COMMUNITY VOICES | City View residents celebrate new soccer field, razing La Montaña

By |

This past Monday, August 5, over 70 residents of City View apartments and their supporters gathered to celebrate the razing of La Montaña and the installation of soccer goals and a grassy field for neighborhood youth and families to play on. The neighbors were joined by councilmember Don Samuels, and the event was covered by Jessica Miles and Channel 5 news.Soccer players thank councilmember Samuels for his helpLa Montaña sas a 30 foot tall pile of construction debris, nearly as high as the three story tall City View apartments next door. The construction rubble was left over from when the Heritage Park housing was built several years ago. Hidden behind the weeds was a hangout where men partied, slept and drank. The hangout was littered with beer cans, liquor bottles, bedding, toilet paper, underwear and used hypodermic needles. Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | Neighborhood Smackdown at McKnight Foundation

By |

 These City View apartment soccer players won their coveted Neighborhood Smackdown wrestling belt for knocking down La Montaña, a 30 foot high pile of construction debrisOn August 8, the 2013 Neighborhood Smackdown was hosted by and held at the offices of the McKnight Foundation, overlooking the Stone Arch bridge in downtown Minneapolis. Everybody wins who participates in Neighborhood Smackdown!  Showing off their beltsEach year the Neighborhood Smackdown highlights around a dozen community projects showing both creativity and impact.  This year the projects ranged from one neighborhood’s monarch butterfly festival to another community’s efforts to get  business development at the old MPS headquarters, to a group of Latino soccer players getting a 30 foot mountain of construction debris knocked down. Raise your hands if you help your neighborhood!Participating groups brought in a visual display of their community projects, and also got two minutes to tell others about their projects.  Those groups daring to go over two minutes were good-naturedly whistled by 30 student community volunteers armed with tooters. Don’t go over 2 minutes or…you’ll be tooted!Neighborhood Smackdown referee gets helping hand in choosing next contestantAfter the presentation, everybody enjoyed a cookout on the McKnight balcony overlooking the Mississippi river. Those Hamburgers smell good!Some of the younger participants asked if neighborhoods had to wrestle each other to win Smackdown belts.  Fortunately, at this Smackdown every neighborhood group that participates is a winner, and all the presenting organizations won Smackdown belts. Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | Hmong Mississippi River canoe trip

By |

On June 14, 20 Hmong refugee students took a canoe trip down the Mississippi river. The trip began at Brooklyn Park’s River park, and ended at Minneapolis’ Boom island.Hmong canoeists heading towards downtown MinneapolisLearning how to paddleAlong the way, they saw bald eagles, heron rookeries, and turtles and snakes.Pushing offThey made a stopoff at North Mississippi Regional Park, where they learned more about the Mississippi river’s wildlife and ecology.Passing under the I-694 bridge over the Mississippi riverMost of the Hmong students came to the United States between 2004 and 2006 from Thailand’s Wat Tam Krabok refugee camp. All the Hmong students live in North Minneapolis, and all play soccer for Farview park.  Many had never set foot in a boat before.Canoeing past the XCel power plant in northeast MinneapolisThe students had a great time, and many said they hoped to take more canoe trips and see more of Minnesota’s nature in the future.CelebratingThe canoe trip was sponsored by the Pohlad Foundation, and guided by Wilderness Inquiry.  Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | Moms of Henry High city bus assault victims testify at Minneapolis school board meeting

By |

On April 9, moms of Henry High students assaulted while using city buses going between school and home testified at the Minneapolis School Board meeting.  They described for the school board members what happened to their children when they were assaulted, and the impact the assaults have had on their families.One mom talked about her son’s being attacked and knocked out while waiting for a city bus to take him home.   The mom described ongoing medical problems from the concussion, with lapses in memory and concentration and balance.  A former honors student, he has been forced to drop all his advanced courses.  He had already done internships at the University of Minnesota to become a dentist, and his mom now worries that he will not be able to reach his potential and goals in life.  For safety reasons the family has transferred him from Henry to Hopkins high, and she announced she would be pulling all ten of her children out of the Minneapolis Public School system.Minneapolis School Board Listens to Henry High Families of Assault VictimsAnother mom described how her son was robbed and was threatened with being killed.  They shoved him to the ground and kicked him in the head.  The said that while the lingering headache has faded her son was traumatized by the attack, and continues to suffer anxiety.  She said she would not be sending her younger daughter to HenryThe Henry parents believe that educating the school board members in person was important because at times school officials have claimed they have no proof the assaults and other crimes have taken place, that when the assaults happen they are community problems not school problems, that some of the complaints are hoaxes, and that the assaults and other crimes would  have happened while using school buses.Henry Students are mailing these postcards to Minneapolis School Board membersMeanwhile,  Henry students  family and supporters have signed and  sent 400 postcards to Minneapolis school board members asking for police on city buses and monitors at bus stops during hours that Henry students are going to and from school.  The postcards told board members of problems Henry students have reported having while using city buses, including  cellphone snatchings, inappropriate touches, stalkings, and an armed holdup.  Half the postcards have gone to Kim Ellison, half to Alberto Monserrate.Henry High Families of assault victims being interviewed by channel 9 Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | Another Henry High Student assaulted using city bus from school to home

