Southwest Journal, Dec. 28, 2017–Jan. 20, 2018

Get Out Guide.

Best new restaurants of 2017

PAGE B6

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Dec. 28, 2017–Jan. 10, 2018 Vol. 28, No. 26 southwestjournal.com

County attorney’s comments raise questions about Damond investigation Justine Damond’s father says he is ‘deeply concerned’ about the BCA investigation into her death this summer

By Dylan Thomas / dthomas@southwestjournal.com

The father of Justine Damond said Dec. 21 he is “deeply concerned” about the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s investigation into her death this summer.

John Ruszczyk spoke publicly at home in Australia one week after the release of a video showing Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman criticizing BCA investigators.

Confronted by activists who wanted to know why he hadn’t

yet charged the Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Damond in July, the Freeman said BCA investigators “haven’t done their job” and that he was still lacking critical evidence.

Freeman later apologized for remarks he described as “illadvised,” but the attorney representing Damond’s family, Bob Bennett, noted that Freeman did not walk back his complaints

Met Council extends bidding for SWLRT construction Latest move will add to delays, pushing opening into 2023

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman was videotaped making comments critical of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s investigation. He later apologized. File photo

SEE DAMOND / PAGE A2

Shrinking the school year District officials recommend ending the year early in response to feedback

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@southwestjournal.com

By Dylan Thomas / dthomas@southwestjournal.com

Metropolitan Council Chair Alene Tchourumoff announced a four-month extension to the deadline for Southwest Light Rail Transit civil construction bids in mid-December, the latest in a series of delays for the nearly $1.9 billion project.

The deadline for construction bids was extended to May 3 from Jan. 9, pushing the line’s projected opening date into 2023 from 2022. The extension was made to accommodate several recent developments, including the Federal Transit Administration’s determination that a mile-long crash wall added to the project this summer will require environmental review.

Met Council is now planning to conduct not

one but two parallel studies of the crash wall’s potential environmental impact.

The FTA is requiring a supplemental environmental assessment, and Met Council also plans to complete an Tchourumoff environmental assessment worksheet, a similar type of review that is governed by state instead of federal environmental law.

A few days before Tchourumoff ’s SEE SWLRT BIDDING / PAGE A19

Minneapolis Public Schools may end classes two days earlier than scheduled this spring.

District leaders have proposed a last day of Friday, June 8 for the 2017–2018 school year, eliminating June 11 and June 12 as school days. The change requires School Board approval.

Superintendent Ed Graff said he heard consistently from parents who favored eliminating the final two days.

He said the district would work to ensure kids don’t lose out academically because of a shorter school year.

The district will also look for alternatives for families who rely on the district

for meals and child care, he said.

Graff and his team based the change partially on their experience last year. A spate of hot days last June had a negative impact on learning conditions in district buildings without air conditioning, he said. The district also saw an increase in student and staff absences as school went later into the month.

“Board members and I got a lot of feedback last year that those June dates were really challenging,” he said at a recent School Board meeting.

Community members were in favor of the proposed change in a recent SEE SCHOOL CALENDAR / PAGE A13

A2 December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 / southwestjournal.com FROM DAMOND / PAGE A1

about the thoroughness of the investigation.

“At least he was forthright about the failures of the BCA to do an adequate investigation in the first place, which doesn’t surprise me,” Bennett said. “I’ve looked at a lot of BCA investigations and found them, at least in officer-involved shootings, to be inadequate and really starting at the wrong point.”

Bennett said there was a “double-standard” applied to shootings involving officers, and that in those cases the BCA conducted something that was less an investigation “than a verification of the shooting.” He said the statements given by officers in those cases are “taken at face value” by the BCA and not challenged.

“I believe that the facts are going to show the very serious criticisms and complaints made by our county attorney about the BCA are going to be found to be true,” Bennett said.

Waiting for evidence Damond, also known as Justine Ruszczyk, was a 40-year-old Australian native who lived in the Fulton neighborhood. She called police July 15 to report a possible assault and was shot by one of the responding officers in the alley behind her home at 51st & Washburn.

Responding to the call were officers Mohamed Noor and Matthew Harrity. According to investigators, Noor apparently fired his weapon through the squad car window after being surprised by a loud sound.

Neither officer’s body camera was active during the incident. Both Noor and Harrity were placed on administrative leave following the shooting, as is standard practice in the department.

“I’ve got to have the evidence, and I don’t have it yet,” Freeman told a group of activists who confronted him at a Dec. 13 holiday party for public employees. A recording of the exchange was posted on the Facebook page of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, a group formed after Jamar Clark was shot and

killed in a November 2015 encounter with Minneapolis police.

“If it isn’t my fault, who didn’t do their job?

The investigators,” Freeman continued. “They don’t work for me. They haven’t done their job.”

After the video was released, Freeman said was “wrong to discuss both the agency’s work and what discussions we are having internally at the county attorney’s office.” He said he apologized personally to Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mona Dohman.

Damond’s supporters, including friends and neighbors, plan to rally once a decision on whether to charge Officer Mohamed Noor is made. File photo

BCA responds Asked to respond, the BCA provided the following statement: “The BCA investigates the majority of officer involved shooting incidents in Minnesota because of our thorough and professional approach to ensuring the integrity of an investigation.

“BCA agents and scientists do extensive work to gather all the facts and evidence in order to conduct comprehensive investigations that are then presented to county attorneys for review of possible charges.

“The BCA has consulted with the Hennepin County Attorney’s office from the beginning of this investigation and will continue to work with that office as needed to provide any additional information that they deem appropriate as they review the case.”

Gov. Mark Dayton defended the agency in a statement provided to the media.

“The BCA is asked to investigate some of the toughest, most complex cases involving officerinvolved shootings,” Dayton said. “I have the utmost confidence in their professionalism, integrity, and thoroughness. Impugning the quality of their investigations is destructive, and detrimental in our efforts to seek and obtain justice.”

In the video — which was first reported on by Minnesota Public Radio— Freeman notes that Noor has refused an interview.

“But he won’t answer my questions, and he doesn’t have to, OK? We all have Fifth Amendment rights, and I respect that,” he said. “So, I

can’t talk to her because she’s gone, and the other cop just gave us s---. OK? So, guess what, I’ve got to figure out angles of the shot, gun residues, reckless use of force experts.”

The conversation becomes garbled as Freeman and the activists talk over each other, but the county attorney later adds: “If you look at this, here’s a nice lady who hears something bad outside. She calls the cops, they don’t come, she calls again. They drive by in her alley. They don’t stop to talk with her, and she comes out in her jammies and she’s killed by a cop.

“It sounds easy, doesn’t it? But it’s not just can I prove that the cop shot her. I could’ve done that the first day.”

‘We will wait patiently’ John Ruszczyk said he spoke with the BCA shortly after his daughter’s death and was assured “they would give the county attorney all the necessary information to make a reasoned decision on whether or not to charge Justine’s shooter with a crime.”

“They looked me in the eye and said they were committed to getting to the truth of the event,” he continued. “Now I hear that the

Hennepin County attorney, to whom the BCA handed its investigative results, says that the investigation has not been done to the prosecutor’s satisfaction or even to the expected levels of accuracy and thoroughness.”

Ruszczyk said family members are now concerned that the BCA investigation “was not done properly and with the greatest integrity or sense of completeness.”

“We are apprehensive that perhaps the BCA has not fulfilled its promise,” he said.

Freeman said he planned to make a statement about the status of the investigation in the final week of December, after this edition went to press. He had previously said he would make a decision on whether or not to charge Noor by the end of the year.

Bennett said the family “wants the right things done” and is not concerned about meeting a deadline.

Ruszczyk said he wanted the county attorney’s office to conduct a “rigorous investigation” and fill in any gaps in the BCA’s work.

“We will wait patiently while this occurs, but insist that this investigation be done and done right,” he said.

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southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 A3

By Michelle Bruch / mbruch@southwestjournal.com

A peek inside Emuble Furnishing at 2756 Hennepin Ave. S. Photo by Michelle Bruch

28TH & HENNEPIN

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Emuble Furnishing The corner of 28th & Hennepin is filled to the brim with retro furnishings, vintage bikes, mid-century modern pieces and new sofas.

Emuble Furnishing co-owner Mike Kranz spent the past three years buying merchandise in anticipation of the Uptown store, focusing on pieces like vintage bikes.

“I have probably over 100 of them already,” he said.

The shop formerly home to the Nadeau furniture store now holds vintage cameras, musical instruments, new and old rugs, kitchen items, fine art, posters, T-shirts designed in-house and other pieces chosen for their funky appeal.

“We’re pretty much going to cover everything,” said Kranz, a CARAG neighborhood resident who is opening the store with co-owner Jose Rivera.

Kranz previously owned the three-level Midtown Antique Mall in Stillwater, which holds hundreds of thousands of pieces. He started antique dealing at age 10. A local store sold his goods on consignment, and his parents allowed him to convert their Bayport garage into an antique shop.

Kranz said he’s worked to build a reputation for ethical transactions. If he finds original artwork worth thousands of dollars, for example, he’ll disclose the value and pay a fair price, he said.

Kranz has watched a generational shift in vintage buying, which is now gravitating to mid-century modern pieces.

“Most people will buy what they remember,” he said.

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CITYWIDE

Fundraiser benefits ‘sandwich man’ nonprofit The man who hands out sandwiches to the homeless each night is a bit surprised by a GoFundMe campaign that’s raised more than $50,000 to help him fund warehouse space.

Allan Law said he’s not familiar with the crowdfunding platform; he uses a flip phone, and a friend handles his email. The fundraiser was volunteer Teri Bennett’s idea.

“What’s the big surprise about this is I’ve been doing this for 50 years and I’ve never — not one time — ever asked someone to write a check,” he said. “… I truly believe that God provides what I need. What more would you want than 17 freezers in your apartment?”

Aside from his Edina apartment, Law rents storage at several facilities. He said community groups are constantly feeding him donations. One-hundred forty coats just arrived from Delano, and hundreds more are coming soon from Hudson and River Falls. Southwest High School students recently made 2,000 sandwiches, he said, and Brave New Workshop holds a monthly sandwich-making event.

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“It’s not me, it’s the people that are so wonderful to donate these things, to make the sandwiches,” he said.

Law, a retired teacher, sleeps only a few hours behind the steering wheel each night in order to deliver sandwiches between about 9 p.m. and 10 a.m., targeting times when people on the street are most vulnerable. His two vacation days are Thanksgiving and Christmas. He’s twice been diagnosed with cancer, and he continued distributing sandwiches at night while undergoing radiation during the day.

Law initially distributed stores’ unsold bakery goods and sandwiches. His efforts grew to encompass donations from schools, companies, churches and community groups, and he handed out 800,000 sandwiches last year, along with warm clothing, blankets and other items.

“This is beyond dedication, this is my life.

This is it,” he said.

For more information, visit gofundme. com/alan-law-needs-a-warehouse.

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54TH & PENN

Book Club Restaurateurs Kim Bartmann and Asher Miller sent a survey to Café Maude’s customer base before opening Book Club in its place, and 1,800 people responded.

“People were very interested in what this was to become,” Miller said.

In response to all those requests, Book Club welcomes kids, retains the happy hour scene, updates the menu regularly and offers weekend brunch.

The California-leaning menu is inspired

by Helen Evans Brown’s “West Coast Cookbook,” published in 1952 (hence the name Book Club).

“I read through the cookbook a bunch of times and found some golden nuggets,” Miller said.

A sidebar on one page became the inspiration for Oysters Mali, made with spinach-tarragon pistou, garlic and buttered bread crumbs.

The whole fried driftless trout is served with lettuce cups, brown jasmine rice and lemongrass pickles, and diners can sauce it

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Book Club overhauled Café Maude’s kitchen and dining room to create a bright and airy aesthetic at 5411 Penn Ave. S. Photo by Michelle Bruch

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themselves with nuoc cham.

“It’s a very hands-on eating experience,” Miller said.

The restaurant serves a custom B & W Specialty Coffee blend, along with beer, wine, kombucha, switchel and cocktails, some adapted from Maude’s list.

In renovating the restaurant, staff aimed for a bright and cheery space with bold wallpaper and framed cookbooks. The bar is made from reclaimed Minneapolis wood provided by Wood From The Hood. One end of the bar is reserved for customers to sip drinks as they wait for takeout orders.

A 3 percent surcharge helps cover the cost of health insurance for staff.

Members of a book club met at the restaurant on a recent weekday and highly recommended “The Shadow of the Wind”

by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

“This is a neighborhood restaurant first,” Miller said. “That’s our customer base.

Everything we need to do to make our neighbors happy, that’s what we do here.”

NOTED: Catalyst Mental Health will open the doors of its new facility Jan. 2 at 1915 Lyndale Ave. S. Previously located at 2124 Dupont Ave. S., Catalyst has operated since 2011, specializing in clients with complicated conditions that don’t fit a single diagnosis. Therapists serve

people living with anxiety, depression, chemical dependency and autism, among other issues.

Catalyst’s purchase of the long-vacant building near Lyndale & Franklin allows the practice to double in size.

NOTED: The Dulono’s Pizza site at 607 W. Lake St. is seeing interest from multiple developers, according to Jamie Heilicher of Advance Realty.

Heilicher said developers are suggesting

apartment buildings up to five stories in height.

If a development concept doesn’t move forward, Heilicher said he will work toward leasing the space in the spring.

southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 A5

The owners of La Crosse-based Deaf Ear Records are opening a local store selling vinyl and horror films. Submitted photo

-MINNEAPOLIS-

38TH & CEDAR

Grimm Bebop Two residents of the Wedge neighborhood are opening a store devoted to music, monsters and “a touch of mystique” at 1832 E. 38th St. The owners plan to stock vinyl, CDs, highend art pieces, magic (as in Magic the Gathering cards, incense spells and cauldrons), collectible toys and artisan glass pipes. They’re unearthing a collection of Hitchcock titles, over-the-top horror movies and classic Dracula films starring Christopher Lee. “My husband and I are huge fans of old kitschy horror,” said co-owner Ginger Rogers Mills.

Ginger and Jason Mills also own Deaf Ear Records in La Crosse, Wisconsin. They recently relocated to Minneapolis.

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for five years,” Rogers Mills said. “We’re excited to be in the community.”

She said they originally wanted to open the shop in Uptown but reconsidered after learning their potential landlord, Julius DeRoma, donated to the 2016 Senate campaign for David Duke, a white nationalist and former KKK leader.

“That’s definitely not in line with our values for our business,” she said. “… We consider ourselves a feminist organization and that’s a big part of the identity of the store.”

