Southwest Journal August 6-19

White Castle music archive PAGE A3 • Curtain call for Curran’s Restaurant PAGE A6 • Conservation district denied PAGE B8

August 6–19, 2020 Vol. 31, No. 16 southwestjournal.com

Summer crime spree What’s happening.

Why. What Minneapolis is doing about it.

By Michelle Bruch

On the western shore of Lake Harriet, just below the streetcar line, a neat line of tents makes up Minneapolis’ first ever formally accredited homeless encampment.

Three grills are lined up next to a well pump and a donation tent receives a steady stream of food and supplies from neighbors looking to help.

“This is like no other site,” said Michelle Smith, who obtained a permit for the encampment from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB).

Since the Park Board voted to rein back its previous declaration of parkland as a refuge for unsheltered people and establish a system for 20 permitted encampments citywide, only Smith’s Lake Harriet site and one location in Northeast have been approved.

The owners of Bryn Mawr Market never expected a robbery in the middle of the day.

“A man came in when my 18-year-old employee was working,” said co-owner Paul Anderson. “He walked in, pulled a gun, cocked it and said give me money.”

“I got very startled, because who robs someone at 1:30 in the afternoon?” said the teenage employee, who requested his name not be printed.

The employee handed over about $155 in all, including the donation jar for Way To Grow, and followed instructions to drop to the floor while the man walked out. The next customer arrived 30 seconds after he called police.

Unusually brazen crime patterns in Southwest Minneapolis’ 5th Precinct include daytime and evening carjackings and robberies.

Robbery suspects in stolen vehicles have been approaching people on sidewalks or in parking lots, police say, often using physical force or implying they have weapons.

About half the precinct’s year-to-date robberies have taken place in the Wedge or Whittier. Several incidents have involved teens and young adults acting in a group, and police have arrested a 20-year-old man, a 14-year-old girl, a 14-year-old boy, three 13-year-old boys and a 12-year-old girl. A police advisory said suspects are targeting purses, cell phones and cars, and advised residents to stay alert, maintain distance from others and lock doors once inside a vehicle.

The rise in violent crime comes at a time when the police chief is reshuffling units to prop up patrol and accommodate the departure of at least

SEE ENCAMPMENTS / PAGE A13

SEE CRIME / PAGE A14

L A G E L E G U F RE ncampment

ake Harriet e it issued to L

rk perm

City’s first pa

Lake Harriet encampment organizer Michelle Smith laughs with James Rydquist, an encampment resident who formerly owned a home in Southwest before becoming unsheltered.

Photo by Isaiah Rustad

By Andrew Hazzard

School year to start remotely in Minneapolis Protocols for in-person return yet to be determined

By Nate Gotlieb

In returning to remote education this September, Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) will offer a mix of live and recorded online classes and limited in-person supports — such as tutoring and technology assistance — to students, who will again be graded on an A-F curve.

District officials offered more details on startof-year plans at a virtual School Board meeting on Aug. 4, though many questions remain about how remote education will work in practice.

It’s still unclear how much time students will spend in live virtual classes, though officials said that students in grades pre-K-8 will have online “circle time” or morning meetings each day. It’s also unclear who will have access to

Exotic ice cream flavors PAGE A4

in-person support services and where those services will be offered.

Superintendent Ed Graff said the goal is to return to in-person classes at some point this year, but officials say that remote learning will continue until there are fewer COVID-19 cases in Minneapolis and more teachers and staff are comfortable with and capable of returning to school.

An MPS spokesperson said the district hasn’t decided how much COVID-19 would need to decline in Minneapolis to precipitate an in-person return. Based on the 14-day rate of COVID-19 in Hennepin County, the district SEE SCHOOLS / PAGE A15

Minneapolis Pops history PAGE B1

Southwest High School teacher Megan Marsnik urges a remote start to the school year during a July 24 rally. Photo by Nate Gotlieb

Voices from the pandemic PAGE B5

Museums struggling PAGE B7

A2 August 6–19, 2020 / southwestjournal.com

southwestjournal.com / August 6–19, 2020 A3

SOUTH UPTOWN

Preserving music at historic White Castle

GREEN CREMATION:

It’s the Natural Choice A historic White Castle building on Lyndale Avenue, most recently home to an antique store, will soon host a nonprofit dedicated to archiving the music of Minnesota artists. Photo by Becca Most

On the corner of 33rd & Lyndale, the historic White Castle building still boasts of 5-cent hamburgers though the smell of sliders has been absent for decades.

White Castle Building No. 8 is one of the few portable buildings owned by the burger chain. It sat on the University of Minnesota campus until 1936. After being moved to different locations around the city, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, and it has been preserved at its current location since 1984.

The building was most recently home to an antique shop called Xcentric Goods.

With the shop’s owners now easing into retirement, the White Castle will soon have a new tenant with a musical mission.

Starting in October, a local nonprofit called the Diverse Emerging Music Organization (DEMO) will use the space to archive and share music from Minnesota artists of all styles and persuasions.

“It’s a unique place [that will] draw attention to the unique thing about Minneapolis, which is our local music scene,” said Ted Martin, who chairs DEMO’s board.

DEMO plans to use the site to store and archive its collection of everything from digital files to CDs to vinyl records. At the White Castle, people will be able to drop off local music to be archived or drop in to listen to music or convert their records into digital files.

Eventually the nonprofit plans to create an online site streaming local music, though some logistic hurdles involving distribution of royalties remain.

Stephen McClellan, a promoter who founded the nonprofit in 1999, said it’s hard to read obituaries of artists he’s worked with over the course of his fivedecade career and see their achievements insufficiently acknowledged.

“We don’t need to be doing this archive project for Prince, for The Replacements,”

he said. “I’m just thinking of the huge number of musicians who will fall between the cracks when they leave the music scene or will never get recognized.”

Originally founded as a nonprofit extension of First Avenue that gave local musicians a platform to perform, DEMO has since hosted industry panels, run education programs and offered internships to students wanting to join the business.

McClellan said he’s excited about moving the nonprofit into a new space, though he is apprehensive of the logistics of opening an archival project during a pandemic.

(DEMO was kicked out of a space in Seward in 2017 when its building was sold and converted into a charter school.)

A major component of the music project will be collecting metadata, which includes the names, dates, song titles, album art and other identifiable information listed on music releases. By collecting this information, the team wants to create a genealogy program that tracks band lineage, much like a family tree. That can help listeners discover new music and document the influence of smaller bands on different genres.

“If the music can be listened to, their musical legacy [will live] on forever,” said Seth Peter, a board member of DEMO working on the project.

The White Castle building has hosted a number of other tenants, including a jewelry store and a construction company. Although commercial zoning rules are flexible about business type, owner Pat Fitzgerald wrote in an email that “out of respect and covenant for the White Castle brand, there can be no burgers, booze or porn.”

Why choose traditional cremation when you can GO GREEN? Green Cremation is the gentler, eco-friendly alternative to flame-based cremation. During this natural, water-based process, the body is reduced to ashes, which are then returned to the family. No flames, less energy, reduced carbon emissions. It’s the greener, cleaner choice.

We honor pre-plans and memberships from societies.

For more info or to plan ahead, call 612-724-3621.

READY TO GO GREEN?

Visit www.GreenCremation.com today!

3131 Minnehaha Avenue S. Minneapolis, MN 55406

612.724.3621 • BradshawFuneral.com

Creating new beginnings.

Judy Shields: Passionate.

Effective.

Realtor.

952-221-1723

— Becca Most

jshields@cbburnet.com

Diverse Emerging Music Organization Where: 3252 Lyndale Ave S. Info: archive.demomn.org Shields Judy SWJ 061120 6.indd 1

6/2/20 4:58 PM

A4 August 6–19, 2020 / southwestjournal.com

Clear Aligner Orthodontics Simple cases

Get the smile

you’ve always wanted!

Dr. Nelson is an Invisalign Preferred Provider.

BEFORE

LOWRY HILL EAST

as low as

Bebe Zito scooping bold flavors

$400

Couple and co-owners Gabriella Grant and Ben Spangler stand behind the counter at Bebe Zito, their new ice cream parlor in the Wedge.

Photo by Andrew Hazzard

Complex cases $3800

• Free consultations • Free whitening included • Offering ClearCorrect, Exceed, and Invisalign All cases are a flat fee and include retainers, impressions, and all office visits.

AFTER

BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT AT NICOLLETDENTAL.COM OR CALL 612-866-8550

CASEY NELSON, DDS

6101 Nicollet Ave S, Minneapolis nicolletdental.com • 612-866-8550 Nicollet Dental SWJ NR2 6.indd 1

12/7/18 10:02 AM

ELECTRIC FETUS IS OPEN! TUES-SAT

10AM-6PM

MASKS REQUIRED LIMIT OF 15 PEOPLE IN THE STORE AT ONE TIME CURBSIDE & IN-STORE PICKUP AVAILABLE

A long-anticipated ice cream parlor is now scooping up exotic flavors in the Wedge.

Bebe Zito, a new shop from couple Gabriella Grant and Ben Spangler, opened its doors at 22nd & Lyndale in early July.

Starting up wasn’t simple. The shop was ready to go in March, but then COVID-19 struck and they decided to delay for an early summer opening. Then George Floyd was killed, and operations came to a standstill again. While the community mourned and protested, Grant and Spangler decided to hit the streets, pass out ice cream and talk to people. When people ate it, they smiled.

“At this point everyone wants something that can brighten our day,” Grant said.

They had an extra delay when some paperwork got misplaced at City Hall, but on July 3 Bebe Zito opened for business and has seen a steady rise in customers throughout its first month.

Brightness exudes from the parlor. The walls are lined with vibrant red, white and blue tiles from Italy, wallpaper designed by a local tattoo artist and clever light fixtures shaped like ice cream cones and cherries.

Spangler, who created many of the original flavors at Milkjam Creamery, makes signature ice creams with multiple flavors not often found in a cone. Varieties like Peanut Butter Puppy Chow, Animal Frosting, Lemon Party (a blend of buttermilk, blueberry, buttermilk, cinnamon and lemon) and the Kool-Aid-inspired Ohh Yeeah! are featured. Their biggest seller so far has been Tres Leches with Strawberry Churros,

a recipe Spangler used as a contestant on the Food Network show “King of Cones” in 2014.

A mental block for many is the Mushroom Pecan, made from a unique mushroom that gives off a maple syrup-like taste reminiscent of butter pecan.

“It really gets people out of their comfort zone,” he said.

Even their more basic flavors are a bit outside the box, like the Korean-inspired Gochujang Brownie that adds chili spice to fudge brownie, and a vanilla roasted in MSG and butter.

But opening during the middle of a global pandemic does pose some hurdles to customers trying something new.

“We’re opening a place with flavors people haven’t heard of, and we can’t give samples,” Grant said.

To get around that, they try to have in-depth conversations with people about their likes and dislikes. When people order, they will stick on a small bit of another flavor so customers can try something different. If a customer really doesn’t like their flavor, they can have something else.

So far business has been steady and growing, Grant and Spangler said. Most days the shop sells out of pints, which they always anticipated being a big part of the business but have become a larger part of operations due to COVID-19.

— Andrew Hazzard

Bebe Zito Where: 704 W. 22nd St. Info: bebezitomn.com

CITYWIDE

Mayor limits indoor bar service after outbreaks Minneapolis bars are now prohibited from serving patrons at indoor counters under a new order from Mayor Jacob Frey aimed at limiting COVID-19 outbreaks.

Restaurants, bars, taprooms and nightclubs are banned from serving at indoor counters as of Aug. 1 under the mayor’s latest executive order responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

Since the state began to allow bars and restaurants to open at limited capacity, cases have trended upward, the mayor said.

“This is an important step to limit community spread,” Frey said.

The order requires drinks be served to patrons at tables, and it seeks to limit people congregating at bar counters. Employees are allowed to use the bar space to make drinks and enter orders, but they cannot serve customers there.

Table seating continues to be allowed indoors, provided businesses follow state guidelines. That means tables must be at least 6 feet apart and only four diners can be at one table — or six from one family.

In Minneapolis, more than 350 people with COVID-19 have been exposed or may have Shain Ken SWJ 080620 6.indd 1

7/27/20 10:47 AM

exposed others at city bars, according to health commissioner Gretchen Musicant.

Nine Minneapolis bars have been identified as sources of spread by the state, including Uptown Tavern, Stella’s Fish Cafe and The Pourhouse Uptown in Southwest.

People at bars tend to mingle and speak loudly, which is a bad mixture for limiting the spread of COVID-19, which can be transmitted through respiratory droplets.

Minneapolis has an average of 18 COVID-19 cases a day per 100,000 residents, Musicant said, higher than the state average of 11 cases per 100,000. While city officials don’t have a specific number targeted, Musicant said an infection rate of five cases per 100,000 residents could be a point where lifting more restrictions makes sense.

More than half of the new cases in Minneapolis are among people 35 and younger, according to a city press release. Young adults are increasingly citing bars and other gatherings as their exposure source.

— Andrew Hazzard

southwestjournal.com / August 6–19, 2020 A5

CEDAR-ISLES-DEAN

Beach Club to close gym The building formerly known as the Calhoun Beach Club will permanently close its gym due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Calhoun Beach Athletic Club will close permanently on Sept. 30, according to a letter sent to gym members. A smaller version of the large athletic club will remain as a fitness center for residents of the building.

The fitness industry has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, and the lakeside institution is no exception, the company wrote in the letter.

“The pandemic has presented additional obstacles related to membership and operations that have accelerated our plans to consider redeveloping the space,” Amico, the club’s parent company, wrote to members.

In January, the company announced plans to renovate its large campus of 332 apartment units, retail space and the athletic club at Lake & Dean Parkway. Moving away from serving the general public, Amico said, will help it design a fitness space better suited for residents.

Construction of the historic building began in 1928, and exterior work was substantially completed in 1929. The Great Depression and World War II delayed completion of the building until 1946. Once opened, it served as a private club and apartment building. In 1953, it was sold and converted into an apartment without membership requirements. A 12-story apartment tower was added on the property

Serving the Minneapolis Lakes area for over 15 years.

The gym formerly known as the Calhoun Beach Athletic Club will close to the public on Sept. 30. The gym, one of the largest in Southwest, has been in operation since 1977.

Photo by Andrew Hazzard

to the east in the 1990s, and Amico purchased the site in 1998. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. The current athletic club was established in 1977.

Last month, Amico announced the building will be rebranded to remove the name Calhoun. The building will now be known as The Beach Club, according to an Amico spokesperson, and facades are being updated in the near future.

— Andrew Hazzard

Calhoun Beach Athletic Club Where: 2925 Dean Parkway Info: calhounbeachfitness.com

Contact me for a free assessment of your home’s value.

Zuehlke Josh SWJ 091919 6.indd 1

9/11/19 11:51 AM

*On Settergren’s Referral List*

ROOFING • SIDING • GUTTERS

612-869-1177 Roofing • Siding Soffit • Fascia Gutters • Insulation

THE WEDGE

Bizzy Coffee launches new line

A Rating BBB Licensed • Bonded • Insured MN License #5276

Serving the Twin Cities since 1980

Topside SWJ 031920 6.indd 1

Andrew Healy and Alex French launched their cold brew company, Bizzy Coffee, in the Wedge in 2013. Today, they have the top-selling cold brew product on Amazon. Submitted photo

An online coffee company with Wedge roots is expanding with a new line of cold brew products.

Bizzy Coffee, founded by Alex French and Andrew Healy in Uptown in 2013, has launched a new line of cold brew pitcher packs, which they say will let people easily make quality cold brew at home.

“This is the simplest way to make it yourself,” French said.

The pitcher packs, which launched July 27, are essentially big tea bags. Each pack makes about seven cups worth of cold brew. The coffee — organic, fair-trade blends sourced from Guatemala, Peru and Nicaragua — is ground, roasted and shipped within a single week, French said. People can put a pack in a pitcher of room temperature water and have coffeeshop quality cold brew in about 18 hours. The pitcher packs are sold in batches of 12 for $25.

“It’s a good price, good quality and super fresh,” French said.

Bizzy Coffee began with French and Healy walking to the Wedge Co-op on a daily basis to buy and experiment with various coffee roasts and grinds to find the right blend. Their first product, a cold brew concentrate blend, has given rise to a line of ready-to-drink and brewit-yourself cold brew options. Today, Bizzy manufactures in Brooklyn Center and has the top-selling cold brew product on Amazon.

It continues to sell at local retailers like the Wedge and Linden Hills co-ops, Kowalski’s and Lunds & Byerlys.

Save thousands on the sale of your home!

4.5% – 3.5% – 2.0%

3/10/20 9:37 PM

DAYS IN 8ST PRICE! D L SO VER LI O FOR

I’ll sell your house faster, for top dollar with less stress & more money for you.

Profit from my 30+ years of knowledge, experience and expertise.

5341 Oliver Ave. So.

follow me on facebook @scottharnessteam

— Andrew Hazzard

Bizzy Coffee Info: bizzycoffee.com

Scott Harness

CRS, GRI, Broker, Owner

Owner Options Realty SWJ 062520 6.indd 1

6/18/20 11:42 AM

A6 August 6–19, 2020 / southwestjournal.com

Five-story apartment would replace Curran’s

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com

SCHEDULE ONLINE OR CALL 612.424.6850

We believe in talking with you, not at you.

