Chino Latino, Apple store close in Uptown PAGE A4 • Apartment approved on Curran’s site PAGE A7 • School start times may change PAGE A8
Vol. 31, No. 22 October 29–November 11, 2020 southwestjournal.com
Hitting the polls early Neighborhood organizations work to get out the vote
Mike Seaworth drops off his ballot on Oct. 23 at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, one of 13 drop-off sites citywide. Photo by Isaiah Rustad
Southwest Journal to stop publishing at end of year It is with heavy hearts that we announce that, like many other community businesses, the Southwest Journal has been impacted by the pandemic. Our advertising sales are down this year and this latest decline follows a years-long loss in newspaper revenue. An additional factor in our decision to stop publishing is that we are ready to retire. For these reasons, the Dec. 17 issue will be our final publication. We have proudly served our community for over 30 years, building a 32,000-circulation newspaper from our Linden Hills kitchen in 1990, with the help of numerous Twin Cities journalists, artists, photographers, editors, administrative assistants and salespeople. The paper has always been free and home delivered, thanks to our advertisers, who have supported our model of community journalism for over three decades. We are extremely grateful to the dedicated readers who answered our call for donations and sent money over the past six months. Your letters lifted our spirits more than we can tell you. We also received a Paycheck Protection Program loan that got us through several months of expenses, but is running out. The Southwest Journal is being offered for sale and we would be happy to find a buyer who loves print as we do. Please see the ad on page A10 for details on how to contact our broker, Sunbelt. After this issue, we will no longer employ fulltime reporters. It’s a difficult decision and one we must make. We will continue with our full-time editor, Zac Farber, our longtime creative director, Valerie Moe, our stalwart distribution manager, Marlo Johnson, and our salesperson, Owen Davis. We are grateful to have such dedicated employees through this difficult transition.
By Andrew Hazzard
By the time in-person polls open on Tuesday, Nov. 3, more than half of registered voters in many Southwest Minneapolis precincts will have already cast their ballots. Through Oct. 26, more than 125,000 of the city’s 271,049 pre-registered voters had cast ballots, according to Minneapolis Election and Voter Services. Southwest’s Ward 13 leads the city with 58% of ballots returned, and more than 45% of registered voters from each ward in the Southwest area have cast their votes. SEE ELECTION / PAGE A11
— Janis Hall and Terry Gahan
A few cases, no outbreaks at private schools By Nate Gotlieb
None of Southwest Minneapolis’ five private schools — each of which started the year with an in-person or hybrid model — has yet appeared on the state’s list of schools facing COVID-19 outbreaks. Nor has Hennepin Elementary School, the only one of Southwest’s three charter schools to offer in-person instruction. The state defines an outbreak as five or more confirmed cases in a two-week period. The reopening of schools has been a hotbutton issue across the country, as public, charter and private schools look to balance safety with meeting the social, emotional and academic needs of students. The resumption of in-person classes at Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) remains under discussion. A nationwide August survey of public
school districts found that about 60% intended to hold some form of in-person classes to start the year. Meanwhile, over 80% of private schools were planning to offer in-person classes, though not necessarily full time, according to a different survey from the National Association of Independent Schools. While all five Southwest private schools have offered in-person classes, just one — Annunciation Catholic School in Windom — is offering full-time, in-person classes for all grades. Carondelet Catholic School, which has campuses in Linden Hills and Fulton, offers full-time, in-person classes for students in grades K-6. Lake Country School, a K-8 Montessori
A 9-year-old environmentalist PAGE A12
SEE SCHOOLS / PAGE A6
Southwest parks plan approved PAGE A13
Fourth grader Isaac Burgmaier and other students at Carondelet Catholic School were given lanyards at the start of the school year to avoid misplacing their masks. The private school has reported just one COVID-19 case in two months of in-person classes. Submitted photo
Fall poetry PAGE A14
Voices from the pandemic PAGE A18
A2 October 29–November 11, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
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By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com
SOUTH UPTOWN
The Beauty Lounge comes to 36th & Bryant Toi Cage and Raashida Shelton opened The Beauty Lounge, a health and wellness boutique at 36th & Bryant, in early October. Photo by Andrew Hazzard
Two Minneapolis women have opened a new boutique specializing in beauty and wellness products in South Uptown. The Beauty Lounge, a new venture from Toi Cage and Raashida Shelton, opened in early October in the former Bryant Community Room space at 36th & Bryant. Shelton, a full-time real estate agent, sells her curated collection of beauty products, decor and accessories. Cage makes essential oils and soaps. Most of her creations are known as Yoni products and are used to promote vaginal health using natural ingredients like olive oil, coconut oil and Vitamin E under her brand Sunflower Queen. The products are intended to improve hygiene and confidence, she said. “I’m promoting women to feel great and beautiful during intimacy,” Cage said. Shelton said it was important to create a store where Black women can buy products suited for their beauty needs, which she said isn’t always easy to find in the Twin Cities. “We have lacked products for our type of skin,” Shelton said.
Cage and Shelton met each other on a networking page for Black business owners and developed a quick bond and a shared vision for a retail space. Shelton was looking at the old community room at 36th & Bryant, a space Cage had previously toured on her own. Shelton, who lives nearby in Whittier, said she was attracted to the South Uptown area for its diverse demographics and old-school neighborhood feel. The two signed a lease in August and began updating the space to meet their needs. As the pandemic continued into the fall, they made the decision to officially open Oct. 1. “We took that leap of faith,” Shelton said. They hope the Beauty Lounge will become a destination shop in the area where women find unique, valuable products and feel comfortable. “I want to create a space where all are welcome and your wellness and beauty needs are met,” Shelton said. The Beauty Lounge Where: 3554 Bryant Ave.
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The mall at Lake & Hennepin has been renamed Seven Points Uptown and will aim to add more residential and office space. Submitted image
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The Hennepin Avenue Apple store will not reopen, which marks another national brand moving on from Uptown. The tech giant opened its first Minneapolis retail store at 3018 Hennepin Ave., the site of the former Uptown Bar, in 2010. The late 2000s and 2010s brought several national brands to Hennepin Avenue, including Victoria’s Secret, The North Face and Columbia Sportswear. Now, most of those shops have closed.
In a statement, Apple called the decision to close the Uptown store “difficult” and said employees have been offered other positions within the company. The store had been closed since the pandemic began in March. Apple Where: 3018 Hennepin Ave. Info: apple.com
UPTOWN
Chino Latino closes its doors After 20 years at the corner of Lake & Hennepin, Chino Latino’s glittering wall will lose its shine. The fusion restaurant that focused on flavors from around the equator and was known for its elaborate drink selection was permanently closed on Oct. 26, according to a spokesperson with parent company Parasole Restaurants. “There were a range of factors that [led] to our decision to close Chino, including the fact that the hospitality and retail scene in Uptown (specifically the corner of Lake and Hennepin) has changed dramatically over the last several years, making it challenging to deliver on the experience Chino and Parasole are renowned for,” spokesperson Kip Clayton said in statement. “This
combined with the impact of the pandemic [led] to our decision to close Chino.” The restaurant “had a great run,” Parasole said, and is a strong brand that the company may try to revive in the future. Parasole owns a number of restaurants in the area, including Manny’s Steakhouse, Good Earth and The Living Room. The company has closed two spots in Southwest Minneapolis in the past year: Libertine in Uptown and Burger Jones in Cedar-Isles-Dean. It continues to operate Salut Bar Americain at 50th & France. Chino Latino Where: 2916 Hennepin Ave. Info: parasole.com
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Chef Fernando Silva is used to tough winters at his Linden Hills restaurant The Harriet Brasserie, but he knows this year will be more challenging than ever. The restaurant won’t be facing that challenge alone. In mid-October, a neighbor launched a GoFundMe campaign seeking to raise $150,000 to help The Harriet Brasserie get by, and more than 120 people have already contributed more than $14,000 (tinyurl.com/ harrietgofundme). “People keep surprising us with their overwhelming support,” Silva said. The Brazilian chef opened the brasserie in 2011 with his wife, Kalinka, and has built it into a comfortable and popular neighborhood joint. He’s also very honest with friends and customers about how business is going, and with the COVID-19 pandemic, business has been tough. During the summer, the restaurant was doing well with what it could do — a busy patio service and takeout options — but when the cold hit in early October, business plummeted by about 75%, Silva said. The Small Business Administration loan he got in May is long used up, with no additional relief packages in sight. Meanwhile, the fixed costs of operating a restaurant remain the same. On Oct. 21, being his usually transparent self, Silva explained the situation to some neighbors and regulars. He woke up the next day to find those neighbors had created a GoFundMe campaign to help the restaurant. At first, he was reluctant to accept the help and a bit overwhelmed. “My story is exactly the same of many other people,” Silva said. “It’s hard to know how or when or if you could ask for help.” Since the campaign launched, he’s received countless messages from customers and colleagues in the industry. The support, he
Chef Fernando Silva of The Harriet Brasserie said he is overwhelmed by the support of neighbors and regulars seeking to help the restaurant. File photo
said, is well beyond financial and has inspired the staff to keep going. But the financial piece is important. Each winter, Silva said the restaurant loses about $100,000 due to general decline in business. But that’s usually offset by a much more bountiful summer that allows the restaurant to have a profitable year. But because of the pandemicinduced decline in business and temporary restaurant closure from the stay-at-home order, that cushion doesn’t exist this year. Still, Silva doesn’t intend to stop. He’s a cook and he wants to cook and create a place where people can gather for a good meal. With the GoFundMe campaign, it’s clear that many neighbors agree and their support might let the brasserie carry on. “I think people need restaurants to have meetings and celebrate life and you can’t quantify that,” Silva said. The Harriet Brasserie Where: 2724 W. 43rd St. Info: lakeharrietbrasserie.com
southwestjournal.com / October 29–November 11, 2020 A5
Reduced budget proposed for city reeling from pandemic By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com
The city of Minneapolis will be doing less with less in 2021 under a proposed budget that aims to maintain core services and continue investments in affordable housing while reeling from revenue losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic and damage sustained during the civil unrest. Mayor Jacob Frey has proposed a $1.47 billion budget for 2021 — a 6% decrease from an already diminished 2020 budget that had been revised down to account for massive revenue Mayor Jacob Frey losses brought on by the pandemic. “Under the weight of the pandemic and on the heels of civil unrest following George Floyd’s killing, our city’s finances are under severe duress,” Frey said. Minneapolis typically receives 55% of its revenue from parking, entertainment tax and other fees generated from hundreds of thousands of people coming to the city to work and recreate. The pandemic has decreased those funding sources by about 32%, Frey said, and the mayor does not want to offset those losses with a property tax increase. Furthermore, 2021 will see the city’s local government aid funding from the state drop by 5%, or $26 million. Frey is recommending the citywide hiring freeze continue and wants to incentivize early retirements for the oldest staff members. The mayor wants to boost affordable housing funding by $7 million, with additions to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and the transformation of the Stable Homes, Stable Schools initiative into a permanent program. Under the mayor’s proposal, all city departments outside of Health would see a decrease in funding. Major cuts would come from Community Planning and Economic Development (a 28% cut from $58 million to $41.7 million), Debt Service (a 20% cut from $151 million to $120.4 million) and the Minneapolis Convention Center (a 15% cut from $118.6 million to $100.5 million). The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) would see just a 7.4% cut under Frey’s proposal from $193 million to $178.7 million. The department’s funding has been the subject of much debate since Floyd’s death. Ultimately, the budget is controlled by the City Council, not the mayor, and it’s unclear how much the body will deviate from Frey’s recommendation. Addressing the City Council on Oct. 8, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said the department will be “one-dimensional” in 2021, needing to focus on only patrol and investigation while making major cuts to specialized crime-fighting units.