Customers can sell used vinyl to the shop and preorder new vinyl and CDs with no additional fee. A loyalty program will offer permanent discounts to “mini-investors” in the store.

Grimm Bebop is slated to open Feb. 2.

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50TH & WASHBURN

Michelangelo’s expansion Michelangelo’s is in the midst of a major renovation, but that’s not stopping regular customers from dining in.

The restaurant remains open for business during construction, which involves expanding out to the corner in the former Banners To Go space. The menu will grow to include frozen yogurt with self-serve toppings along with pizza by the slice, hot dogs, pasta dishes and burgers.

One new idea is kid-friendly bleachers, dubbed the “cheap seats,” featuring discounted pizza and pop and a view of the television.

“It will still be a family-friendly environment,” said owner Marty Davis, adding that it’s common to see students hanging out and athletic teams filling the restaurant. “… The place is almost flooded with kids.”

Davis grew up in Linden Hills and worked at the restaurant in high school. He’s owned the venue since 2004.

“I may change the name,” he said. “Nobody wants me to, but we want a fresh start.”

A longtime BYOB establishment, the restaurant is now seeking a beer and wine license.

The restaurant will likely shut down during the final weeks of construction, and renovations are estimated to be complete in the spring.

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A6 December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 / southwestjournal.com

By Dylan Thomas / dthomas@southwestjournal.com

Police shoot a man in custody inside City Hall

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The officers who shot a man under interrogation Dec. 18 at City Hall included a 20-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department and an officer at the department for one year.

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) identified officers involved in the incident as Sgt. Gene Suker, a 20-year member of the department; Officer Jerome Carey, with the department one year; and Officer David Martinson, an eight-year member.

Just before the shooting, investigators were interviewing Minneapolis resident Marcus Fischer, 18, about his alleged role in a Dec. 13 shooting. Fischer admitted to assisting in the robbery of a handgun in Northeast Minneapolis but denied shooting the victim, according to a criminal complaint.

According to the BCA, investigators stepped outside the room to fetch a bottle of water for Fischer and then Fischer pulled out a large folding knife concealed in his waistband and started severely injuring himself.

An investigator returned to the room and shouted for help.

“For several minutes, several officers then attempted to convince Fischer to drop his knife and stop hurting himself,” the BCA reported. “When Fischer ignored their commands, Officer Martinson deployed his Taser but it was ineffective. Mr. Fischer continued to ignore officer commands and walked toward the officers with the knife, at which time Sergeant Suker and Officer Carey fired their handguns, striking Mr. Fischer.”

The officers were not injured.

Fischer remained hospitalized and under police guard, according to a criminal complaint.

The BCA is investigating the shooting and will turn its findings over to a county attorney for review. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has requested that the Washington County Attorney review the case, citing a conflict of interest.

Officers involved in the incident are on standard administrative leave.

Fischer faces charges in the alleged handgun robbery and shooting, include first-degree assault, first-degree aggravated

robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm.

The third charge is due to a 2015 robbery offense as a juvenile that prohibits him from owning a gun or ammunition.

According to the complaint in that case: Witnesses called 911 from a gas station Dec. 13 to seek help for a man with a gunshot wound to the chest. The witnesses said they arranged to sell a handgun to Fischer near the 1400 block of 5th Street Northeast.

Fischer allegedly took the handgun, said something to the effect of “It’s mine now” and shot the victim in the chest with another gun. Officers obtained cell phone data that linked Fischer to the transaction and found the stolen handgun in his Minneapolis bedroom, as well as ammunition similar to the kind that injured the victim, according to the complaint.

The victim survived but remains hospitalized. The projectile grazed his heart.

Fischer told investigators he helped facilitate the meeting and took part in the robbery but said someone else shot the victim, according to the complaint.

Lt. Bob Kroll, president of the Minneapolis Police Officers Federation, said the “gruesome” scene at City Hall was clearly depicted in video and audio of the incident. He said officers used de-escalation tactics until the situation became life-threatening for Fischer, who cut his neck.

“Instead of taking a life, they ended up saving his life,” said Kroll, who commended the officers. “He did not want to go to jail, and he wanted to die.”

Some community members were critical of the officer’s actions, including activist Nekima Levy-Pounds.

“It defies logic that police would think that shooting a man multiple times would be a good way to stop him from killing himself,” she said in a Facebook post. “It is clear that better training, tools, and techniques are necessary in these cases.”

— Michelle Bruch

Minimum wage ordinance takes effect Jan. 1 The minimum wage for Minneapolis-based businesses with at least 100 employees rises to $10 Jan. 1 as the municipal minimum wage ordinance passed by the City Council in June takes effect.

The ordinance gradually raises the minimum wage until it reaches $15 for large businesses in 2022. Small businesses with fewer than 100 employees progress on a slightly slower path, starting with a hike to $10.25 on July 1 and reaching $15 in 2024.

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit challenging the ordinance in

November. The lawsuit claims the ordinance conflicts with state wage laws and that it will harm businesses.

In December, Hennepin County District Court Judge Susan Burke denied the Chamber’s request for an injunction that would have stopped enforcement of the ordinance.

The lawsuit is ongoing.

Go to minimumwage.minneapolismn.gov to learn more about the ordinance. The page includes resources for both employers and workers.

southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 A7

Transit union ratifies contract

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The Metropolitan Council and the union representing employees of its transit service reached agreement on a new three-year contract Dec. 18, averting the possibility of a Super Bowl strike.

The roughly 2,500 members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005 voted 82–18 to ratify the contract, which Met Council officials had described as their “last, best and final” offer after months of mediation.

Local 1005 represents Metro Transit bus and light rail operators, technicians and office staff.

The contract includes a 2.5 percent wage increase in each of the three years. Met Council also agreed to test new driver safety barriers in buses.

Union members voted overwhelmingly in November to reject a previous offer from Met Council and at the same time authorized a

A new contract meant plans for a Super Bowl strike were cancelled by local transit workers. File photo

strike that was set to begin around the start of Super Bowl LII festivities in Minneapolis.

The union’s last contract expired at the end of July. The new contract will be retroactive to Aug. 1.

“They voted down our last proposal in November, and we really took that seriously,” said Met Council Communications Director Kate Brickman. “We brought that back to our side and we said we really need to be responsive to what they’re saying.”

Brickman said the agreement makes Local 1005 the only Met Council bargaining unit with a three-year contract. Other contracts are all for two-year periods, Brickman said.

Bus driver safety was a key issue for the union, and drivers who had experienced assaults were pushing the union to add new safety barriers. The pilot project would begin with the installation of the barriers on 21 busses, according to a summary of the contract offer provided by Met Council.

Brickman said the plan was to use a clear plastic barrier product already available on the market.

The plan calls for the formation of a committee to evaluate the pilot. It would include bus operators, technicians, transit police and Metro Transit managers.

The new contract also includes an increase to transit vehicle technicians’ annual tool allowance.

Local 1005 President Mark Lawson had previously explained that both the union and Metro Transit agreed it was time to bring the technicians’ required tool list up to date — mainly to keep pace with changing technology — but the union asked for an increase in the allowance to offset a jump in out-of-pocket expenses for techs. Met Council’s contract offer included a $1,500 one-time payment for one particular class of technicians facing the highest costs.

The contract also included a change in the minimum amount of sick leave full-time union employees can take. They are currently required to take sick leave in at least fourhour increments, but the new contract would allow full-time union employees to take sick leave in two-hour increments.

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Franken to resign Jan. 2 Even as some supporters urged him to reconsider, Sen. Al Franken announced Dec. 20 he would resign from office two weeks later on Jan. 2.

Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, who Gov. Mark Dayton chose to serve the rest of Franken’s term, will be sworn into office Jan. 3, according to a Franken spokesperson. Smith has said she plans to run for the seat in a November special election.

After multiple women came forward with allegations of unwanted sexual contact by Franken, Minnesota’s junior senator said on Dec. 7 he would resign “in the coming weeks.” Franken had previously said he

was open to an investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee but changed course after more than two dozen of his Democratic colleagues called on him to step down.

Smith’s role as lieutenant governor will be taken by state Sen. Michelle Fischbach (R–Paynesville). As outlined in the state constitution, the president of the Minnesota Senate — Fischbach — fills a vacancy in the lieutenant governor’s office.

Fischbach’s plan to serve in both offices simultaneously has been challenged by state DFLers. Should Dayton, a DFLer, be unable to complete his final year in office, Republican Fischbach would take his place.

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A8 December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 / southwestjournal.com

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Gonna be LIT

I

literally grew up under the glow of the Grain Belt Beer sign, attending as I did DeLaSalle High School and all those ’70s Nicollet Island basketball games, dances, kegs and other nighttime activities, therefore — ahem — I know a little something about the romance and magic that the sight of a single huge colorful neon sign reflecting off the Mississippi River can bring to the soul of the city.

It’s been dark since 1996, but through the miracle of technology the big beer cap in the sky is about to rise again, and I for one can’t hardly wait to see the old warhorse RELIT this Saturday at sundown (5:30 p.m. Dec. 30, with pre-lighting festivities at Wilde Café & Spirits starting at 3 p.m. and a post-lighting party at Nicollet Island Inn).

“Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness,” goes the old optimist adage, and in this, the darkest days of the year in these new dark ages, it says here that the lighting of the Grain Belt sign is a good thing symbolically, poetically, karmically, and if all goes well, after Saturday people all over the world will know once and for all that there is a place called Minneapolis where the citizens worship a giant neon beer sign and revere it as a shrine and sacred sign of life, so much so that after decades in darkness the believers figured out a way to once again beam out their message of simple joy and prairie-brewed suds to the rest of the planet. Hallelujah!

“Euphoria was in the air when the sign was relit in 1989 … the relighting was accompanied by honks across Hennepin Avenue Bridge and cheers from a crowd of about 200,” wrote one Grain Belt beer sign historian about the briefly relit sign, and Saturday night I’m hoping for an encore, a super-explosive hygge ritual for the ages, because Lord knows after the year we just survived, we could use some serious euphoria and civic silliness.

Not to mention love and good vibes.

Saturday evening, I’m happy and heartened to know that one of Minneapolis’s most beautiful couples, my niece Maddy Brown and her fiancé Tom Powers, will be pre-celebrating their New Year’s Eve marriage vows at a gala on the riverbank across from the Grain Belt sign at the very moment of its relighting, and it is absolutely fitting that their inspiring young love and good energy will forever be associated with such an historic and potentially magical night in electric river city.

Monday afternoon, I stood on the Hennepin Avenue Bridge and snapped a few photos of the Grain Belt sign towering over the hissing frozen Mississippi. I was the only one on the bridge, but Saturday evening hoards of hardy Minnesotans will undoubtedly stand there shoulder-toshoulder to witness the relighting of the twin town torch (forecast calls for -10 at lighting time) and gather in celebration of Minnesota’s first brewer, the Minneapolis Brewing

No more darkness on the edge of downtown: The 76-year-old Grain Belt Beer sign comes back to life Dec. 30 at sundown. Photo by Jim Walsh

Company, and its most popular export: beer, bars and nightlife.

From Historic Minneapolis Signs: “Minneapolis Brewing Company formed with the merger of four smaller brewers in 1891 (Orth, Heinrich, Norenberg, and Germania). Two years after the merger, Minneapolis Brewing introduced Grain Belt Golden. It became the company’s flagship product and one of the best-selling beers in the upper Midwest.

According to the Schell’s Brewing Company website, the name Grain Belt referred to the geographical area of the country known as ‘America’s Grain Belt,’ where ‘the finest in Minnesota grains, along with Perfect Brewing Water, made the perfect beer.’”

This time around, the August Schell Brewing Co., the company that owns Grain Belt and the corporate powers behind the relit sign, sold commemorative LED light bulbs for $100 each, and the people who bought ’em up got a bargain and a stake in something uniquely hokey and homegrown.

To be sure, the big sign gives the city heart, and even though it’s been dark for more than 20 years, I haven’t forgotten its beacon-like pull. I wrote a plea for the relighting in 2007 and talked to Winthrop E. Eastman, the Wayzata native and retired Houston, Texasbased businessman whose family founded Grain Belt Brewing Company and who owned

the sign and the land it’s built on.

“There is nothing more I’d like than to see it relit, and there’s a lot of people who would like to see that sign glow again,” said Eastman, who died last year. “But there’s also a bunch of newbies who own the million-dollar condos on and around Nicollet Island who would like to see it carted away.”

So glad the newbies didn’t prevail. I thought about the Grain Belt sign on Christmas Eve as I passed a bonfire in front of a house on 42nd & Harriet, where a dozen or so neighbors gathered round a little hearth. I’m sure there were indoor fireplaces to be had, but like the Grain Belt beer sign’s resurrection, the act of building a bonfire outdoors is an act of faith, of persisting and of cutting through the darkness in these cold, dark days and a living-out of Dylan Thomas’s words about not going gentle into that good night, “but rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

Saturday night, the raging riverfront glows yet again with light, neon promise and possibility.

‘Bout damn time.

Been a long time a-brewin’.

Light it up!

Jim Walsh lives and grew up in South Minneapolis.

He can be reached at jimwalsh086@gmail.com

southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 A9

Voices

Supporting a survivor’s campaign In 2003, my aunt Shelley was murdered in a courthouse shooting at the Hennepin County Government Center. She was shot four times by a woman who was able to legally purchase a gun through a private sale at a Minnesota gun show without a background check.

I am so excited to be managing Sara Freeman’s campaign for Minnesota House in District 61B. Like me, Sara is a survivor of gun violence who understands the type of support that survivors need from state government. She also has a forward-looking gun policy that could significantly reduce gun deaths, including gun suicide, in Minnesota. Her priorities are universal background checks, disarming men who abuse their girlfriends and implementing the “gun violence restraining order” policy to allow family members to temporarily remove firearms from loved ones in crisis.

As a survivor and citizen, it would be so meaningful to see Minneapolis and Minnesota become leaders in preserving human lives by reducing preventable tragedies with firearms. I know that Sara is running for office for all the right reasons. Minneapolis, and all of us personally impacted by gun violence, would be lucky to have her as their representative in District 61B. Rachael Joseph Standish-Ericsson

Grateful for hardware store help Our thank you goes to Joe at Settergren ACE Hardware.

His advice and direction has saved us days if not weeks of time. We’re so grateful to him and the staff at Settergren!

Craig and Dawn Mergenthaler Linden Hills

t s e w th Sou

A happy reader

I want to bestow a big thank you on the Southwest Journal.

I look forward to reading the many articles in your paper that are positive, interesting, creative and informative. They brighten my day and my week.