Dr. Sam LaChance

2309 Lyndale Ave S | greenwaydentalmpls.com @greenwaydentalmpls Greenway Dental SWJ 072320 6.indd 1

7/6/20 12:26 PM

A five-story, 81-unit apartment building would rise at the site of Curran’s restaurant at 42nd & Nicollet under plans from a local developer. Submitted image

A proposed five-story, 82-unit apartment building could replace a second-generation, family-run restaurant at the southeast corner of 42nd & Nicollet.

Curran’s Restaurant, opened in 1948, is known for its all-day breakfast, reasonable prices and vast menu, which includes dozens of sandwiches, burgers and comfort offerings like meat loaf and fried chicken.

Owner Dennis Curran, a son of restaurant founder Mike Curran, said business has plummeted since the beginning of the pandemic.

He received a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan but said he won’t be able to cover expenses once it runs out.

“I’m just not going to be able to make it,” he said, adding that he expects to retire once the restaurant closes.

Alex Gese of LJG Investments plans to demolish the building that holds Curran’s and construct a 71,762-square-foot building with 29 studios, 37 one-bedrooms, 10 two-bedrooms and six three-bedrooms.

The apartment building would have a 36-space lower-level parking garage, a fitness center, a club room and a dog wash room.

Studio units would start at $900 and onebedrooms would go for about $1,300 to $1,400, Gese told the Kingfield Neighborhood

2232 Hennepin Ave South, Minneapolis 612.377.6108 | adtdental.com

Dennis Curran and his daughter, Merissa, outside their family restaurant, which opened in 1948. File photo

Association (KNA) on July 30. He said six or seven units will be affordable to families making 60% of the area median income, which equates to roughly $60,000 for a family of four.

Curran and Gese have a purchase agreement for the site, valued by the county at $760,000. “[Gese] is kind of a breath of fresh air to deal with, because he stands by his word,” Curran said, praising the building’s design.

Curran’s sits along a stretch of Nicollet Avenue that’s designated for mixed-use development of two to six stories under the 2040 plan.

The buildings in the immediate vicinity of the site are mostly two or 2.5 stories tall, though a six-story apartment building will rise at 4220-30 Nicollet in the coming year.

At the July 23 meeting of the Planning Commission Committee of the Whole, commissioner Amy Sweasy said she’s disappointed with the lack of commercial space in the proposed building. Gese said the club room would help “activate” the street corner and that there are dozens of storefronts up and down Nicollet Avenue that are struggling.

Architect Evan Jacobsen of Tushie Montgomery Architects said project planners are trying to limit amenity space in order to control costs.

Gese is a partner in Nighthawks Diner & Bar at 38th & Nicollet and in Five Watt Coffee, which has four stores in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

In addition, he is constructing a fourstory, 42-unit apartment next to Turtle Bread in Linden Hills and is a partner in the 41-unit Kolo apartment building at 36th & Bryant that will open Sept. 1.

The Curran’s project will need a conditional-use permit to rise above four stories and three variances, including one to reduce the number of parking spaces to 36 from a 40-space minimum.

Gese said he expects the project to go before the Planning Commission in the early fall. He anticipates construction will start in spring 2021 and be completed in the late spring or early summer of 2022.

southwestjournal.com / August 6–19, 2020 A7

Lyndale nursing home helps keep patients out of hospitals

OUR BUYERS ARE WINNING IN MULTIPLE OFFERS!

!

!

D E S A H C R U P

D E S A H C R U P

!

D E S A H C R PU

!

D E S A H C R PU

4553 Vincent

4033 Queen #2

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com

4021 Upton

5437 Bryant

CALL US!

We know the market.

Locally Owned, Community Focused

612-845-5273 | DianeandLarry.com | larry@larrylavercombe.com Lavercombe Larry SWJ 080620 6.indd 2

7/29/20 11:06 AM

PLEASE SUPPORT THE SOUTHWEST JOURNAL Staff in the dedicated COVID-19 unit at Redeemer Health and Rehab Center pose for a lighthearted picture. Submitted photo

As state leaders worried in March about hospitals potentially being overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, they briefly looked to facilities that could care for patients who were still contagious but no longer in need of critical care.

One Southwest Minneapolis nursing home answered the call. Redeemer Health and Rehab Center at 31st & Lyndale offered up its 17-bed transitional-care unit (TCU), which had recently been remodeled but did not yet have any residents.

Redeemer worked with the Minnesota Department of Health to ensure the unit and its staff were equipped to handle coronavirus cases, and it accepted its first COVID-19 patient on April 14.

Fifty patients passed through the unit between April 14 and Aug. 4, 90% of whom have either been deemed coronavirus free or gone 10 days without showing symptoms. As of Aug. 4, five patients had died, and nine were still living in the unit, with one more admission pending.

Redeemer has been careful to keep the COVID-19 unit isolated, and outside of the unit, none of Redeemer’s 100 residents have tested positive for coronavirus. (A staff member, believed to have contracted the virus at home, has tested positive and is in quarantine.)

“Redeemer is very much a success story,” said Bob Dahl, CEO of Redeemer’s parent company, Cassia. “They’ve kind of answered the call.”

Recruiting staff

Nurse manager Abby Ostenson said that when Redeemer first decided to take COVID-19 patients, staff were apprehensive and questioned why the administration would put residents at risk.

Administrator Dan Colgan said it was initially “a bit of a challenge” to recruit staff for the unit.

But a number of precautions have been taken to keep patients elsewhere in the facility safe.

Staff enter the COVID unit through a separate entrance and those who work the unit are barred from entering the rest of the facility after their shift, though they are allowed to enter the main building before their shift to meet with their supervisor. They get their laundry done at the facility, so they don’t have to bring home scrubs that have been in contact with infected patients. And they closely follow guidance to wear N95 masks, face shields and gowns anytime they enter COVID-19 patients’ rooms, Ostenson said.

Ostenson said patients in the wing don’t come out of their room unless it’s for a necessary medical appointment. Meals are brought to the COVID-19 wing on carts. Patients in the wing still have physical and occupational therapy appointments, but those are held after all other residents of the building have appointments.

While some patients in the COVID-19 wing have been asymptomatic, between 30% and 50% have suffered extreme respiratory distress.

Ostenson said staff in the COVID-19 wing are constantly urging residents to eat and drink and monitoring their weight, since some don’t have an appetite.

The average stay in the COVID-19 wing had been about a month, she said. Residents who are cleared to leave the wing get to go through the front door, and staff from all over the building cheer them when they leave.

She said her favorite memory has been when the facility’s first COVID-19 patient was wheeled out of Redeemer to the Kool & the Gang song “Celebration.”

“That first group will always stick with us,” she said.

She said the isolation has been hard for patients on the COVID-19 wing, who are only connected to the outside world via telephone and iPad video calls.

‘We feel comfortable’

Colgan said the COVID-19 unit was “running full” for the first month or two but has been taking fewer cases as more longterm facilities have become equipped to deal with coronavirus patients.

“We’re still anticipating, in talking with Hennepin Health, that there could be … a rise of cases that pop up here,” Colgan said. “We just don’t know when that could happen or how long it could go on for.”

Families were notified before Redeemer started its COVID-19 unit, and Colgan said there was a positive response. Whenever the facility admits a new COVID patient, Colgan said, he sends out letters and emails to the families.

Colgan said Redeemer has received Centers for Disease Control and MDH grants to cover the costs of extra staff.

He said he’s proud of how his staff has handled the extra pressure of coronavirus.

“Going forward, we feel comfortable in our ability to handle the cases that come to us,” he said.

The Southwest Journal, like many news outlets, is facing unprecedented challenges.

For the past three decades, we’ve delivered the paper free of charge because we believe everyone deserves access to professional, unbiased journalism.

But with advertisers’ budgets being tightened amid the pandemic, our business model has been upended. We’re asking for your help.

Please consider supporting us with a donation in any amount you are able.

VISIT SWJOURNAL.COM/DONATE If you have already donated, thank you from all of us at the Southwest Journal. We are truly grateful.

Whether or not you are able to contribute personally, you can help in other ways: • Spread the word on social media and via email to friends and neighbors • Tell advertisers you saw their ad in the paper and patronize their businesses • Place an ad for your business or service by emailing sales@swjournal.com • Send your compliments, critiques or questions to feedback@swjournal.com

Thank you. We exist to serve our community and appreciate your support in any form.

Support the SWJ SWJ 043020 6.indd 1

4/29/20 10:50 AM

A8 August 6–19, 2020 / southwestjournal.com

PUBLISHER Janis Hall jhall@swjournal.com

Conservation district denied Proposal reignited population density conversation

CO-PUBLISHER &

STAFF WRITERS Nate Gotlieb

Andrew Hazzard ahazzard@swjournal.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Michelle Bruch Kirby Goodman Maggie Krantz Sheila Regan

EDITORIAL INTERN Becca Most

W. 32nd St.

Zenith Ave. S.

ngotlieb@swjournal.com

Chain of Lakes Regional Park

Park way

zfarber@swjournal.com

List Place

houn

612-436-4391

The conservation district would have overlapped with a 3.2-acre area zoned in the 2040 plan to allow buildings of up to 10 stories. Critics said the district was an attempt to exempt the neighborhood from the plan’s height guidelines.

W. C al

Zac Farber

DENIED WEST MAKA SKA CONSERVATION DISTRICT

vd .

EDITOR

A proposal to preserve a cluster of West Maka Ska homes — and potentially limit large-scale development in an area slated for growth under the 2040 plan — has been denied.

On July 28, the Heritage Preservation Commission rejected a request to designate the neighborhood of one- and two-family homes between Excelsior Boulevard, West Bde Maka Ska Parkway and the Minikahda Club as a “conservation district.”

The designation would have required area property owners to adhere to certain guidelines when making exterior renovations— including limits on building height.

Any height limits likely would have been in conflict with the 2040 plan, which calls for up to 10 stories in the area because of its proximity to the future West Lake Street Southwest Light Rail Transit station.

The vote to reject the proposal was 8-1.

Commissioners cited a city report that found that the neighborhood does not meet the standards for designation, as outlined by city code.

Specifically, the report concluded that many area properties don’t have notable architectural styles or attributes that would warrant historic protection.

Bl

tgahan@swjournal.com

ior

Terry Gahan

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com

Ex ce ls

SALES MANAGER

Ivy Lane

Transit 10: allowing buildings of 2–10 stories Denied conservation district

Bde Maka Ska

Transit 30: 10–30 stories Interior 2: 1–2.5 stories

SEE CONSERVATION DISTRICT / PAGE A10

South Uptown’s apartment appeal denied

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Valerie Moe vmoe@swjournal.com

DISTRIBUTION Marlo Johnson 612-436-4388 distribution@swjournal.com

A City Council committee has dismissed an appeal from the South Uptown Neighborhood Association attempting to stop construction of a 74-unit luxury apartment building at 35th & Hennepin.

Neighbors say a steep grade differential means the rear of the E-shaped building approved June 16 by the Planning Commission will present a six-story-high “monolithic, intrusive wall” to the homes along Girard Avenue.

Council Member Lisa Goodman (Ward 7)

agreed. She said the building could have been massed differently on the site and that “a sixstory building adjacent to single-family homes” is inconsistent with the intent of the 2040 plan.

But Goodman’s colleagues on the city’s Business, Inspections and Zoning Committee sided with the Planning Commission, voting first 4-2 and then 5-1 against the neighborhood organization; Council Member Kevin Reich (Ward 1) switched his vote once it was apparent the appeal would be denied.

Council Member Steve Fletcher (Ward 3) said the building’s design, aimed at enriching pedestrian space along Hennepin with courtyards, offered “extensive” benefits.

“While we probably could have accommodated a little more of a stepdown [on the Girard side], at the end of the day that height would still be what happened and what was approvable,” he said.

— Zac Farber

ADVERTISING sales@swjournal.com 612-436-4360

Appeal of church-to-apartment conversion rejected

PRINTING APG

NEXT ISSUE DATE: August 20 News and ad deadline: August 12 32,000 copies of the Southwest Journal are distributed free of charge to homes and businesses in Southwest Minneapolis.

A City Council committee has swatted down an attempt by a pair of neighbors to stop the conversion of a 113-year-old South Uptown church into 32 units of loft-style apartments.

An appeal of a historic use variance for the Joyce United Methodist Church building renovation project was unanimously rejected by the council’s Business, Inspections & Zoning Committee on July 21.

The neighbors argued that the conversion plan would bring too much density to the corner of 31st & Fremont. The developer, Northland Real Estate Group, countered that filling the building with apartment units was the only way to cover renovation costs and keep the building from being demolished.

“What I think is important is preserving this historic building,” Council Member Jeremy

Schroeder (Ward 11) said before voting to deny the appeal. “The question of the density is a good one, but it’s an existing building already.”

The project still must pass the Planning Commission.

— Zac Farber

$775,000 Southwest Journal 1115 Hennepin Ave, Mpls, MN 55403 phone: 612-825-9205 © 2020 Minnesota Premier Publications, Inc Subscriptions are $39 per year

PRINTED WITH SOY INK ON RECYCLED PAPER

Davis Fran SWJ 080620 masthead banner.indd 1

7/31/20 11:02 AM

southwestjournal.com / August 6–19, 2020 A9

The Center for Performing Arts in Kingfield broke ground on an expansion project that will double its size on July 23.

Submitted image

Center for Performing Arts begins expansion

By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com

Kingfield’s Center for Performing Arts is celebrating its 25th anniversary by breaking ground on an expansion that will allow for new programming and support services for local artists and the surrounding community.

Its five-story, 23,129-square-foot addi-

Voices

Not a ‘celebrity’ When I first met (back in early May via Zoom because of COVID-19) with 5th Congressional District candidate Antone MeltonMeaux, I knew right away that I wasn’t just talking to someone who would say anything that he thought I wanted to hear just to get my support. Antone listened to me and he will listen to ALL of us here in the 5th District.

As the most visible Muslim public official in Minnesota prior to the election of Rep. Keith Ellison, I could see that Antone understood how much I valued the important interfaith relationships that we’ve built here in Minnesota over the last three decades. Antone will ensure that our district reclaims its legacy of having a representative in Congress who is faithful, responsive and accountable to all the people

tion, unveiled in spring 2019, will occupy the seven-space parking lot directly west of the existing building and will nearly double the center’s rentable square footage. The structure will include two ground-floor, SEE PERFORMING ARTS / PAGE A10

of the 5th District. I’m encouraged to see that Antone has drawn upon his experience as a pastor and student of Hebrew and is already starting to rebuild those recently strained relationships within our faith communities.

Interestingly in our conversation, Antone came across as a quiet, deliberate, and thoughtful person. He’s definitely not an “attention grabber,” which some people may view as a negative. However, I appreciate the fact that Antone isn’t interested in being a “celebrity politician” who thinks that he’s greater than the sum of all the people who will elect him.

As a professional mediator, Antone has the experience and the temperament that will bring people together and not further divide us. That’s why I’m endorsing Antone Melton-Meaux as the congressman that we need to represent us in the United States House of Representatives.

Matthew Ramadan Ramadan is the former first vice chair of the Metropolitan Council (District 7) and the founding imam of Masjid An-Nur, one of the first mosques in Minneapolis.

Better conveying the message In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, our City Council stood in front of a crowd in Powderhorn and pledged to “Defund the Police.”

Words are important. That headline, coupled with a lack of planning, created unfortunate perceptions. To police, it was a threat.

To criminals, it was an invitation. The results: skyrocketing crime and long-safe neighborhoods on edge. Officers are becoming demoralized, with more than 150 seeking early severance due to stress.

Dig deeper, and the ideas underpinning the movement have merit. Instead of police, trained specialists could intervene in nonviolent situations. Instead of paramilitarystyle equipment, we could fund programs addressing root causes of criminality. The large budget leaves room for redistribution of funds.

Those ideas don’t fit into a pithy headline.

Nuance is tough, but a complicated concept isn’t served by blunt slogans. Politicians should understand the importance of clarity.

The following statements would better convey the message:

1. We denounce the killings of unarmed people of color that have been carried out by police around the country.

We will create real change to end this cycle of violence.

2. Minneapolis needs its police to protect citizens from violence. We are grateful to the officers who put their lives at risk doing so. The police will always be a part of the public safety picture in our city.

3. Police bear the burden of responding to situations that would be better served by other specialists. We will build those capabilities into our public safety program while continuing to support the police force.

This would start us on the road to healing and provide clarity for those trying to reshape our future. All it requires of our leadership is humility and a willingness to clarify their positions.

Rick Willbanks East Harriet

A10 August 6–19, 2020 / southwestjournal.com FROM CONSERVATION DISTRICT / PAGE A8

Revised budget includes $1.5M in cuts to the MPD More than $1M in police funds moved to violence prevention City staff said the proposed West Maka Ska conservation district did not have enough significance to merit approval. File photo

By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com

The Minneapolis City Council has approved about $1.5 million in cuts to the city’s police force while revising the 2020 budget.

The cuts, which represent less than $1% of the Minneapolis Police Department’s (MPD) budget, came as part of a larger effort to trim about $156 million from the city’s $1.6 billion 2020 budget to account for revenue lost during the coronavirus pandemic.

About $1.1 million of the money cut from the police budget will go into the Office of Violence Prevention under an amendment from Council Member Phillipe Cunningham (Ward 4). The funding will mostly support a program called “Cure Violence,” which seeks to interrupt cycles of retaliatory attacks by sending trained interventionists to work with gunshot victims and others connected to the event.

An additional $100,000 was taken from the MPD to support programs combating HIV/AIDS, promoting healthy living in low-income housing and providing youth services in Cedar-Riverside. Council Member Cam Gordon (Ward 2) advocated for that reallocation in order to prevent funding cuts to the programs called for by

the mayor’s budget revision.