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Arradondo’s plan calls for no additional layoffs at the MPD but would leave many of the city’s police vacancies unfilled. There has been an “unprecedented” level of attrition since Floyd’s death and the subsequent civil unrest, Arradondo said. The department now has fewer than 750 sworn officers and is down to 531 officers who respond to calls for service, a decrease of 73 cops on the street. The chief said the attrition brings about $8 million in payroll savings but will require about $3 million in additional overtime costs to cover shifts. “The department is shrinking; that is true and that is significant,” Arradondo said. Some council members said the declining police force presents an opportunity to use a different response model to nonviolent calls while reserving police for more serious crimes. “I think it’s really important that our police department can focus on [preventing] violence,” said Council President Lisa Bender (Ward 10), who believes that, with fewer people coming to Minneapolis to work and play during the pandemic, the city should shift public safety resources to breaking cycles of retaliatory violence. Others felt that shift ignores the rise in violent and property crime the city has experienced in 2020. “People are afraid, and they want more public safety, not less,” said Council Member Lisa Goodman (Ward 7), who emphasized the importance of the “perception of safety.” Since Floyd’s death, groups of residents have pressured city officials to defund or make cuts to the MPD to fund a public safety program more oriented toward public health and to free up more money for housing and violence prevention. Many council members are keen on increasing alternatives to sending armed officers to nonviolent, non-emergency calls. “We all agree that policing isn’t the only solution to these issues,” Bender said. The council seemed receptive to Arradondo’s proposal to permanently fund the co-responder program, which pairs mental health professionals and officers responding to crisis calls. The program has previously been funded using one-time allocations; Arradondo is proposing $455,000 for the program on an annual basis and using an additional $230,000 in 2021 to hire six mental health professionals from Hennepin County. Council Members Linea Palmisano (Ward 13) and Cam Gordon (Ward 2) said they would like to see the co-responder program expanded further. The budget committee is continuing to hold meetings with department leaders through November and will amend the mayor’s proposal before approving a final plan in December.
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A6 October 29–November 11, 2020 / southwestjournal.com FROM SCHOOLS / PAGE A1
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program in Kingfield, had its first positive COVID-19 case over the weekend of Oct. 24. The students who shared a classroom with the person who tested positive are now learning from home, principal Ben Moudry said. At Carondelet Catholic School, which has a grades K-2 campus in Linden Hills and a grades 3-8 campus in Fulton, there was one positive COVID-19 case “about a month ago” at the upper campus, admissions director Megan Hower said. There have been no COVID-19 cases at Blake or the Hennepin charter, the schools reported. Annunciation Catholic School and City of Lakes Waldorf School didn’t respond to requests for information. The opportunity for in-person learning is what drew Armatage residents Tyler and Anna Dill to enroll their sons at Carondelet. Their sons, who are in kindergarten and second grade, began the year at the public magnet school Armatage Montessori, but Tyler Dill said they struggled with the all-virtual format. He said his second grader struggled at times to even log into his virtual classroom, which stressed him out. And online kindergarten wasn’t working well at all, he said. Dill said he’s noticed that his sons are happier and are learning more since they were enrolled at Carondelet, which offers daily in-person classes for students in grades K-6. While the Dills had been pleased with their experience at Armatage, Tyler Dill said he might want to keep his kids at Carondelet going forward. A big part of being in school is “being around other kids,” Tyler Dill said. “It’s hard to quantify that, but when you see the difference in how your kids are learning — those little changes in their mood and their positivity level — to me it’s a no-brainer that they have to be in person.” The Minneapolis school district has lost 1,700 students this year as of Oct. 20, including 900 beyond what it initially projected. A survey of MPS parents from October found that 29.5% of families would prefer full-time in-person school, 33.8% would prefer a hybrid model and 36.7% would prefer full-time distance learning. Some
parents have criticized the survey for lacking specifics about a potential hybrid model. A statewide teachers union survey from July found that 49% of educators thought that schools should be in full-time distance learning to start the year. The survey did not include teachers who work at private schools. Perhaps unsurprisingly, an October survey of Minnesota’s union educators found that staff teaching in-person classes feel less safe than those teaching remotely.
Minneapolis Public Schools
Many families and educators in MPS say they want more information about how decisions are being made. The district requires schools to hold realtime virtual classes each day that school is in session. It has announced that it will ramp up in-person services for students with higher needs, such as those who are homeless, have disabilities and need language services. But until October, it had not detailed the safety measures it would take in the event that it turns to a hybrid model. The district has not released daily attendance figures for remote learning. Incomplete week-to-week data show that most students are marked as “present” at least once each week. In the week of Oct. 12-16, for example, 88% of students had at least once positive attendance mark. Tired of long days in front of a computer screen and nights and weekends assisting families, the district’s teachers have announced that they will no longer work beyond their contracted school and preptime hours. They’re also asking the district to hold formal collective bargaining sessions around safety issues related to an in-person return. Union president Greta Callahan said formal bargaining would be a way to ensure safety in buildings. The district says it is working with its labor unions and following the guidance of state and national health experts. Additionally, district support staff continue to rally for hazard pay for the child care workers who are caring for the children of essential workers during school hours. Those workers were making an additional $5 an hour for the latter part of last spring but have returned to regular wages this fall.
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Hundreds of Minneapolis Public Schools educators rallied outside of Justice Page Middle School on Oct. 26 in support of the district’s child care workers, who want hazard pay for in-person work to be reinstated. Photo by Nate Gotlieb
southwestjournal.com / October 29–November 11, 2020 A7
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An 82-unit apartment building will rise on the Curran’s Restaurant site in Kingfield. Submitted image
The building that housed Kingfield’s beloved Curran’s Restaurant will be knocked down to make way for a five-story apartment building. The 72-year-old family-run business closed this summer due to COVID-19-related financial difficulties. Despite the pandemic, loyal customers and former employees traveled in August from as far as South Carolina for one last meal of hearty, griddle-heated fare. The apartment building that will replace Curran’s at 42nd & Nicollet is expected to open without retail, though a first-floor lobby and club room could be converted into commercial space should the need arise. The 82-unit apartment was approved unanimously by the Minneapolis Planning Commission on Oct. 19. It will have 37 lower-level parking spaces, a fitness center, a club room and a dog wash room. Plans for a rooftop patio pitched to neighbors this summer have been scrapped, and a small interior courtyard about the size of a studio apartment has been added. Natural light in nine of the building’s units will come only from windows facing the air shaft above that courtyard. Developer Alex Gese of LJG Investments hasn’t said how much units would rent for, but told the Star Tribune that they should be affordable to people who work in the service industry in the area. Gese hasn’t said how many units would be affordable to lowincome renters, and he hasn’t responded to requests for comment.
The Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit to rise to five stories and four variances, including one to reduce the minimum parking requirement to 37 spaces from 41 spaces. The Minneapolis 2040 plan earmarks all of Nicollet Avenue in Kingfield for increased density, calling for developments of between two and six stories. A six-story apartment will rise a half block to the south of Curran’s, at 4220-30 Nicollet, within the next year. The project for the Curran’s site faced relatively little opposition from neighbors at the October Planning Commission meeting, with a couple of nearby residents stating concerns that the building would make parking more difficult, hinder views and bring “gentrification.” There were also worries about the lack of retail in the project following the loss of Curran’s. “[It] was more than a restaurant,” neighbor Karen Winkler told the Planning Commission. “It was a gathering place, a community resource and even more than that, it was family.” Curran’s owner Dennis Curran — whose father, Mike, founded the restaurant as a drive-in in 1948 — agreed to sell the building to Gese for $760,000. The city’s permit requires that work be completed on the project by October 2022. Nate Gotlieb contributed reporting to this story.
Dennis Curran, whose father founded Curran’s Restaurant in 1948, agreed this summer to sell the restaurant’s 42nd & Nicollet building to developer Alex Gese for $760,000. Photo by Nate Gotlieb
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A8 October 29–November 11, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
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Schools Notebook
By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com
A new school day in Minneapolis
Teachers union contract approved
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Most Southwest Minneapolis elementary and middle schools would have new start times beginning in fall 2021 under a proposal being considered by Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) leaders. The proposal, unveiled this October, would change start and end times at 37 of 49 district elementary and middle schools, including 14 of 15 in Southwest Minneapolis. School days would continue to be 6 hours, 30 minutes. High schools might also have new start times, though the district has not announced school-by-school specifics beyond that four high schools would start at 8 a.m. and four would start at 8:40 a.m. Most MPS high schools currently start around 8 a.m., though Southwest and Washburn start at 8:30 a.m.