I also enjoy reading about new stores opening, and new restaurants, too.

The Southwest Journal binds the community together for good but also informs us on how we can be even better.

Kudos to you, Southwest Journal.

Mary Knutson Tangletown

A10 December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 / southwestjournal.com

Dateline Minneapolis

By Steve Brandt

Neighborhood hardware store is in good hands

A

good hardware store is as much the foundation of a neighborhood as a challenging school, a verdant park or a cozy café.

The older the neighborhood, and especially its housing stock, the greater the worth of a handy, knowledgeable place to buy bolts and screws, replace panes or simply seek home repair advice.

In Kingfield, where many homes are in their second century, the go-to hardware store is Nicollet Hardware at 38th & Nicollet.

Hardware stores earn their loyalty with stable, knowledgeable staff and owners.

So it’s seismic in a neighborhood like ours when such a store changes hands.

Fortunately, it’s an in-house change in this case. Longtime owners Julene Lind and Steve Rosch, now in their 60s, have sold to veteran employees Elena Nelson and Sam Rosch, Steve and Julene’s son. The deal closed this fall.

It’s the culmination of a succession plan that’s been in the works for five years, guided by a consultant recommended by the Ace hardware chain. And it continues a tradition of female co-ownership that’s still the exception in the hardware business.

That’s something Lind fostered. At 33, Nelson already has 18 years invested in the store where she was hired at age 15. She was looking for a job in the neighborhood

[Nelson] is almost like a daughter to us. It was always our dream to have her own the store.

— Steve Rosch, co-owner of Nicollet Hardware

and landed one a block from home. It’s the only place she’s ever worked. Lind hired her because she was mature, a quick study and knew neighborhood customers.

Nelson worked full time while earning a college degree in child psychology. But when it was time to look for work in her field, Lind and Rosch sat her down to broach the idea of taking on more responsibility at the store for more pay.

“She’s almost like a daughter to us,” Steve Rosch said. “It was always our dream to have her own the store.”

They were careful not to push Sam, now 25, into the business.

“When I was younger, I had memories of not liking it too much,” he recalled.

He began by stocking the store twice a week in middle school and worked more in high school. But he reserved enough time to play basketball and football at Academy of the Holy Angels. After high school, he tried college before going full time in the store several years ago.

The consultant helped with practical matters, like how to value the business for the sale and making sure that the new owners could establish themselves to a banker as creditworthy. That involved building their financial reserves; one technique was reserved bonuses awarded them as employees.

Fargo native Lind went to work at Nicollet in 1983, after working at another South Minneapolis hardware store, and bought it three years later. Rosch, who had a construction company, joined three years after that.

They know the store is at least 80 years old because the Ace chain recognized it for that some years back. One old photo shows cars dating to the 1920s parked in front.

Lind and Rosch nearly quadrupled their store’s size in the mid-1990s, following their philosophy of remaining at least 10 percent

of the size of big-box hardware outlets. That expansion took over the adjacent Nicollet Lanes bowling alley. And they didn’t just expand but also recast the store’s public presence with a handsome façade, disregarding naysayers in their business who said it was a waste to dress up a hardware store.

Adding parking 15 years ago on the south side of the building was key to remaining at the 38th & Nicollet site.

Lind had only been working for seven years in the hardware business when she bought the store, but she had a yen for entrepreneurship.

“I wanted to be a business owner by the time I was 10 years old,” she recalled.

And it was natural for her to carry the idea of female co-ownership forward. She worked to plant the idea with Nelson.

“A lot of people who are raised in a bluecollar background, it’s not in their wheelhouse,” Lind said.

Nelson’s attitude toward ownership evolved as Lind mentored her. The store has been Lind’s baby, she said, but she’s come to feel like the nanny.

Lind said she’s seen too many hardware store owners resist retirement.

“People work way too long. They’re way too tired. They’re crabby,” she said.

At one point, she thought of retaining ownership but having Nelson and her son run it. But then, she said, “I looked back on what it felt like being an owner and I didn’t want to deny them that. It’s just a different feel when you are the owner.”

Practically speaking, she added, the new owners have largely run the store for the past three years, allowing Lind and Rosch a test run for retirement by sneaking away to warmer winter climes for a couple of months.

The long preparation for the ownership change gave Lind time to prepare emotionally for giving up the store, although she admits getting cold feet at times before the

sale closed in September.

The store is small enough that the new owners share many duties, including ordering and walking the sales floor. But Nelson handles more of the computer, personnel and administration. Rosch handles the building maintenance and the repair shop. Both take satisfaction in problem-solving with customers and warding off their bad ideas, such as filling balloons with propane.

Steve Rosch said his son has a knack for solutions: “He’s got a really mechanical brain. That makes him valuable to helping customers.”

Years of helping customers, especially when their intersection went through some lean years, has paid off. Rosch praises millennial-age customers for living what they preach about shopping locally.

“On the weekends, this place has certainly evolved into a destination,” Nelson said. Families pushing strollers pop in to visit the store’s cat or view newly hatched chicks. Dogs earn a treat when they stop by with their owners.

The store supports the values of millennials with such earth-friendly lines such as beekeeping, poultry and composting equipment and supplies. It’s a major donor to the Kingfield Farmers Market. It hosts an annual Rootenanny concert to benefit farmers markets and a petting zoo during Nicollet Open Streets. Longer term, Nelson dreams of a greenhouse-garden center, while Rosch hopes to build business-to-business sales.

Should the new owners hit any snags, they won’t have far to turn for answers. Lind and Rosch have lived above their store for the past five years, where they’ve also rented efficiency apartments there to people, including employees, for well below market rents.

“We’ve stuck with this corner through thick and thin,” Lind said.

+

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

YEARS — 1990–2017

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

—

TRUSTED NEWS, TAILORED TO YOU Led by Editor Dylan Thomas, our award-winning news team digs deep into the stories that most affect our community.

Passive h ome

Taking energy

A pioneering couple

story in “The Wedding Jack Baker share their Michael McConnell and America’s First Gay Marriage” Heard ‘Round the World:

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12/22/17 12:15 PM

A common cause

Dylan

sign Common Roots’ anti-hate spreads to shops nationwide

mbruch@southwestjournal.com

said has no business here.” The sign 26th & Lyndale. It stated: “Hate in the window this month at Common Roots hung a sign members, and said all are welcome.

Pizza and immigrant community & Lyndale BP station and they stand with Muslim, refugee Nicollet, Butter, the 36th signs local shops — including The promoted it nationally. The More than a dozen other group Main Street Alliance the small business advocacy in Oregon, with shops tweeting Nea — posted the sign, and in Brooklyn and a quilt shop market, a Mexican restaurant / PAGE A11 have reached an L.A. flea SEE COMMON ROOTS

SWJ Editorial Dept SWJ 0617 6.indd 1

The Seward Store hostedCo-op’s new Friendsh a ribbon Photo by cutting Oct. ip William 6.

Hoben

Co-op open s second in Bryant location neighborh ood

By Michel

By Michelle Bruch /

efficiency to anothe r level

October 22–Novembe Vol. 26, No. r 4, 2015 22 southwestjour nal.com

Seward Co-op unveils Friendsh ip Store

2016 Dec. 31, 2015–Jan. 13, Vol. 26, No. 27 southwestjournal.com

‘All The Small Things’

YEARS

5 Elana and David Schwartzman created a sign welcoming immigrants, Muslims and refugees to Common Roots.

Submitted photo

le Bruch

/ mbruch

@south

westjou Hours before rnal.com while workers the Seward Co-op’s laid out seafood new Friendship customers and took inventor Store opened on walked up Oct. 7, and tried the “People are Redmond locked doors. y, a continuous stream said sity and commuready,” said LaDonn of okra, teff flour neighborhood requests a Sanders-Redmo nity engagem and wellness included cornme Five-hundred nd, the co-op’s ent Diversity in products al, hot sauces, people joined manager. diveroperation. pushed the hiring became a major tailored for African America as co-op owners co-op issue for some within the ns.

The Friends “Our commu to hire 70 percent first week people of color. neighbors who of Seward Co-op hip Store at 317 E. 38th disproportionat nity is majority Black on Franklin St. is smaller and Latino, products, than the original apolis,” states ely impacted by employm two groups with a percenta , but it’s designed to hold a petition who are ge devoted ent discrimi signed by The store ended to local preferennearly all the same nation up hiring 61 more than 1,000 people. in Minneces. Sanders percent people of color, Sanders -

A TUG

OF WAR ns ResoWlutio OVER ORKE District se A look inside the Office ate’ RIGHTS vers ties wi 10:00 AM for the climRS 6/28/17 Reading Ho th of Police Conduct Review rizons for By look at the local agenda McKenzie Post-Paris: ASarah / smcken zie@so clean energy economy uthwes Thethe tjourna advancing debate rages l.com

By Michelle Bruch /

mbruch@southwestjournal.com

in Review handled 350 cases The Office of Police Conduct on police conduct in the 2014 and received 124 complaints to quarterly reports. first two quarters of 2015, according to discipline ordered cases led In that 18-month period, 11 discipline may be overby the Police Chief — though grievance process. turned by the police union’s ne-

on at City city governm Hall over the ent has in role helping low-wag workers who Hodges announ face challeng e includin ing sial fair schedul ced Oct. 14 that the controvering provisio be part of n would no the agenda lack of longer this In coming includes a weeks the are applauding the Paris climate mandate for year. The agenda still expecte City Council and environmentalists massive Local leaders theMinnea d to conside Dec. polis workers paid sick time for all is 12, but acknowledge r a pared-d nearly 200 nations byWorking , howeve deal signedthe Hodges first climate change. versionof Families confrontown the threats outlined the r. of of proposa workload ahead toAgenda State neighand daunting agenda at of the City a package ls champio in the Elliot Park lives who— her Address in a Democrat ned by Hodges Al Franken, designe U.S. Sen. Mayor Betsy at the April — strategie and a number representing d to address the United States 10 senators of Council the city’s sig among s In the disparit borhood, was fac m

work g unpredictable conditions, westjournal.com / smckenzie@south paid sick time. schedules

By Sarah McKenzie and

SEE SEWAR

D CO-OP

/ PAGE A16

The Boar d of Educ ation voted contract with to rescind literacy curri the Utah-based its $1.2-m illion provider culum of an early

By Dylan

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as@sou

Minneapolis Public Schools ship with Re will end

thwestjourna

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southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 A11

Moments in Minneapolis

By Cedar Imboden Phillips

A postcard view of Kenwood

S

ome of our favorite items in the archive are local postcards, including this early view of an unpaved Kenwood Parkway. In December 1890, the Minneapolis Park Board combined Kenwood and Superior boulevards, calling the new unified road Kenwood Parkway. Kenwood Parkway fit into the Park Board’s larger — and ambitious — vision for a broader network of parks and parkways crossing the city, and in the 1890s they spent time and money to improve the condition of Kenwood Parkway. Still, it would be many years before the road was paved; the Park Board attempted to keep the dust down with the copious use of horse-drawn “sprinkler” carriages. In 1901, angry residents complained that the Park Board had pulled the sprinkler horses off the road to haul hay and water trees in the city’s parks, leaving the parkway impassable due to heavy levels of dust. By 1909, the Park Board was experimenting with different methods of paving Kenwood Parkway. By then, the street also had to meet the new needs of the city’s burgeoning automobile population.

Cedar Imboden Phillips serves as the executive director for the Hennepin History Museum. Learn more about the museum and its offerings at hennepinhistory.org or 870-1329.

Postcard from the collection of the Hennepin History Museum

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A12 December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 / southwestjournal.com

Four vie for Thissen’s seat With its representative in the governor’s race, District 61B opens for the first time since 2003

By Dylan Thomas / dthomas@southwestjournal.com

Four candidates are currently vying to represent a strongly DFL Southwest Minneapolis district at the state Capitol.

Veteran Rep. Paul Thissen announced in June that he planned to run for governor.

That opened up a seat the former DFL House Speaker, now in his eighth term, has held since 2003.

District 61B includes the East Calhoun,

CARAG, East Harriet, Lynnhurst, Kenny, Armatage, Windom and Page neighborhoods, as well as portions of Tangletown, Fulton, Diamond Lake and Field. It’s a relatively wealthy district, with a median family income of $117,480, and nearly 86 percent of its 40,686 residents are white, according to the most recent Census estimates.

All four candidates who have announced

their intention to run for the seat — Sara Freeman, Tim Laughinghouse, Jamie Long and Meggie Wittorf — were invited to a Jan. 3 forum at First Universalist Church. All four plan to seek the DFL endorsement later in the year.

The official filing period for state offices runs May 22–June 5. Caucuses are scheduled for Feb. 6.

Submitted photo

Submitted photo

Submitted photo

IF YOU GO: House District 61B candidate forum When: 7 p.m. Jan. 3. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.)

Where: First Universalist Church, 3400 Dupont Ave. S.

Submitted photo

Sara Freeman

Tim Laughinghouse

Jamie Long

Meggie Wittorf

sara4mnhouse.com

timlaughinghouse.org

jamielong.com

meggieforhouse.com

Sara Freeman is transforming trauma into fuel for a first-ever run for public office.

“I’m a rape and gun violence survivor, and the conversations and revelations of misconduct at our state capitol, all of the Harvey Weinstein stuff, the fact that I would categorize our president as a repeated sexual predator, all of these conversations have compelled me not just to pay more attention but to note with concern and consternation that survivors aren’t being represented in these conversations,” Freeman said.

A part-time healthcare industry consultant who previously worked on Wall Street and for Medtronic, Freeman chairs the board of the Domestic Abuse Project, a Minneapolis nonprofit that works to end domestic violence.

She also volunteers at Burroughs Community School, the school attended by two of her three children, and started a finance club at North High School.

The Lynnhurst resident said her support for universal pre-kindergarten and increased education funding, including wrap-around social services for students, was inspired by her work in schools. She said she has seen the effects of the reading gap up close. She also noted that Burroughs, with the support of a relatively wealthy family base, is better able to weather funding cuts, while other schools lack essential resources for students.

Freeman said she supports raising the minimum wage statewide. While she initially advocated for $15, she said conversations with business owners in her small, southeast Minnesota hometown of Eyota convinced her there should be a metro minimum of $15 and a lower outstate minimum “in the $10–$12 range.”

Freeman said she is also interested in pursuing universal healthcare. She said Minnesota’s welldeveloped and profitable healthcare industry provides the opportunity to take “baby steps” toward that ultimate goal.

“I know my way around an income statement and balance sheet and feel confident those levers are available for us to pull if we have the political will to do so,” she said.