Other police department cuts include removing a pawn shop sales tracking program and reallocating funds to ensure the continuation of a program supporting Minneapolis artists doing public projects.

A proposal to reallocate $500,000 from the MPD into the Office of Violence Prevention to train community watch groups was ultimately removed.

The cuts are well below what some residents have advocated for since George Floyd was killed on Memorial Day. Activists with groups like Reclaim the Block had been requesting the City Council remove $45 million from MPD’s budget to help balance the books in 2020.

Council President Lisa Bender (Ward 10) said each dollar invested in violence prevention will reap dividends in the future.

“We know we need to see these impacts very quickly,” Bender said.

In addition to budget cuts, the City Council voted to move MPD’s public information officer position into the city communications department, a move opposed by press groups like the Society of Professional Journalists.

Council Member Lisa Goodman (Ward 7)

said changing the PIO from the police department is “not transformational change” and voted against the amendment.

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 the City Council had to make an additional $98 million worth of cuts, according to budget director Micah Intermill.

The mayor’s proposed revisions called 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.

Bender said she was concerned about the amount of reserve cash being used to patch the 2020 budget and expressed fear that the impacts of COVID-19 will be felt for a long time.

The process for forming the 2021 budget will begin this month, with Mayor Jacob Frey and several council members saying they will look for more substantial changes to public safety.

FROM PERFORMING ARTS / PAGE A9

artists and the community to gather for various activities is exciting,” she said.

The current space has about 25 private studios and is occupied by musicians, writers, visual artists, performing-arts companies and massage therapists. Hayes said the additional space will allow for more people and groups to have private spaces in the center. Her long-term goal is to create community ownership of the building by letting artists buy their own space.

Some updated building features have

been added in light of the coronavirus pandemic, like a state-of-the-art air filtration system and operable windows to maximize air flow.

The project is expected to be completed in about six months, Hayes said. Residents can follow progress on the organization’s website. As the completion approaches, the center is looking for local visual artists to do work inside the building, as well as a larger piece on the exterior about the site’s relationship to the land.

100-seat performance spaces, a new lobby and walkways connecting the addition with the existing building, which will remain intact.

Jackie Hayes, founder and executive director of the Center for Performing Arts, said the groundbreaking on the expansion fills her with excitement and anticipation of what’s to come.

“I think that having larger spaces for

“I’m not seeing something that’s a cohesive, identifiable setting that would make a case for a conservation district,” commissioner Barbara Howard said.

Commissioner Linda Mack, who cast the lone vote in support of the proposal, said the neighborhood’s scale and “sense of fabric” justify its protection.

“This is just the sort of place that the [conservation district] ordinance was designed for,” she said.

Area homeowner Meg Forney, a Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board commissioner, had brought forth the proposal last summer with support from most of her neighbors.

She argued that the neighborhood merited protection because its houses are close to the property lines, its streets are unusually narrow and its lots are shaded by trees and uniquely sized.

Over 200 people commented on the proposal when it emerged last year, with over half of them objecting to it. At the July 28 meeting, Chris Meyer, a Park Board commissioner speaking in an unofficial capacity, called it a clear attempt to exempt the neighborhood from the 2040 plan and its height guidelines.

If the district were to be approved, Meyer said, “it would send a really terrible message that wealthy, privileged neighborhoods can bypass the process, whereas poorer neighborhoods who don’t know all of the process wouldn’t be able to do that.”

Whittier resident Alex Burns said it doesn’t make sense from an environmental standpoint to lock in low-density housing in the neighborhood.

“Dense transit-oriented development is one of the best tools we have to reduce driving, to reduce emissions and to improve air quality,” he said.

Forney said she doesn’t plan to appeal the decision.

Find Your

spot for summer

Roadrunner Records SWJ 070920 H12.indd 1

7/2/20 10:31 AM

fun kayaks

Bike Rentals

canoes Spreading Hope to Families of Micro-Preemie Babies, One Potato at a Time.

Bike Rentals

Como Lake: 651-487-8046

thepotatoheadproject.org

Minnehaha Falls: 612-729-2660

WheelFunRentalsmn.com The Potato Head Project DTJ Filler H12.indd 1

1/3/18 2:27 PM

Wheel Fun Rentals SWJ 053019 6.indd 1

Lake Nokomis: 612-729-1127

Water Rentals

Como Lake: 651-487-8046 Lake Calhoun: 612-823-5765 Lake Nokomis: 612-729-1127 Lake Harriet: 612-922-9226

5/23/19 9:38 AM

southwestjournal.com / August 6–19, 2020 A11

New Justice Page principal comes full circle Shannon Tenner received scholarship from Alan Page’s foundation in the 1990s

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com

Since her time as an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota, Shannon Tenner has been an educator.

The new principal of Justice Page Middle School at 50th & Nicollet has been a day care provider, an associate educator, a special education teacher, a dean and, Shannon Tenner mostly recently, an assistant principal.

Most of her 22-year career has been at next door Washburn High School.

About three weeks into her new job, Tenner spoke with the Southwest Journal about her career path, distance learning and her connection to the school’s namesake, Alan Page.

Page, a former state Supreme Court Justice, education advocate and Minnesota Vikings football player, has been a fixture at the school since it was named after him in 2017.

The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What appealed to you about coming to Justice Page?

What appealed to me is that I have been on the South Side for over 14 years. Knowing

the families, knowing the community, I feel like that’s my second home, and Page is right there.

What is most appealing is that Page is a [social-emotional learning (SEL)] pilot school. When the district first incorporated SEL as a priority, that was something I took on as assistant principal at Washburn. I’m excited to look at how SEL is done at Page and also how I can incorporate some of the things I’ve done to align different committees or whatnot with the SEL practices.

What’s it like to start a new position as a building leader and not be able to see the kids on the first day of school?

Oh my. It’s so weird. I go back and forth, like, “Did I make the best decision? Was this the right time?” It’s super weird. Even not being able to see your staff. Everything has to be done virtually, but I guess in a way it’s a sign of the times, and it’s an area that I just have to take the reins and do the best that I can.

What do you think kids’ socialemotional needs are going to be when they start school online?

It’s going to be super high, because we have a double-whammy in Minnesota. We had COVID-19 and we had the murder of

George Floyd, and so that pushes the SEL levels super, super high. That’s something I’m fully aware of, and that’s why I believe we have to prioritize SEL first.

to get ready to open virtually.

How do you expect to bring the conversation around George Floyd’s death into the school setting?

At Page, pretty much every teacher has their own classroom, so that will be enough social distancing space. I don’t know if it will be everybody, because I do have some staff who have health concerns or whatnot, but if they choose to go that route by all means they’re welcome to.

That is something that we will as a school discuss. I know [new assistant principal Kasie Tverberg] would like to do some book studies with our students. It probably will be a topic that comes up within Crew [the school’s daily advisory period]. That’s something I’m sure kids would like to talk about and … get it out into a trusted space how they were feeling during the intense moments.

What’s your plan for an in-person reopening?

That’s something I haven’t even thought about because we’re doing distance learning. There’s a five-phase plan that’s guided by the superintendent and district leadership of what that looks like. I have no idea when [in-person school] is coming, and that is not in my line of foresight right now. I’m setting up meetings with key [community] members and connecting with clerical staff and the engineers. Those are immediate things that are taking place

Do you expect many of your teachers to choose to teach out of the school building?

How well do you know Alan Page, and what do you think of being principal of the school that’s named after him?

I met Justice Page during my first couple years of undergrad at the University of Minnesota [in the late 1990s] when I was a recipient of the Page scholarship.

It didn’t come up [in the hiring process] until I sent a thank-you to the interviewing committee and said, “You know, due to my nervousness, I did not mention this in my interview, but I’m a past Page scholar.”

Then I just mentioned how awesome would it be to come full circle of being a Page scholar and the principal of Justice Page Middle School.

Apartment Living • Assisted Living • Dementia Care • Assisted Living Care Suites

Silvercrest Properties SWJ 043020 H2.indd 1

4/20/20 11:10 AM

A12 August 6–19, 2020 / southwestjournal.com

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com

Cargill called on to ditch deforestation Southwest residents attend July 29 protest Southwest Minneapolis residents who protested Cargill’s environmental practices outside of the home of the company’s CEO on July 29 said they were motivated by a desire to reduce climate change before it’s too late.

Wayzata-based Cargill, a global commodities trader and agribusiness giant, has been criticized by environmental groups for reneging on a pledge to stop buying soybeans grown on deforested land in South America by 2020.

A July 29 protest outside the Edina home of Cargill’s CEO highlighted the company’s role in the conversion of South America’s natural habitat into farmland.

Photo by Nate Gotlieb

Energy-efficiency pilot program considered The city of Minneapolis is seeking permission from utility regulators to start a pilot program that would allow renters and homeowners to make energy-efficiency improvements without spending big upfront or accruing interest.

The “inclusive financing” program has been proposed to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) as a corollary to a proposed rate hike by the city’s natural gas provider, CenterPoint Energy.

Under terms of the program, CenterPoint would pay for energy-efficiency improvements such as insulation and high-efficiency appliances at houses and apartments throughout Minneapolis.

To cover the upfront costs, it would charge

renters and homeowners a monthly tariff that would amount to 80% of the expected monthly energy bill savings from the project.

The utility would charge the tariff until it covers the cost of the improvement or until the installation reaches 80% of its expected useful lifetime — whichever comes first.

For projects where the upfront cost would exceed what the utility would expect to recoup through the tariff, the customer would be charged a copay upfront to cover the difference.

A project’s cost-effectiveness would be evaluated before installation.

The city would like CenterPoint to spend $50 million over three years on the program.

It has said that deforestation in its soybean supply chain is a complex issue and it now pledges to no longer buy or sell products from deforested lands by 2030.

South American deforestation has been a leading driver of climate change in recent years, according to scientists.

“They have a lot of power and they pledged to use it for good and then they back peddled,” said Kingfield resident Kevin Whelan, who led the protest outside of David MacLennan’s Edina home.

The 30-plus protesters were organized by the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit Mighty Earth as part of a “day of action” in which it called on businesses to cut contracts with Cargill.

East Harriet resident Jean Ross, who was protesting in front of MacLennan’s house for the second time, held a white banner that said “Carguilty.”

She said the world doesn’t have 10 years to wait for Cargill to cut deforested land from its supply chains.

Uptown resident Clara Bordwell, who is vegan, said the world’s biggest food companies should consider alternatives to raising cattle and livestock.

“Once the rainforest is gone, we’re going to have massive problems,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that it’s going to have to come to that, I think.”

South America has become a major source of the world’s soy in the last few decades.

While Cargill does not purchase soy from deforested lands in the Amazon under the terms of a 2006 agreement, it does from other parts of South America. Notably, that includes the Cerrado savannah that stretches across central Brazil.

Cargill says that a vast majority of its South American soy — around 96% — does not come from land that has recently been deforested, but Mighty Earth says that the figure is misleading.

In a blistering 2019 report, Mighty Earth accused Cargill of “financial malfeasance” and alleged that it has been complicit in deforestation and is among the companies that bears significant responsibility for the global environmental crisis.

“Now it is time for the company that purports to be a leader in that industry to finally act like it,” wrote Henry Waxman, a leader of the organization.

In a statement, a Cargill spokesperson said the company has established a $30 million fund to help develop solutions to protect forests from deforestation. She also noted company efforts to restore Great Plains grasslands, restore billions of gallons of drinking water and reduce its carbon footprint.

A CenterPoint spokesperson said in a statement that it supported the city’s “intention” to submit a proposal and is reviewing specifics.

The latest push to start an inclusive financing program comes about nine months after CenterPoint proposed a rate increase of 6.8% over 2018 costs.

The city is concerned that the increase will impose additional hardship on low- and moderate-income residents and residents who are Black, Indigenous and people of color, sustainability director Kim Havey told the PUC on July 15.

He noted that Minneapolis has a higherthan-average proportion of renters and said that an inclusive-financing program could spur more upgrades in apartment buildings, since landlords wouldn’t be responsible for capital costs.

Typically, landlords don’t have many incentives to make efficiency improvements, since they pay for the capital costs but don’t reap the

benefits of lower utility bills, he said.

Alice Madden of the organization Community Power noted that the program does not require participants to take on debt or have cash on hand to pay upfront.

She also said the program benefits utilities by reducing the peak demand for energy consumption.

Havey said the city has plans for a tentative launch date of 2021 for the inclusive financing program, pending PUC approval.

A commission spokesperson said the PUC will decide whether to approve the program as part of its decision on the proposed CenterPoint rate hike.

A PUC decision is expected in the first quarter of 2021.

The PUC is accepting online comments about the proposed rate hike online at mn.gov/puc. Comments must be received by 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 21 to be considered.

GREEN PAINTING SOLUTIONS

we are

open!

GET HELP 612.825.0000

Quality Work by Experienced Craftsmen

1934 Hennepin Avenue S, Mpls

1934 H E N N We E PI NareAV E. S SAN D W ICH EStue-fri 10-5 offering curbside takeout sat 9-4 M P L S, on M Nall55 4 0 3 shop and pantry items butcher as well as our full sandwich menu

Green Dry Cleaning & Wet Cleaning 3/9/20 Tubman 5:36 PMCenter DTJ filler H18.indd

Decorators Service Co SWJ 031920 H18.indd 3

Environmentally Friendly Family Owned & Operated Since 1950 • No Odor • Non Toxic • No Allergies • Gentle on All Fabrics • All Work Done on Premises

Colonial Cleaners, Inc. GARMENT CARE PROFESSIONAL

612.823.8095 3701 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis www.colonialcleanersmn.com

1

TUBMAN.ORG

$10 OFF

Please visit LOWRYHILLMEATS.COM for current offerings and text us your order at 612.999.4200

7/25/17 Lowry 4:14 PM Hill Meats SWJ 041620 H18.indd 1

SALES OR SERVICE OVER $50 WITH THIS AD.

4001 Bryant Ave S., MPLS 55409

Independent. Local. Welcoming.

Expert Sales and Professional Service

4/2/20 1:44 PM

by SW Journal Readers

GIVE HELP 612.825.3333

VOTED BEST BIKE SHOP

decoratorsserviceco.com (763) 383-2955

612.824.9300 farmsteadbikeshop.com Farmstead Bike Shop SWJ 090519 H12.indd 1

Colonial Cleaners SWJ 020917 H18.indd 1

closed sun-mon

DE LICAT E SS E N

2/3/17 2:39 PM

8/26/19 5:03 PM

southwestjournal.com / August 6–19, 2020 A13 FROM ENCAMPMENTS / PAGE A1

And while other encampments — such as the 2018 Wall of Forgotten Natives camp at Franklin & Hiawatha — have been temporarily tolerated by the city, Smith’s site is the first in Minneapolis history to receive explicit approval.

Vaughn Yaints is both a resident and coordinator at the Lake Harriet site. Both he and Smith had been involved in the encampment at Powderhorn Park, but they said the original organizers lost control of the situation and they wanted a smaller, more manageable encampment.

Together, Yaints and Smith decided upon Lake Harriet because they felt it was important to make the issue of homelessness visible in a wealthy part of the city.

“We need you guys to look at this situation, so we want to put it out in your face,” Yaints said.

They were prepared to be met with resistance from locals, but that wasn’t the reality.

Instead, Smith said, the people around Lake Harriet brought welcome cards and have responded with generosity and kindness.

People regularly drop off supplies. A group of local nurses checks on residents and helped everyone get tested for COVID-19 (the results came back negative). Local businesses like France 44 and adjacent restaurant Bread & Pickle have contributed donations.

Residents have locks for their tents so they can come and go without worrying about items being taken. Many shelters are dirty and unsafe, Smith said, with bad food and poor conditions for residents. She said there are many good reasons why people experiencing homelessness might want to avoid structured shelters.

“They have to have a safe place to focus so they can get out of this situation,” Smith said.

The goal is to obtain about five duplexes that people can move into and eventually own for themselves, Smith said. Her hope is that people will donate old buildings and that the groups of willing volunteers she’s met with skills in the building trades can help them renovate those spaces to create suitable homes for those staying in the parks.

“Our mission is to get these people housing,” she said.

Smith said smaller encampments are easier to maintain and their residents can be more easily moved into stable housing. The Park Board resolution allows up to 25 tents at a permitted encampment, but Smith said she wants to maintain a lower level of about 12 residents, all of whom she and Yaints screen to ensure they will be a good fit for the site.

As of Aug. 4, the MPRB estimated, there were 413 tents in 38 parks citywide. In South-

Lake Harriet encampment organizer Michelle Smith said her hope is that people will donate buildings to house unsheltered people staying in the parks. Photo by Isaiah Rustad

west, non-permitted encampments remain at Lake of the Isles, Lyndale Farmstead, The Mall in Uptown, Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Kenwood parks. The encampment at MLK is now believed to the second largest in the city, at 36 tents.

A second permit was approved for a site at Marshall Terrace Park in Northeast on Aug. 3.

More permits are being reviewed, according to the MPRB. The MPRB is working to reduce the size and scope of existing encampments and otherwise bring them in line with the ordinance approved by commissioners on July 17. Under that ordinance, no encampments are permitted in K-12 school zones, encampments cannot take up more than 10% of a park’s property and they cannot be located near recreational features within a park. The resolution also empowers MPRB Superintendent Al Bangoura to break up any encampment posing a public health or safety risk.

Resistance to permits

But many residents and organizers of encampments say they are opposed to the permit process.