District leaders say late end times can be a barrier to participation in after-school activities and programs. They say the proposal is aimed at creating more equitable access to those programs while maximizing the transportation savings created by the Comprehensive District Design (CDD) restructuring plan. “When we go until 4:10 p.m. and the program doesn’t end until close to 6 p.m. and then students still need to ride the bus home, we’re really cutting into that family time,” senior operations officer Karen DeVet told the School Board. The proposal would generally concentrate earlier start times among the elementary schools with the highest levels of poverty. That would SEE START TIMES / PAGE A19
SCHOOL START TIMES COULD CHANGE Minneapolis school district leaders have proposed changing the start and end times of 37 elementary and middle schools, including 14 in Southwest Minneapolis. The changes would take effect in fall 2021. All school days would still be 6 hours, 30 minutes.
School
Grades
Current start
Proposed start
Minutes changed
Anthony
6-8
9:30 a.m.
8:40 a.m.
-50
Anwatin
6-8
9:30 a.m.
8:40 a.m.
-50
Justice Page
6-8
9:30 a.m.
8:45 a.m.
-45
Jefferson
K-8
9:30 a.m.
7:30 a.m.
-120
Armatage
K-5
7:30 a.m.
8:05 a.m.
35
Barton
K-5
8:40 a.m.
9:30 a.m.
50
Bryn Mawr
K-5
8:40 a.m.
7:30 a.m.
-70
Burroughs
K-5
9:10 a.m.
9:10 a.m.
0
Kenny
K-5
8:05 a.m.
9:30 a.m.
85
Kenwood
K-5
8:05 a.m.
9:30 a.m.
85
K-2/3-5
9:40 a.m.
9:15 a.m.
-25
Lyndale
K-5
8:40 a.m.
8:25 a.m.
-15
Whittier
K-5
9:40 a.m.
9:10 a.m.
-30
Windom
K-5
7:30 a.m.
9:30 a.m.
120
Lake Harriet Lower/Upper
Listed grade configurations reflect the Comprehensive District Design changes. Source: Minneapolis Public Schools
At its Oct. 13 meeting, the Minneapolis School Board approved a contract agreement with the district’s teachers union that will increase pay and make changes to the process of laying off teachers in the event of job cuts. The district began bargaining with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, Local 59 in February 2019. The new contract covers the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years. In Minneapolis, like many districts, teachers are paid based on their years of experience and educational attainment. For teachers in their first 11 years of the profession, the salary schedule generally includes an annual raise of between 1.6% and 11%. Teachers in year 11 and beyond generally receive a raise every three years. Teachers can also advance to a higher rung on the salary schedule by completing additional training or university courses. For the 2019-20 school year, teachers who were due for a raise because of additional years of experience saw that amount reflected in their paychecks. But because the new contract includes a 1% increase to the 2019-20 salary schedule, all teachers who were with the district last year will receive a one-time retroactive payment equal to 1% of last year’s salary. For the current school year, teachers who were due for a raise because of additional experience or education have already been seeing that in their paychecks. The new contract also includes a 1% increase to the 2020-21 salary schedule, so all teachers — including those not receiving a servicetime-related salary increase this year — will get a 1% pay bump. In the event of staffing reductions, teachers with fewer years in MPS would still generally be the first let go from a given school. But the contract gives the SEE UNION CONTRACT / PAGE A19
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Minneapolis Public Schools will collect fewer property tax dollars in 2021 than in 2020, officials have announced. The district’s 2021 levy, which will raise funds for the 2021-22 school year, will be at least 3.8% lower than the district’s 2020 levy of $232 million. Despite the decrease, it still will be the maximum levy allowed by the state.
The district’s property-tax levy covers everything from salaries to building projects and technology purchases. In 2018, Minneapolis voters approved an eight-year reauthorization of the levy that increased it to the maximum amount allowed by the state. A large reason for the decrease in 2021 is because of decreasing enrollment. Another
reason is because the district did not use all of the funds it raised from a 2014 bond sale. In the coming months, district leaders will begin crafting their 2021-22 budget. They’re planning to present the board with a first look at the 2021-22 budget next month. The district’s levy represents about 17%-20% of the overall tax levy in Minneapolis.
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southwestjournal.com / October 29–November 11, 2020 A9
Voices
Decentering white parents After reading the letter titled “Don’t back pat. Listen.” in the Oct. 1 issue, it is clear that the writer missed the main argument from the “Nice White Parents” podcast, namely that white parents are the driving force in perpetuating racial and economic inequality in public schools and educational justice will not be realized until we start limiting the power of white parents. The Minneapolis Public Schools’ (MPS) process of passing the Comprehensive District Design (CDD) is one of the rare examples in public education systems-change in which white parents’ demands were not only decentered but in some cases overtly rejected. Opponents of the CDD have expressed anger about the specifics of the CDD but even more outrage over the “process.” They claim the process was unfair and accuse the multiracial district leadership team and School Board of incompetence. They spread falsehoods about the Advancing Equity Coalition (AEC), a racially and culturally diverse group of nonprofits, many of which are led by Black, Indigenous and people of color who spent two years engaging in organizing and advocacy work focused on holding MPS accountable for centering racial, economic and geographic justice in the CDD. The letter seems to be referencing AEC when it makes a common claim put forth by CDD opponents that “the CDD was pushed forward by nice white people … who spent three years working behind the scenes to influence a plan.” This statement makes the mistaken assumption that in a multi-racial, multicultural coalition like the AEC, it must be the white people who are pulling the strings.
Despite Southwest Minneapolis CDD opponents’ political connections, financial resources, professional looking websites, organized protests outside the district office, threats to unenroll their children from MPS and promises to unseat any board member who voted for the CDD, they were not successful in dictating the outcome of the CDD vote. Despite the long history of white parents in Southwest Minneapolis calling the shots at MPS, the CDD still passed. I do not love all aspects of the CDD. I do not know if the CDD will accomplish what it is setting out to do, namely to ensure that “our large, urban school district will deliver on its commitment to ensuring that all
students — regardless of their background, zip code, and personal needs — receive a high quality, well-rounded education that prepares them for future success.” I am deeply worried that, as usually happens in large urban school districts, big ideas and structural changes fall apart in the implementation stage. That being said, I am also aware that our current structure is both financially unsustainable and deeply inequitable, and thus calls to delay action cannot be heeded. I am incredibly grateful for Board Chair Kim Ellison’s willingness to take the significant political risk of acting against the wishes of powerful Southwest Minneapolis parents in order to address the
needs and challenges of the entire district. At the end of the last episode of “Nice White Parents,” the host, Chana Joffe-Walt, states that white parents like myself “can choose to remember the goal of public schools is not to cater only to us, to keep us happy, but to serve every child.” I hope that all nice white parents in Minneapolis, whether you initially supported the CDD or not, do not lose sight of this truth. Erin Sugrue Ericsson Erin Sugrue is a member of the Minneapolis chapter of the organization Integrated Schools.
NEIGHBORHOOD SKETCHBOOK
BY
A10 October 29–November 11, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Beefed up bus service coming to Lake Street Bus rapid transit is a winner in the bonding bill By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com
When the state Legislature reached a deal on a $1.9 billion bonding bill, it marked a major victory for the future of transit in South Minneapolis. The major infrastructure bill includes $55 million for two arterial bus rapid transit (BRT) projects. The B Line will connect a light-rail station near Bde Maka Ska to downtown St. Paul — running along Lake Street in Minneapolis and along Marshall and Selby avenues in St. Paul. The D Line will connect Brooklyn Center to the Mall of America — running along Fremont Avenue on the North Side and along Chicago Avenue in South Minneapolis. “We are thrilled,” Metropolitan Council Chair Charlie Zelle said. The BRT routes will largely replace the two most-used Metro Transit bus lines in the state. The D Line will run where the current Route 5 does today, and the B Line will run most of the Route 21 path. BRT service, planners say, increases speed and comfort of bus service with more developed stations farther apart than standard stops, payment before boarding (at either the front or middle of the bus) and the ability for buses to communicate with traffic signals to get elongated or faster green lights at key intersections.
Metro Transit currently has two arterial BRT lines: the A Line, which runs mostly on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul, and the C Line, which connects Brooklyn Center to Downtown Minneapolis via Penn Avenue in North Minneapolis. Those routes have been successful at boosting trip speed, customer experience and ridership, Zelle said, and the Met Council sees BRT as the future of its transit system. Zelle, who lives in Southwest Minneapolis
and formerly served as commissioner of the state’s transportation department, said he believes there was an understanding among legislators that the B and D lines were critical to the Twin Cities. The B Line, he said, will be essential to revitalizing Lake Street after the area was devastated by civil unrest. While the D Line is fully planned and will begin construction in 2021, there remain some final stop determinations for the B Line, Zelle said. Construction on the Lake Street line will likely begin in late 2021 or early 2022, with a goal of being operational by 2023. The B Line will begin at the underconstruction West Lake Street station of the Southwest Light Rail Transit project, enabling it to connect with the Green Line and serve Minneapolis residents along Lake Street west of Hennepin Avenue. Metro Transit is currently recommending Southwest stops at Dean Parkway, Knox Avenue, Hennepin Avenue, Lyndale Avenue, Nicollet Avenue and the under-construction Lake Street
Transit station at Interstate 35W. The line would cross the Mississippi River on Marshall Avenue before entering downtown St. Paul on Selby Avenue and ending at Union Station. The B Line will be a major connection point in the Twin Cities rapid transit system. The Lake Street line will connect with the Green Line extension, the planned E Line at Hennepin Avenue, the Orange Line BRT on I-35W, the D Line at Chicago Avenue, the Blue Line at Hiawatha and the A Line on Snelling Avenue and meet with current and future transit lines at Union Station. “Transit in the metro is not just about a line — it’s about an integrated system and these are big connecting pieces,” Zelle said. Metro Transit launched the C Line in 2019 with a fleet of electric buses, and Zelle said the effort has been a success after resolving some early charging issues. It’s unclear if the B and D lines will be rolled out with electric buses, but Zelle believes those vehicles are the future of Metro Transit.