One of Tim Laughinghouse’s early political experiences was as a door-to-door canvasser for the Minnesota Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign. Then a student at Grinell College in Iowa, Laughinghouse was inspired by the political activism of his father, a Vietnam War veteran who joined protests against the fighting in Southeast Asia shortly after returning home.

“I was raised in a family that, through their actions, taught us to stand up for what is right and to serve the public through public service,” he said.

Laughinghouse later worked on a re-election campaign for Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and then joined former Minnesota Rep. Martin Sabo’s Washington, D.C. staff for a year. He returned to Minnesota and began his career as a teacher in Minneapolis before joining the Minnetonka district, where he has taught for 17 years.

Laughinhouse said teaching has given him a ground-level view of the effects of education policy as well as the needs of students, some of who struggle in the classroom because of challenges they face outside of school. Among his top priorities are universal pre-kindergarten, education funding and expanding access to MinnesotaCare, the subsidized healthcare program for low-income Minnesotans, “to meet the needs of more families,” he said.

“I think the winning formula that makes Minnesota a special place is the willingness to invest in education and helping those who are struggling,” he said.

Laughinhouse, a resident of the HalePage-Diamond Lake area, would also bring a focus on the environment to St. Paul, and said he would support policies that “encourage and incentivize alternative forms of energy.”

“I think that 30 or 50 years from now, people will agree the most important issue today is climate change,” he said.

As deputy chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, Jamie Long manages the congressman’s Minnesota office. Now the Armatage neighborhood resident is launching his own campaign to “champion Southwest Minneapolis progressive values” in St. Paul.

“I’ve spent my career in public service trying to do what I can to improve people’s lives, and I have found that the federal government is pretty stuck right now, but I think there is still an opportunity to make a difference at the state level,” Long said.

Having previously worked as an environmental attorney and energy and transportation aide in Congress, Long would make clean energy and clean transportation two of his top policy priorities. Currently active in an effort to start a community solar project, Long said he’d like to see the state reach 85 percent renewable energy by 2035 while transitioning transit fleets to all-electric from diesel vehicles.

But at the top of his list, if elected, would be equity.

“I believe the most critical policy issue facing our state is the equity gaps facing people of color,” Long said, adding that the solution touches on a wide range of policy issues, from healthcare to education to the criminal justice system.

Long said he ultimately wants a singlepayer healthcare system and would support expanding access to MinnesotaCare as a bridge to get there.

“In the education space, I strongly believe that we need to reinvest from cradle through post-grad,” he said. “We have huge needs for childcare and early childhood education in the district. It’s something I’ve heard a lot about from neighbors as I’ve been knocking on their doors.”

Long said the state’s K–12 funding formulas are “broken” and contributing to the Minneapolis school district’s budget struggles. At the post-secondary level, he’d seek out options for “debt-free college,” he said.

Meggie Wittorf traces the decision to make her first run for public office to the 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Hobby Lobby, a chain of arts and crafts stores, could refuse to offer employees healthcare coverage of certain contraceptives on religious grounds.

“The structures in place holding people back, whether that’s access to health care or quality education, these structures ensure that women and people of color experience economic uncertainty,” Wittorf said. “And those structures are the outcome of biases spoken or unspoken that exists in the halls of our institutions.”

A Fulton neighborhood resident, Wittorf is a brand manager at General Mills. She said she brings to the race a background that blends experience in both finance and advocacy; she served on the board of directors for OutFront Minnesota and led the Women’s Mentorship Program at the Carlson School of Management, where she earned an MBA. “I speak a lot about providing an economic equation for all Minnesota families,” she said.

That includes access to affordable, quality healthcare for all — starting with an expansion of MinnesotaCare — and closing the pay gap for women and people of color.

“These are not women’s issues,” she said.

“When you are paid less and charged more for your healthcare, your family has a harder time saving for retirement or your kids’ education.”

Wittorf, whose mother and mother-in-law both work in education, said the state must accelerate its efforts to close the achievement gap, both through developing a “more sustainable funding solution” for schools and making all forms of post-secondary education accessible to a wider range of students.

Wittorf said another policy priority is criminal justice reform, which could include incentives for police departments to recruit local officers, expanded de-escalation training and approaching drug and gun crimes “through the lens of prevention.”

southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 A13 FROM SCHOOL CALENDAR / PAGE A1

fair and progressive way, he wrote in an email.

“We believe there are many ways to improve student outcomes through our contract,” Laden wrote, “and are looking forward to sharing our ideas with the district.”

online survey, Graff said.

Graff ’s chief of staff, Suzanne Kelly, noted how the last couple days of school aren’t typically as rigorous academically. She added that the district would work on alternative programming for families that need it for those final days.

Community support

Negotiating savings The proposal comes amid a projected $33 million budget deficit for 2018–2019 and as district leaders negotiate a new contract with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, the district’s largest labor union.

As part of negotiations, district leaders have proposed eliminating June 11 and 12 as duty days for teachers and reducing their pay 1 percent for 2017–2018.

Graff has said the district could save $1 million for each day it cuts from the calendar. But he’s also stressed that the calendar proposal is completely separate from the bargaining discussions.

“There may be some savings, but that’s not the primary driver for these two days,” Kelly said.

District leaders are also considering calendar changes for 2018–2019, but nothing has been proposed yet. Options could include starting after Labor Day, ending earlier in June or both.

In negotiations, district leaders have proposed allowing for flexibility in the number of teacher-duty days. Their proposal would allow for the reduction of up to 11 duty days annually and a 0.5 percent salary reduction for each day eliminated from the calendar.

The proposal would allow for flexibility on the number of school days, according to negotiators. The district currently has

Superintendent Ed Graff said many parents support ending the school year two days early.

Photo courtesy Minneapolis Public Schools

176 school days a year, 11 above the statemandated minimum. District negotiators say it’s a number that’s not clearly associated with improved academic outcomes.

Union leaders have rejected both of the district’s worktime proposals. In a written response, they said they don’t want to tie salaries to duty days and, by extension, duty hours.

“If we are hourly employees … we would like to be able to bill for all of the ‘non-duty day’ hours that we spend doing our work,” they wrote.

The district and teachers union have held about six negotiating sessions this fall.

Negotiations are scheduled to move into mediation in January.

Shaun Laden, president of the district’s second-largest union, the Minneapolis Federation of Educational Assistants, said

his union is willing to negotiate around the calendar for 2017–2018. But it must be part of a total package to settle the contract in a

MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS CALENDAR Friday, June 8: Proposed last day for grades pre-K-11 Monday, June 11: Official graduation date (ceremony dates vary by high school) Tuesday, June 12: Scheduled last day for grades pre-K-11 Source: Minneapolis Public Schools

Calendar changes appear to have support within the district community.

As Graff referenced in his comments, two-thirds of respondents to a recent online survey support the proposed change for this school year. Nineteen percent were neutral about the proposed change, and 14 percent were opposed.

Over two-thirds of respondents identified as parents of MPS students, but most were white and lived in South Minneapolis.

Only 30 percent of respondents to a phone survey were favor of changing this year’s calendar. Eighty percent of those respondents were parents of students of color. The group was also more evenly distributed by geography than online respondents.

“What the communities are saying is, ‘We’re opposed unless we have somewhere to put our children,’” Eric Moore, the district’s chief of accountability, innovation and research, recently told the School Board.

State funds are available for out-ofschool-time programming, Kelly said. The district wouldn’t fund those programs with general operating revenue, she said.

Reaction also varied on starting next school year after Labor Day. Seventy-two percent of online respondents were in favor, 17 percent were neutral and 11 percent were against it. Forty-four percent of phone respondents were in favor, 30 percent were neutral and 26 percent were against it.

Moore said the results reiterate the importance of engagement and understanding different communities.

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A14 December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 / southwestjournal.com

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@southwestjournal.com

Solar ‘co-op’ discussed in Lowry Hill East A group of Lowry Hill East property owners is looking to leverage its purchasing power to install solar panels at a discounted rate.

The group is working with the nonprofit Solar United Neighbors to find a firm that will install panels on their homes and businesses.

The goal is to drive down costs by purchasing equipment in bulk and using one installer, Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association Board Member Karlee Weinmann said.

“There’s a lot of pent-up demand, based on what we’ve seen in our neighborhood,” Weinmann said. “What we’ve been trying to do so far is just really capture that interest and turn that interest into reality.”

Solar United Neighbors, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit, helps people in eight states and D.C. organize solar “co-ops.” The co-ops are typically groups of between 50 and 100 neighbors who are interested in installing solar panels.

The Lowry Hill East group would be the first Solar United Neighbors co-op in Minnesota.

Solar United Neighbors issues requests for proposals on behalf of co-ops once they hit 30 members. The members choose a single installer for all of their projects.

Co-op members in other states have seen savings of between 20 and 45 percent, said Virginia Rutter, Solar United Neighbors’ Minnesota program director. She said she’s unsure what the savings would be in Minnesota.

Solar United Neighbors does not support

Solar panels partially cover a rooftop in Lowry Hill East.

A group of neighbors there is looking to install panels on their homes this year.

Submitted photo

one installer over another, Rutter said. The organization provides education on solar to co-op members and does legwork such as calling installers’ references. It also helps set up home visits for members to determine if their properties are suitable for solar panels.

The organization does not charge co-op members for its services, and there is no cost to join a co-op.

Installers pay Solar United Neighbors a fee based on each signed contract. The organization generates funding through

those fees as well as partnerships with local governments, Rutter said. The bulk of its revenue comes through grants.

Solar panels typically produce electricity for 25 years, according to the organization.

System owners typically pay off their initial investments in 10 to 12 years, Rutter said.

The system owners use the electricity as they generate it, Rutter said. If they need more than they generate, they’ll tap the local power grid. If use less than they generate, the excess electricity goes onto the

grid. Utility companies then credit system owners for that extra electricity.

Weinmann said in early December that the new co-op isn’t limited to Lowry Hill East residents. About 20 people attended an informational meeting on Nov. 30, she said.

Rutter said her organization is hoping to issue the RFP for the Lowry Hill East group early in 2018. Her organization would give installers two weeks to respond.

Visit bit.ly/2BZrP7F to learn more about the co-op.

Food-donation guidelines published Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis have developed food-donation guidelines for licensed food facilities.

The one-page flyer notes that as much as 40 percent of food produced for people to eat in the U.S. is wasted. Grocery stores, restaurants and institutions are responsible for about 40 percent of this waste, according to the flyer.

Organizations that donate food to a nonprofit in good faith for distribution to needy individuals are not subject to civil or criminal liability that arises from the condition of the food, the flyer says. It also notes that the federal tax code allows for a deduction for donated food.

The city and county recommend interested

businesses and organizations get started by identifying foods they can donate. Licensed food establishments can donate food that has not been served, they note.

They then recommend calling a hungerrelief organization to let them know about the food. The recipient organization must have a food license.

Minneapolis health inspectors will hand out the guidelines when they visit businesses, according to the county. The guidelines have also been distributed more widely through the Minnesota Department of Health’s networks.

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southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 A15

By Eric Best / ebest@southwestjournal.com

Commissioners approve 4.1 percent budget increase The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board voted Dec. 6 to approve a 4.1 percent increase to its certified tax levy for its 2018 budget.

The budget relies on a Park and Recreation Levy of $60.45 million, a 4.2-percent increase over this year’s $58 million levy, and a Tree Preservation and Reforestation Levy of $1.75 million, a 1.2-percent increase over this year’s levy of $1.73 million. The latter is a special levy to restore the city’s tree canopy due to Emerald Ash Borer infestation and storms.

The budget continues major investments into the city’s neighborhood parks that started in this year’s budget, which reflected the board’s largest property tax increase in at least a decade.

Last year, the Park Board launched the 20 Year Neighborhood Park Plan, a funding agreement with the City Council to direct an additional $11 million annually to Minneapolis parks. City and park leaders crafted the plan to close annual funding gaps in maintaining the city’s nearly 160 neighborhood parks, which have faced growing disrepair in recent decades.

Over the past year, outgoing Superintendent Jayne Miller and staff created an equity matrix via ordinance that will direct funds raised from the plan to racially concentrated areas of poverty and other areas that have not seen as much investment.

Park superintendent Jayne Miller.

Photo courtesy of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

“The [Park Board] is the first and only park agency in the country to require, by ordinance, its entire Capital Improvement Program use specific, transparent, data-driven measures to ensure racial and economic equity are accounted for in funding allocation,” Miller said in a statement. “The [Park Board] is committed to addressing the challenges to ensure quality facilities and quality delivery of park and recre-

ation services to Minneapolis residents and park users. This budget supports, as best as is possible within the resources available, the continuation of this important work.”

In 2018, the Park Board will have a general operating fund of $80.7 million, along with $20.9 million in capital project funding, $11.2 million for its enterprise operating fund — its funding for golf, restaurants and other business-

like operations — and $3.1 million in special revenue funding.

There are several changes in the 2018 budget to hire new staff, including an archivist, two software and database support positions, four part-time police officers, a street outreach coordinator and a part-time office support worker for the board’s planning department.

There is also money allocated to training the six newly elected commissioners coming to the board in January.

This will be the last budget put together by Miller, who recently announced she is leaving the Park Board in February for a job in Pennsylvania. Miller has led the city’s park system as superintendent since being appointed seven years ago.

“This year was truly a banner year for recognizing the vision and commitment of those at the Park Board who have been here before us and everyone who is committed to the Minneapolis park system today,” Miller said.

Despite dramatic tax increases to bring in more maintenance dollars, the Park Board faces financial challenges with a municipal minimum wage ordinance that takes effect in 2018 and a cut in state funding for the Minneapolis Employees Retirement Fund that will cost the board $1 million per year beginning in 2019.

Park police to begin rolling out body cameras Officers with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board are wrapping up training in preparation for the rollout of nearly three-dozen body cameras.

Park Police Chief Jason Ohotto said about 32 sworn park police officers will begin wearing body cameras in January.

The program follows the Minneapolis Police Department’s rollout of body-worn cameras, which officers have used in each of the city’s precincts for the past year. “We’re able to observe and learn from them [and the] mistakes and lessons that they’ve already tackled along the

way,” he said. “It’s much easier to look and lean on to Minneapolis after they’ve already had this implemented for more than a year.”

The Park Board is authorized to have up to 35 cameras, which are meant to increase transparency and accountability among police departments. The park system’s 33 sworn officers — Ohotto included, although he said he doesn’t do much patrol work — are currently training with police staff and the board’s contractor, Axon. The camera manufacturer is the same vendor used by MPD. Ohotto said they have two vacancies they’re

looking to fill. Once those are filed, the new officers will begin training with the body cameras.