Maria Moon Beaumaster, who leads the housing advocacy group Neechie Outreach, has been staying in Kenwood Park since mid-July and is one of the main organizers of the encampment there. The encampment at Kenwood was originally on the north side of Lake of the Isles but relocated to the northwest portion of the park at the request of nearby residents.

The Kenwood encampment now has about 10 residents, Beaumaster said, and twice as many tents. Residents have need for more coolers, tents, lanterns, batteries and a grill for cooking.

Beaumaster said that while residents try to keep the area clean and abide by the recently passed regulations on size, she does not intend to apply for a permit. She said it asks too much of the encampment organizer and the permit concept goes against what the group stands for — the idea that citizens have a right to seek refuge on public land. The people staying in the park don’t want to be there, she said, but they don’t have better housing alternatives today.

“We’re here to make a safe and dignified space for the community,” she said.

The Kenwood Neighborhood Organization has submitted a letter to the Park Board asking for the encampment at Kenwood and other city parks to be disbanded, citing safety concerns for nearby residents and those living in the encampments.

“This is an unacceptable situation and cannot be condoned,” the neighborhood board wrote.

The Kenwood Park encampment is one of four citywide identified as posing a safety risk and likely to be disbanded, said Park Board President Jono Cowgill (District 4). The others are the western Powderhorn Park encampment and ones in Peavey Field and Elliot Park.

“I have been clear with the superintendent that the Kenwood site is a dangerous site that does warrant that action,” Cowgill said.

A man was arrested at Kenwood Park for exposing himself in mid-July, according to Park Police Chief Jason Ohotto. On July 14

a man was pistol whipped at the park and another group of men with outstanding warrants were arrested after a fight.

Kenwood Park’s proximity to a school means the encampment is ineligible for a permit, but an MPRB spokesperson said there are no immediate plans to remove residents. When the Park Board removes camps, it issues a two- or three-day advance notice to residents.

As of Aug. 2, Beaumaster said, she had not heard of any pending action. She said residents at Kenwood Park do not intend to leave. “We’re standing our ground,” she said.

Beaumaster said groups of teenagers and young adults have caused some property damage in the encampment, though most interactions with members of the community have been pleasant.

The remaining western encampment at Powderhorn was issued a 72-hour notice of transition by the MPRB on July 31, with Bangoura citing “significant on-going crime and safety concerns.” The notice informed current residents they can no longer stay in the park but does not set a firm deadline for people to leave. The MPRB says it will work to transition people and only use police if repeated efforts to disperse residents fail.

While Cowgill said he knows not everyone likes the permit process, he believes it is needed and better than ad hoc situations where encampments have no clear structure.

The fact that permit applications are coming through is a sign of success, he said.

The MPRB believes there is a “highly organized campaign” of misinformation dissuading people from applying for permits. Parks officials say encampment organizers are only liable for their own actions, not for damage done by camp residents, though organizers are responsible for documenting residents and reinforcing park rules around substance use.

Cowgill has been encouraged by recent announcements of new funding from the state, city and county. In late July, the city of Minneapolis and Hennepin County announced they will build three new shelters, largely using federal CARES Act dollars awarded to local entities. Those shelters, one specifically for Native Americans, one for women and one for medically frail people, are expected to come online within the next year.

The parks are clearly not the end-all solution to the issue of homelessness in the region, he said.

“Everybody is in agreement that getting people into stable housing is the solution and there’s a real urgency to that,” Cowgill said. “There’s a real urgency to also create safe park spaces for the people staying there and the surrounding neighbors.”

CARING FOR YOUR PETS SINCE 1973 Westgate Pet Clinic is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Mary Matzek to our veterinary team.

Dr. Matzek comes to us with 17 YEARS of EXPERIENCE and has a special interest in feline medicine, dentistry and oral pathology.

Join our fight against child hunger!

Over 200,000 Minnesota children were living in food insecurity before the coronavirus pandemic. The need for nutritious food has since skyrocketed. You can help change the story of child hunger in our community.

thesheridanstory.org Sheridan Story SWJ 9 filler.indd 1

5/12/20 10:56 AM

Welcome Dr. Matzek!

COVID RESPONSE:

Curbside Service at Westgate Pet Clinic To keep you and your pet safe during this time, we offer Curbside Service for your veterinary needs.

See our website for more info.

4345 FRANCE AVE. S. MINNEAPOLIS MONDAY–THURSDAY 7AM–7PM FRIDAY 7AM–6PM | SATURDAY 8AM–1PM 612.925.1121 // WESTGATEPETCLINICMN.COM Westgate Pet Clinic SWJ 080620 9.indd 1

7/30/20 3:40 PM

A14 August 6–19, 2020 / southwestjournal.com FROM CRIME / PAGE A1

65 police officers in recent weeks.

City Hall redirected $1.1 million from the police salary budget to street outreach focused on violence prevention, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office is assisting through the Twin Cities Violent Crime Task Force.

When compared to the four-year average from 2016-19, MPD year-to-date data indicate that burglary in the 5th Precinct is up 82%, auto theft is up 105%, robbery is up 43% and aggravated assault is up 39%. Total property crime, which includes burglary, larceny, theft from vehicles, auto theft and arson, is up 17%.

While earlier in the year burglaries were focused on parking garages and other areas in multi-unit buildings, police are now seeing more smashed doors and windows in business burglary and property damage cases.

Anika, who requested her last name not be printed, discovered her car was missing from 27th & Dupont on July 27. St. Anthony police informed her the car had been involved in a Northeast Minneapolis robbery early that morning, ramming into gas station doors until three men could squeeze inside. Now her car is at the impound lot, and it will be dusted for prints.

“My car actually has been broken into three separate times this year,” she said. “I would just encourage people to double-check that their cars are locked. If something like this happens to you, don’t blame yourself.”

While doing street outreach, MAD DADS President VJ Smith found himself in the middle of the June 21 Uptown shooting that sent a large crowd fleeing bullets.

“I was seeing groups of young people just having a great time on Hennepin Avenue,” Smith said. “Then, all of a sudden, a guy pulled a gun out and started shooting, and people started shooting back. There were so many rounds and people started hitting the ground.”

Eleven shooting survivors in their 20s include a father paralyzed from the neck down, a mother undergoing physical therapy to walk, a father who left the hospital on crutches, a mother who can’t work while recovering from multiple gunshot wounds and a father facing medical bills on top of the financial hit of COVID-19, according to their GoFundMe campaigns.

Citywide, at least 288 people had been shot as of July 27, which is 72% higher than this time in 2019 and the highest in five years.

“This cannot become our normal, as a city,” Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said at a press conference following the shooting.

Aiming to stop a rash of retaliatory gun violence, Minneapolis is hiring 60 to 100 street outreach workers and deploying them citywide, including neighborhoods along Lake Street, starting in mid-August. Under a model called “Cure Violence,” the workers will respond daily to shooting scenes and work to prevent retaliation among gang and group members, said Sasha Cotton, who directs the Office of Violence Prevention.

“Right now what we’re missing is a streetlevel presence,” Cotton said in an interview.

“What is the beef about? How do we fix this so it doesn’t escalate to a shooting? … We know that a person who is a victim today could easily become a perpetrator tomorrow.”

Why this is happening

When COVID-19 confined people to their homes, they became easy targets for retaliating gangs and groups, said Farji Shaheer, who works with gunshot victims as part of the Next Step program he launched at Hennepin County Medical Center.

“One guy got shot. The next weekend, two of his friends got shot. And then the next weekend, three of the guys that shot those guys got shot,” he said.

“We were at national lows [in shootings] prior to the killing of George Floyd, so to see our community implode to a certain degree, I think we’ve just found ourselves in a perfect storm,” Cotton said at a July 29 virtual panel hosted by the African American Leadership Forum, where she listed contributing factors

A GoFundMe (tinyurl.com/bm-market) benefits the Bryn Mawr Market and its 18-year-old employee, pictured above, who said he still loves his job after a July robbery.

Photo by Michelle Bruch

like poverty, access to guns, the unrest and the stress of COVID-19. The vast majority of gun violence involves young men under 30, she said, some of whom think they can’t walk away from a fight.

Also speaking at the panel was Don Samuels, former council member and mayoral candidate, who watched people uproot a U.S. Bank ATM during the unrest and bang on it for 14 hours with no police interruption.

“It was a casual thing, like a construction job,” he said. “And that symbolizes what’s been happening since the event. There’s a sense that, ‘OK, we can do this and nobody ever stops us? We can do pretty much anything.’ And so anybody who has a beef with anybody, now is the time to settle it.”

Tying into the violence is a record number of guns in the community, Arradondo told the council in July, adding that police have begun arresting individuals selling high-powered guns from trunks.

Shaheer said some high-powered guns are coming from shops that were looted during the unrest.

“The sad part is that the majority of the individuals that are shooting these guns do not have the proper training, so it’s like giving a kid a new water gun. Everybody gets squirted with the water gun,” he said. “Kids have new toys, and they’re using their toys on individuals that they consider to be opposition. When in fact they’re not opposition, they’re just lost kids like the rest of them.”

Rapid changes in serious violent crime often come down to group dynamics, in most cities boiling down to half of 1% of the city population at extremely high risk for violence, said David Kennedy, executive director of the National Network For Safe Communities at John Jay College.

“A very small number of people can very easily produce that crisis,” he said.

And there is a well-researched relationship between lower police legitimacy and higher levels of violence, he said.

“When people who are at risk don’t ask the police for help, they do what they need to do in order to keep themselves safe,” Kennedy said.

Police response

The MPD is seeing a wave of resignations, early retirements and PTSD claims. More officers are taking long vacations and paid sick time, signaling they may also be on the way out, according to the mayor. Arradondo said the department typically sees 45 people separate in a year, and as of July 17 the number of departures was at least 65.

The chief is pulling non-patrol positions, including departed school resource officers, into 911 response.

The MPD said in a statement that the 5th Precinct is trying to meet a minimum target of eight officers on each shift, with two shifts overlapping during the busiest 9 p.m.-2 a.m. hours.

Mayor Jacob Frey told the City Council that staffing challenges mean response times are higher, but not dramatically higher. He said the most significant change from 2019 to 2020 is seen in Priority 0 and Priority 1 calls, with an increase of 1.5 minutes from the time assigned to squad arrival and an increase of about 3.9 minutes between a call entry and squad arrival.

That assessment doesn’t match what council members are hearing, however.

Council Member Phillipe Cunningham (Ward 4) said that when constituents ask police about the slow response, they’re told to call their council member.

Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins (Ward 8) said she’s alarmed by reports from 38th & Chicago, where George Floyd was killed.

“They’re not experiencing slow response, they’re experiencing no response. They’re being told that this is called a no-go zone by MPD,” Jenkins said.

Arradondo said he knows of a couple of incidents where officers met callers outside the barricaded intersection, but not recently. Officers tried to save a life at 37th & Elliot, he said.

If officers don’t respond to a call, the reason must be documented, he said.

The mayor and chief have agreed to provide council members with more information on 911 response.

Citywide police stops in the month of July were down 60% from July 2019, according to police data. Use-of-force reports in July 2020 are down 68% from July 2019.

The new Twin Cities Violent Crime Task Force, established in July, is focused on intelligence sharing and federal prosecution, according to the police chief. The U.S. Attorney’s Office reports they’ve seized 80 guns and initiated 11 federal and five state cases, and they’re currently investigating straw gun purchasers.

Violence prevention response

Shortly before the pandemic, before George Floyd was killed and before violence spiked, reports from the Office of Violence Prevention were optimistic.

“Project Life” has worked with 230 participants belonging to 35 groups and gangs since 2017 to help keep them “safe, alive and free.”

Cotton, the office’s director, told city officials in March that nonfatal summer shootings among gang members dropped from 93 in 2016 (at the time an “astronomical” number for a city the size of Minneapolis, she said), to 42 in 2017, 25 in 2018 and 27 in 2019.

Seeing a persistent issue with gangs and guns in schools, Jamil Jackson, Patrick Henry High School’s basketball coach, was commissioned to create a junior version of Project Life this year.

Cotton said she’s constantly apologizing to spouses and children of dedicated case managers.

“They’ve walked those streets, they’ve been those guys and they know that there’s something better,” Cotton said. “They’re willing to take the 2 a.m. call and go out because somebody did it for them, or they wish somebody did it for them.”

At Hennepin County Medical Center, Farji Shaheer counsels gunshot victims, tries to stop their shoes and debit cards from being taken indefinitely into evidence, helps them find housing or relocates them to another city with a new job and a fresh start. Out of 437 participants since 2016, less than 7% returned to the hospital with similar wounds. That compares with a national five-year rate of 40%, according to city officials.

“No plan is going to be the same,” he said.

“I’ve had young men give me their firearms.

I’ve had young men contact me and say, ‘I’m ready to leave, I’m ready to go.’”

The pandemic is making the work harder.

Project Life canceled its May “call-in” for participants, shifting to visits at a social distance, urging skeptical young men to wear masks and take COVID-19 seriously. The same African American 20-29 age group at high risk for violence is also disproportionately catching COVID-19, Cotton said.

Closed schools and lost work due to the unrest and COVID-19 make it harder to keep young men on the right path, she said.

“For our guys, staying busy was so important,” she said. “With this idle time, I think we’ve had some real concerns.”

VJ Smith said the pandemic isn’t slowing him down.

“We just take our vitamins and keep going,” he said.

Neighborhood response

“I think people are spooked and a little uncertain on what’s going on,” said Dane Stimart, ECCO board president. Neighbors were alerted July 25 that a woman arriving home in the middle of the afternoon was robbed and needed stitches on her head. When neighbors reported it, police said six similar incidents had happened that day.

Seventy people recently joined a neighborhood call to talk about safety, leading to the formation of a public safety committee split into two groups, one focused on Uptown, the other focused on the city as a whole.

“People need to put down their social media phrases and complaints,” Stimart said. “This needs to be a call for people to invest the time in their community, because that’s truly how we’re going to move forward together.”

Neighbors in Kingfield are buying whistles in case of emergency and discussing how to distinguish gunshots from fireworks. A group of Longfellow residents took a community emergency response team course.

A new safety-driven Stevens-Loring Community Contingency Squad is designed to focus on neighbors caring for each other, rather than fearing each other.

“Navigating that was really difficult, but we’re working on it,” said Scott Artley, an administrator of the group.

A text thread in Artley’s building started as a place to talk about suspicious activity, and it’s become a way to share coffee.

“I definitely feel safer. Part of safety is knowing where to go for help,” Artley said.

Stevens Square is working to resurrect a neighborhood block patrol and rethink the group’s guidelines, which date back to 1991 and describe the patrol as “eyes and ears” for police. Now, residents re-envision the patrol as ambassadors from the neighborhood.

“Ninety percent of what I see happening in the neighborhood probably is something that should be handled by a social worker rather than a police officer,” said Natasha Villanueva.

City Hall response

Prior to any potential charter change, the city is already making changes to the police department.

Arradondo’s new oath for officers starts with a mandate familiar to doctors: First do no harm. The oath affirms the sanctity of life and states that all people share inherent dignity and equal rights.

The mayor and police chief instituted new policies that prevent officers from viewing body camera video before filling out critical incident reports and require police to bake de-escalation into all forms of reporting. Every report must include which de-escalation tactics were used and document any use of force, including lower-level moves like arm bars and handcuffing. Force including takedowns and chemical agents must now be reported to supervisors.

“The focus … is on de-escalation, making sure that is paramount,” Frey said. “It shouldn’t be a second thought or a last resort or an afterthought; it should be the very first piece that is considered.”

The city’s de-escalation policy has stated, since 2016, that officers should use de-escalation tactics to gain voluntary compliance to avoid or minimize use of physical force.

The city is considering other changes, like sending all theft reports to 311. In a recent survey, city departments thought they could help respond to 15% of the MPD’s incidents, such as by taking reports, checking businesses or responding to parking problems.

In an interview, Cotton said it’s important to find hope.

“We’re a community of survivors,” she said.

“We’re going to get through this, but we have to stick together.”

southwestjournal.com / August 6–19, 2020 A15 FROM SCHOOLS / PAGE A1

would be eligible to start the school year in a “hybrid” model, according to state Department of Education guidance. Schools are only barred from opening if their countywide case rate exceeds 50 per 10,000 residents.

But districts can be more restrictive, and MPS says it’s particularly concerned about its Black and Hispanic communities, whose students comprise half the district’s population and who have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.

As of Aug. 4., the 14-day rate of COVID-19 cases was 54 per 10,000 among Minneapolis’ Black residents and 58 per 10,000 among its Hispanic population, compared with 27 per 10,000 citywide, Graff said.

The district spokesperson also said there haven’t been any benchmarks created for evaluating staff appetite for returning to in-person classes. Over half of the 4,329 staff surveyed in July said they’d be uncomfortable working in-person in the fall semester; 27.8% said they’d need additional support or a leave

During a July 24 rally, Minneapolis and St. Paul teachers urged state leaders to exercise caution and boost funding before reopening schools to students.

of absence if in-person learning was approved.

The spokesperson could identify no immediate plans to continue surveying staff.

Graff said any decision to return some or all students back to school buildings would likely be made at the end of an academic quarter.

(The first quarter ends Nov. 5.)

MPS school buildings have been closed to students and most staff since mid-March.

Distance learning in the spring was largely focused on online instruction, though some students worked out of paper packets.

Students reported that the distance-learning experience was more stressful than in-person school and that it was challenging to reach some teachers because of conflicting schedules.

Approximately a fifth of high school students and a quarter of middle school students did not submit schoolwork. Students were, on average, marked absent nine days during the 41-day distance-learning period.