PLANNED B LINE ROUTE
Finalized station location
Shared station location
Recommended station location
There are six planned stops in Southwest Minneapolis along Lake Street for the B Line, which will likely be operational in 2023. Submitted image
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Vol. 31, No. 21 October 15–28, 2020 southwestjournal.com
The 2040 plan’s code switch
INSIDE BRASA
Rotisserie opens in East Harriet A4
HOLY LIVING
‘A very heavy lift’
Minneapolis brings 2040 plan for more housing into the zoning code
By Michelle Bruch
Students with disabilities, families navigate new reality
Church-toapartment plan approved in South Uptown A6
SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION
School Board candidates sPEAK AT FORUMS A9
VOICES FROM THE PANDEMIC
Virtual classes, therapy and reading and math practice greet 10-year-old Katy Gerster each school day. Photo by Isaiah Rustad
By Nate Gotlieb
Inside of her Linden Hills home, Katy Gerster, a 10-year-old with moderate intellectual disabilities, logs in to her Google Chromebook each weekday for real-time virtual classes at Lyndale Community School. Katy’s mom, Stephanie Gerster, has taken pains to make it easier for Katy to focus, covering pictures on the walls and building bins into which she can place her work. But it’s still been difficult. Internet outages have derailed entire days, Gerster said, and supervision is important for keeping Katy on track, even with her teachers guiding her virtually over Google Meet. “The second there’s a glitch, all bets are off,” Gerster said. “I know this stuff happens at school, but I’m just me. … I just get to be the bad guy all of the time, and that doesn’t help anybody.” SEE STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES / PAGE A15
Stories from local residents A10
OUTDOOR MUSIC
New Bakken exhibit hopes to Spark innovation
SEE 2040 PLAN / PAGE A12
Bde Maka Ska museum reopens after summer restoration
Lawns, sidewalks become pandemic concert halls B1
By Andrew Hazzard
SIDEBAR AT SURDYK’S
Cafe offers imaginative spin on familiar fare B6
A year after the adoption of the Minneapolis 2040 plan, which upzones much of the city to hold more people, Minneapolis is ready to codify the plan into building standards. The City Council already introduced triplexes to single-family neighborhoods and started phasing in affordable housing contributions from new apartments with 20+ units. Now they’re moving on to details like the scale of a new triplex, the amount of space a building can occupy on a lot and a building’s setback from the property line. Thousands of people have weighed in on the 2040 plan, and now the city is looking for a little more feedback. One question relates to a handful of “premiums” developers must chip in to build bigger than what’s mapped in the 2040 plan. Premiums could include affordable units, a grocery store or outdoor public space. The premiums are meant to benefit the surrounding community and closely align with the city’s adopted values, and eligible projects would stand on blocks that allow three or more stories. “This allows the city to ask for things they can’t require in the zoning code,” said Sam Rockwell, president of the Planning Commission. “Through the premiums, we are saying yes, it is worth having a higher building, a taller building, to get a grocery store. It is worth having a taller building to have it be close to a net-zero building. It is worth having a taller building to have on-site affordable housing.” For example, the St. Louis-based developer LOCAL Ventures wants to build a 14-story, 402-unit building at 1301 W. Lake St. next to the shopping center formerly known as Calhoun Square. The 2040 plan allows up to 10 stories in this “Transit 10” zone. In order to reach 14 stories, the developer would need to contribute at least two premiums — receiving two extra stories per premium in this district — maxing out at 15 stories, which is the height limit of the next zone, “Transit 15.”
Children use a computer to create music on the Bakkenspiel, part of the new Spark exhibit at the newly renovated Bakken Museum. Submitted photo
A new exhibit at the recently renovated Bakken Museum explores the cycle of inspiration and innovation between nature, pop culture and technology by allowing visitors to create their own music, movies, images and more. “We essentially view innovation as a creative process, and a creative process needs inspiration,” said Bakken Museum President and CEO Michael Sanders. “We think of it as a loop.” Spark, the West Maka Ska museum’s newest exhibit, allows visitors to explore that loop with interactive elements ranging from code breaking in a phone booth to creating unique animated stories. SEE BAKKEN MUSEUM / PAGE A14
The owner of a century-old, 13-bedroom building in Lowry Hill at 1820 Girard Ave. S. will add a fourth basement-level unit, a change approved under the 2040 plan. Photo by Michelle Bruch
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southwestjournal.com / October 29–November 11, 2020 A11 FROM ELECTION / PAGE A1
Earlier in the fall, Minneapolis had encouraged residents to vote by mail, according to City Clerk Casey Carl, and the city has sent out over 160,000 absentee ballots. But now, with Election Day fast approaching, officials are encouraging residents to submit their absentee ballots at one of 13 drop-off stations in the city, where ballots can be deposited until 3 p.m. on Nov. 3. In Southwest, dropoff sites are at the Kmart parking lot at Lake & Nicollet, Mount Olivet Lutheran Church at 50th & Knox and St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church at 35th & Irving. See tinyurl.com/ drop-off-mpls for details. Minneapolis voters can also cast ballots between now and Nov. 2 at four in-person Early Vote Centers. See tinyurl.com/early-vote-mpls for details. The 2020 election comes at a pivotal moment for a nation suffering from a surging coronavirus pandemic and seeking to express itself at the ballot box for the first time since the Minneapolis police slaying of George Floyd sparked massive protests across the country. Voters in Minneapolis will play a role in deciding if President Donald Trump is elected for a second term and whether to send incumbent DFLer Tina Smith or Republican challenger Jason Lewis to the Senate. Ballots will also be cast for the state Legislature, for competitive
Voters are very engaged, voters are tuned in, [voters] are paying attention and voters are turning out in record numbers. — Casey Carl, city clerk, Minneapolis
local School Board races and for two municipal referendums regulating city elections for the next decade. See the Southwest Journal’s full voter’s guide at tinyurl.com/swj-voters-guide. Southwest resident Katie Florin dropped off her ballot at St. Mary’s on Oct. 23 because she wanted to avoid lines on Election Day and not create delays for others. The Joe Biden voter said she was glad there was a place to deposit her absentee ballot. “I wanted to bring it in person,” she said. Grace Wachlarowicz, director of elections and voter services for Minneapolis, said the city is prepared to safely accommodate voters if they choose to cast ballots on Election Day. Even with high absentee numbers, officials believe there will be plenty who show up Nov. 3. “Voters are very engaged, voters are tuned in, [voters] are paying attention and voters are turning out in record numbers,” Carl said. But Southwest neighborhood organizations aren’t taking that perceived enthusiasm for granted. Despite the ongoing pandemic, they are pushing local efforts to boost voter turnout. In the Wedge, the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association (LHENA) has put out yard signs, flyered the area and is planning another major round of flyering on Halloween, according to Kari Johnson, who is coordinating the effort. In 2018, 88% of Wedge residents voted, a remarkably high turnout rate for a midterm election that was boosted in part by the neighborhood organization initiating its first major get-out-the-vote campaign. This year, the goal is 92%, and while the assumption is that turnout will be high in 2020, Johnson said it’s important for LHENA to put out constant reminders for residents in a majority-renter neighborhood where people move often. “Supporting get-out-the-vote efforts creates a more engaged community,” Johnson said. The neighborhood organization has also hosted candidate forums for local races like
Minneapolis resident Lindsey Howell votes on Oct. 23 at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church. There are 13 ballot drop-off stations in the city, including three in Southwest — Mount Olivet, the Kmart parking lot and St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church. Photo by Isaiah Rustad
those for the School Board and hopes larger participation and awareness this year will carry over to municipal elections in 2021. When LHENA was starting to set up its voter turnout program in 2018, it sought advice from the Kingfield Neighborhood Association (KFNA), which has long had a robust vote-promotion campaign. Scott Mueller was part of the group that launched those efforts back in 2012. All Kingfield residents vote at Martin Luther King Jr. Park at 40th & Nicollet, which makes the neighborhood’s sign campaign simple and effective. Now about 700 signs in neighborhood yards remind people “We are Kingfield. We vote at MLK Park.” Each election year, the group swaps out the date on the sign. “Our model is pretty simple,” Mueller said. “It’s a yard sign or poster that clearly defines the border of where we vote.” The KFNA typically hosts a robust
“polling party” with pavilion tents set up outside of MLK Park where people can grab a free cup of coffee or a snack donated from a local restaurant after casting their ballots. The party serves as a place where KFNA can sign people up for community notices and get to know new neighbors. Trained volunteers at the parties can help people with questions, and Mueller said it’s been worth the effort. During the Aug. 11 primary, he was able to help a new resident register to vote by finding a neighbor to vouch that the man lived at his address. This year, the pandemic means the polling party will be smaller than normal and will stick to just giving away coffee. But the group will still have a guarded crosswalk at 41st & Nicollet and hopes to connect with some neighbors. Mueller expects most voters will cast their ballots via mail or early drop-off, but said MLK Park will still be a safe, fun place to vote.
A12 October 29–November 11, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com
Young Linden Hills environmentalist leads on soil Felix Malcolm-Manzoni, 9, urges focus on carbon sequestration
A Linden Hills fourth grader is at the forefront of efforts to convince neighbors that healthy soil can help reduce carbon emissions and curb climate change. Felix Malcolm-Manzoni, 9, is working with Ginny Halloran of the Linden Hills environment and sustainability committee to maintain a demonstration site near 44th & York. The duo are tending to two plots of native plants, shrubs and grasses on the site, which is owned by the city. The native plants have deeper roots and store more carbon in the ground than turfgrasses or other traditional yard plants, helping to reduce emissions. On Oct. 17, Felix and Halloran were among the featured speakers at a “young environmentalist” workshop that touched on these benefits and highlighted the importance of healthy soil. “Native plants are important not only for pollinators,” Felix told the crowd of over 25 people, but they can also help reduce carbon emissions. “The universe beneath our feet is teeming with life,” Halloran added. Halloran’s interest in soil as a means to curbing climate change began after she attended a MN350 workshop on regenerative agriculture. In 2019, she and the environmental and sustainability committee received a grant from the Linden Hills neighborhood organization to plant native
Nine-year-old Felix Malcolm-Manzoni explained to attendees of a Linden Hills environmental workshop how carbon dioxide emissions contribute to climate change and how agricultural practices such as rotational grazing and using natural fertilizer can help curb emissions. Photo by Isaiah Rustad
grasses and plants on the bare ground at the site near 44th & York. They also hosted workshops to explain to residents the benefits of healthy soil.
