: July 30, 2020, to July 4, 2021 Where: Walker Art Center, 725 Vineland Place Cost: $15 Info: walkerart.org
HAIR + NAILS GALLERY You have the choice of outdoor and/or indoor experiences at Hair + Nails Gallery. Since mid-June the gallery has been showing revolutionary Black queer moving image work curated by New York-based artist Cameron Downey out in the yard. That installation continues, while local artists Joe Sinness and Daniel Luedtke, of the band Gay Beast, show their radical erotic work inside the gallery space.
When: Opening reception, 7-10 p.m. Saturday, July 25; Gallery open 2-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday (and by appointment) through Aug. 22. Where: 2222½ E. 35th St. Cost: Free Info: hairandnailsart.com
When: 10 a.m-5 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, timed tickets required Where: 2400 3rd Ave. S. Cost: Free Info: artsmia.org
WEINSTEIN HAMMONS GALLERY The gallery has two exhibitions on view, by appointment. The first is Paulo Ventura’s “Pandemic Diaries,” a dreamlike exploration of the Italian artist’s experience in quarantine. The gallery has shown Ventura’s work previously, showcasing his offbeat sense of humor and sense of beauty in bleakness. Also on view is the portfolio of Gordon Parks’ photography, “I Am You,” created in 2017, which highlights Parks’ work in relation to the American Civil Rights Movement.
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, July 23 Cost: $35 Info: arena-dances.org
CHASE BARNEY AT SOOVAC
LINE CLASSIFIEDS
GALLERY 360 Currently on view at the gallery is “Indigo Skies” by Katie Clymer, who uses India Ink to create ethereal landscapes. Also see work by Douglas Clement, Amy Ballinger and Brendan Kramp.
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Barney’s exhibition, “Too Much of a Good Thing is Wonderful,” features sculpture ceramic work highlighting Barney’s own sense of identity through nostalgia and glamour. Barney will offer a virtual tour of the exhibition and speak with his mentor, artist Pao Her, for the online event.
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Staying in
It’s been a rough four months for art lovers, with museums and galleries shut down because of the pandemic. Now, here we are in July and, slowly, art spaces are starting to open up — cautiously, and with lots of social distancing. Here’s a guide for folks who have been hungry for a bit of aesthetic stimulation. For folks who are still staying at home, we also have a couple of online streaming options you may find enticing.
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B10 July 23–August 5, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
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southwestjournal.com / July 23–August 5, 2020 B11
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