Distance learning in the fall will continue to focus on online learning, the district says, though there will be an in-person open house and welcome activities — with strict safety protocols — to start the year.

Schools will distribute one iPad to each family with one or more students in grades pre-K-2 and a Chromebook to each student in grades 3-12 who needs a computer. The district also will continue providing WiFi hotspots for some students. Low-cost internet service is also available to qualifying families through USI Internet and Xfinity.

A focus in August will be ensuring that schools have up-to-date contact information for all families, executive officer Suzanne Kelly said.

Teachers will take daily attendance based on participation in virtual lessons and activities or through individual communication with students and families.

Music, science, career-technical, mental health and college counseling will continue to be provided remotely, as will supports for advanced learners, students who receive special-education services and English-language learners.

Schools need more federal funding in order to safely reopen, School Board member Kimberly Caprini said. Photos by Nate Gotlieb

Take-home meal service will continue for all families who need or want it, and child care will be provided to the school-aged children of essential workers. (They will be required to wear face coverings at school.)

Teachers will be able to work in their school buildings if they want to, and all staff will have access to face shields.

The decision to resume the district’s A-F grading system (a pass-fail system was adopted in April in middle and high schools) was made out of a desire to keep students competitive for scholarships and college entry, according to associate superintendent Shawn Harris-Berry.

Students who have failed courses will be able to recover missed credits through a virtual program.

Two high school fall sports — football and volleyball — will be moved to 2021, per Minnesota State High School League orders, but there will be fall soccer, cross-country and girls tennis and swimming and diving

seasons. More detailed plans on fall sports will be available Aug. 10.

The district’s teachers union, which advocated to start the year remotely and has asked that strict safety protocols be implemented before returning to in-person school, wasn’t immediately available to comment on the plans.

Shaun Lauden, who heads the educationsupport professionals union, said that funding and staffing levels will make returning to in-person classes a challenge.

“It’s really difficult to make it work the way it needs to in order for folks to be safe,” he said.

The district will begin professional development for teachers on Aug. 31, and students in Transition Plus and in grades 1-12 will begin school on Sept. 8. Pre-kindergartners and kindergartners will begin classes on Sept. 10.

More information about the district’s back-toschool plans is available at mpls.k12.mn.us/b2s.

COMMITTED ADVOCACY FOR THE INJURED Representing clients with Personal Injury, Wrongful Death, and Workers’ Compensation claims throughout Minnesota.

For a free initial consultation call: (612) 436-1810, or toll-free: (800) 279-6386.

Jake R. Jagdfeld Attorney/Partner

JOHNSON BECKER, PLLC

444 Cedar Street, Suite 1800, Saint Paul, MN 55101 johnsonbecker.com

Johnson Becker SWJ 022020 4.indd 1

1/29/20 10:31 AM

McQuillan Bros SWJ 080620 FP.indd 1

*If installed before August 31

*If installed before August 31

*If installed before September 30

*If installed before September 30

*If installed before October 31

*If installed before October 31

7/24/20 1:18 PM

Southwest Journal August 6–19, 2020

y r o t s i h s Po p

Lengthy tradition of music on Lake Harriet explored in new book

A new book tells the history of the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this summer though its concert season has been canceled due to the pandemic. Submitted photo

By Kirby Goodman

T

he Minneapolis Pops Orchestra’s summer concert season on the north shore of Lake Harriet was canceled this July for the first time in seven decades.

But the orchestra’s fans can revel in the pleasures of concerts past by reading a slim book recently published by flutist Cynthia Stokes, who has written a comprehensive history of the Pops that begins in 1888, more than 60 years before the orchestra was founded, when the first streetcar station on Lake Harriet served double duty as a concert venue.

Stokes, an ECCO resident, said she was inspired to document the history of the Pops to commemorate the orchestra’s 70th anniversary this year, and she was able to receive funding from the Minnesota Historical Society.

“I thought it’s time to get the history written down and celebrate this anniversary,” she said.

SEE POPS / PAGE B8

After previous pavilions were destroyed by fire and windstorm, a temporary bandstand was constructed in 1927 and stood until the current structure was completed in 1988.

Photo courtesy of the Minneapolis Pops

southwestjournal.com / August 6–19, 2020 B3

Pre-primary election update

A look at campaign finance, early voting numbers

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com

EARLY VOTING

Statewide, 12 times as many Minnesotans have requested to vote absentee than had at this point in 2018, WCCO-TV reported.

The Star Tribune has reported a 21-fold increase in the number of absentee ballots requested statewide compared with this point in 2016.

Absentee voting includes mail-in and early in-person voting.

Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Aug. 11 to be counted. They can also be dropped off at the city’s Elections & Voter Services center (980 E. Hennepin Ave.) or the Hennepin County Government Center.

The city is moving 50 polling places as a pandemic-related safety precaution, including 18 in Southwest Minneapolis. A complete list of polling places is online at vote.minneapolismn.gov.

A look at campaign finance, early voting numbers Mail-in votes

In-person votes

Registered voters

% of registered voters who’ve cast early votes

Ward 7

3,630

75

22,522

17%

Ward 8

2,593

153

18,337

15%

Ward 10

2,615

113

22,223

12%

Ward 11

3,056

34

20,598

15%

Ward 13

4,157

41

24,170

18%

Citywide

33,285

2,707

258,575

14% Source: City of Minneapolis

55 35W

52

Wirth Lake

94

Mis s

Ward 7 i River ipp iss

394

Ward 8

55

394 12

394

12

394

Ward 10

35W

Brownie Lake

More information about candidates in the primary elections is at tinyurl.com/swjvoterguide.

Ward 11

94 55

35W

55

94

52

94

12

Ward 13 Cedar Lake

is ss Mi

As city, state and federal officials continue to encourage mail-in voting, Southwest Minneapolis residents are submitting absentee ballots at record levels ahead of the Aug. 11 primary elections.

As of Aug. 1, nearly three times as many Southwest Minneapolis residents had submitted a mail-in ballot than did in the run-up to the March presidential primary, which took place just before the pandemic began to alter life in the city. Citywide, over 37% of the city’s 258,000-plus registered voters had requested a mail-in ballot as of Aug. 1, and about a third of those had been returned.

City, state and federal officials have been encouraging mail-in voting to keep people away from polling places during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Aug. 1, only about 7% of all early votes cast have been placed in person, with a majority of the city’s in-person votes cast in Ward 6, where residents are also deciding who will fill a vacant City Council seat.

55 35W

Lake of the Isles

CAMPAIGN FUNDING The chart below shows 2020 pre-primary campaign finance data for candidates running for the state Legislature in contested races in the Southwest Journal’s coverage area.

Total raised

Individual PAC/lobbyist/ donors self donations

Total spent

Cash on hand

Esther Agbaje

$31,230

39

$1,900

$22,274

$17,782

Raymond Dehn

$13,551

10

$6,360

$6,023

$18,332

Omar Fateh

$47,132

64

$50

$46,939

$1,767

Jeff Hayden

$29,356 25

$7,370

$21,980

$15,522

Bobby Joe Champion

$8,280

8

$1,350

$21,436

$20,560

Suleiman Isse

$14,056

12

$4,728

$13,188

$868

35W

55

Bde Maka Ska

35W

55

House District 59B

Lake Harriet

Lake Hiawatha

Senate District 62 35W

Lake Nokomis

Senate District 59 Diamond Lake 35W

62

77

Taft Lake

Lake Pamela

62

35W

Source: Minnesota Campaign Finance Board

62 35W

62

Mother Lake

62

62

18 HOLES FULLY REMODELED MINI GOLF IN RICHFIELD

ice

LICENSE # 1095

Your Sign of Satisfaction

952-512-0110

roelofsremodeling.com

Mini Golf

cream

PIzzA Bike rental

SurreY rental

Three generations of exceptional remodeling

and renovating of homes around the Lakes area and Southwest Minneapolis.

(612) 861-9348 | 6335 Portland Ave S. Richfield, MN Wheel Fun Rentals MaltTMelt SWJ 051619 6.indd 1

4/3/19 10:04 AM

Roelofs Remodeling SWJ NR3 6.indd 1

12/27/18 11:47 AM

“Raise a glass to freedom.

Something they can never take away. No matter what they tell you.”

— Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton: The Revolution

Lacy Johnson for Congress CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS — MN5

Lacy Johnson for Congress has been a resident of North Minneapolis for over 40 years. He believes the community and its people are among the best in Minnesota.

He was born in Natchez, MS, where his mom, dad, and elders raised him, his six sisters and three brothers. Though times were economically challenging, Lacy had “a perfect childhood” and “the best public school education.”

Lacy has been married to his wife Betty for 40 years with whom they raised two sons, Darien and Adrian.

The Revolution Begins Here. Join Us. Visit our website www.LacyJohnson.com or email info@LacyJohnson.com for more information.

friendsoflacyjohnson

@LacyJohnsonMN

PAID FOR BY LACY JOHNSON FOR CONGRESS Lacy Johnson for Congress SWJ 080620 FP.indd 1

7/30/20 2:39 PM

southwestjournal.com / August 6–19, 2020 B5

Voices from the pandemic

Stories of coronavirus in Minneapolis How do you tell the story of what it’s like to live through a pandemic?

Throughout this crisis, the Southwest Journal is keeping in touch with a selection of local residents including an infection preventionist at a senior home, a pair of small business owners, a retired couple, a critical care physician and a religious leader.

All interviews are edited for length and clarity.

Reporting is by Zac Farber and Andrew Hazzard.

Barb Joyce, infection preventionist, Jones-Harrison senior living

“The COVID unit is a ghost town right now.”

FRIDAY, JULY 31 This last Monday, we started allowing essential caregivers into Jones-Harrison’s assisted living wing.

There has been some fear of opening up and allowing the virus to come walking in our doors because, with asymptomatic transfer, we can’t control what’s going on outside — we can only control what’s happening inside.

But we did the work and we polled our families and asked how they feel about people coming in and possibly exposing our community to the virus.

The results were pretty even, pretty 50-50.

Half said: “No — we’re OK with video chats and outdoor visits. But I want my parent to be as safe as possible.”

And the other half said: “Yes — we can’t keep it shut down. Our seniors are not thriving in this environment, and what is life when you can’t do the things you want to do? They shouldn’t be living their end stages of life this way.”

We have to keep that balance, so we’ve introduced essential caregivers, just to assisted living tenants for now. Those tenants are under the same roof, but they’re completely walled off from the skilled nursing center, and we don’t share staff or airspace.

Caregivers come for up to three hours one day a week. They can hang out with them in the courtyard. They can bring in food. They can do laundry or bring in drugs from the pharmacy or mouthwash and shaving cream.

They’re filling up bird feeders and birdbaths.

And this is making our tenants happy.

We do education for essential caregivers.

There’s a strong message that if they’re not in compliance, we will tell them to readjust. And if they are still not in compliance with the personal protective equipment, we have the right to ask them to leave.

We currently have zero active cases, which hasn’t happened since the beginning of April.

On Wednesday morning we celebrated the transfer of the last patient off the COVID floor.

We got balloons, we played a song and we got very emotional. To see all of the empty rooms in the COVID unit and to shut those doors — it was a moment.

Do I kid myself that we won’t have more COVID cases? Absolutely not, we will. The COVID unit is a ghost town right now, but we will have to open it up from time to time.

We’re changing how we do outdoor visitation. Families can be on one side of a long table and residents on the other side — with

no plexiglass barrier in between — to help facilitate closeness. We’ll be able to have four families in the courtyard at once, so a family can stay a half hour instead of 15 minutes.

We’re also reopening admissions of nonCOVID patients to other units of JonesHarrison. In the middle of the outbreak, we were discovering multiple new cases — and we were short-staffed — and it wasn’t ethical to admit new patients. So we ended admissions until we could contain it.

About three weeks ago, we opened back up admissions to the third-floor rehab unit, and last week we were full. Hospital admissions are put on a COVID quarantine and we have to wear all of our PPE when we enter their rooms.

Now we’re accepting residents to our dementia and long-term-care units. It’s because there’s a need. The hospitals are filling up, and we have to do our part in helping them empty out and open up more beds for acutely sick patients. Nobody from outside coming into our community has yet to test positive for COVID, which means the hospitals are doing really well at protecting their patients.

The role of Libby Lindberg, our director of nursing, has been pivotal. Without her, we would not be at the place we are today. She had a strong voice and was not afraid to say, “No, that’s not what we’re going to do.”

For people who were actively dying, the guidance was that one or two family members could make “compassionate visits” to their loved ones while wearing full PPE and staying socially distanced.

But if your mom is very, very sick, you want to get in there. In the presence of your mother or father hurting, you don’t care — you just want to crawl into bed with them.

So it’s very hard to be the person to step in and say, “I’m sorry, but that can’t happen.” Yet at the time, hospitals were not allowing people to go into the ICUs because the virus was too unknown and too deadly.

Libby was very confident and very firm and very strong and had the ability to say those words where other people did not want to say those words.

People keep pushing boundaries, but she was very firm in reading the guidance, leaning in and saying her peace in meetings and in real time. She was the rock who kept us all stable in making those hard, unpopular decisions.

Jen and Marcus Wilson, co-owners, True Grit Society gym

“We aren’t sending our daughter to school because of risk.”

FRIDAY, JULY 31 Jen: It seems that since the protests, discrimination and any form of maltreatment have to be pointed out. I think it’s great; people need to have a voice and maybe people are just more comfortable with speaking out.

I feel like people are getting called out on it.

Some people are saying they want to work out but didn’t think their gyms spoke out enough after George Floyd was killed. We have had some people come to us and say they want to try a new gym because their old gym didn’t take a stance. Now, you have to take a stance, and if you don’t, you can be called out for it.

It’s a little scary, but I don’t mind it. I can see how if I were a white woman running a gym with my white husband, being questioned if I am inclusive enough could be very scary.

I think that as a minority or person of color, it matters to you more, but that’s not a fair statement because it matters to our white members also. But it’s mostly been people of

color coming to us and saying they would like to feel more inclusive and seeking community.

But numbers wise, it’s been status quo for us.

We did have a bit of a scare. An instructor got sick and told us he was feeling sick. He hadn’t taught for about five days. His symptoms weren’t COVID-related, but he got tested and was negative. But at the end of the day, we’re putting ourselves at risk. It’s such a catch-22 because we have this business that we need to run and try to make work. It’s such a struggle because it’s not really working, but we’re trying and we’re at risk.

But on the other hand, we aren’t sending our daughter to school because of risk.

I was thinking about my job based in Arizona, where they’ve had a bunch of COVID cases and people are worried about going into work. I told Marcus that I wasn’t sure if I’d still be working there if I had to go in, and he said, “You do the same thing every time you teach a class,” and I was like, “Oh, dang.”

You prioritize it differently based on how you’re thinking about it. They’re saying people need to mask up when they go out, but people are coming in here and not wearing masks while they work out.

We know the people who are coming in, so there’s that. It’s almost like a dating thing where you really have to trust that the person you’re talking to is being honest with you and not exposing themselves. We’ve made classes even smaller and tried to do more outside, but at the end of the day, it’s all risk. I feel like at the beginning it was like, “Oh, that guy got COVID; he must have been doing something crazy,” and now it’s not really a taboo anymore. Everybody’s getting it, and it’s just a matter of when. It’s a bit of a scarlet letter, but it will happen to a lot of people.

Doing a lot of things that people want to do, like working out, is about saying, “I am putting myself at risk,” and accepting that and making sure the people that care about you and are around you are comfortable with that, too.

Honestly, I started therapy last week, because there’s so much going on in my head on a daily basis about the business. I’m feeling a little bit backed up all the time with all the what ifs. And the therapist was like, “That’s totally normal.”

Our decision was we’re not going to send Sachi to school. She’s young enough where she needs that closeness, and we just don’t think it would be a healthy environment in general.

I think her age is at risk for really filling up classrooms. It’s not like a fourth grader who can manage themselves.

There are a lot of people out there who have been managing toddlers and babies and you can’t get much work done. Our concern is that a lot of parents are going to be enrolling because they feel pressure at work and need to drop their kids off. She would be starting kindergarten. We’re lucky because she could start this year or next and it wouldn’t matter.

She could start at six and be totally fine.

We’re lucky in that we could get a tutor if we could find one. We have some teacher members who have given us advice on what to do. We’ll probably enroll in a school to get the curriculum activities and then not attend or do distance learning.

Arminta and Ron Miller, residents, Waters on 50th senior living community

“When the average age is about 86, people don’t have the equipment or wisdom to be able to do [video chats].”

TUESDAY, JULY 21 Arminta: If people want to be tested, they can be tested here next week. But I don’t want to.

It’s our choice; they told us we didn’t have to.

How about you, Ron? Ron: No.

Arminta: If we did, we’d have to both do it.

Ron: I think we’re taking the right precautions, taking care of ourselves. The Waters is doing everything they can. I don’t think at this time it’s necessary.

Arminta: There are people who wanted it, so it’s good they’re doing it. We still don’t have any cases; everything’s good here so far.

They’re opening up the beauty salon in August with two new people, not the ones who had been here before. Ron wants to get his hair cut, and he’s going to check out the people.

Ron: We have to check out the quality of workers before we make a commitment.

Arminta: When he gets a haircut, he looks like he’s absolutely shaven, so he wants to make sure he likes the person and that they’ll listen to him.

They opened up the exercise rooms, and I ride 20 minutes on the bike three days a week, and Ron rides 20 minutes on the bike and then does 20 minutes on the machines — there are about six machines in there. So we’re working out pretty good!

We’ve got this grid that different floors use to sign up for exercise. I don’t know how they’re making out the grids! Whoever is figuring it out is amazing, because it’s very complicated.