This year, the committee planted native grasses and plants on a second plot adjacent to the original site. Felix connected with Halloran in early July when he and his mother, Carla
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Manzoni, walked by the site. The next week, he began helping Halloran tend to the plots, and he continued doing so throughout the summer and into the fall. Halloran said she could tell that Felix was excited about tending to the plots, adding that she was impressed with his vocabulary when it came to soil biology. She said she doesn’t think the Oct. 17 workshop would have happened without him. At the workshop, Felix explained to the attendees how carbon dioxide emissions contribute to climate change and how agricultural practices such as rotational grazing and using natural fertilizer can help curb emissions. Shona Snater of the nonprofit Land Stewardship Project explained how healthy soil acts as a sponge, filtering out pollutants and keeping in water to prevent runoff. Additionally, Halloran ran through practices that people can take in their own yards to increase the health of their soils, such as using compost, not using herbicides and pesticides and avoiding tilling. In an interview, she said that actions such as these could have a big impact. “If you really let nature be the lead, it’s going to come up with the right solutions,” she said. “It’s just that as humans, we have a hard time making that happen.”
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southwestjournal.com / October 29–November 11, 2020 A13
By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com
Plan approved to remap Southwest’s parks Fate of The Mall up in the air
The Park Board has passed a plan mapping out the future of Southwest Minneapolis’ neighborhood parks but has yet to resolve one of its most contested aspects. Park Board commissioners approved designs for 41 of the 42 parks in the Southwest Service Area Master Plan on Oct. 21, but their vote left the future of The Mall in Uptown undetermined. More than two years went into developing the plan, including hours of community outreach and debate among the Community Advisory Committee (CAC). The plan for The Mall in Uptown was among the most contested topics. The CAC recommended a design that would have naturalized the western two blocks of the street nearest Lake of the Isles, removing pavement and adding grass and trees; the roadway east of Humboldt Avenue would have been converted to a shared-use “woonerf ” street that allows vehicle access. Today, the roadway is well-used by nearby apartment residents for street parking, something many residents objected to losing. Proponents of the design say naturalizing the space will make it more of a true park and help the city combat climate change. When the Park Board voted on the master plan, Commissioner Brad Bourn (District 6) divided the motion into three parts, a move that isolated votes on two controversial park designs at The Mall and King’s Highway from the rest of the plan. Commissioner Meg Forney (At Large) proposed an amendment to retain the current roadway layout of The Mall, which failed to pass on a 4-4 vote with Commissioner Kale Severson (District 2) absent. Forney was joined by Bourn, Londel French (At Large), and AK Hassan (District 3) in opposing the naturalized plan. Commissioners opted to table The Mall plan until Severson could participate to break the tie. Park Board President Jono Cowgill said it would be “a big disappointment” for his constituents in Uptown for commissioners to
reject the CAC recommendation. Park planners said they felt asking for more residential input would be unlikely to give commissioners clarity on where the public stands. “I think additional community engagement is not going to bring a different solution because folks are where they are with this issue,” said Adam Arvidson, director of strategic planning. Commissioners opted to go against the CAC’s recommendation for King’s Highway, voting down the proposed bike path on the west side of the road between Lake Harriet and West 36th Street. In recent weeks, there had been a push from some residents who feared the plan would result in up to 60 mature trees being cut down to make space for converting the sidewalk into a wider, shared-use trail. Planning staff said the design would try to avoid tree loss and disagreed with the assessment, though the Park Board’s forestry department had expressed concern with the plan. Only Cowgill and Commissioner Chris Meyer voted to keep the bike route. Ultimately the master plan was approved on a 7-1 vote with Meyer dissenting. “I’m really excited to move forward on this plan,” said Bourn, who represents much of the Southwest area. The plan will bring several new features to Southwest parks, including the city’s first public clay tennis courts at Waveland Triangle, new dedicated pickleball courts at Kenwood and Martin Luther King Jr. parks and a firstin-the-system curling facility at The Parade. Three new skateboarding parks and spots are called for at the 28th Street Tot Lot, Painter Park and Smith Triangle. Southwest is scheduled to get its first bicycle skills courses at The Parade and MLK Park. Full-court basketball is coming to Armatage, Clinton Field, Kenwood, Pershing Field, Mueller and Stevens Square. Mixed-use, multiple sport courts that can be used for basketball, hockey or futsal are
The Southwest Service Area Master Plan has largely been approved, but commissioners were unable to reach a decision on the future of The Mall in Uptown, which would see its western blocks naturalized under the proposed design. Photo by Andrew Hazzard
planned at Armatage, Clinton Field, Kenny, MLK, Windom South and Whittier. Playground spaces will be upgraded throughout the area under the plan, with more nature-based play and bouldering elements at parks like Alcott Triangle, Fuller, Gladstone Triangle, Mueller, Linden Hills, Lynnhurst, Rustic Lodge, Stevens Square, Waveland Triangle, Windom South and Whittier. The master plan calls for more rain gardens and pollinator-friendly spaces across the service area. Those proposals total an estimated $137 million and would be implemented over 20-30 years. Funding would come from the Park Board’s typical capital improvement
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plan; the 20-year Neighborhood Parks Plan, approved by voters in 2016 to provide additional investment to city parks through 2037; and outside grants and partnerships. Park improvements are generally scheduled based on the Park Board’s equity matrix, which factors in income levels, demographics and the number of years since the property last received funding. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, passage of the Southwest Parks Plan was delayed and there are improvement projects planned at Southwest parks that have been awaiting approval to move forward. “I’m hopeful this plan when passed will lead to some speedy implementation,” Cowgill said.
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A14 October 29–November 11, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Southwest Journal poetry project
Fall poetry It’s been a tough year. Even as a glorious autumn fades around us, difficulties continue on so many fronts. Local poets have stayed close to home while imagining distant adventures. This collection includes poems about home repairs, neighborhoods and social unrest, geese, spiders and motorcycle riders. Hang in there… Doug Wilhide is the poet laureate of Linden Hills and poetry editor of the Southwest Journal.
Home Repairs Doug Wilhide
I’ve Come to Observe Carol Rucks
You bear down with the screwdriver knowing it may be futile the screw having been there for so long, since time began, maybe, and the slot worn almost flat. There are no other options — things must change and this is where it begins: that screw, this screwdriver and you. Sailors and suffragists poets and mountaineers ball players, engineers, pilots, painters and politicians… have gone before and been forgotten before others came along to become — the first, the fastest, the favorites, the famous. Sometimes we stand on others’ shoulders sometimes we slip through opened doors sometimes we’re allowed to take a stand sometimes we kneel, screwdriver in hand. Always we hope for that first little budge, that slipping of history that hint of progress — the smallest of movements, that will change everything.
Hoarder Betty Beier
There is a grandma sitting with her stacks of clippings. Smart and clever, she is well-read and frightened. She collects the news of others: neighbors, children, clergy. Wanting better eyesight as light grows dim. A starving child, she fills her soul with treasured yellowed pages, Gorging their ink, chewing their pulp. Their stories give her hope. Since those who moved through fear are now her guests She thinks of when she had no fear no pain. Her daughter holds her hand And gives her wrist a rub a gift that has no wrap. A pair of minds too tight to do or say much more Except those blue, blue drapes could use a hem before I leave, Could shade your room from too bright light And keep the dust away.
from my lookout here in the neighborhood, my cement stoop, dusty window, that I haven’t found the answers. I have not met the gods and goddesses, or the Green Man, the protector of soil. Even here, truth and beauty elude me, escape my hands. The deeper I dig, the more rocks I find in the dirt. The more weeds I have to pull, I find poisonous ones, many that I used to think were flowers. I’ve become unsure about love, death, beauty. With you, the blue sky, a whisper of clouds, I’ve learned to find a little peace among the birds murmuring in the cherry tree, the simple way they sit up high all day, out of reach.
Neighborhood, 2020 Marion Whitney
I am a stranger in my neighborhood Each day I walk past neat little houses, newly mowed lawns, pruned trees, and flowers of the season. In each driveway are two expensive cars; I do not see my neighbors. They work at home now. I pass an occasional walker, we nod, and avoid the other’s presence … social distancing is the current norm. I walk alone in the neighborhood. I am the stranger. I know another neighborhood, Where I am not a stranger. I know where the sidewalk is smooth for roller skating, I avoid the huge grapevine that dropped a caterpillar on me once, I never go that way again. I know the grocery store by the alley, for 25 cents I got a can of tuna and milk. On the corner is a store where we get a block of ice from the sawdust room. In winter I walk over snow piled high from recently shoveled sidewalks. On Christmas a brightly lit tree glitters on top of the store. I know where Marilyn lives, and the house that had kittens. I run past one house, the owner scares me, I know not to cross the busy street, I can run around the block, past the red brick school, to the yellow stucco house that waits for me, my home. I am not a stranger.
Don’t Look Down Craig Planting
And the tarnished beauty of this fractured, battered world is too much. And the losses are incomprehensible. And every life is an open window until it closes. And some still believe nothing bad will ever happen to them. And our retired parents are taking unnecessary risks. And our cousins are still throwing parties. And no one wants advice from anyone. And Mick and Keith predicted fires sweeping through our streets today. And Dylan said reality has always had too many heads. And our leaders preen as they broadcast recriminations. And my wife says I hope that’s just fireworks and we both listen. And I wonder what will be left for our kids. And soon there’ll be snow on the playgrounds. And I miss my friends, live music and dive bars. And there is fear and suspicion in a stranger’s eyes. And we look down as we walk around each other. And I want to wish him well. And I know I’ve been given more than I deserve. And I go home and drink too much Jameson.