By |

Earlier this week, another Henry High student was attacked while using the city bus Go To card to travel from school to home.The assault took place on Tuesday.The mom reported that her son was coming home from school on the 19 bus line.   He got   off at a stop that he usually does not get off at because he missed his usual stop. About 2 blocks later he noticed 2 teenagers following him. When he got to the middle of 23rd Ave N and Russell they attacked him in the middle of the street. One went in front of him and asked him for his ipod, one was in back of him with what he said was a gun to the back of his head. They threatened to kill him. Continue Reading

FREE SPEECH ZONE | Henry High Hmong Student Assaulted, Knocked Out Using City Bus From School To Home

By |

 On January 28, a Henry high student was assaulted and knocked unconscious at a bus stop while using the Go-To Card city bus pass between school and home.He was hospitalized, and was diagnosed with a concussion.  He is now suffering bouts of memory loss along with problems with balance:  he has fallen twice.He does not know the attackers, and no arrests have yet been made.He and his brothers say that they also know other Henry students who have had problems with the city bus:  One was held up at gun point and had his phone robbed while waiting for a city bus to go to school, and two girls were touched/groped while using city buses between Henry and  home.  One of the girls has since transferred to another school.Another family says that  Two Henry Hmong brothers were waiting at the bus stop for the city bus to take them to school.  A young man walked up to the bus stop.  The brothers thought he was going to wait for the bus with them.  Instead he punched one brother in the nose, and the other in the eye, and ran away before either brother could reactThe family of the assault victim who was knocked out  has said that if the attackers are not caught, they want the Minneapolis Public Schools to pay for his hospital and medical costs, because they say this attack would not have happened if he had been riding a school bus home.Last April, Minneapolis Public Schools announced they were ending school bus rides to 5 high schools including Henry, and replacing the school buses with the Go-To card city bus rides.  Henry Hmong families,  concerned about safety and wanting to give Hmong families a chance to learn about and feel  comfortable with  the Go-To card, asked that the city bus rides be instituted this year as an option with school bus rides available.  School board members agreed to run limited school buses for the first semester.  School buses ended in mid-January.Both the assault victim and his mother testified in front of the Minneapolis school board last summer and urged them to keep school bus rides at Henry high for the 2012-2013 school year.Henry Hmong students collected hundreds of post cards urging school board members to keep school buses for 2012-2013 school year1100 postcards were sent to school board members Ellison and MonserrateThe student who was assaulted and knocked out asked the  Minneapolis school board last summer to keep school buses at Henry for 2012-2013 school yearHenry Hmong Families crowded Minneapolis School Board Chambers last summer and asked that school buses be available for 2012-2013 school year Continue Reading

FREE SPEECH ZONE | Farview Hmong Soccer Players Help Sanneh Foundation at Gala 4 Goals Fundraiser

By |

Farview soccer players with Tony Sanneh, at Gala 4 Goals fundraiserOn February 2, Farview Hmong soccer players went to support the Sanneh Foundation’s Gala 4 Goals fundraiser.The Hmong soccer players went on stage to let others know how the Sanneh Foundation has helped their players and  team. Talking in front of hundreds of people at Gala 4 Goals Fundraiser10 Year old Jee Vue had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone.  She said:“My name is Jee Vue.  We play soccer for Farview Park in North Minneapolis.  We are Hmong refugees,were born in Thailand, and are still learning English.  Our families are very poor.  The Sanneh Foundation donated soccer shoes to half our soccer players.  We loved coming to the Sanneh soccer camps this summer.  With the Sanneh Foundation’s help, we won two city championships last year and  two more championships this year.  Thank you Sanneh Foundation.”Trying new foodsThe Farview soccer players also had the chance to sample new foods they couldn’t pronounce, such as Gorganzola cheese and Portabello mushrooms.Good job, girls!The Sanneh Foundation’s Gala for Goals was held at the Depot in downtown Minneapolis.  Farview Park is located in North Minneapolis.Last summer, over 50 soccer players participated in the Sanneh soccer camp at Farview ParkSanneh soccer camp at Farview ParkGet the ball away from Tony Sanneh!Having fun at Sanneh soccer campThe Sanneh Foundation donated soccer shoes to half the Farview soccer playersFree Speech ZoneThe Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. This is an open forum for articles that otherwise might not find a place for publication, including news articles, opinion columns, announcements and even a few press releases. The opinions expressed in the Free Speech Zone and Neighborhood Notes, as well as the opinions of bloggers, are their own and not necessarily the opinion of the TC Daily Planet. Continue Reading