On Sunday our granddaughter is coming from Chicago and we’re going to meet her in the garden at the gate. This will be the first time we’ve done that. We have to be 6 feet apart and wear masks, but we’re really excited.

I hope it doesn’t rain.

There’s a new program from the Minnesota Department of Health. They’re saying we can have one designated caregiver, a family member, who can come in. They’d have to take a test and wear a mask and special glasses and leave the door open while they’re in the apartment.

The Waters is asking us how we feel about that. I don’t think we’re going to do it. We’re lucky because we can go out on our balcony and see our daughters if they want to visit and sit out on the boulevard.

But I know there are people who feel really cooped up, and I sympathize with them because you can only read so many books and watch so many TV shows and do so much cleaning.

They’re trying to open up more Skype and FaceTime for people to see their family members.

Ron: But they haven’t explained the concept yet of how they’re going to do that. When the average age is about 86, people don’t have the equipment or wisdom to be able to do [video chats]. It’s called a coming attraction.

Arminta: For us, we do get bored. There aren’t many places to go. We’ve been talking, though. We used to walk around the lake every day. We were thinking it would be really fun to go have lunch down by Lake Harriet. We could even bring our own lunch and stay clear of people and wear our masks and be vigilant. It would be a nice afternoon. That is my dream.

Ron: We have small dreams.

Arminta: We have a lot to look forward to when things straighten out, but it doesn’t look real good, does it?

Matthew Prekker, critical care physician, Hennepin County Medical Center

“We’d love life to get back to normal, but I don’t see that happening for, oh boy, many months to a year.”

MONDAY, JULY 20 Everyone’s been able to take a bit of a step back and take a breather from COVID. The mix of patients in our ICUs has changed and gotten back to more like we’d expect for our usual practice. The amount of critically ill COVID patients we’re seeing is much lower than our peak in April and May. SEE VOICES / PAGE B6

B6 August 6–19, 2020 / southwestjournal.com FROM VOICES / PAGE B5

It tracks with the statewide trend of cases and hospitalizations dropping. Though knowing what’s going on in other areas of the country, we’re wondering if we’re going to pick up again and be back in that mode we were before.

What still gives me pause with things reopening is that there are still very sick patients with COVID being admitted every week. We just put a critically ill patient on ECMO [extracorporeal membrane oxygenation] this morning who was young and otherwise healthy. Even though there’s a bit of a lull, the severity of the virus for certain people has not gotten lower.

Everybody in the hospital — physicians, nurses, support staff, therapists — is much more comfortable with coronavirus patients, both on the hospital floor and on the ICU. We sort of know generally how the disease works now and how long it takes people to get better. If you are a patient who needs to be hospitalized, I think you’ll have a different experience than you would if you came at the peak of our numbers.

Day to day, my colleagues and I talk about what a stress it is and how we’d love life to get back to normal, but I don’t see that happening for, oh boy, many months to a year. We have to hunker down and do the best we can and do the right thing as a community and wear masks and wash hands and stay away from vulnerable people.

We might not have big randomized trials for all aspects of care of COVID patients, but we certainly have some data and a lot of anecdotal experience about what works. Steroids are now a routine and recommended treatment for anyone on oxygen with COVID. We’re going to be participating, within the next month, in some high-level scientific work: a large collaboration between our federal government and industry to get potential COVID treatments tested in patients quickly to see if they’re effective.

We’re starting with molecular biologic treatments using monoclonal antibodies. That plays on the convalescent plasma idea — you know, people who’ve had the virus donate their plasma — but it’s not just giving people plasma; it’s focusing on which parts of the plasma are most helpful to quiet down the immune system during COVID. A second set of investigations will focus more on blood clotting that goes along with COVID, testing different regiments of blood thinners — durations and doses and drugs — to figure out what’s best for these patients.

At the end of April, we did our first blood

ONGOING COVERAGE Keep reading local residents’ stories as the crisis evolves at tinyurl.com/ voices-from-the-pandemic.

Barb Joyce: tinyurl.com/vfp-barb-joyce Arminta and Ron Miller: tinyurl.com/vfp-the-millers Matthew Prekker tinyurl.com/vfp-matthew-prekker Jen and Marcus Wilson: tinyurl.com/vfp-the-wilsons Marcia Zimmerman: tinyurl.com/vfp-marcia-zimmerman Jennifer Vongroven: tinyurl.com/vfp-jennifer-vongroven Marion Greene: tinyurl.com/vfp-marion-greene Parissa Delavari tinyurl.com/vfp-parissa-delavari Annette Greely: tinyurl.com/vfp-annette-greely Brenda Howard-Larson: tinyurl.com/vfp-brenda-howard-larson Peter Kumasaka: tinyurl.com/vfp-peter-kumasaka Tracey Schultz: tinyurl.com/vfp-tracey-schultz Jesse Vasquez: tinyurl.com/vfp-jesse-vasquez

draw in a study surveying how many health care workers are producing antibodies against COVID, which tells you how many have been exposed. The pandemic was just getting started in Minnesota in April, but we found that 4% of our frontline health care workers at Hennepin — primarily nurses — had antibodies at that point. We did follow-up testing at the end of June, and we’re waiting for those results to see if the rate went up over those few months and, if so, by how much.

We’re seeing a survival rate in our ICU of about 65% to 70% for patients who end up on a ventilator. We’ve been working with the CDC to do telephone follow-up calls with patients to figure out how they’re doing afterward. We don’t have a good sense for the recovery part of this equation.

In terms of returning to your baseline functioning and quality of life, it doesn’t matter if you’re old or young: If you’re sick enough to be on a ventilator in an ICU, you may have persistent pulmonary systems and there’s been a lot of talk about the neurological and psychiatric effects.

TOP SHELF REAL ESTATE JUST LISTED! Edina Mid-Century Ranch updated Top to Bottom!

5160 Abercrombie Dr. 3BR/2BA • $474,900

Ted Bergstrom

We LOVE Referrals!

The Minnesota Real Estate Team RE/MAX Advantage Plus www.TedBergstrom.com

Ted Bergstrom • Realtor | 612-723-5444 | Ted@TedBergstrom.com Bergstrom Ted SWJ 080620 H12.indd 1

7/27/20 11:12 AM

We’re capable of testing up to 2,000 patients a day on site at Hennepin. But some of the most basic parts of testing — the plastic equipment used to transport these things and run the test — is in shorter supply, so we’re down to 500 to 1,000 tests per day. Most are used for initial testing of new patients and those who’ve been exposed. Turnaround time for results is less than a day in most cases. Asymptomatic staff are not tested routinely; it’s driven more by symptoms and exposures.

At home, my wife and I have been handling the risk that we’re exposed to each day by just doing things with close family. The kids are squirrely, that’s for sure. We don’t know what’s going to happen with school, which is a stressor, but we’ve enjoyed the good weather of a Minnesota summer.

Our 3-year-old now thinks it’s totally routine to wear a mask, which is pretty amazing. I would have freaked out if I were that age. We’ve held the older kids back from their summer camps, not wanting to take excess risks.

If schools reopen, I want a system where it can be safe for the students and the teachers.

I don’t have a great solution — that’s the million-dollar question.

I believe kids learn more and do better and are better socialized when they’re in the classroom, but of course I’ve never had to do that during a pandemic. We’ll be comfortable to send our kids if there’s a system in place and our teachers are eager to have them back.

Marcia Zimmerman, rabbi, Temple Israel

“We are noticing the flow of emotion. It seems like the change of the seasons brings more anxiety.”

THURSDAY, JULY 30 We have been in this for a while and the numbers just keep getting worse. We now know a lot more about COVID than we did when we began, with masks and handwashing and social distancing. There was a study recently that children under 5 don’t transmit the virus in the same way, so we are planning to open up our early childhood center in September to have a hybrid program to do some in-person learning

and some virtual. As we know the most basic operational thing in COVID becomes quite complicated and strategic and that’s what we’re finding when it comes to our early childhood center.

Everyone has different comfort levels.

We no longer use the word safety when it comes to COVID; we talk about risk mitigation. That’s been a transition. One person’s comfort with this risk is not necessarily everybody’s, and we have to take into account not only individuals but an entire community. It’s an interesting process, but we’re holding to CDC recommendations and being strict about what it means to keep kids safe and mitigate the risk, while still having socialization. Because I think young families are the ones that are having, psychologically, some of the biggest issues.

Young children are not able to use social media like older kids can and socialization is so important for young hearts and minds.

It’s been an interesting road. We can only have 44 students, at the most, to maintain social distancing. The least we can have to make it viable is 30 and normally we have up to 108. Those are the things taking up a lot of energy and time, but it feels fulfilling because it’s for young learners and families.

People are very engaged. It seems Shabbat and Shabbat evenings and Torah studies still have high engagement. We’ve started to put out clergy connections on social media every night with clergy discussing current issues with members, and that’s been popular.

Just this week we are noticing the flow of emotion. It seems like the change of the seasons brings more anxiety as things continue. We’ve been in summer mode and things have held steady, but as school approaches, and the governor’s announcement today about reopening, all of those things lead to more ambiguity and anxiety and people being upset.

We’ve interviewed people who have engaged in virtual funerals and summer camps and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. We’re interviewing families about their experience because we think that will be the situation for a while. I think they’re really pleasantly surprised and there are some real blessings.

The idea that people can come from all over who wouldn’t be able to travel even if there was no COVID. The kids in summer camp are now getting to know the senior staff because we didn’t hire counselors, and that’s a real treat. As far as Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, the idea is to just focus on the kids and not run off to the party. Just having those moments as a family is really important. That’s something that people have found to be a real blessing.

southwestjournal.com / August 6–19, 2020 B7

Southwest museums struggle to regain visitors

By Becca Most

The Walker Art Center is quiet on a Friday save for the soft footsteps of visitors walking across the gallery and the slight whir of the air conditioning. On one side of the exhibit, a mother and child gaze up at a series of colorful portraits lining the back wall, their voices muffled through cloth masks. On the other side a visitor walks the length of a green leaf-like aluminum sculpture in the center of the room, a work by artist Ellsworth Kelly.

Since Southwest’s museums reopened in late June and July, some patrons have begun making reservations online and planning visits as ways to escape the heat.

Although attendance is now limited to a quarter of capacity, some museums are seeing even fewer guests ready to return. Since the Minneapolis Institute of Art reopened July 16, attendance is down to about 15% of normal, director Katie Crawford Luber said.

“Suddenly we’re trying to figure out how to be a museum without an audience,” Luber said. “Our mission really is about people and art — and bringing them together. And that’s a very challenging thing right now.”

Navigating the logistics of cleanliness, staffing and virtual programs, many have directed visitors to make online ticket reservations at specific times of day to control crowd numbers.

Mia added janitorial staff to clean the museum more often, installed no-touch faucets and toilets and set up round markers on the floor to encourage visitors to stay 6 feet apart. It’s also removed some

The Bakken Museum in West Maka Ska reopened to the public on June 20 after a major renovation.

Photo by Isaiah Rustad

St. Paul resident Amy Jo Felling brought her infant son, Harry, to the Walker on July 24.

It was her first time at a museum since she went on maternity leave near the start of the pandemic. Photo by Becca Most

interactive elements normally accompanying exhibits, like informational iPads and adjusted some exhibits designed for touch.

Now open Thursday through Sunday with limited hours — nearly half the time it was open before — reaching audiences digitally has grown in importance, Luber said.

Before the pandemic, a monthly in-person Mia family day could draw upward of 2,000 guests. Mia has spent the past few months developing ways for families to engage with art from the safety of their homes. For July’s family day event, based on the museum’s special exhibit “When Home Won’t Let You Stay: Art and Migration,” families could go online and find activities, videos, songs and

poetry (tinyurl.com/family-day-mia). Since April, the landing page for Mia’s family day events has seen about 4,600 unique visitors.

The Walker (which opened to non-members on July 16) has sought to reach audiences virtually though online tours led by curators and slideshows of different exhibits on display.

Like many other institutions, the museum has laid off workers and cut hours. While the Walker received over $1 million from the Paycheck Protection Program, it has lost about $5.7 million in revenue from ticket sales, memberships and events like Rock the Garden. A GoFundMe started to give cash support to 52 former Walker staff members (tinyurl.com/walker-mutual-aid) has raised more than $11,000.

Smaller museums like the Bakken in the West Maka Ska neighborhood and the

Museum of Russian Art in Windom have been able to avoid staff cuts and control more of the process because of the smaller staff needed in the space.

Mark Meister, executive director of the Museum of Russian Art, said fundraising efforts and a couple of loans and grants the museum received from the federal government helped it reopen. Attendance stands at about half of what it was last year — “pretty good” by pandemic standards, Meister said.

“During this COVID-19 period, people have come to realize how much they miss certain things [like] being able to come to the museum,” he said. “We think that it’s a really important intellectual and cultural break from all of the other things that we’re being buffeted with right now.”

B8 August 6–19, 2020 / southwestjournal.com FROM POPS / PAGE B1

After the original structure was destroyed by fire in 1891, a pagoda pavilion was installed for audience members to watch orchestras and other entertainment acts perform on a floating structure on the lake. This pavilion was also destroyed by fire in 1903 and its successor was destroyed by a windstorm in 1925.

The modern-day bandshell didn’t rise until 1988, and after the Minneapolis Pops were founded in 1950, they played their first decades from a temporary structure built by the Park Board.

In the orchestra’s first years, summer concerts were performed up to four times per week on a budget largely funded by the Minnesota Players Union and the Minneapolis Park Board. The Pops’ founding conductor, Harrington Maddy, had played concerts on Lake Harriet for years and was known as “Mr. Music.”

While the Pops saw crowds of up to 6,000 in its early years, Stokes said, a good concert now brings a crowd of 2,000-3,000.

Funding comes from individual donors,

businesses and government grants, and Stokes’ book’s proceeds will go directly to the orchestra.

“This is more concerts for the general public,” she said. “The people love the concerts, but often it’s the general public that are coming, not the wealthy people looking for a prestigious event.”

Eric Olsen, the Pops’ executive director, said he’s glad to have a permanent record of the orchestra’s past. “Things are forgotten, or lost in translation, when they’re not written down, so to have that history and that information on paper, in book form, is a wonderful resource,” he said.

Linden Hills resident John Gray said he and his wife, Kathy Kresge, discovered the Pops after dating long-distance when Kresge moved to Minneapolis from Seattle in 2001. “The day she arrived, the very first thing we did that night is we went to a Pops concert down at Lake Harriet, and we’ve been going ever since,” Gray said. The orchestra played at the couple’s wedding reception in 2006.

Stokes said she started researching her book via newspaper archives and interviews with longtime Pops musicians she knew, but

she had a breakthrough when she started talking to a woman named Leila Deneke who she sat next to at a Minnesota Opera concert and found out Deneke was the daughter of two former Pops players. “That was such a stroke of luck,” Stokes said.

Deneke put Stokes in touch with the son of former Pops musician Henry Kramer, who sent Stokes his father’s archives, including his unreleased memoir documenting his time in the Pops, which he joined for its second season in 1951.

“Because of the very humid summer evenings, I used an aluminum violin to play on instead of my fine Guadagnini, and I used to rap on the metal back of the violin with my bow when it came time to tune up with the orchestra,” Kramer wrote in his memoir, “Following the Beat.”

The book includes an appendix of concert programs, dating back to the early 1900s and to the Pops concert program from last summer, when the Pops celebrated their anniversary by playing a selection of songs from the Pops’ first season in 1950.

With attendance dropping in recent

Two children play around the bandstand in the 1960s as conductor James Greco leads the Pops in concert.

years, the Pops have placed greater focus on community engagement, adding a program for children where musicians volunteer in band and orchestra classes in local public schools and play regular concerts for the elderly at Nicollet Island.

“It’s very gratifying to see the enjoyment people get from hearing live orchestra concerts,” Stokes said. “Those people are so quiet and so attentive, and they really, really are enjoying the music.”

For the last three decades, Jere Lantz has led the Pops’ music program, serving as both the orchestra’s conductor and emcee.

“He has an amazing knowledge of trivia, of interesting facts about music, and he seems to really catch the audience’s attention before we play a piece,” Stokes said.

While times have changed, Stokes said, the nature of the Pops has not.

“It remains a group of 45 top-notch professional musicians playing a mix of classical and popular music,” she wrote in the book. “The mission of the Pops has always been to bring the power and the pleasure of live orchestra concerts performed by professional musicians to the Twin Cities community, free of charge.”

To purchase a copy of “The Minneapolis Pops Orchestra: A History,” go to mplspops.org/history.

In its early years, the Pops saw crowds of up to 6,000. The date of this photograph is unknown. Photos courtesy of the Minneapolis Pops

ADVERTISEMENT

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1 LBJ’s vice president 4 Sponsor’s tube spot 8 Dracula stabber 13 Tic-tac-toe winner 14 Glow 15 One-on-one teacher 16 Fifth scale note 17 *A total failure “goes over like” one 19 Arena overhead view provider 21 Cowpoke’s “okay” 22 Tattoo artist’s array 23 Stares open-mouthed 25 Violent storm 27 Eaten away by rust, say 30 More, in Mexico 31 Once more 32 Weather guy Al 34 __ and cheese 37 Smooth-tongued 38 Bird-related ... four of them have landed at the ends of the answers to starred clues 39 April 1 “honoree” 40 Slim fish often smoked 41 Itty-bitty 42 Joltless java brand 43 Tips container 44 Leather bookbinding material 46 Type of pub named for its unglamorous appearance 50 Blind pieces 51 Greek goddess of discord 52 Greek T 54 Financial word before year or policy 57 *Hotel chain with a geographical name

Doug Mann for Mpls School Board SWJ 072320 4.indd 1

7/15/20 11:24 AM

60 Beer named for Washington’s capital, briefly 61 Prefix with national 62 Covers with asphalt 63 Was victorious 64 Wet-eyed 65 Roe source 66 __ Luthor, Superman nemesis

DOWN 1 Bulky “Bonanza” brother 2 “Peter Pan” captain 3 *Last Supper cup 4 Focused on a subject, as a crossword 5 By way of 6 Artist Warhol 7 First appearance

Crossword Puzzle SWJ 080620 4.indd 1

8 Cards, in box scores 9 “Tiptoe Through the __” 10 Make things right 11 Goofballs 12 Dadaist Max 14 Apply carelessly 18 Theoretical missing links 20 West Indies native 24 Dish up, as a dish 26 St. Patrick’s mo.