Shipmates on the Pandemic Sea Shannon King
Becalmed. The wind suddenly stopped, the voyage interrupted. Dead in the water. Our sails hang limp, listless, the rudder, slack and useless. What shall we do now? Swab the deck, polish the brass again, make scrimshaw carvings out of old bones? Speculate upon the Narwhale and the Unicorn? Tie ourselves in knots? We could tell stories of our old lives, remember that first voyage out, the smell of salt, a cloudless sky, strong wind at our backs, guided by the stars and dolphins. I fear some undercurrent pulling us far off course, see only blue water, blue sky. As above, so below. Which way is up? Will we ever land? I listen for the Sirens call, luring me with sex or song, but there is only silence.
southwestjournal.com / October 29–November 11, 2020 A15
An Accidental Crime Annette Gagliardi
Manspider John O’Connor
Bitten by a New Yorker, the spider became irate. He became loud and coarse. He learned to use some cuss words pretty well. Now he could give you the finger eight fingers at a time. His web became a map of the subway. Suddenly the Yankees were his favorite team. And then he began to dream. He dreamed of wearing spandex one day. He dreamed of fighting crime. The problem was — the local crooks were dull. Nostalgia for Manhattan left him estranged. He’d never actually been there, of course. But now everything, even crime, was boring or second rate.
The crochet hook “boinged” back and forth in my knee as it settled into the joint. My sister and I inhaled sharply in a single breath of surprise, our mouths making mirroring “OH’s”. She jumped up and ran out of the room calling for Mom as I sat staring at my impaled leg, the pain slowly seeping into my stunned brain. Mom worked efficiently, picking me up and carrying me to the car, barking instructions to my sister and driving to the hospital in determined silence. I was carried directly into a room where they set me on a table to survey the damage. The doctor cut away my pant leg, then discussed how to dig that hook out of my knee joint. They numbed my knee and laid me down so I didn’t see the incision. I didn’t see the damage to the muscle and cartilage, nor the blood oozing onto the white sheet.
Serendipity Maria Verven
I didn’t hear the operation, didn’t feel the pain— until later that night. Didn’t hear Mama, mad as hell, yelling at the doctor for ruining a brand new pair of slacks she had just finished sewing.
Witty repartee in a bar inside the Ritz Listening to piano, I’m pretty sure it was Liszt, Although I am in Rome, I’m drinking Irish tea I’ve no one left at home; I’m footloose, fancy-free. I shift my position and then, to my surprise The handsome signore in the next booth catches my eye He smiles back at me, that instant we then know It could be our beginning; with so much more in store. Strangers in the night who wonder if it’s right Was it meant to be or serendipity? I look into his eyes and I wonder: what could be? Will he be my lover, or is it just my fantasy? My heart won’t let me rest, there is no guarantee So live life to the max is my philosophy. Why do I keep looking for fairytales and romance When every man I meet disappoints me and love fades? The dance that we will do, there’s no way we can tell We may fall in love, end up in bloody hell. We search for our soul mate, but I think it’s just a ruse. If there’s only one, then why have I had a few? I can’t help but wonder: is there a great design? I wish I was devout, believed in the Divine. I don’t think it’s a sin to follow every whim Live life by the drop, ’cause one day it will stop.
Hunting geese Adam Overland
Nothing is as melancholy as the sound of geese flying south for the winter Which reminds me of my father waking me in the early hours so that we might trudge out into sloughs And on this morning we try to stop them from their journey to warmer climes A thin layer of ice gripping the cattails like a straw in a soda forgotten in the freezer Stray lead shot dancing like hail To sink in the muck with the warming of the sun And perhaps one or two crashed, but the rest continued on Despite our best efforts And now in the middle of a pandemic where on the ground everything feels frozen and not quite real We get it. You’re flying south for the winter and we’re not. But we will.
Smell of Ripe Tomatoes Christine Alfano
Last year around this time my husband and I hired work done on our house. The living room, dining room, bedroom were a catastrophe of plaster dust and fallen insulation. Clumps of it settled on every sorry surface, clung to the workers’ masks. We escaped with our mattress to the kitchen floor, a low-slung nest for cooling night, close to morning coffee pot, evening glass of wine. But day’s thick heat forced us out-of-doors to stake our claim on needed shade, which we found in our backyard — a sleeping bag thrown down next to towering tomato plants. We lowered ourselves to the ground. Both in our sixties, we were careful folding down, knees first, easy does it. And we lay there, outside, in our yard, on a blanket. Imagine that. I heard sparrows at the feeder, leaves of river birch rustle. I put my hand on my husband’s hip. We closed our eyes. We napped.
Tough Rider Melissa S. Anderson
Speeding by on his powerful bike, his large, muscular frame accented by a full beard and he-man shades — black shoes, black pants, black T-shirt scrawled with the name of a heavy-metal band — talking loudly into his headset, he says, “Did you get that recipe I sent you for cherry sorbet?”
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
A16 October 29–November 11, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
By Linda Koutsky
Can you get lost in an Edina nature preserve?
D
riving on highways gets on my nerves sometimes. There’s never anything to look at other than cars and the road and an occasional volunteer tree hoping to flee over the freeway wall. Yes, I know, highways are designed that way — MnDOT wants to keep drivers’ eyes on the road and that’s a good thing. Last summer though, I was commuting between Hopkins and Edina and decided I needed a detour to escape driving route boredom. I took the next exit. It was a delightful winding, hilly road dotted with small lakes that cut through a pleasant residential neighborhood. In nearly all my life living in the Twin Cities I had never been on that road before. At a lighted intersection I looked toward some open water and saw a long wooden boardwalk and made a mental note to go back someday. That “someday” happened last weekend. Needing a break from the noise and chaos of Minneapolis, I yearned for open space, quiet and nature. If only I could find that boardwalk. To retrace my route, I used Google Maps and located a park in the general vicinity — north of Highway 62 and east of Gleason Road. The city of Edina’s parks website displayed a photo of bikers cruising a wooden boardwalk at Bredesen Park. I set my GPS and hit the road. A small parking lot on Olinger Boulevard was situated between two ponds and next to a small parks building with open restrooms. Numerous ducks were floating on the water, climbing on submerged branches and quacking.
A kiosk held an overview map of the park. I walked on the paved trail past the entrance signage and came upon a gathering of geese surrounding a peninsula that juts into another pond. At a Y in the path, there was a more detailed map of the grounds. A nature trail hugged a cluster of ponds while pedestrian and bike paths were located on the perimeter of the park grounds. They were all about 2 miles long. Nine Mile Creek meandered through the park on the southwest corner, but I didn’t see any indication of a boardwalk. I took the path to the right and headed up a hill lined with willows and aspens in various states of fall colors. Normally I have a very good sense of direction and no trouble reading maps. Somehow though, when I enter a park or nature
BREDESEN PARK A wandering nature trail through woods and water. Pedestrian and bike trails connect to the boardwalk. Where: 5901 Olinger Blvd., Edina Info: tinyurl.com/Bredesen-Park
WALNUT RIDGE PARK Closest parking area to the boardwalk. Where: 5801 Londonderry Road, Edina Info: tinyurl.com/Walnut-Ridge-Edina
area, I never seem to be able to follow the trail maps. But it was a much-needed respite on gentle hills with water on one side or even two for most of the trails. Every so often there was another you-are-here map, and I was never where I thought I’d be. Maybe that’s a lesson nature’s trying to teach me. It was mid-afternoon on a weekday. I saw one runner twice and two other couples walking. I knew I would not get stranded in the middle of Edina, so I sat on a bench and got out my phone. Google Maps satellite view showed the trails and my exact location. Bredesen Park covers 206 acres, just a little smaller than Lakewood Cemetery — not that I was thinking about death at all. I just hadn’t planned on going on a walk through the woods; I was still wearing flip flops and didn’t have a jacket with me. I thought I was headed for a nice wooden boardwalk, but here I was at the far end of a park in the woods. Who even knew there were woods in Edina? I did enjoy it though. It was truly a nice piece of nature in the city. I kicked yellow leaves scattered on the trail and looked up at the knobby branches of cottonwood trees. Like a bright flashlight through the trees, I saw a glimmer of white. An egret perched on a branch over the water was gazing at its surface. I stood and watched for several minutes wondering if it was looking for a fish. Eventually it flew away and I realized I was back at the parking lot. After I left the park and drove back toward Highway 62, I saw the boardwalk again. It’s
A nature trail hugs a cluster of ponds at Bredesen Park in Edina. Photo by Linda Koutsky
located at the busy intersection of Gleason Road and Vernon Avenue, with no parking nearby. The bike and pedestrian trails from Bredesen Park do continue through a residential neighborhood and will eventually get you there, but it’s easier to park at Walnut Ridge Park. We all have our own well-traveled paths and usual stops. Try taking a different route next time. It’s always possible to discover something new if you’re open to it. And there’s nothing wrong with getting lost occasionally. Follow Linda Koutsky on Facebook for more destinations and adventures.
A18 October 29–November 11, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Stories of coronavirus in Minneapolis How do you tell the story of what it’s like to live through a pandemic? Throughout this crisis, the Southwest Journal is keeping in touch with a selection of local residents including a schoolteacher, a retired couple, a pair of small business owners and a religious leader. All interviews are edited for length and clarity. Reporting for the stories in this issue is by Zac Farber, Nate Gotlieb and Andrew Hazzard.