Earlier this fall commissioners approved a five-year contract with Axon (formerly known as Taser) for the camera hardware, data storage, data management software and maintenance.

The $181,000 agreement costs the board roughly $30,000 each year, in addition to the upfront price of the hardware and contingency costs.

Park police will store data collected by the cameras independently from MPD, but Ohotto said they would occasionally share data with their partner agency. The Park Board relies on

MPD for secondary investigative work on the most serious and complex crimes that happen in its parks.

Unlike the Minneapolis officers, Ohotto said, park police won’t have a pilot before fully implementing the program, which is why the Park Board waited until now to use body cameras.

Like any new innovation, Ohotto said, rolling out the devices will involve lessons and mistakes.

“I think anytime you have a new program there will be some of those things that happen,” he said.

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A16 December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 / southwestjournal.com

SUPER BOWL COUNTDOWN

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@southwestjournal.com

Zip line to cross Mississippi River The Mississippi River has been the lifeblood of Minneapolis since the city’s inception, said Maureen Bausch, CEO of the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee.

The committee will give visitors a chance to experience the landmark by zip line during Super Bowl festivities.

From Jan. 26 to Feb. 4, the 100-foothigh, nearly 800-foot-long “Bold North Zip Line” will run across the river parallel to the Hennepin Avenue Bridge. The ride will start on the lot adjacent to the Nicollet Island Inn and run toward downtown.

“It’s such an unbelievable river, and we are lucky enough to be able to, with the cooperation of all of our partners, zip over it,” Bausch said.

Tickets for the ride cost $30, plus taxes and fees. The committee sold more than 4,000 online tickets for it in just 72 hours. People can purchase tickets in person on Nicollet Mall during the 10-day Super Bowl festival.

Polaris will transport zip line riders to and from the mall to the zip line launch tower on Nicollet Island.

Bausch said the committee really wanted Super Bowl guests to experience the river. The zip line presents a way to experience it even when frozen, she said.

Visitors to Minneapolis will be able to ride across the Mississippi River via zip line during the 10-day Super Bowl festival.

Rendering courtesy Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee

Canada-based Ziptrek Ecotours will operate the zip line with four parallel lines at a time.

Riders will travel at speeds of 20–30 mph, according to a Host Committee news release.

Backpack brand XOOX is sponsoring the zip line. Former Minnesota Vikings safety Robert Griffith founded the brand and is launching it in mid-December.

Mayor-elect Jacob Frey said the Mississippi River is emblematic of everything that is Minneapolis and Minnesota and everything it is to be American. He said he remembers being

excited about walking across the river to work after first moving to Minneapolis.

“But there’s one thing that I think could be a little bit more American than walking to work crossing the Mississippi River, and that’s taking a zip line across the Mississippi River,” he said.

The zip line is just one of the attractions being offered as part of the Super Bowl Live festivities. Other events include free concerts on Nicollet Mall.

Visit mnsuperbowl.com to learn more.

Birkebeiner Bridge coming downtown The Host Committee is planning to install a famous cross-country ski bridge on Nicollet Mall for Super Bowl Live.

The nearly 200-foot-long American Birkebeiner International Bridge will run over 9th Street. The Host Committee said the bridge would be transported downtown from Hayward, Wisconsin, on an estimated 12 semitrailers.

“Creating unforgettable winter experiences as part of life in the bold north is who we are at the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation,” Executive Director Ben Popp said in a news

Airbnb: 3,000 hosts expected The home-sharing platform Airbnb is expecting about 3,000 people to be active “hosts” for the Super Bowl, it announced Dec. 19.

Currently, there are 2,650 active hosts in Minneapolis and St. Paul. That’s well above the company’s stated goal of 2,000 by game day, Feb. 4.

Airbnb announced the 2,000-host goal this past February as part of its “PROJECT 612” initiative. The company said it planned on holding host trainings and educating hosts on appropriate pricing.

In October, the Minneapolis City Council approved new rules regulating rental hosts and online platforms. The rules require hosts and online platforms to obtain city licensure and pay an annual fee.

release. “We’re excited to celebrate and share our love of winter activity with visitors at Super Bowl Live.”

The foundation uses the bridge in American Birkebeiner cross-country ski race, held each February in Hayward. The race is the largest in North America, with a 35-mile trail and thousands of participants.

NBC plans on setting up its national broadcast alongside the bridge, according to the Host Committee.

The American Birkebeiner International Bridge will run over 9th Street on Nicollet Mall during Super Bowl Live. Photo courtesy Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee

DAYS REMAINING UNTIL KICKOFF

Polar Plunge coming to Super Bowl Live Special Olympics Minnesota will host a Polar Plunge on Jan. 30 as part of Super Bowl Live.

The nonprofit will hold the plunge at the “Verizon Up Stage at Ice Mountain” at 8th & Nicollet. The NFL and Special Olympics Minnesota will host a flag football game before the plunge.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Super Bowl Host Committee and offer a Polar Plunge experience right in the middle of the excitement,” Dave Dorn, president and CEO of Special Olympics Minnesota, said in a news release. “Instead of trekking to one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes, participants are invited to plunge into an icy pond that we will create on the streets of downtown Minneapolis exclusively for this event.”

Sports figures, media members, celebrities and corporate teams will take the plunge, according to the release. A full schedule of events hasn’t been published yet.

Only 200 spaces will be available for the general public.

Candidates must register online at plungemn.org by Jan. 5 and raise at least $150 to reserve a slot. Incentives are available based on fundraising totals.

NEIGHBORHOOD SKETCHBOOK

BY

southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 A17

Streetscape

By Ethan Fawley

Community leaders in walking and biking

A

s 2017 drew to a close, Our Streets Minneapolis recognized some of the people and projects leading the way to supporting a city where walking, biking and rolling are easy and comfortable for everyone.

There are so many people working to make our community healthier, safer, cleaner and more connected. Thank you.

Here are some of the inspiring stories from our first-annual Streets Awards, held Dec. 10 at Midtown Global Market.

Walk Champions of the Year Minneapolis Highrise Representative Council resident leaders

More than 5,000 people live in 42 Minneapolis Public Housing Authority high-rises and the Minneapolis Highrise Representative Council works with those residents to advance issues that support their quality of life. In recent years, resident leaders have been organizing for sidewalk and crossing improvements around many of the high-rises.

In too many cases, there are dangerous crossings that limit the ability of residents to get to bus stops, nearby places of worship and other important destinations. They have done “walk audits” at more than a dozen buildings, collected postcards in support of funding to improve crossings and told their stories directly to elected officials.

Their work is leading to a real and important focus on areas where safety improvements have been needed for years.

Street Pilot Project of the Year Northside Temporary Greenway

The proposed North Minneapolis Greenway is an idea to convert all or part of a quiet residential street into a linear park and trail. Deep community engagement has been going on since 2012 with a majority of residents in favor of the potential greenway. But many others had questions, so a temporary greenway was installed for a year with different potential treatments to engage residents.

The temporary greenway answered questions about access and maintenance and what it would mean to have your street turned into a park and bikeway. At the end of the pilot, a strong majority of residents are in support of the greenway in some form, and community members are beginning to organize to try to get the community’s vision for the greenway built.

Thanks to the many community volunteers, the Minneapolis Health Department and the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota who made the temporary greenway possible.

Bike Walk Schools of the Year Pillsbury Pedal Power and Seward Montessori

Some of the most inspiring work is happening through the Minneapolis Public Schools Safe Routes to School program, including these two programs doing truly amazing work to support biking and walking.

Pillsbury Elementary in Northeast has been

home to the inspiring Pedal Power after-school program for the last five years. It was started and is still led by teachers Mark Trumper and Susan Tuck, who have volunteered much time and passion to this effort.

They help fourth- and fifth-graders learn to bicycle and build their skills with rides throughout the city and in all kinds of weather.

A group of 20 rode down to the Winter Open Streets at Holidazzle in December, warm and happy. The program primarily works with kids who are English language learners and is used to build their confidence and empowerment.

The Seward Montessori School Bike Sharks program has been inspiring kids to ride and engage in their neighborhood for seven years.

Teacher Lisa Herr engages her kids in biking, and numerous parents also are involved. This fall, they set a record with 143 bikes at their school racks.

The kids have also engaged around improving bicycle safety and access in their neighborhood, including supporting a closure at 29th Avenue and the Midtown Greenway and bicycle boulevards on 24th Street and 29th Avenue.

Other 2017 Streets Awards winners • Bike Walk Champion of the Year: Mayor Betsy Hodges for her leadership in many areas, including on Complete Streets, Vision Zero, protected bikeways, Open Streets and pedestrian safety funding.

• Walk Bike Champion of the Year: Council Member Elizabeth Glidden for her support of walking and biking during her twelve years on the City Council, including leadership on the transportation and intergovernmental committees.

• Street Project of the Year: Washington Avenue reconstruction with curb-protected bike lanes, greening and shorter walk crossings. Washington also was recognized on the People for Bikes list of best new bikeways.

• Walk Project of the Year: Zebra crosswalks, which have been installed throughout the city at little to no additional cost by Minneapolis Public Works staff.

• Bike Project of the Year: Neighborhood bike program, which was run this year by NorthPoint Health and Wellness and has engaged hundreds of new people in biking.

• Bike Walk Business of the Year: Junket: Tossed and Found, which promotes walking and biking on Minnehaha Avenue in Longfellow and has supported safety improvements and been a leader for Open Streets on Minnehaha.

• Street Art Project of the Year: FLOW Northside Arts Crawl, supported by the West Broadway Business and Area Coalition, which has used art to connect communities along West Broadway for the last 11 years.

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A18 December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 / southwestjournal.com

News

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@southwestjournal.com

Providing the ‘organizational love’ Minneapolis Public Schools developing a social-emotional learning program Minneapolis Public Schools is beginning its effort to systematically ingrain social and emotional development into schools across the district.

District leaders are working with the Chicagobased Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) on a program for social-emotional learning. The idea is to meet students’ non-academic needs in part through social skills curricula but also by building strong relationships and welcoming school climates.

“We could have the most outstanding curriculum, the most amazing technology and phenomenal teachers and principals,” said Michael Thomas, the district’s chief of academics, leadership & learning. “But if our kids don’t feel safe, welcomed and/or are able to identify a positive supportive relationship … none of that will matter.”

Social-emotional learning has been a priority of Superintendent Ed Graff ’s since he took over in summer 2016. The district is kicking off its program by focusing on 10 schools in Minneapolis.

Thomas recently sat down with the Southwest Journal to talk about the effort. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Southwest Journal: Why is the district making this push on social-emotional learning?

Thomas: When you think about, just going back

to psychology, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. If some of our basic human needs aren’t met, we’re not going to thrive as people. And the same holds true when you think about our schools. … So when you think about social-emotional learning from a school district standpoint, it is that organizational love, support and our ability to hold warm, welcoming spaces for our kids.

We’re also looking at SEL to be around the adults in our system, and quite frankly, that’s going to need to start first. The culture that we create is the culture that we emulate, so our kids need to see how we can interact differently (and) have relationships and healthy discourse.

Will the district use a curriculum to get staff thinking in that mindset?

What we are utilizing is the SEL coaches through our partnership with CASEL to provide professional development to staff here at (the Davis Center, the district’s headquarters). So for example, we’re starting with our academic leadership team. We have the coaches who have spent an entire day training all the department heads around SEL practice, how to observe for it, strategies for it, so that they can go out and support principals in doing the same. We’ve got 10 cohort schools, but then we have 60 other principals or so that aren’t part of the cohort that still need that support.

You have talked about three ‘signature practices’ within SEL. Remind me what those three core practices are.

You’d have some sort of welcoming ritual. The welcoming ritual is a way to build community so that everybody’s voice is at the table or in that space. Then you’d have an engaging activity throughout the instruction or throughout the meeting. … And then you’re going to have an optimistic close.

Does that structure apply to just staff meetings, or could it be used in, say, science class?

The three signature practices are transferrable to any context. … Those are just good common practices to an effective meeting or effective instruction.

Over time of effectively implementing SEL, we should be able to observe a teacher doing an opening ritual, an engaging practice through instruction and an optimistic close. You’ll see it in a variety of different ways.

Many of our teachers are doing exit tickets.

That’s a process of an optimistic close. Or you might have kids going around the room and

saying, “What’s the best thing you learned today for this lesson?”

Beyond the three signature practices, there are also CASEL’s five core competencies (selfawareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making).

Those are attributes within the CASEL framework that are skills that can be directly taught. So again, this is where, particularly at the secondary level, you’re going to see our advisory period utilizing curriculum that will really begin to hone those core SEL attributes or skill sets.

You’re going to see at the elementary level, where they’re going to be using ways of building community to start their day.

A prominent one you’re going to see is Responsive Classroom (a social skills program). … You can also just have your general classroom guidelines or school-wide code of conduct.

Those all reinforce the same SEL attributes.

I would assume a lot of schools are already doing a lot of these practices.

That’s a good point, and that’s something we wanted our principals to recognize. … But how we systematize it, that’s the important thing. And when you think about a district like Minneapolis, where you have such a high mobility rate, that’s where having some consistencies of practice are going to be critically important. It doesn’t have to be cookie-cutter, but kids have to understand that social-emotional learning is going to be that umbrella over all of our schools.

We want these 10 cohort schools and eventually all our schools to meet self-awareness, selfadvocacy, et cetera, standards. … Our cohort one, the big lift that they have is to help declare and define what those SEL standards should be within those domains.

Minneapolis Public Schools Chief of Academics, Leadership & Learning Michael Thomas. Submitted photo

Other than Responsive Classroom, could you point to other practices someone may see if they walked into a school incorporating SEL? That’s going to be dependent on what the building principal puts in play. … In terms of outcomes, I would expect that this spring we should be able to see some indications around our student survey data that shows that the climate within our schools might be changing from a student’s perspective. … I want to see some of those culture, climate measures that we have really showing indications of shifting a more positive direction.

But again, how they do that, I’m not going to dictate that. That’s the art of leadership. … I think you could talk to our 10 school principals and they’ll all give you a different approach as to how they envision getting to some of those outcomes.

And that’s where I have the trust that we’ve got good leaders.

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southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 A19

This Met Council map shows the location of the proposed crash wall in the Wayzata Subdivision.

Submitted image

FROM SWLRT BIDDING / PAGE A1

announcement, State Rep. Frank Hornstein described Met Council’s agreement to move ahead with the worksheet as “a positive development” that would increase public involvement and transparency as the agency develops designs for the wall.