27 Zoo enclosure 28 Look at creepily 29 Washing, as the dishes 33 Bout-ending blows 34 *Monastic hood 35 Golfer Isao 36 Scottish family 38 Fizz up, as water

39 Protests by not eating 41 Saloon bill 42 Oil leak blemishes 43 Court clown 45 Director Hitchcock 46 Kind of bank card 47 Goodnight woman of song 48 Panoramic view 49 Carpenter’s files 53 Home of the Jazz 55 Natural burn balm 56 Bobcat, e.g.

58 Dryly humorous 59 Little __, singer of the #1 hit “The Loco-Motion” Crossword answers on page B11

8/4/20 12:25 PM

southwestjournal.com / August 6–19, 2020 B9

By Dr. Teresa Hershey

Why is it so hard to get an appointment with your vet right now?

Pandemic is taxing the veterinary industry in complicated ways

A

client’s cat became sick one recent Sunday. She called five local veterinary emergency clinics but none were able to see her.

COVID has taxed the veterinary industry in a way we haven’t seen before. In a short amount of time, the pandemic created the perfect storm of too many animals needing help and not enough people to help them.

New pets

When the shelter-in-place order first went into effect, we started to see more puppies.

At first it was so fun! I went from seeing one puppy a week to two to three a day. After several weeks, we were getting overrun with new puppies and new pets in general.

Where did all of these animals come from?

For some people, getting a new puppy was already in the works and they just bumped up the timing of that adoption. It made sense! The shelter-in-place order forced most people to be at home and freed up a lot of time for training and all of the extra work that comes with puppyhood.

For others, isolation created a lonely void. When you can’t see other people,

animals are desperately needed companions.

Soon finding a pet at a shelter or rescue became difficult; they had all been adopted!

Busy season

You wouldn’t think that there would be a busy season for veterinarians. But in the summer months, we are about 10% to 20% busier than in the winter. It’s not just snowbirds returning north that increase our animal traffic. Pets are outdoors more so we see more cat bite abscesses, injuries from running around the dog parks and skin infections from swimming in the lakes.

In addition, we have an unusual vestige of rural farming days in which people want to book their “spring shots.” On the farm, that’s when the farm animals, including dogs and cats, would get their vaccines. That tradition is slowly disappearing, but for many of our older clientele, this is what they were taught and what they are used to.

Staffing shortage

While other industries are laying people off, the veterinary industry is experiencing

a staffing shortage. Many people in our industry, either by choice or circumstance, are not going to work. Some are selfidentifying as high risk and are choosing to isolate. For others, new child or elder care responsibilities are keeping them at home because former caretakers are unavailable.

When a specialized industry gets stressed, pivoting is difficult. It takes eight years to make a veterinarian. Certified veterinary technicians go to school for two years. Even for nondegreed positions at the veterinary clinic, it takes six to 18 months to feel skilled at the job.

When veterinary staff are not able to come to work, it is not easy to replace them. Many veterinary clinics found themselves in a situation where a significant percentage of their work force was no longer available. Right now, there are fewer people to provide services for more animals. COVID pushed the industry past its tipping point, and that level of stress cannot be maintained.

ER overload

At our clinic, we responded to the influx of animals by putting a pause on seeing new clients. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only clinic backed into that solution. That means that there are fewer places for an animal in need to go.

If a general practitioner can’t see a patient, then sometimes the only option is the emergency clinic. This means that the local ERs get overloaded. We will get reports at the beginning of the day about which clinics are closed and not accepting patients. One client told me he considered going to Duluth with his sick pet because it was a six-hour wait to get into the metro ERs.

Adaptation

So what is a veterinary clinic to do while trying to operate in the pressure cooker?

Long term, we’ll figure it out. New businesses will form, staffing structures will change, more people will go to vet school.

In the short term, we’ll do the best we can with what we have. For general practitioners, that means pushing off wellness exams to allow more space for urgent patients. Our doctors in quarantine are helping by doing telemedicine calls for patients that can safely be helped that way.

You just keep trying hard and try to adapt. That’s the pandemic way.

Receptionist burnout

It is important to turn a spotlight on the experience of the veterinary receptionist during this crisis.

When the veterinary clinic is at capacity, that doesn’t mean that pets don’t still need care. Imagine being the person who has to break the news to a stricken pet parent that their veterinary clinic can’t help them today.

Clients in distress often don’t take this news well. Their frustration is taken out on the receptionist, sometimes in very degrading ways. This takes a huge emotional toll and contributes to the burnout of an already stressed veterinary team.

The client is right for advocating for their pet. The veterinary team is right for saying “no” if they feel like taking on another patient will negatively impact quality of care. It’s a lose-lose situation, and the veterinary receptionist is at the fulcrum of that vice grip.

We’ll keep working toward solutions, but it is important that the receptionist experience during this time be shared. A broad ask is for pet owners to have empathy for the person who answers the phone at your clinic.

Dr. Teresa Hershey is a veterinarian at Westgate Pet Clinic in Linden Hills. Email pet questions to drhershey@westgatepetclinicmn.com.

Jill Hagen

PLEASE SUPPORT THE SOUTHWEST JOURNAL

Client Focused | Results Driven

The Southwest Journal, like many news outlets, is facing unprecedented challenges.

For the past three decades, we’ve delivered the paper free of charge because we believe everyone deserves access to professional, unbiased journalism.

But with advertisers’ budgets being tightened amid the pandemic, our business model has been upended. We’re asking for your help.

For Sellers: Housing is at a historically low level, buyer demand is strong. For Buyers: Mortgage rates continue to remain low, a good time to invest in a home.

Call today!

Please consider supporting us with a donation in any amount you are able.

Jill Hagen | jill.hagen@cbburnet.com | 612-834-2673

VISIT SWJOURNAL.COM/DONATE If you have already donated, thank you from all of us at the Southwest Journal. We are truly grateful.

Hagen Jill SWJ 031920 H12.indd 1

3/10/20 6:50 PM

WE ARE OPEN

Whether or not you are able to contribute personally, you can help in other ways: • Spread the word on social media and via email to friends and neighbors • Tell advertisers you saw their ad in the paper and patronize their businesses • Place an ad for your business or service by emailing sales@swjournal.com • Send your compliments, critiques or questions to feedback@swjournal.com

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! Follow @TRUEGRITGYMCO

Thank you. We exist to serve our community and appreciate your support in any form.

2800 Lyndale Ave S | 612-293-8093 | truegritsociety.com •

Support the SWJ SWJ 043020 6.indd 1

4/29/20 10:50 AM

CLEAN

•

COMMUNITY

True Grit Society SWJ 070920 H12.indd 1

•

SOCIAL DISTANCING

•

LOTS OF SANITIZING

•

6/26/20 11:14 AM

B10 August 6–19, 2020 / southwestjournal.com

Unsung Architecture

By Maggie Krantz

Adaptive reuse Reimagining the existing landscape

S

cattered across Minneapolis, buildings created for bygone uses have been adapted over time to meet the new needs of the city’s residents. Southwest has an abundance of examples, from warehouses to fire stations to gas stations (Locus Architecture’s office at 45th & Nicollet was once home to a 1930s Texaco). As industries and society change, so do the structures left behind. Buildings like the Midtown Global Market and Exchange (Lake & 10th) and the Icehouse (26th & Nicollet) were transformed into their current uses over a series of years, sometimes even decades, and involved intense construction to meet their new needs. The former was originally a Sears and Roebuck retail and distribution center and is now home to apartments, condos, offices, a market and a small business incubator. The latter was built over a century ago to store ice harvested from Cedar Lake and was later transformed into Icehouse Studio (for music recording) before evolving into its current incarnation as a climbing gym and restaurant.

Unlike these examples of buildings that have adapted over long periods of time, we are currently experiencing a period of rapid change to address unforeseen challenges.

As businesses began to reopen following the stay-at-home order for COVID-19, they adapted their current spaces to comply with new safety measures. Many businesses are continuing to address these new regulations with technology and DIY barriers. Plexiglass shields at checkout stations or office desks, stickers on the floor marking distances and one-way routes and copious amounts of hand sanitizer allowed businesses to open quickly — without a construction crew.

Where tables were once packed together, restaurants reimagined the dining experience and strategized new layouts to account for social distancing directives. As regulations continue to change, first allowing only outdoor seating and later allowing some indoor seating at reduced capacity, restaurants have scrambled to find viable outdoor space and have introduced 6 feet between tables, dedicated to-go locations and sanitation stations. AIA Minnesota continues to offer consultation services to bars, restaurants and other food service establishments to quickly help reorganize existing spaces to accommodate the new requirements.

David Burley, owner of Blue Plate Restaurant Co., implemented many new strategies to mitigate exposure, keeping employees and patrons safe and businesses open. One innovative solution was to repurpose motorcycle windshields from local company Slipstreamer into a drink-friendly version of personal protective equipment. The iconic plastic shapes now line the bar at The Lowry in Uptown and The Freehouse in the North Loop. A slot at the bottom, created for a motorcycle headlight, provides just enough space to pass a drink.

Some retail businesses, like Diamond Lake Hardware, are queuing customers in front of their building with stickers on the sidewalks to maintain customer distance. Once you reach the front of the line outside, customers hand off their list to staff to shop on their behalf, without having to step foot inside. Other businesses turned to technology to address their needs. France 44, Hola Arepa and Red Wagon

Repurposed motorcycle windshields from local company Slipstreamer now line the bar at The Freehouse. A slot at the bottom, created for a motorcycle headlight, provides just enough space to pass a drink.

Submitted photos

Socially distanced dining is available at Hola Arepa.

Third Haus Retail Lab in Linden Hills pivoted its 8,000 square feet from a co-working, event and pop-up retail lab into a gathering space for companies and communities to hold large meetings while maintaining distance.

At Red Wagon Pizza, you can order through an app and then park in a designated spot to pick up your meal.

Pizza Co. are a few establishments in Southwest that have upgraded to digital platforms to protect both workers and customers. New apps can facilitate everything from ordering, paying and notifying a worker when you arrive to help streamline the process allowing for more orders and no contact.

As has been done in the past, buildings will continue to evolve and adapt to our everchanging community needs. Third Haus Retail Lab in Linden Hills pivoted its 8,000 square feet from a co-working, event and pop-up retail lab into a gathering space for companies and communities to hold large meetings while

maintaining distance. Many companies are currently faced with thousands of square feet sitting idle, waiting for an appropriate use to fill them. These spaces may break up into separate work zones, offer flexible use or decrease in size altogether if the rise in telecommuting continues. According to Anne Mezzenga, Third Haus’s co-CEO, these quick and temporary space adaptations may lead to lasting changes in zoning, government regulations and how people occupy public space.

Businesses that can quickly grow or shrink their current space by using innovative design solutions like modular wall systems — such as

DIRTT — will have a more nimble response to changing spatial needs. Buildings designed to easily adapt to new tenants and uses will limit reconstruction and waste and help the city be more resilient in times of change. It’s hard to imagine what Minneapolis will look like in five years, let alone 50, but we hope some of the landmarks we know and love today will continue to endure by adapting to contemporary challenges and embracing flexibility.

Maggie Krantz is an architectural designer at Locus Architecture, located in Kingfield.

Visit locusarchitecture.com to learn more.

southwestjournal.com / August 6–19, 2020 B11

By Linda Koutsky

A pocket of unencumbered wilderness

M

y paternal grandmother, Ann, was more comfortable in the woods than anywhere.

Nearly every photo I have of her shows her walking on a dirt road in the woods of northern Minnesota, most likely wearing a plaid jacket she picked up at Bemidji Woolen Mills. “Wild Wings,” the log cabin they built high above Leech Lake in the 1950s, was their summer home for decades.

It was there that she perfected her observation skills and education about the forest.

Several years ago, I became the family archivist of her numerous wilderness books. They range from a full set of pocketsized Golden Press nature guides to birds, wildflowers, trees, and rocks to signed hardcover first-editions. She had a full set of the legendary wilderness books by Florence Page and Francis Lee Jaques published in the 1930s by University of Minnesota Press. The beautifully illustrated “Canoe Country,” “Snowshoe Country” and “The Geese Fly High” are prominently displayed face-out on my living room bookshelves for the appropriate season. Sigurd Olson and Calvin Rustrum and other notable nature writers round out the collection.

Truth be told, I haven’t actually read most of these books, but I’ve looked through them all and enjoyed the various pieces of ephemera she tucked inside the pages.

Newspaper clippings, birthday cards, handwritten poems, editorial comments penciled in the margins, pressed flowers and leaves — she clearly used these books. Even though I’ve lived in big cities like Chicago, San Francisco and Minneapolis nearly all my life, I do have an affinity for the woods. I definitely inherited some of her genes.

My favorite urban wilderness escape is Wood Lake in Richfield. Tucked behind

WOOD LAKE NATURE CENTER Where: 6710 Lake Shore Drive, Richfield When: Open sunrise to 11 p.m.

Info: tinyurl.com/wood-lake

Feel your stress lift as you step onto the floating boardwalk at Wood Lake. Photos by Linda Koutsky

some high-rise apartments on 66th Street and between the busy Lyndale Avenue and busier 35W, this 150-acre natural area was set aside by the city of Richfield in 1971.

Three miles of trails circle the perimeter of the lake in a forested area filled with giant cottonwood trees. But the best part is in the middle: Wood Lake. Actually, the best part is what goes over the lake: a boardwalk. A new boardwalk, in fact, that was just installed this spring after being closed for more than a year due to damage and wear. The wood planks float atop the lake. It’s buoyant and bounces under your feet. Walking across it

ONLINE Check out Wood Lake’s virtual interpretive programs this summer that include puppet shows, creature features, story time, and a science section at richfieldmn.gov/virtualrecreation. The nature center is closed during the pandemic.

is truly a meditative experience. Minimal railings don’t interfere with the views. Other than one building poking up over the trees on the south end, it’s a pocket of unencumbered wilderness. I’ve seen geese, muskrats, turtles, fish and even a deer in this park.

Wood Lake’s boardwalk is just a quick 20-minute loop. By connecting our senses to the natural world, our busy and stressed lives can become calm and relaxed. It doesn’t take long to be effective. And this summer is the perfect time to immerse ourselves in the calm of nature — whether you venture far or stay in the city. I’m actually not a canoeist, but I understand the peace and tranquility that comes with floating on water. I just do it on boardwalks. Gently balancing on sparkling blue water and meandering through towering trees, I can feel my grandmother’s approval of her city-dwelling granddaughter.

For 40 years Haven Housing has helped break the cycle of homelessness and despair for women and children.

Swedish Motors Learn more at www.havenhousing.org

You can join us in our life changing work.

CROSSWORD ANSWERS

Haven Housing SWJ filler HBC.indd 1

7/9/19 3:52 PM

WE’RE STILL OPEN! AND WE’RE KEEPING OUR PAWS CLEAN Swedish Motors | swedishmotorsmn.com | 612.803.5661

Swedish Motors SWJ 041620 9.indd 1

4/15/20 11:53 Crossword AM Answers SWJ 080620 V12.indd 1

Crossword on page B8

8/4/20 12:22 PM

“The water was without a ripple. Its candid ring was edged with tall bulrushes, spare dark whips exactly reflected. Great pines stood up around It in lovely broken lines, and down a narrow marsh we saw a great blue heron motionless in the tufted grass.”

— Florence Page Jaques from Canoe Country

B12 August 6–19, 2020 / southwestjournal.com

Community Calendar.

By Sheila Regan

Staying in

There are so many ways that artists and culture bearers are adapting in this changing world we live in — whether it’s shifting programming to online, adjusting in-person events to be socially distanced or pushing the conversation toward systemic racism.

MINNESOTA FRINGE VIRTUAL FESTIVAL In light of the Minnesota Fringe Festival not being able to take place in person this year, the organization is taking things virtual, with over a week of digital entertainment coming to your screen. The festival has two parts. First, there’s the Nightly Fringe, featuring live 30-minute shows broadcast from artists’ homes — showcasing the Bollywood sensibility of South Asian Arts and Theater House, the dry humor of Sam Landman and the swinging tunes of singer Leslie Vincent. There’s also the Digital Hub, which requires a $5 Fringe button.

That includes both pre-recorded shows and also live performances, like Maximum Verbosity’s “On the Concept of Irony (with No Reference to Socrates).” Hey, everything is a little different right now, but this is a chance to get a taste of the Fringe in a slightly different format, while also supporting the organization so it can come back next year better than ever.

When: Through Aug. 9 Platform: Various, see website Cost: Free and $5 for Fringe button Info: minnesotafringe.org

BLACK WOMEN’S VOICES PANEL DISCUSSION The day after George Floyd was killed, Stephanie Glaros, founder and executive director of Humans of Minneapolis, an online platform that features photographs and stories of people in Minneapolis, knew she needed to push toward racial justice.