Tracey Schultz, science teacher, Justice Page Middle School
“For very few kids is distance learning a great match, but there are successes for each of my homeroom kids.” THURSDAY, OCT. 22 The kids are asking more and more: “When are we going back? When are we going back?” I don’t know. I don’t know when the dial is going to move and exactly what that’s going to mean for kids. It’s really hard to say to kids that you don’t know. And it’s really hard personally not to know. One great thing about our current circumstances is we couldn’t do conferences in the traditional way. Parents could log onto Google Meet from wherever they were for their 20-minute conference. I think that just worked so much better for families. What I hope going forward is that we can continue to use something like Google Meet as a way to conference with families and then maybe branch out from idea of, “We just have a fall conference.” It’d be great if we could think about conferences a little more fluidly and kind of on an as-needed basis. For very few kids is distance learning a great match, but there are successes for each of my homeroom kids, so getting to talk about that together and having the parents hear that is important. Families are concerned about screen time, and they should be. We’re really concerned about that, too. The district has told us, “This is how we’re teaching right now.” It just kind of leaves us in a spot where we’re all saying, “Gosh, we’re really concerned about the screen time.” I think the parents really appreciate the structure and interactions with teachers that their students are getting. No one wants this to be, “OK, 11-, 12-year-olds, here’s all this work, go off and do it by yourself.” I think that’s how it felt in the spring far too often, and so parents are really grateful that their kids are getting so much more support and so much more instruction. But, of course, with that comes a whole bunch more screen time, which we’re all concerned with, so it’s like this kind of infinity loop that we’re stuck in. A lot of us teachers and students struggle to get going at the start of the day. Once we’re rolling, once we’re up and running, there are a lot of really positive interactions. But it’s hard to get in the game some days. That’s not how it would usually feel this time of year. Google Meet at the start of the school year had some big-time limitations as far as
features. But Google did roll out a version of Groups. So now using Google Meet, I can take my large group Meet and divide them into any number of small groups. What’s nice is the kids get a little button on their screen that tells them, “You’ve been asked to join this group.” Based on some great recommendations from colleagues, I have made learning teams, so each kid is in a group of four or five. I would do this in a live classroom, but of course it’s so much more challenging now. We’re starting to see some of those social pieces that have been lacking. At conferences, one of the most touching moments was when one of my homeroom students said, “I made a friend,” grinning ear to ear. Of course, the first thing that comes out of my mouth is, “How did you do it?” I’m asking as a teacher, but I’m also asking as a social being. She said, “Well, I have almost every class with this person.” I think they ended up in a group a couple of times and ended up exchanging numbers and connected enough times that they felt like, “We have a friendship going.” It’s hard to keep teacher morale up. We’re trying really hard to keep our morale up for the time when we’re with kids. But when we’re not live on the screen with the kids, I think I speak for a large number of my colleagues who are struggling with how this is going right now. I have very limited information about decisions at the district level. I think everyone’s eager for more. The more communication, the better. If there are things happening in our buildings to better set us up to go back, that would be exciting to hear about. I think we’re all really eager and really hopeful for some communication about how things will work, what the timeline is and what kind of resources are available to staff and students so we can be safe.
Christmas or Thanksgiving to your children’s, then you’re going to be put in quarantine for 14 days when you get back. They’re really hoping people will stay put. But overall, things are getting back to normal. Ron: They’re opening up the exercise room on the weekends now. It’s the first time I’m doing seven days a week of exercise since before the pandemic. Arminta: There’s no COVID here currently, so the mail can be delivered. I’m still the only resident who has tested positive. When I talk to other residents, they’re worried and want to know how I feel. They’re not afraid of me, I don’t think. Our family is doing well. Two of my grandchildren are flying in for my brother’s funeral Monday. Everybody’s sad — my brother was very loved. He was a special guy. Ron: With the nine grandkids, we’re very fortunate: Two are in school and the rest are all working. So we’re lucky. Arminta: Now Ron’s going for his annual physical because he missed it when we were quarantined. Finally we’re going to get our flu shots. Ron: The only time I go outside is for food, drugs or doctors. Arminta: Going to the doctor is a big deal now! And I can’t let Ron go alone because he doesn’t hear what they tell him. He’ll come out of there, and I’ll ask, “What was the diagnosis?” And he’ll say, “I’m a lean, mean fighting machine.” That’s what he always says, so my kids won’t let him go alone anymore. Ron: After 50 years, nobody trusts me.
Jen and Marcus Wilson, co-owners, True Grit Society gym
Arminta and Ron Miller, residents, Waters on 50th senior living community
“There hasn’t been additional communication from the city about what the standards are.”
“I’ll ask, ‘What was the diagnosis?’ And he’ll say, ‘I’m a lean, mean fighting machine.’”
Jen: We’ve successfully been open for five months. We try to be really mindful that it’s COVID time and there’s never a simple answer. We’ve had to be super diligent about telling people to wear your mask in, wear your mask out, keep social distance, really clean off your stuff. We’ve started using bacteria-killing oil and more air filters and keeping windows and doors open. We are very lucky that we’ve had the ability to help people feel safe. Heading into the winter, it’s a little confusing because we’re being held to standard on many different levels — from the state, the city and just personally, with ourselves, our instructors and our members. It’s a little difficult because there hasn’t been additional communication from the city about what the standards are. Have protocols changed? Because cases are growing and we haven’t heard anything. We’re seeing people eating in restaurants. We haven’t been out to restaurants or anything and we mask up when we go out. We wonder what the guidelines are. You watch the NFL and it’s two guys from a team sitting out, not even to mention the mess with the president. It’s very confusing to run our business and keep the guidelines we’ve been following and, all the while, to see opposite things on TV. They’re saying cases are going up because people are exhausted and have pandemic fatigue, and that’s understandable, but we cannot have that pandemic fatigue. We’re holding to a higher standard because if we start letting people do what they want, people will start getting sick and our business will go away. So it’s exhausting because we have to be so vigilant about everything. We’re worried because cases are increasing. We feel like we need to be at a high level over
FRIDAY, OCT. 23 Ron: We’re still recovering from the debate last night. Arminta: It was pretty obvious who won that one. Ron: On Election Day, The Waters is taking four people at a time over to vote. And then on election night, we have a large room here and a big TV. We’ll be able to watch the election with socially distanced seating. And we’ll have treats. Arminta: There’s a bus driver who usually takes us to activities, and he’s going to spend all day taking people back and forth to vote. The polling place was in the church behind us last year, but now it’s several blocks away at a school. I think it’s wonderful they’re doing that, though Ron and I have already voted with absentee ballots. We’d always have a big Halloween party here. This year, on Nov. 6, they’re setting up something called an “Underground Speakeasy Party.” We’re supposed to dress up like it’s the Roaring Twenties with zoot suits and ’20s dresses. We’re supposed to be flappers. They’re going to have a music combo, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. There will be a secret password to get in, but we won’t know it until later. Ron: Everything is social distanced here. They’re going to host a very nice Thanksgiving dinner, and they’re telling people not to go outside for their dinner. If you go to a large gathering, you could get the virus. Arminta: They’re saying that if you go for
FRIDAY, OCT. 23
communication, really stressing that if you’re not feeling well, please think about everyone else that could be in the room with you. Don’t feel like you need to get your workout in. We tell people if they feel off at all to stay home and we will freeze your membership for the week you miss. It affects our bottom line, but we need to keep people safe. Right now we need to do what is best not for our business but for people. We still don’t have a ton of people coming. Probably a sixth of our members have reactivated. The people who do come in, they’re really happy we’re open and they’re glad they have a safe place to work out. We are concerned about our instructors keeping safe and managing everybody. What Marcus and I have talked about is that there has to be a level of trust. Our members have to trust we have their best interest in mind, and they have to trust each other — that people will stay home if they’re not feeling well. But these aren’t things you can assume people will know, so we have to send emails every week and remind people. We’re also having a problem with cancelations. It’s great that people cancel their class and we’re not going to charge them for it. But at the same time there are limited spots and if people cancel late and we have a space open that someone was in line for and they don’t get registered in time, that’s a big loss. We only have six spots in a class, and if someone cancels late and you can’t fill it, you’re out of luck. This is hard stuff and it takes up a lot of time to think of these minute details that impact your business. It’s exhausting. On a personal level, Marcus’ mom passed away a few weeks ago. She was ill, and it wasn’t totally unexpected, but it added another big challenge. I was feeling a little depressed. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed. I couldn’t find any kind of rays of sunshine, which is not normal to me. I literally went on a detox cleanse because I was eating cake every day for like two weeks. (Wuollet is really good, for the record.) I was just feeling like something was wrong, and I know I’m not the only one not feeling myself. I took out sugar, I took out caffeine. I needed to control something. After doing that and talking to my therapist, I feel better. But it was a good reminder that everybody is kind of feeling like this — overwhelmed or downtrodden.
Marcia Zimmerman, rabbi, Temple Israel
“We have a front row seat to transformative change around racial justice and social justice.” WEDNESDAY, OCT. 7 For the High Holy Days, we did everything online and we tried our best to be as engaging as possible. We had live sermons and services, but we also had additional programming for people, knowing that things were not the norm. We did things that were creative and brought the highlights for everybody. We didn’t know how we’d be able to have performances from our youth choir. We put together these amazing compilation videos (because you can’t sing well over Zoom) that had people really engaged and had our youth singing together. People are always stirred up around holidays. The anticipatory anxiety around the High Holy Days was greater than usual. But the relief afterward was bigger. There were more people reaching out and saying how much they enjoyed the service. I think there was this idea of that kind of rise and fall that is a part of the holiday. It kind of ebbs and flows. SEE VOICES / PAGE A19
southwestjournal.com / October 29–November 11, 2020 A19 FROM START TIMES / PAGE A8
FROM UNION CONTRACT / PAGE A8
allow those schools to finish earlier and could make accessing after-school programming more convenient. The proposal would move all middle school start times to 8:40 a.m. or 8:45 a.m. and their end times to 3:10 p.m. or 3:15 p.m. Currently, middle schools start at 9:30 a.m. and run until 4 p.m., which can be a barrier for students who wish to participate in high school athletics. In Southwest Minneapolis, start times would range from two hours earlier at the new Jefferson magnet school in Lowry Hill East to two hours later at the newly christened Windom Community School. Only Burroughs Community School in Lynnhurst, which starts at 9:10 a.m. and ends at 3:40 p.m., would see no changes. MPS currently has five “tiers” of start times spaced roughly 30 minutes apart, with the first schools starting at 7:30 a.m. and ending at 2 p.m. and the last starting at 9:40 a.m. and ending at 4:10 p.m. The staggered start times allow the district to run buses multiple times throughout a morning or afternoon shift. In non-pandemic times, the district says it runs 156 generaleducation bus routes per day, each of which costs about $120,000 a year. Under the CDD, district officials say they
FROM VOICES / PAGE A18
As summer moved into fall, I felt a lot of anxiety. Transitions are not easy and they’re never easy, but right now it’s even more difficult. There are a couple of things I’m emphasizing in these times. One is that we have a front row seat to transformative change around racial justice and social justice. We decided to stay in the city as a congregation
will need about 30% fewer bus routes per day, since students will be going to schools closer to their homes. They estimate the transportation savings from the decrease in routes at $7 million annually, which would reverse the years-long trend of rising trans-
portation costs amid declining enrollment. The district could still see a 25% reduction in bus routes with the proposed bell times, according to district leaders. District leaders are aiming to submit a final proposal to the School Board in November.
district some flexibility with layoffs. If a position needs to be eliminated, the district can choose between all teachers with less than three years’ tenure in MPS. The contract also exempts staff who work in specialized programs such as Montessori or language immersion and those in schools with the greatest concentrations of poverty from seniority-based layoffs. Additionally, the contract makes changes to the process the district uses for placing teachers whose jobs are cut or who are returning from extended leaves of absence. Teachers whose jobs are cut will still have the opportunity to interview for other district jobs before outside candidates, but they will only have one chance to do so, instead of two. That’s part of an effort by district officials to reach outside candidates earlier in the hiring cycle. The contract provides teachers a one-time “self-reflection day” on June 15, 2021, and offers teachers 55 and older who have worked in the district for 25-plus years a one-time $15,000 severance package. The contract will cost the district $24 million.
in order to be active in these moments and not to get overwhelmed and not feel cynical about our ability to make change. That’s one of the things I really want to encourage my congregants to think about. It’s not always an easy thing but it’s necessary for us to be part of the solution and not part of the problem, especially as a religious institution. The other piece that’s really important is that we have Jewish ritual and Jewish tradition.