“It’s a major step,” Hornstein said. “This was something they fought tooth and nail against.”

State Sen. Scott Dibble, who had also called on Met Council to agree to a more public process, said he wasn’t concerned about adding to a series of project delays.

“The project has to be done right,” he said.

The 10-foot-high barrier will separate light rail and freight trains running on parallel tracks through a corridor owned by BNSF. Running between Interstate 94 and Interstate 394, the crash wall was added to plans when the railway and Met Council reached a shared-use agreement for the corridor in August.

In an emailed statement, Tchourumoff said the extension of the bidding deadline would

The project has to be done right.

— Sen. Scott Dibble

allow for a 45-day public review and comment period after the environmental reviews are completed. Met Council is also planning a town hall meeting for area residents.

Once the reviews are completed, Met Council will be eligible for a letter of no prejudice from the FTA. That letter is required before Met Council can award the civil construction contract.

In addition to mitigating environmental impacts, Met Council also must deal with the wall’s potential to alter a railroad corridor considered historically significant.

Known as the Wayzata Subdivision, it is part of a much longer railroad corridor a Minnesota Department of Transportation report concluded could be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

involved in advanced design work on the project, a violation of FTA rules meant to ensure fair competition.

“Rebidding will allow us to clarify responsiveness issues, as well as to address potential cost issues,” Tchourumoff said in September.

When it announced the extended deadline for the second round, a Met Council statement noted some changes to the bidding process were meant to address “concerns raised by the contracting and engineering

communities.” Those changes include shifting the testing and inspection responsibilities previously included in the contract.

Met Council now plans to issue a separate request for proposals for quality management services. The agency’s announcement noted the Minnesota Department of Transportation takes a similar approach to projects, adding that the “approach allows for more flexibility, allowing more subcontractors to propose.”

Met Council plans to award a quality management services contract before construction begins. But just when the agency could finally break ground on the project may not be clear until after the environmental reviews are complete.

“Once the environmental process is complete, we’ll have a more fully informed picture of the overall impact to the project’s schedule and its milestones,” the Met Council statement said.

State Rep. Paul Torkelson, a Hanska Republican who chairs the House Transportation Committee, said he was “encouraged” that Met Council was taking steps to open the process to more contractors in a statement issued Tuesday. But Torkelson, a prominent critic of both Met Council and SWLRT, also used the opportunity to describe the project’s planning process as “profoundly expensive and chaotic.”

“The Met Council is facing a projected budget deficit, and every option — including halting operations on SWLRT — should be on the table,” he wrote.

A view of the bicycle and pedestrian path that runs parallel to the existing freight rail tracks in the Wayzata Subdivision.

Submitted photo

Addressing contractor concerns This is the second round of bidding after the Met Council rejected all four civil construction bids submitted late this summer for the SWLRT project, a planned 14.5-mile extension of the METRO Green Line to Eden Prairie. At the time, Tchourumoff said the bids, ranging from $796.5 million to nearly $1.1 billion, were too high.

A Met Council statement also cited “responsiveness issues” in all four of the bids submitted in the first round. It appeared that the bids for civil construction all included subcontractors that had been

Public Safety Update

By Michelle Bruch / mbruch@southwestjournal.com

Woman in recovery after Dec. 13 stabbing An unknown suspect attacked a CARAG neighborhood resident walking on the 3100 block of Fremont in an attempted robbery the evening of Dec. 13.

According to a GoFundMe page for victim Morgan Evenson, she was walking eight blocks home when a man exited a car, chased her and tackled her to the ground.

“Morgan was strong and fought with her assailant — clawing, kicking and fighting for her life,” states the post, which described 14 stab wounds to the face, arm, neck and back.

Nearby resident Seth Viebrock heard a woman screaming. He said he ran outside and yelled: “Stop that,” and the suspect ran down 32nd Street. He and other neighbors applied pressure to the bleeding, wrapped Evenson in a blanket and set pillows behind her back.

“She was concerned about getting blood on my couch,” Viebrock said.

Police said they haven’t made any arrests.

Police described the suspect as a man in his early 20s, about 5 feet 7 inches with a light build, wearing an “Army green colored jacket and gray stone washed jeans.”

Robbery incidents year-to-date in Southwest Minneapolis’ 5th Precinct are down 7.9 percent from 2016 and up 12.6 percent from 2015. Crime Prevention Specialist Jennifer Neale said the incident does not represent a pattern of activity police are seeing.

“We’re still scratching our heads about it, because it’s just so brazen,” Neale said, noting the early time of day, shortly before 8:30 p.m., and the level of violence used to get a purse.

Resident Phyllis Wright, who was among the neighbors who ran to help Evenson, said she’s always been a city dweller and feels her neighborhood is largely quiet.

“I’ll tell you, these streets are really dark though,” she said.

“I haven’t really felt unsafe until this happened, and I have been very freaked out, to be honest,” said resident Jordan Schouweiler who also came outside and called 911. “… I’ve been a lot more cautious about everything — walking to my car, walking out in the area.”

She said better lighting might be an improvement, because she couldn’t see the attacker well enough to describe him to police. She’s also interested in becoming more involved with the neighborhood association.

“This could happen anywhere in the city,” said Viebrock, who noted that the suspect arrived in a car. “… I don’t feel any different about the safety of the neighborhood.”

The GoFundMe page said Evenson was readmitted to the hospital Dec. 19 to monitor her fever and blood pressure.

The fundraiser has so far raised more than $15,000 to help cover medical bills.

Viebrock said he’s happy that Evenson is okay. He and Wright are planning a dinner with Evenson and her fiancé, he said.

Anyone with information on the incident can text an anonymous tip to 847411 (TIP411) or call the MPD TIP Line at 692-TIPS (8477).

A20 December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 / southwestjournal.com

2017—The Year in Photos

Medaria Arradondo, the city’s first black chief of police, was sworn in Sept. 8.

Julia Peacock submitted this photo of a summer storm as seen from west of Lake Calhoun, where neighborhoods have experienced a wave of development.

President Donald Trump’s January inauguration prompted protests in Minneapolis, including this march down Nicollet Avenue.

Customers flipped through new arrivals a few weeks before Treehouse Records’ Dec. 31 closing.

Jacob Frey answered a reporter’s questions on election night.

He was named winner of the 2017 mayoral contest the following day.

Supporters of a municipal minimum wage celebrated inside City Hall after the measure was approved by the City Council in June.

southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 A21

Nicollet Mall was “substantially complete” in time for its November reopening. This lantern was among the new features.

Former Police Chief Janeé Harteau resigned July 21 after an officer-involved shooting.

Navy rescue divers placed a wreath in the Mississippi River about a month before the 10-year anniversary of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse.

Nice Ride MN, operator of the city’s bike share program, began a public conversation about dockless bike share this summer.

Fans of the actress left flowers at the base of her statue when Mary Tyler Moore died in January.

A “read-in” was held in advance of a City Council vote in March to allow demolition of writer Brenda Ueland’s former home in Linden Hills.

Hundreds gathered at the Lake Harriet Bandshell in August to celebrate the life of Justine Damond, who was shot by a Minneapolis police officer after calling 911.

Don Damond prepared to speak publicly after his fiancée Justine’s death July 15.

A22 December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 / southwestjournal.com

Circus arts classes offer fun and fitness.

The circus is in town Thanks to a growing aerial arts community, locals are picking up skills typically reserved for the circus

By Eric Best / ebest@southwestjournal.com

Meg Elias-Emery looks on as a young student climbs three times her height up a silk rope to perform a star drop. She wraps herself in the fabric before extending out each limb, quickly twirling down and hanging in mid-air.

Elias-Emery has taught countless kids and adults the same maneuver, and many others, as the founder of Xelias Aerial Arts School, a nonprofit that serves more than 300 students in Northeast Minneapolis. As the circus arts family grows, more and more people of all ages are taking up flips, jumps and twirls of aerial arts and acrobatics. And, unlike Elias-Emery, most didn’t grow up in a family of circus performers.

“I have people who sit in an office all day and people who are Pilates or dance instructors.

Everyone is here differently,” she said.

Elias-Emery founded Xelias more than a decade ago, borrowing the name of the school from an old circus performance troupe of hers, which combined her last name with the heroine of “Xena: Warrior Princess.”

Back then, the professional aerial arts performer was clad in a fur getup and performing around the world. Now she splits her time teaching kids as young as 4 at Xelias and working with young adults at the University of Minnesota to perform on trapeze, ropes, silks and hoops, also known as lyra.

A performer on ropes.

Many of her students are kids looking for outlets beyond the traditional team sports. There are also adults who saw a Cirque du Soleil show and got the itch to try it out for themselves.

Circus arts have become a hobby, even a parttime or full-time job, for many. They learn their skills at the many studios scattered throughout downtown and Northeast Minneapolis.

“When I started circus, you had to be born into a circus family or have some sort of connection. … But there’s so much going on right now,” she said. “It is a very theatrical outlet for people.”

Gaining popularity Cheryl Birch saw Cirque du Soleil when she was 12 and had to try it out. It started with contortion and a workshop at Circus Juventas, a youth performance school in St. Paul, and, since then, she’s learned circus arts and new practices like aerial yoga that combine fitness and performance art.

Birch is now an instructor at Northeast’s Dollhouse Pole Dance Studio and Rabbit Hole Studios, a performance art space run by the Minneapolis Performing Arts Cooperate.

She’s developed her own personal brand while making a living between teaching, personal training and performing at private events, nightclubs and shows.

“A nightclub is really cool to begin with, [but] if you’ve got people breathing fire or flying around in the air, that’s even cooler,” she said. “It makes something more high-end. It’s like ‘Ooh, we’re in Vegas.’ ” If would-be circus performers don’t get attracted to aerial arts while seeing a show, there are several studios in Northeast Minneapolis that draw them in through a good workout.

At the Aviary, Christine Longe’s aerial fitness gyms in Marcy-Holmes and Minnetonka, patrons use silk hammocks attached to the ceiling to build strength. Longe, a student at Xelias almost a decade ago, said their fitness program attracts people who are looking to try something beyond what’s available in the typical fitness studio. They primarily focus on the workout, but the Aviary has workshops to introduce people to silks and a rare program focused on bungee, a form of acrobatics that has been gaining in popularity in the past two years.

While on the fringe of the local aerial arts

Aerial arts and acrobatics classes offer experiences beyond what can be found in the typical gym.

Submitted photos

community, Longe said the Aviary’s patrons have gone on to practice at other studios.

“I’ve actually seen some of my own students at Xelias, so I know it’s happening,” she said. “It’s always fun to see people catch the itch.”

From fitness to circus Even hobbyist aerial performers have venues to perform in Northeast Minneapolis.

Jac Fatale is the owner of both ExperTease Fitness and Minnsky Theatre, which combined create a school and a stage for locals to learn circus and vaudeville skills and immediately perform them for an audience in as little as eight weeks. Her Near North-based, 18-plus school, which she plans to move next March to the Thorp Building on Central Avenue Northeast, teaches roughly 250–300 students in things like belly dancing, trapeze, lyra and burlesque.

Northeast was a natural choice for her to open the two businesses, she said, because of the high ceilings necessary for circus performances. Having their own vaudeville stage gives students a chance to put the performance in performance art.

“Who wants to learn to fly on a trapeze and

not show everybody?” she said. “There’s something unbelievably fun about running away to the circus.”

In recent years, she said the local circus community has opened to a new tier of performer: the amateur. A large number of her students are people who don’t take up highflying skills or acrobatic maneuvers until well into adulthood. From a fitness or dance class, “it’s a surprisingly short hop, skip and jump to go to circus,” Fatale said.

“Some people take it one time and they feel great about themselves and some people stay with it. We have students who are in their seventh year with us,” she said.

Though there’s a concentration of studios and places to perform in downtown and Northeast Minneapolis, Birch said there isn’t competition among them. Birch said she describes her relationship with other performers as a sisterhood, though the women-dominated industry is open to all genders, because each student, instructor or performer takes a risk in flipping, tumbling and putting themselves into the art.

“I wouldn’t be so attached if there wasn’t such a community,” she said. “You don’t really see it anywhere else.”

southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 A23

News

By Michelle Bruch / mbruch@southwestjournal.com

Nonprofit explores campaign to save Kateri Residence There is a chance that Kateri Residence, a transitional housing program focused on Native American women in recovery, won’t close this summer as planned.

St. Stephen’s Human Services previously announced a decision to close the apartment building at 2408 4th Ave. S., citing difficulties with funding and challenges treating chemical dependency. The decision prompted the resignation of board member Edward Murphy, who said closing should be a “very last resort.”

One Kateri resident who declined to provide her name said the decision to close in June felt like short notice.

“It’s saved a lot of lives and families,” she said.

Women who are fighting addiction can live at Kateri and get their kids back, she said. Many women come to Kateri from reservations and don’t have many personal resources, she said.

Now staff members at the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center (MIWRC) are interested in taking over the program.

“The work they are doing fits within our mission, so it’s definitely viable. It really is going to be a matter of whether the funds can be raised, and I think they can,” said Patina Park, MIWRC executive director. “I think there is enough people who don’t want to see that program go away and understand how vital

The work they are doing fits within our mission, so it’s definitely viable. It really is going to be a matter of whether the funds can be raised, and I think they can.

— Patina Park, MIWRC executive director

The Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center may take over Kateri Residence, which had been slated to close next summer in Whittier. Photo by Michelle Bruch

it is. Because what it comes down to is that’s providing housing for people who may be homeless without it.”

MIWRC is a nonprofit based in the Phillips neighborhood offering child advocacy and treatment for chemical dependency, mental health and trauma, among other services.

The nonprofit currently offers 13 Section 8 vouchers to subsidize apartments for families with children.

Nancy Cerkvenik, a former Kateri staff member, said she could understand funding becoming a challenge for Kateri.

“I was a bit shocked, but I was not really all that surprised,” she said of the decision to close.

She said Kateri is unique in that it provides space for women to reunify with their kids.

“This is a way for the whole family to heal

and become stable,” Cerkvenik said. “… There aren’t very many programs that help women with their kids.”

A nonprofit operated by St. Stephen’s Catholic Church opened Kateri in 1972, according to the City of Minneapolis, giving housing priority to Native American women who are pregnant, have small children or are exiting treatment or corrections. The program incorporates Native American culture, featuring a morning meditation with sage burning, as well as talking circles and mentorship by community elders.

“Things have changed in 44 years,” said Gail Dorfman, executive director of St. Stephen’s Human Services. “We’ve had a deficit for over a decade, but the gap was getting worse.”