After reaching out to local advocate Felicia Hamilton Clark, a new program was born. Called Black Women’s Voices, it’s a chance to take a deep dive into the pressing issues of the day, led by a panel of Black women.

When: 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12 Platform: Facebook Cost: Free Info: facebook.com/humansofmpls

RHYTHMICALLY SPEAKING, THE COHORT: FROM HOME!

Photo courtesy of BFRESH Productions

TELL ME YOUR NAMES AND I WILL TESTIFY

Rhythmically Speaking generally hosts their annual production featuring jazz and social dance forms at the Southern Theater each year. Because of the pandemic, that production has been postponed to May 2021, but you can see a sneak peek virtually through Zoom. The live online event features snippets of the works that will be shown next spring, in addition to live improvisations by Rhythmically Speaking dancers.

Writer Carolyn Holbrook’s new collection reckons with the celebrated author’s life circumstances, through trauma, joy, pain and joy. Holbrook’s granddaughters will read sections of the book, and then Holbrook will participate in a Q&A session with Pamela Fletcher Bush and Artika Tyner.

When:7-9:30 Friday, Aug. 14 Platform: Zoom Cost: $20-$24 Info: rhythmicallyspeakingdance.org

When: 4-5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12 Platform: Zoom Cost: Free Info: tinyurl.com/carolyn-holbrook

Getting out BAKKEN MUSEUM The Bakken Museum, on the west side of Bde Maka Ska, has, like many of our local museums, re-opened to the public, with COVID-era precautions in place. Visit the space to see its new renovations, which include a new entrance and lobby. The new space looks fantastic, seamlessly connecting the historic building with the natural landscape.

NEW WORLD NIGHT MARKET Legacy Arts Group aims to support business owners of color in collaboration with Modus Locus Gallery, Reverie Cafe + Bar and the Powderhorn Neighborhood Association. The New World Night Market’s setting in the mural-surrounded outdoor area at 35th & Bloomington is a place for building socially distant community.

When: 6-10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7 Where: Courtyard next to Modus Locus, 3500 Bloomington Ave.

Cost: Free Info: tinyurl.com/new-world-art

When: By appointment, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Tuesday-Sunday Where: 3537 Zenith Ave. S. Cost: $5 Info: thebakken.org

southwestjournal.com / August 6–19, 2020 B13

COVID CONFIDENTIAL

By Stewart Huntington

Classifieds LINE CLASSIFIEDS

CONCRETE, ASPHALT

BUSINESS SERVICES RENTAL PROPERTIES WANTED

CONCRETE & BRICK PAVING INC.

Time to sell? Cash buyer; no commissions.

Concrete, Brick Pavers, Stone, Masonry, Foundations & More Commercial & Residential

Call Lucas. 612-741-5112

DO YOU HAVE A MOBILE BUSINESS CARD?

Driveways, Walks, Patios, Slabs, Foundations & more!

Gary 651-423-6666

Adin Bailey Adin_bly@yahoo.com

CBConcreteAndMasonry.com

A. Pietig Concrete SWJ 031920 1cx1.5.indd 1/27/201 2:51 PM

Custom Brick & Stone

PAINTER JIM

“Repair Masters”

Chimneys • Steps • Walkways Pavers • Fireplaces • Retaining Walls

Small painting jobs wanted. Jim 612-202-5514

Lifetime No Crack Guarantee

CB Concrete and Masonry SWJ 062719 2cx2.indd 2

www.twincitiesmasonry.com

CONCRETE WORK

Owner Operated • Bonded & Insured

612.702.9210

Steps, sidewalks, patios, driveways, etc. Licensed,

Friendly Professional Service

bonded, insured. Call Tom Seemon 612-721-2530.

Would you like to have more beauty in your yard?

HIGH QUALITY CONCRETE SOLUTIONS

ADS 612.825.9205 SWJ 031920 1cx1.indd 3/16/20 1 2:47 PM 651-583-4713 apietigconcrete.comAll Done Contracting

https://beyond2020.thebumpcard.me/

GARDENING

CB Concrete and Masonry LLC

Steps, Sidewalk, Slabs, Excavation, Foundation, Demolition, Bobcat, Dumptruck, Wet Basement

952.835.0393

If No. Check out the link below.

HOME SERVICES

Concrete & Masonry New or Repair

A.PIETIG

TO PLACE YOUR AD CALL 612.825.9205

Classifieds

Twin Cities Masonry SWJ 040617 2cx1.5.indd 1

6/24/19 9:42 AM

4/1/19 5:28 PM

We will restore or expand your existing gardens.

CONCRETE WORKS

Experienced gardeners. www.beautifulgardens.biz.

Call Linda 612-598-3949

YARD LADY / GARDENER Clean up, planting, seeding, weeding, raking with care.

Barb at 612-819-3934.

BEAUTIFUL LAWN MOWING ALL SUMMER LONG Premier Lawn and Snow. Over 30 years experience.

Call Dennis at (952) 545-8055.

612-861-HAGE HageConcrete.com

Local people.

Local references.

Tell them you saw their ad here!

CALL 612.825.9205 TO PLACE 1/9/19 AN AD IN SOUTHWEST JOURNAL

Hage Concrete SWJ 032119 2cx3.indd 1

SWJ 080620 Classifieds.indd 1

10:02 AM

8/4/20 11:31 AM Contractors SWJ 2016 2cx2.5 concrete filler.indd 1

1/10/17 3:23 PM

B14 August 6–19, 2020 / southwestjournal.com

We know homes!

Bungalows, Colonial, Craftsman, Mid-Century, Ramblers, Modern and more.

612-781-3333 • 2536 Marshall Street NE, Minneapolis Monday–Friday 8am–6pm, Saturday 8am–4pm Siwek Lumber SWJ 110118 6cx2.indd 1

10/22/18 12:47 PM

EXTERIORS

TO PLACE YOUR AD CALL 612.825.9205

ROTTEN WOOD?

Serving the community for over 30 years Top quality at competitive prices FREE ESTIMATES Committed to customer service

Advertise

EVER.

Licensed Bonded Insured • Lic. RR 155317

E X P A N D

Pates Roofing SWJ 072717 2cx1.indd 1

your business

Window sills, casings & trim replaced, storm windows

YOUR LAST ROOF.

651-690-3956

with us to

HYDE AND HARMSEN

BUILDING THE FUTURE RESTORING THE PAST

7/21/17 1:11 PM

Foley exteriors

STUCCO

Andy 651-698-3156

SINCE 1983

612.709.4980

WWW.SMITHCOLE.COM

quarve.com (763) 785-1472 •

Mn Bc 006016

Classifieds

Smith Cole SWJ 031920 1cx2.indd 1 3/10/20 Quarve 9:57 PM Contracting SWJ 020917 1cx2.indd 2/6/172 2:32 PM

harmsenoberg.com

Free Estimates 612-331-6510 www.FoleyExteriors.com •

•

Mike Mohs Construction

MN License expand pattern1 1cx2.5.indd 1 BC005456 11/15/17 3:43 PM Foley Exteriors SWJ 041513 2cx1.5.indd 2 •

• Chimney 4/8/13 Repair

Honesty & Integrity for Over 50 Years Since 1963 Call Owner Scott Mohs

ROOFING – All Types

• Chimney Rebuilds

GUTTERS

• Tuckpointing

FLAT ROOFING

• Brick Replacement

– Rubber or Tin

M A S ON RY

WINDOWS & SKYLIGHTS

612-701-2209 • mikemohsconstruction.com 40 YEARS Mike Mohs FOR Construction SWJ 050516 2cx2.indd 1

*On Settergren’s Referral4/27/16 List*

Local people.

Local references.

• Masonry Restoration

Licensed and Insured

DECKS & PORCHES

4:36 PM

Tell them you saw their ad here!

FREE ESTIMATES • 320-591-0727 3:26 PM

Contractors SWJ 2020 2cx2.5 exteriors filler.indd 1 FLOORING Your Local Contractor For Over 40 Years!

7/24/20 1:44 PM

2/3/20 7:13 PM

MN # 5276 Grand Designs Masonry SWJ 080620 2cx2.indd 1

Southwest Resident for Over 40 Years INSULATE AND SAVE!

RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL — INSURANCE CLAIMS WELCOME! — SERVING THE TWIN CITIES SINCE 1972

Minneapolis, MN

Roofing • Siding • Gutters • Insulation Licensed • Bonded • Insured

Locally Owned • MN LIC# BC760140 • A+ Rating from BBB

LANDSCAPING

PLACE 1/20/20 10:33 Midwest AMExteriors SWJ 040220TO 2cx3.indd 1

Topside Inc SWJ 012320 2cx3.indd 1

Get beautiful

LAWN MOWING all summer long

Local services.

Local references.

Local expertise.

“We don’t cut corners – we scrape them!”

LAWN & SNOW

952-545-8055

FREE ESTIMATES!

Premier Lawn & Snow SWJ 041620 1cx1.indd 4/14/20 Tool 4:36 2 Icons PM - Spring SWJ 2013 1cx1 filler_#2.indd 3/29/13 10:30 1 AM

TREE TRIMMING • REMOVAL STUMP GRINDING Matthew Molinaro licensed and insured

612-239-2508

N TREEInc.

Trained & Courteous Staff Questions about Emerald Ash Borer?

We can help!

George & Lynn Welles

7/22/11 5:22 PM

Sanding • Refinishing • Repair Install • Recoat • FREE Estimates www.earlsfloorsanding.com

612.290.1533

MAINTENANCE

Earls Floor Sanding SWJ 012518 2cx2.indd 2

12:08 PM

1/18/18 8:45 AM

• Painting • Plaster repair • Ceramic tile • Light remodeling • All around repairs

CONSULTATION • DESIGN • PROJECT MANAGEMENT Molinaro Tree SWJ 2cx1.5.indd 1

10-time Angie’s List Super Service Award Winner

612-789-9255 northeasttree.net

CALL 612.825.9205 TO PLACE1/7/19 AN AD IN SOUTHWEST JOURNAL

Northeast Tree SWJ 011019 2x2.indd 1 MN-4551 A

2:07 PM

Pest & Disease Management

Certified Arborists (#MN-0354A & #MN-4089A)

Minneapolis resident • Owner / operator Certified Arborist with 21 years experience

www.molinarotree.com

YOUR AD CALL 612.825.9205 3/25/20

Expert High Risk & Crane Removals

ortheast

premierlawnandsnow.com

www.harlanfloors.com • 612-251-4290

Harlan Hardwood SWJ NR2 2cx2.indd 1

Climbing & Bucket Pruning /Removals

PREMIER Call Dennis today!

Lifetime Warranty

612-343-3301 · www.midwestplus.com

A RATING

Phone: 612-869-1177

TM & © 2012 MGM.

CALL US TODAY!

YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD COMPANY Rob.olson@topsideinc.net Topsideinc.net

• Installation • Restoration • Repairs • Buff & Coat

7/12/18 1:35 PM

as seen on

HGTV’s Curb Appeal

Place your Ad

HERE!

612.562.8746 • triolandscaping.com SWJ 080620 Classifieds.indd 2 Trio Landscaping SWJ 040220 2cx2.indd 1

612-825-9205

8327 Little Circle Bloomington

612.267.3285

8/4/201cx3.indd 11:32 AM16:00 PM That Handy Guy Greg SWJ 112819 11/19/19 3/24/20 11:37 AM

Our Readers - Your Ad Here SWJ 20168/17/16 1cx 1 filler.indd 2:43 PM 6

southwestjournal.com / August 6–19, 2020 B15

MAINTENANCE

Byron Electric

PAINTING

Residential & Commercial

612-750-5724

Our specialty is your existing home!® 12/19/19

Houle Insulation Inc.

CALL TODAY FOR A FREE ESTIMATE ON ATTIC INSULATION • BYPASS SEALING SIDEWALL INSULATION

(612) 827-6140 or (651) 699-6140 10:16 AM

PAINTINGBYJERRYWIND.COM

MISCELLANEOUS

Int./Ext. • Paint • Homes Condos • Enamel • Stain Cabinets • Decks • Fences

ADS 612.825.9205

grecopainting.com BBB A+ rating

612-227-1844

8/8/19 FiveStarPainting 4:29 PM SWJ 012419 1cx1.5.indd 4/5/19 1 3:43 PM

PLUMBING, HVAC

Greco Painting SWJ 052820 1cx2.indd 5/26/20 1 12:28 AM

Interior & Exterior Painting • Insurance Claims Wood Finishing • Exterior Wood Restoration Water Damage Repair • Patching • Enameling

Serving the Twin Cities since 1977

612.360.2019

FIVESTARPAINTING.com

Free Estimates

763-767-8412

In the lakes area since 1970

LINDEN HILLS PAINTING

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

Painting by Jerry Wind SWJ 082219 2cx1.5.indd 1

www.houleinsulation.com

Houle Insulation SWJ 010107 2cx2.indd 1

EXTERIOR • INTERIOR

• Interior/Exterior Painting • Wallpaper Stripping/Wall Repair • Wood Stripping, Refinishing & Cabinets • Plaster, Sheetrock, Texture Repair & Skim Coating • Ceiling Texturing & Texture Removal

FREE ESTIMATES

Byron Electric SWJ 010920 2cx1.indd 1

TO PLACE YOUR AD CALL 612.825.9205

Lic. #61664PM

P r o M as t er P lum bing When in Disaster Think Pro Master!

612-804-3078

Licensed Bonded Insured Over 29 Years experience

5/17/16 2:37 PM

Call Jim!

promasterplumbing.com

Place your Ad

HERE!

612-825-9205

Insured | References

Family Owned for Over 60 Years

Pro Master Plumbing SWJ 030520 1cx1.indd 2/28/20 1Our 2:21Readers PM - Your Ad Here SWJ 20168/17/16 1cx 1 filler.indd 2:40 PM 4 612.888.8207

MCQBROS.COM

WHOLE HOME CLIMATE CONTROL

greg@chileen.com

612-850-0325 REMODELING

FREE SECOND OPINION ESTIMATE MATCH CALL 612.888.8207 TODAY!

TO PLACE YOUR AD CALL 612.825.9205 4/21/20 10:36 AM

Chileen Painting SWJ 051916 2cx4.indd 1

5/13/16 11:37 McQuillan AM Brothers SWJ 043020 2cx2.indd 1

MN Builder’s License BC583780

EPA License #NAT-86951-2

“timeless design, seamless remodeling”

612.332.8000

bruce@knutson-architects.com

ADDITIONS NEW CONSTRUCTION REMODEL Kitchen | Bathroom | Interior Remodeling

Custom Design, Custom Remodel 8/31/10 1:41 PM

Bruce Knutson Architects SWJ 090610 2cx1.indd 1

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

Remodel • Design • Build

612-924-9315

Attention to details, extraordinary design and service for your additions, kitchens, & bathrooms.

Let us show you the way to something wonderful!

License #: BC627160J3 Renovations and Design SWJ 080620 2cx1.5.indd 1

(651) 248-0252

Lic: BC637388 Bluejack Builders SWJ 040419 2cx1.indd 1

MN License #BC451256

we ca what ’s e r e H

you:

1/31/14 10:44 AM

Design/Construction

4/1/19 11:56 AM

Your Sign of Satisfaction

Specializing in Reproduction Kitchens & Baths

952-512-0110

www.roelofsremodeling.com

No project is too small for good design

                 

inspiredspacesmn.com 612.360.4180

Roelofs Remodeling SWJ 073015 2cx2.indd 2

EK Johnson Construction

Inspired Spaces SWJ 022714 2cx2.indd 1

 ALL YOUR REMODELING PROJECTS!

you dream it

612-861-0188  www.SylvestreMN.com  #BC001428

KEEP SOUTHWEST BEAUTIFUL.

reuse or recycle

7/28/15 3:01 PM

2/17/14 3:02 PM

we build it

Living and Working in Southwest Minneapolis

Sylvestre SWJ 031920 2x3.indd 1

8/3/20 9:44 AM

bluejackbuilders.com

www.fusionhomeimprovement.com

or Fusion Home Improvement SWJ 021314 2cx3.indd n do f1

Call today for your FREE consultation

Create • Collaborate Communicate 612-655-4961 hansonremodeling.com Lic #BC633225

Call Ethan Johnson, Owner

612-669-3486

ekjohnsonconstruction.comHanson Building SWJ 061418 2cx2.indd

1

6/1/18 1:05 PM

3/17/20 4:45 PM EK Johnson Construction SWJ 060216 2cx2.indd 1

5/31/16 4:49 PM

the bag that came with your paper.

612.821.1100 or 651.690.3442 www.houseliftinc.com

FIND A RECYCLING DROP-OFF SITE AT

plasticfilmrecycling.org

TO PLACE AN AD IN THE SOUTHWEST JOURNAL CALL 612.825.9205

Thoughts or questions? Contact us at info@swjournal.com

License #BC378021

SWJ 080620 Classifieds.indd 3 Recycling filler SWJ 2018 2cx2.75.indd 1

8/4/20 11:31 AM 8/4/20 11:01 AM

House Lift SWJ 041612 2cx3.indd 1

4/5/12 3:00 PM

Quality

CONSTRUCTION, CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

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

612.821.1100 or 651.690.3442 www.houseliftinc.com House Lift Remodeler | 4330 Nicollet Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55409 | License # BC 378021 House Lift Remodeler SWJ 040419 FP.indd 1

3/22/19 3:32 PM