We want to make sure that we take care of ourselves in this, too, because it’s stressful. We need to take care of our physical and mental health. This is not a luxury but a necessity. We do that by feeding our souls — not just taking care of our body and mental health, but religion is a place and ritual is a place that helps us feel that serenity and a balance. We found a way to set up the backyard at home so people can spread out. We have had
some family gatherings that have been helpful as far as connecting. For me cooking for my family, and especially my kids, has always been important. I’ve gotten to cook, which was not happening at the beginning, with us being inside and knowing less about how the virus is transmitted. I have had some dinners outside. Thinking about the fall and winter, I’m a little worried about what that will bring. I think it’s going to be a little more hunkering down.
Buses drop off students at Jefferson Community School in Lowry Hill East. A proposal from the Minneapolis school district would change start and end times at 14 elementary and middle schools in Southwest Minneapolis, including Jefferson. File photo
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Buy Art from Your Living Room.
ACROSS 1 1978 Peace co-Nobelist 6 Officiates 10 Painter of limp watches 14 Spanish Olympian’s goal 15 Other, in Oaxaca 16 Turkey neighbor 17 *Mind reader’s obstacle, some believe 19 Expansive 20 Caddie’s bagful 21 Cruel 22 Trigger, for one 23 St. whose name is part of its capital’s name 24 *20th-century political symbol 26 Tattoo tool 28 Took a time out 29 They’re shifted often in cities 30 Vicinity 33 *Metaphor for a failure 38 Ages and ages 39 Italian fashion house 42 Port ENE of Cleveland, OH 47 Closed in on 48 *Symbol of inherited wealth 52 Coke alternatives 53 Jazz drummer Cozy and a king 54 Reasons 55 FDR’s dog 56 Business envelope abbr. 57 Rock genre ... and a hint to the starts of the answers to starred clues 59 Full of pizzazz
60 Alleviate 61 Dino’s love 62 Slow Churned ice cream brand 63 Seals, to sharks 64 Elements in playground banter
DOWN 1 Backdrop 2 Property recipient, in law 3 Fait accompli 4 Kennel sounds 5 Also 6 Loggers’ contest 7 Actor Hawke 8 Swiss capital 9 Lush 10 “Replace all __”: golf course reminder
Crossword Puzzle SWJ 102920 4.indd 1
11 Mount in Genesis
40 Announce
12 Heroic TV dog
41 Much of Google’s income
13 Have in mind 18 ’50s Hungarian premier Nagy
42 Break out
22 Longtime Eur. realm
44 “Do your best” response
24 To whom Rick said, “We’ll always have Paris” 25 Caspian Sea feeder 27 Hip-hop Dr. 30 Blood-typing letters 31 Hightailed it 32 Over-the-street transports
43 Ran amok
45 Decathlon’s 10 46 Latin foot
49 Talk a blue streak? 50 New moon, e.g. 51 Yiddish “Yikes!”
34 Cherished
55 Disaster relief org.
35 Inviting store window sign
58 Bonkers
57 Cool, once
36 U.K. singer Rita 37 Ishmael, in “Moby Dick”
SPONSORS
47 Like an eavesdropper, say
Crossword answers on page A20
10/28/20 12:15 AM
Learn More and Explore VIP Early Access at MCAD.edu/artsale
A20 October 29–November 11, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Community Calendar.
As temperatures get colder, there seem to be fewer and fewer outdoor entertainment options. We are all still figuring out the safest way to survive while keeping our spirits up. Here are a few ideas for visiting a museum with safety precautions, attending an outdoor event or catching up on virtual cultural events.
By Sheila Regan
Getting out
AMERICAN SWEDISH INSTITUTE What a way to celebrate your 90th birthday. This year the American Swedish Institute planned a big celebration of its nine decades in the Twin Cities. Instead, they were shut down for months. Nonetheless, you can now visit its whimsical exhibition, “Extra/ordinary: The American Swedish Institute. At Play.” The show disperses childlike wonder into a featured display of objects from its permanent collection. Don’t forget to look up at the floating spoons in the Turnblad Mansion’s historic kitchen. Also on view is a lovely quilt show called “We Are the Story: We Who Believe in Freedom.” The quilts, created by the Women of Color Quilters Network, capture African American history and current struggles like the Black Lives Matter movement.
When: Quilt show through Sunday, Nov. 1; Extra/ordinary through Sunday, Jan. 24. Where: American Swedish Institute, 2600 Park Ave. Cost: $12, $8 for seniors, $6 for ages 6-18, free for kids under 6 Info: asimn.org
Is your house history a mystery?
If your Walls Could Talk...
I LIKE BIG
BUNS
Bring the past alive with architect and building records, census records, photos, social events captured in keepsake folio.
Spreading Hope to Families of Micro-Preemie Babies, One Potato at a Time. thepotatoheadproject.org
Kathleen Kullberg, House Historian/Detective Kullbkathy@Comcast.net (612) 374-4456
Fall into the right hands with Nou Hands 4/23/20 11:10 AM and Bodyworks Massage Therapy
Kullberg Kathleen SWJ 043020 H18.indd 1
Swedish • Combination Deep Tissue • Stretching Thai Yoga massage Uptown Wellness Center 2920 Bryant Ave S Suite 107
Nou Hands and Bodyworks SWJ 012518 H18.indd 1
Call Hannah at 952.994.1560
The Potato Head Project DTJ Filler H18.indd 2
28th & Hennepin in Uptown (612) 870-4466 • islesbun.com
CROSSWORD ANSWERS
1/15/18 Isles 1:13Bun PM & Coffee SWJ 020719 V12.indd 2
1/23/19 10:55 AM
Crossword on page A19
Crossword Answers SWJ 102920 V12.indd 1
10/28/20 12:12 AM
12/27/17 2:07 PM
southwestjournal.com / October 29–November 11, 2020 A21
Staying in LOST IN BERLIN
Olena Kirichenko’s 1969 “Housewarming”
LEADERS OF THE MASSES: MEGA PAINTINGS FROM SOVIET UKRAINE The massive paintings currently on view at the Museum of Russian Art in Windom envelop you with their grandeur. These huge, stately pieces feature a who’s who of Russian history. Lenin, Stalin and Khrushchev loom over the canvases in many of the works. In others, farmers, peasants and fisher folk are shown in larger-than-life scenes. It’s realism at an impressive, if somewhat intimidating, scale.
When: Through Sunday, Jan. 10 Where: The Museum of Russian Art, 5500 Stevens Ave. Cost: $13 Info: tmora.org
Linden Hills filmmaker Rod Martel has filmmaking in his genes, being the grandson of German American filmmaker Karl Freund, who did the cinematography for the classic film “Metropolis” and the “I Love Lucy” show. Martel got into filmmaking later in life and won awards for his 2013 documentary about his grandmother, who was murdered in the Holocaust. Bartel’s most recent film, “Lost in Berlin,” features his mother, who suffers from memory loss, and his own journey to find out about his family’s history. “Lost in Berlin” has been selected as the founder’s special pick for the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival.
When: Through Sunday, Nov. 1 Where: Online Cost: Free Info: tinyurl.com/ twincitiesjewishfilmfestival
COVID CONFIDENTIAL
FLORES OSCURAS HORROR SHOW Xochi de la Luna serves as master of ceremony for this spooky night of music and performance, featuring Black, brown and Indigenous artists. There will be dance and poetry as well as music and comedy in this horror-themed variety show.
When: 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, and Sunday, Nov. 1 Where: 2948 Chicago Ave. S. Cost: Free Info: tinyurl.com/floresoscuras
NIKKI GIOVANNI VIRTUAL EVENT As part of its Pen Pals series, the Hennepin County Library will highlight the work of poet Nikki Giovanni. Giovanni will appear virtually at this event and speak about her life and writing.
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5 Where: Zoom Cost: $45 Info: supporthclib.org/nikki-giovanni
STRIKE THEATER ONE-MINUTE FILM FESTIVAL Strike Theater brings its all-new one-minute film festival to your home over three nights. Categories include best use of the word “collide,” best use of the color red and best use of peanut butter — in addition to audience winners and judge-awarded prizes. It will be goofy, surprising and fringe-y. Tune in!
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, Nov. 10-13 Where: Online Cost: Free Info: facebook.com/striketheatermpls By Stewart Huntington
A22 October 29–November 11, 2020 / southwestjournal.com
Classifieds EXTERIORS
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6/24/19 9:42 AM
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southwestjournal.com / October 29–November 11, 2020 A23
We know homes! Bungalows, Colonial, Craftsman, Mid-Century, Ramblers, Modern and more. 612-781-3333 • 2536 Marshall Street NE, Minneapolis Monday–Friday 8am–6pm, Saturday 8am–4pm Siwek Lumber SWJ 110118 6cx2.indd 1
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you dream it
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6/1/18 1:05 PM
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we build it
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you:
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