The program costs about $650,000 annually

to operate, and the current funding gap is about $300,000, she said.

Dorfman said federal funding priorities have shifted away from transitional housing, and the program receives less money for chemical dependency programming and less from the state Department of Human Services. The building had been too crowded, and a decision to house fewer people led to fewer funding dollars, she added.

Even if funding came through, St. Stephen’s isn’t an agency focused on chemical dependency, Dorfman said, and it’s become clear that Kateri needs a better chemical dependency program.

“Our goal is not to lose this opportunity but have it become something else that works better, that still serves the Native American community,” Dorfman said.

St. Stephen’s announced that it would stop taking new residents Dec. 1. Kateri currently houses about four single adults and five families in three apartment units, Dorfman said.

Park said existing housing resources aren’t always adequate for Native American families who may have experienced homelessness over multiple generations and are facing an opioid crisis.

She said Kateri’s success is hard to track, but given the challenges, any success is noteworthy.

MIWRC has clients who live at Kateri, and Park said she’s seen them benefit from education on parenting and budgeting.

“As far as the community is concerned, the Kateri program is vital and has been successful,” she said.

She said MIWRC would continue discussing the program with St. Stephen’s after the holidays. The building needs at least $400,000 in repairs, Park said, including a roof replacement and plumbing work.

“It’s not 100 percent yet, but it seems doable,” she said. “We’ll just have to do some very intense fundraising at the beginning of the year.”

East Calhoun board opposes Sons of Norway project, redesign follows

Ryan Companies has reduced the height of a proposed building at 31st & Holmes in response to neighborhood concerns.

The City Planning Commission is expected to vote in the coming weeks on a proposal to build about 319 apartments, retail, a new headquarters for the Sons of Norway and four-season public space at 1455 W. Lake St. Image courtesy of East Calhoun Community Organization

Ryan Companies has revised a design for apartments and retail at 1455 W. Lake St., dropping a story from a building that would stand at the south end of the site.

Other design changes reduce the number of primary building materials, eliminate mansard roofs in favor of simpler roof lines and lighten a round “tower” at the corner of Lake & Humboldt to a buff brick with a Kasota stone base.

Ryan Companies Vice President Tony Barranco said the unit count would drop from 326 initially proposed to about 319.

The project would require city approval to rezone the southern portion of the site from R4 to R6 to allow more density.

Prior to the redesign, the East Calhoun Community Organization voted to oppose rezoning.

“In summary, residents of our neighborhood are very concerned with the proposed density of residents that this very large project would bring to the neighborhood. We are already experiencing excessive traffic and street parking and believe that the present R4 designation recognizes this reality,” states the board letter. “… While we understand that the development of this site is inevitable, we request that the city hold any developer to the current zoning, follow the Uptown Small Area Plan and ensure that there will be a thoughtful transition from the commercial district and commercial corridors into our neighborhood.”

To read the full letter and see updated project materials, visit: eastcalhoun.org/livibility-committee.

Southwest Journal December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018

Diners’ delight BEST NEW RESTAURANTS OF 2017

By Carla Waldemar

W

e welcome Dreamers here in Minneapolis, the kids of immigrants who deeply enrich our city.

We’re also the lucky winners from dreamers of another sort: the folks toiling in restaurants who yearn to open a café of their own or to improve upon their mission of providing hospitality to all who crave a tasty dinner in the hands of caring servers in an inviting site.

Their dreams are our gain, fellow diners, especially during the volatile past year, which spawned a host of fine new restaurants. (They were joined by a few wannabes that thought more of pleasing themselves than pleasing guests. But I digress…)

Here’s my list of the year’s top new restaurants serving the Journals’ neighborhoods, leading off with the one, back in June, I predicted would be the top choice of the year. And it is.

A colorful plate at Bardo, one of our Flavor columnist’s best new restaurants of 2017.

Submitted photos

It’s the Grand Café, revived this spring with new chef/owners, new menu, new décor — all of which combine to keep foodies purring. This round, the kitchen flourishes in the well-trained hands of Jamie Malone, who has cheffed in many fancy kitchens around town.

Fancy this one’s not, but oh so satisfying — from its pale pink walls (and matching water glasses) to the Dish of the Year, as far as I’m concerned. I’m talking about the foie gras mousse, of course. And the dessert of prunes — prunes, for heaven’s sake! — is equally divine.

3804 Grand Ave. | 822-8200 | grandcafemn.com

Next, continuing in no particular order, let’s start with the newly reinvented Corner Table. There’s a new chef de cuisine designing and preparing its innovative but homey menus, which have taken on a three-course, prix fixe format in the talented hands of Karyn Tomlinson.

I loved the duck confit and the sweet corn “risotto,” with its shout-out to Minnesota. Same for the duck breast, served with (what?) rye porridge.

Need I mention that every meal starts with complimentary hot popovers?

No, I didn’t think so.

4537 Nicollet Ave. S. | 823-0011 | cornertablerestaurant.com

SEE BEST NEW RESTAURANTS / PAGE B2

B2 December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 / southwestjournal.com

FROM BEST NEW RESTAURANTS / PAGE B1

Chef Remy Pettus escaped Corporate to work for himself (and the bank, I presume) and created Bardo in that softly swank Northeast dining room that once was Rachel’s. Just what Northeast needed: a niche of understated sophistication (plus charming outdoor patio) featuring a list of inviting entrees that include the diner-friendly option of ordering in half-portions.

Thus, I didn’t have to dither between the Skuna Bay salmon with celeriac puree and the duck breast with confit leg. I could just say yes to beef partnered with eggplant puree, burnt orange and chimichurri, following excellent gnocchi or agnoletti. See what I mean?

222 E. Hennepin Ave | 886-9404 | bardompls.com

Here’s another re-do. Sort of. Call it an add-on. Also call it a lot of fun.

That’s the new Café Alma, the youngest kid in Chef Alex Roberts’ brood — the spunkier new sib of mannerly Restaurant Alma adjoining it. Here you can drop in anytime — breakfast, lunch, dinner —a nd order simply a drink, a bowl of soup or a pastry rather than the full set menu next door.

Yet the kitchen’s just as addicted to doing well with the local sourcing of foods we love to eat. Small plates rule, like the lovely winter salad and spiritwarming tomato soup. The place opened in late 2016, but we’ll count it among 2017’s winners, because that’s when I got there. And because winner it is.

528 University Ave. SE | 379-4909 | almampls.com

Restaurants are opening in the North Loop as fast as you can say “converted warehouse.” Best of this year’s crop is Nolo’s Kitchen & Bar, occupying — OK, not a warehouse — a former hardware building, stylishly reclaimed in gleaming, sparkly white from tiled entry to lofty ceiling.

It’s the Cheers of the millennial achievers in the hood who gather round its huge, circular bar. The sweet thing is, the glitz and glamour rest upon a menu of items you actually crave to eat and don’t need a glossary to order.

Walleye fingers, for instance. A luscious avocado spread. Porchetta. Fries to die for (as your cardiologist will caution). And — get this — for dessert: milk and cookies. And doughnut holes.

Just bring your blankie and settle in.

515 Washington Ave. N | 860-6033 | noloskitchen.com

All dressed up and nowhere to go? Not to worry. The 510 Lounge — the once-venerable grande dame of fine dining — has undergone a soft makeover, retaining the lovely bones of its cocktail lounge and inviting a new generation of imbibers (and nibblers) to settle in.

Chef/patron Don Samuels has designed a limited edition of classy eats, starting with sublime oysters. Platters of cheese and charcuterie are as well curated as a gallery at the nearby Walker Art Center. Proceed to a strip loin or salmon, honoring a recipe from the “good old days.” And cocktails, of course, of the Fred & Ginger stripe.

510 Groveland Ave. | 315-5841 | 510mpls.com

Easy come, easy go. Then easy come again.

When Linden Hills’ Upton 43 left us waiting at the altar, sha-zam! Chef/ patron Daniel del Prado raced in with a ring and bouquet. Well, not really, but something far better — fresh, fresh seafood, done in the manner of his native Argentina, and lots of it.

That’s the welcome focus of Martina: Think scallops, calamari, tiger shrimp, Spanish mackerel. Even a combo of octopus and bone marrow, to give you talking points around the water cooler.

The room is pretty cool, too — all winter-white fringed by palm-like plants and an expanded bar. For extra credit, order the charred Brussels sprouts salad; it’s maybe the best dish on the menu.

4312 Upton Ave. S. | 922-9913 | martinarestaurant.com

The good news for 2018 is that already a crop of new cafes have newly opened or are on the drawing board. We won’t go hungry.

southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 B3

Mill City Cooks

Recipes and food news from the Mill City Farmers Market

Dressing up your oats

SQUASH AND OATMEAL ‘PORRIDGE’ Recipe by market chef Nettie Colón

S

teel cut oat breakfast bowls are one of the most popular trends for foodies and Instagramers right now, and it’s clear why. Flavorful combinations of seasonal ingredients are also packed with nutrients from the colorful topping down to the base: oats.

Steel cut oats (often called Irish or Scottish oats) differ from rolled oats and instant oatmeal in terms of nutrition, cooking time and texture. The differences are due to how much the whole oat berry (called a groat) is processed.

Steel cut oats are similar to rice in texture and some say in appearance too. They are made when oat berries are chopped into pieces and retain the most fiber and other whole grain nutrients.

Therese Moore of 3 Bear Oats. Submitted photo

Next, rolled oats are made when an oat berries are steamed and then pressed into flat discs. They have more surface area than their Irish cousins, so they cook faster than steel cut oats.

Lastly, we have instant oats, the most processed of the three. Instant oats are precooked and then pressed even thinner than rolled oats. Since they are so much thinner, the oats can’t retain their texture, and the resulting oatmeal is often mushy.

Mill City Farmers Market vendor Therese Moore hit the scene last winter with her sweet and savory steel cut oat business: 3 Bear Oats. After being inspired by savory steel cut oatmeal restaurant on a trip to New York City, Therese decided she needed to bring the trend home to the cereal capital of the country.

Based on the classic story of Goldilocks, 3 Bear Oats’ breakfast bowls come in three sizes, baby, mama and papa, and are available to eat at the market or to take home. They feature traditional flavors like apple and cinnamon, unique combinations like ginger and curry and, my personal favorite, the Petite Canadien with bacon, cheddar cheese and maple syrup. Therese sources all her toppings from fellow vendors at the Mill City Farmers Markets or from local food co-ops.

You can find 3 Bear Oats at the Mill City Farmers Market’s upcoming indoor winter markets on Jan. 13 and Jan. 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The indoor winter market host about 40 local farmers, food makers and artists inside the Mill City Museum, 704 S. 2nd St., on select Saturdays November through April.

Learn more at millcityfarmersmarket.org.

Ingredients 1 teaspoon coconut oil or butter ½ cup steel cut oats 2 cups water ⅓ cup of squash puree (use any squash that you would like, but be wary of the drier squashes) 1– 2 tablespoons coconut milk (or any nondairy or dairy milk you prefer) ½ tablespoon grated ginger 1 tablespoon chia seeds A pinch of sea salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon ½ tablespoon shredded coconut 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup (can use less to make it less sweet) A pinch of cardamom Suggested toppings Pick and choose from these or anything else you have in the pantry! Nettie’s favorite combination is apples or pears, bacon and pumpkin seeds.

• Sliced apples or pears • Pomegranate seeds

• Chopped almonds • Pumpkin Seeds

Directions In a small pot, heat coconut oil or butter over medium heat. Add oats and toast until fragrant, around 5 minutes. Add water and cook until done. Stir in squash puree, coconut milk, ginger, chia seeds and salt.

Add the cinnamon, coconut flakes, honey or maple syrup and cardamom. Check for seasoning and adjust to your desired flavor.

Turn off the heat and portion into bowls. Top with toppings of your liking and enjoy.

— Jenny Heck

Blood drive sponsored by

Come donate with us.

The Journal and Southwest Journal are sponsoring a blood drive.

Thursday, January 4 | 9AM–3PM Minnesota Premier Publications (MPP), 1115 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55403 (Look for the American Red Cross Bus across the street)

Note: All presenting donors will receive a free gift!

For an appointment, please visit www.redcrossblood.org and search sponsor code MPP

New “RapidPass” Available!

Make your appointment and visit

redcrossblood.org/RapidPass to complete your health history BEFORE you come to the blood drive!

(Must be completed same day as drive.)

American Red Cross DTJ 121417 H2.indd 1

11/6/17 4:39 PM

B4 December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 / southwestjournal.com

Gadget Guy

By Paul Burnstein

Putting the Nest Cam Indoor to the test

S

ecurity cameras are increasing in popularity and becoming easier and easier to set up.

I hear a lot of chatter around them, especially from users who want to track if someone breaks into their home (obviously) or simply to watch pets at home alone. I used to use mine to check in on the kids with a babysitter (always letting the babysitter know that we had cameras in the house).

Verizon Wireless recently loaned me a Nest Cam Indoor to try out. It is a small device that I was able to set up in minutes.

It takes a bit of time to register for Nest, but then you scan a QR code on the back of the camera and the smartphone (or tablet) app does most of the work to get you set up. Make sure you have your wireless password available.

The camera itself records video in 1080p HD, and it looks great. I set it up in my living room, and it picks up a nice wide angle (130 degrees) of the room.

There is two-way audio as well, which allows you to, say, talk to a pet in the room that you are keeping an eye on. However, I did not find the audio to be very clear during my testing.

Nest Cam Indoor also has night vision, which is essential for any security-type camera.

One thing it is lacking is the ability to control the direction of the camera. If you wanted a different angle, you would have to physically reposition the camera. You can,

however, pinch to zoom-in on a specific area.

Where the camera really shows its intelligence is that it can track your phone’s location via a geofence to recognize when you leave or return home (optional) and will only turn on monitoring when you are out. What I mean by monitoring is that it has a great feature that provides you with notifications when it notices movement in the room. Again, this is an opportunity to speak into the room if there is motion you are unfamiliar with.

After playing around with the scheduling feature, I set some automatic times to reactivate the camera overnight while I was sleeping, even though the location of my phone was home, and I like that it does that.

I was out to dinner with some friends, and I received a notification that there was movement in the room. I jumped to the app to see who this intruder may be, only to learn that the culprit was my robot vacuum (Eufy RoboVac 11) doing its job cleaning the room. I thought it was pretty cool that it picked up that movement.

For a subscription fee, Nest will save your activity for either 10 or 30 days of 24/7 recording so that you can look back at your activity. I imagine this would be very helpful while traveling or if you owned a storefront.

At around $200, the Nest Cam is not the cheapest camera out there, but it is not the most expensive to offer security features

SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL

It’s not the cheapest security camera on the market, but the Nest Cam Indoor is easy to install and get up-andrunning quickly.

Photo courtesy Nest

either. The notifications seem to be pretty accurate, other than light triggering a false positive once in a while, such as a car driving by and lights shining through a window.

All in all, I like the camera and would recommend it as an easy one to install and have up-and-running quickly. Let me know if you try one out and what you think.

Paul Burnstein is a Tech Handyman.

As the founder of Gadget Guy MN, Paul helps personal and business clients optimize their use of technology. He can be found through gadgetguymn.com or via email at paul@gadgetguymn.com.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Soaking spots 6 Wile E. Coyote’s supplier of iron bird seed 10 Car ad no.

14 Cry during a winning streak 15 Stick in one’s __: cause resentment 16 Home furnishings giant 17 Delayed show of surprise 19 River sediment 20 “Happy Motoring” company 21 Philosopher Descartes 22 “Hamlet” courtier 23 “Frumious” beast in “Jabberwocky” 26 Suave 29 Long, wriggly swimmers 30 “Rock-a-bye Baby” tree limb 31 “From the __ of Montezuma ... ” 34 Q’s neighbor, on most keyboards 37 Tolkien creature 38 Cosmetic surgery that removes bags 40 Program file ending 41 NFL official 42 Graphic showing 50 sts.

43 Central Florida city 45 To be, to Caesar 47 Wound like S-curves 48 Eight-ball call 53 Stubble remover 54 Big name in skin care 55 Playbill listings 59 “Am __ early?”

60 Indicate willingness

to date someone, on Tinder ... and an apt hint to the last part of 17-, 23-, 38- and 48-Across 62 Transmitted 63 Actress Campbell 64 Word before and after “de la” 65 Quarry 66 Tram loads 67 Madison Ave. pro

DOWN 1 __ one’s time: wait 2 “Famous” cookie man 3 Therefore 4 Large, bindle-shaped purse 5 Abbr. on a Cardinal’s cap 6 Performed on stage

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7 “Whooping” marsh bird 8 Manufacturer 9 Flock female 10 Mass book 11 Beef often used in stir-fry 12 Thing of the past 13 Pothole repair 18 Fish-eating bird 22 Brit’s 14-pound equivalent 24 Busch partner in beer 25 Starter starter 26 Lyft competitor 27 Playbill listing 28 Minimal-conflict area 31 Garment border 32 First state, alphabetically: Abbr.

33 Impudence

35 Rod between wheels 36 Necklace sphere 39 River of Flanders 44 __ seat: advantageous spot 46 High-and-mighty 47 Breed of terrier 48 Fruity dessert 49 Wild West film 50 Remote button 51 Fruit that’s black when fully ripe 52 Lighthouse locales 56 Disney CEO Robert 57 “Good heavens!”

58 Part of a recovery program 60 __-Caps: candy 61 Color TV pioneer Crossword answers on page B7

12/22/17 11:55 AM

southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 B5

Beyond the binary ‘TransFabulous’ gallery at downtown library

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@southwestjournal.com

The world is set up in a binary way, artist grey doolin said, so that trans people don’t often see themselves reflected.

An exhibit at Minneapolis Central Library is aiming to help change that.

“TransFabulous: Beyond the Binary” opened Dec. 3 in the Cargill Hall gallery in the downtown library. It features 39 pieces of artwork created by artists who identify as transgender or gender nonconforming.

The exhibit shows the diversity of the trans community, said Ray Lockman, community engagement librarian at Minneapolis Central.

It also provides affirmation to the trans community, which often isn’t represented in the world.

“What we heard is that it was powerful — and in some cases healing — to have a venue and a visible venue, and with institutional support, too,” Lockman said. “People were amazed that it was being shown here.”

“TransFabulous” is in its second year as an exhibit. Hennepin County Library has also hosted a series of “TransFabulous” art workshops for adults and teens, led by transgender and gender nonconforming artists.

The curators of the exhibit accepted varying styles of art, from paintings to greeting cards and fiber art. The only guideline was that the artists should be trans or gender noncon-

IF YOU GO: “TransFabulous: Beyond the Binary” What: An exhibit of works by local artists who identify as transgender or gender nonconforming When: Now through Jan. 5 Where: Cargill Hall gallery (second floor) at Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall The gallery is free and open to the public.

We’re able to serve everyone better when things like this are welcomed and included in what we do.

— Ray Lockman, community engagement librarian at Minneapolis Central Library

Community Engagement Librarian Ray Lockman (left) and artist grey doolin helped coordinate the “TransFabulous: Beyond the Binary” exhibition at Minneapolis Central Library.

Photo by Nate Gotlieb

forming themselves, Lockman said.

The idea, they said, was that the artists should be able to tell their own stories and give their own perspectives.

People with privilege and normative people see themselves reflected in the world, doolin said. But trans people constantly have to make space for themselves, from places like bathrooms to offices and art galleries, they said.

It sends a powerful message to have an exhibit like “TransFabulous” so visible and centrally located, Lockman and doolin said.

Nicole Vanderheiden, chief administrator of the organization Transforming Families, a nonprofit that supports transgender and

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gender nonconforming youth and their families, said the exhibit can help people understand that trans identities are diverse. Transforming Families is co-presenting the exhibit with Hennepin County Library.

There are a lot of tropes, or stereotypes, when it comes to the trans community, and most are discriminatory, Vanderheiden said. But the trans community in reality has great racial and ethnic diversity as well as diversity in gender, she said.

“Trans doesn’t mean one thing and encompass one set of feelings and identities,” Lockman said, “but it means infinite things depending on who you ask.”

Lockman noted how the curators were careful to have an artist’s statement accom-

pany each piece. That statement gives part of the story behind the art, which they said is part of the lesson.

“Sometimes there’s a lot of exhibitionism or tokenism around trans people,” doolin said.

“So what I like about this, too, is that you get to see the world as sort of told by or experienced by this artist.”

Lockman said their favorite part of the exhibit is how the works talk to each other.

The curators were careful about how they placed the works, they said, to create a flow and conversation between pieces.

“The video speaks to the music, speaks to the fiber, speaks to the photography,” Lockman said, “so it’s like everything is bouncing off each other.”

“TransFabulous” is funded for another two years through Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Lockman said they feel lucky to work for the Hennepin County Library, adding that the library is turning more toward authentically engaging communities and allowing communities to reflect themselves.

“I think we’re doing that better and better, and that’s personally and professionally rewarding and meaningful to me,” they said.

“We’re able to serve everyone better when things like this are welcomed and included in what we do.”

B6 December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 / southwestjournal.com

Get Out Guide.

By Jahna Peloquin

OUT THERE 2018 For four weekends every January, the Walker Art Center’s annual Out There festival showcases some of the best experimental theater and performance happening around the world.

This year’s 30th-anniversary edition kicks off with Teatro el Público’s “Antigonón, un contingente épico,” an internationally acclaimed new work by provocative Havanian director Carlos Diaz and inventive young playwright Rogelio Orizondo that confronts the tyrannical themes of “Antigone” and Cuba’s tumultuous history with sharp humor, absurd costumes and exuberant physicality (Jan. 4–6).

When: Jan. 4–27 Where: Walker Art Center, 725 Vineland Place/The Soap Factory, 514 2nd St. SE

Additional performances at the Walker include “Mercurial George,” the debut solo work by Montreal-based choreographer and performance artist Dana Michel that explores the concept of identity with minimalist movement as she digs through random heaps of debris onstage (Jan. 11–13); “The Fever”

by New York–based theater company 600 Highwaymen, which examines personal and collective responsibility (Jan 18–20); and “Real Magic,” an absurdist, unconventional performance work by UK theater company Forced Entertainment that’s one part cabaret act, one part game show (Jan. 25–26). The festival concludes with Forced Entertainment’s “Quizoola!” at the Soap Factory, a six-hour interactive performance (Jan. 27 from 4–10 p.m.)

Cost: $25 ($20 members) per show Info: walkerart.org

‘SPIT SHADE’ While many people view tattoos merely as a form of rebellion or self-expression, tattooing is an art form with a more than 1,000-year history. In the past decade, the art form is starting to become embraced by the fine art world. Prestigious art institutions such as the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris have taken note, presenting exhibitions that explore tattooing as an artistic medium. The art form is being celebrated on a local level with “Spit Shade,” an exhibition of original artwork created by Minneapolis tattoo artists Lindsee Boyer and Nate Vincent Szklarski presented by Gamut Gallery. The show broadens the scope of tattoo art, featuring works that experiment and innovate with the art form and explore other media and inspirations while retaining the spirit of tattoo art. The opening night reception doubles as the official opening for the Minneapolis Tattoo Arts Convention, Jan. 5–7 at Hyatt Regency Minneapolis.

Art by Anthony Elliot

When: Jan. 4–20; opening reception: Jan. 4, 7 p.m.–11 p.m.; closing reception: Jan. 20, 5 p.m.–8 p.m.

Where: Gamut Gallery, 717 10th St. S. Cost: Free; $5 for opening reception Info: gamutgallerympls.com

‘KRISTIE RETZKE: ‘RHINOCEROS’ COAL ROOM’ On a typical morning in a small American Minneapolis conceptual realist painter and sculptor Kristie Bretzke has been an artist-in-residence at the Kunstlerhaus in Salzburg, Austria; the Centre d’Art-Marnay Art Centre in Marnay sur Seine, France; and Palazzo Rinaldi in Noepoli, Italy. But it was the light found in the humble basement coal room at an artist retreat on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland that inspired “Coal Room.” The quietly introspective series of figurative portraits demonstrates Bretzke’s expertise in using light in her pensive works to evoke emotion and mood. While straightforward and classical in the tradition of the great masters, Bretzke’s slightly voyeuristic perspective and contemporary subjects lend the works in “Coal Room” a strikingly modern feel.

When: Jan. 8–Feb. 16; public reception Feb. 1, 6 p.m.–7:30 p.m.

Where: Traffic Zone Gallery at Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art, 250 3rd Ave. N. Cost: Free Info: trafficzoneart.com

town, a rhinoceros charges down the street — to the alarm of no one except for Berenger. As he watches his fellow townspeople spontaneously transform into a herd of raging rhinos, he experiences a transformation of his own, from an apathetic alcoholic to the savior of humanity.

“Rhinoceros,” Eugène Ionesco’s classic absurdist parable of social conformity and human nature, was written in 1959 in reaction to the totalitarian ideologies of the mid-20th century, with rhinoceroses serving as an allegory for the rise of fascism and herd mentality. Against the backdrop of increasingly fractured politics and “fake news,” the provocative, funny play is as relevant (and frightening) as ever. This staging by Theatre in the Round takes advantage of the century-old playhouse’s central arena stage in which the audience surrounds the actors on all sides, further immersing the viewer into the action.

When: Jan. 5–28 Where: Theatre in the Round, 245 Cedar Ave. S. Cost: $22 (discounts available) Info: theatreintheround.org

LAND O’LAKES KENNEL CLUB ALL-BREED DOG SHOW More than 2,000 purebred canines and their handlers compete for American Kennel Club (AKC) awards every year at Land O’Lakes Kennel Club annual dog show. Top dogs from as many as 192 breeds will be judged in a series of obedience and rally competitions throughout the three-day event. Dog lovers should be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to pet their favorite pooches at a “meet the breeds” event (Jan. 6 and 7, 10:30 a.m.–2 p.m.). The show also includes behind-the-scenes tours, a showcase of search-and-rescue dogs, demonstrations from police dogs and assist dogs, a Midwest top junior handler competition and more than 70 vendors selling canine apparel, treats, toys and dog-inspired artwork.

When: Jan. 5–7, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. daily Where: Saint Paul RiverCentre, 175 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul Cost: $9 ($7 seniors & veterans, $5 kids 5–12)

southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 B7

NYE Highlights

‘Happy Crazy New Year 7’: For seven years running, Dangerous Productions’ year-end farce — one part performance, one part party — has been storming Twin Cities theaters with its madcap blend of physical comedy, over-the-top characters, dancing, dogs and audience interaction.

Just about every venue in town hosts festivities for New Year’s Eve. Here are some of the most unique ways to ring in the New Year in Minneapolis, from interactive theater to a bash at a quirky, country club-inspired eatery.

2018

When: Dec. 29–31 at 9:30 p.m. nightly Where: Phoenix Theater, 2605 Hennepin Ave. Cost: $18 ($13 students/kids) Info: phoenixtheatermpls.org New Year’s Noire: Get a sultry start to the New Year with this show produced by Minneapolis burlesque darling Elektra Cute.

It features burlesque performances by international burlesque icon Perle Noire along with her troupe, the House of Noire, and NYC– based performers, Poison Ivory and Pearls Daily, plus a different lineup of local favorites each night and host, Nadine DuBois.

When: Dec. 28–31 at 8 p.m. nightly (7 p.m. doors) Where: The Lab Theater, 700 N. 1st St. Cost: $20–$60.

Info: thelabtheater.org Betty Danger’s New Year’s Eve Gold Party: Toast to the new year at this glam, disco-themed party hosted by quirky country club-inspired eatery, Betty Danger’s, home to a festively lit 60-foot vintage Ferris wheel. A ticket includes sets from DJ Shiek, three specialty cocktails, complimentary champagne toast and Ferris wheel rides.

Psycho Suzi’s New Year’s Eve: Celebrate the New Year at Minneapolis’ favorite tiki bar. A Polynesian Passport includes four cocktails — including Suzi’s famous tiki drinks — tunes from DJ Strangelove and DJ Brownie, an unlimited photo booth, a champagne toast and kitsch galore.

When: Dec. 31, 8 p.m.–2 a.m.

Where: Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge, 1900 Marshall St. NE Cost: $45 Info: eventbrite.com Down the Rabbit Hole NYE at Hewing Hotel: The Northwoods-inspired boutique hotel built inside an 1897-era warehouse is hosting an “Alice in Wonderland”-themed party featuring acrobats, contortionists, live performances by neo-soul singer Sarah White and a Mad Hatter tea party. A ticket includes complimentary wine, beer, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.

When: Dec. 31, 9 p.m.–1 a.m.

Where: Betty Danger’s Country Club, 2501 Marshall St. NE Cost: $45 Info: eventbrite.com

When: Dec. 31, 9 p.m.–2 a.m.

Where: Hewing Hotel, 300 Washington Ave. N. Cost: $100 Info: eventbrite.com

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southwestjournal.com / December 28, 2017–January 10, 2018 B9

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