As a Planet reporter from 2009 to 2011, Karen Hollish profiled families within Minneapolis' thriving Somali immigrant community, explored the diabetes epidemic on the Bad River Indian Reservation, and broke the story about former Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher misusing federal anti-terrorism funds. She also covered the Cities' robust bicycling beat and curated the Planet's daily blogs section. Today she lives in Tucson, Arizona, where she plans parties that help homeless pets for the Humane Society of Southern Arizona.Photo by Rick Olivo.
Granola, long touted as a healthy snack, consists mostly of oats, seeds, raisins and nuts epoxied together with honey. Healthful doesn’t always translate into tasty, so commercial versions can be overly sweetened, thus sending blood sugars through the roof. But in Lesley Powers’ kitchen, granola is undergoing a makeover as this former restaurateur and chef transforms the breakfast staple into a healthy gourmand’s delight.Powers sits in her dining room amidst various bins of granola bags, ready for delivery to local shops, such as the Bibelot stores in the Twin Cities. “I use mostly local ingredients,” she said. “But what’s different about my approach is that the granola is totally seasonally focused.”Powers was born in Canada and came to St. Continue Reading
Conversation about gender roles and gender dynamics can be challenging, and more so in a context of traditional cultural values. Nou Yang, board chair of Hnub Tshiab/Hmong Women Achieving Together (HWAT) says that mixed gender conversations hardly ever occur in the Hmong community. “It’s radical to bring women and men together to talk,” Yang stated. HWAT’s Family Dialogues Program, launched this year, is the exception in her culture, bringing together men and women in facilitated conversations around gender. The first session was in July and planning is under way for more, thanks to a grant from the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota. Continue Reading
Kirsten Saylor has done something that few parents have ever accomplished — her children enjoying eating their vegetables.Through the Dowling Community Garden in Minneapolis, Saylor has grown several varieties of broccoli and carrots that she and her family relish.”My oldest eats broccoli like nobody’s business,” she said.Community gardens and the prospects of urban agriculture are looking promising for Minneapolis, where the practice has been gaining city support. On Thursday, the public will be able to review and comment on the Urban Agricultural Policy Plan draft.The draft deals primarily with land use, setting a policy framework that encourages and makes changes to zoning for urban farming, Minneapolis city planner Amanda Arnold said. It would change city regulations to allow farmers to sell their produce.Having green space and promoting gardening is healthy for the environment and citizens, Saylor said.”We’ve become very disconnected as a society from … what food is,” she said. “The growing of food is a really important way for us to understand how we live impacts the earth.”The plan emerged two years ago when Homegrown Minneapolis — a city program that promotes consumption of healthy, locally grown food — was launched.Through Homegrown Minneapolis, the city has made several changes to policy, including allowing beekeeping and indoor famers markets and requiring corner markets to carry at least five varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables.Community gardens have also been part of the plan.More than 100 community gardens, totaling more than 18 acres, are used in Minneapolis. Continue Reading
Even before she began her current work, Ellen Kennedy’s far-flung travel destinations shared a theme: Nazi death camps. Rwanda. Siberia. One year, Yom Kippur found her at the killing fields in Cambodia. “I visited places where terrible things happened,” Kennedy said. Continue Reading
There are three things you should know about world-renowned photographer Alec Soth:1. He has no photos of his family.2. The self-described introvert has a gift for connecting with strangers.3. His success leaves him little time to take pictures. Capturing that Kodak Moment should be a snap for anyone with a point-and-shoot camera. Continue Reading
When we think of “small business,” we might picture mom and pop restaurants setting up shop, or a home consultant hiring employees and moving into a larger, downtown office. Add to these images the story of a woman who turned a side project making creative, practical household items into a full-fledged business that is also a tool to engage her community. Meet Julie Hellwich of Smart Women Company. Hellwich’s Smart Women Company offers everyday products with an engaging message and a retro style. Among her product line is everything from office mouse pads printed with “Smart Women back up their words” to kitchen matches with “Smart Women light the way” across the box. Continue Reading
In the May 29, 2009, AJW editorial, I wrote about the case of four ex-convicts, all converts to Islam, who were charged with plotting to bomb synagogues in the Bronx, New York – and shoot down a military jet with a surface-to-air missile. The editorial, “Manufacturing crimes,” questioned whether law enforcement authorities actually were protecting the public in cases like this one, or just inducing vulnerable and off-kilter individuals to commit crimes. The federal court trial of the so-called Newburgh 4 ended in October, when a jury convicted the four men in the terrorism plot. An FBI informant, who spent months secretly recording conversations with the men, provided the crucial evidence for the prosecution at trial. However, defense lawyers contended that the defendants were entrapped by a wily government informant. Continue Reading
One of these nights, in the wee hours when local television broadcasters can fit it into their scheduling, you may see Academy Award winner Matt Damon in a 31-second public service announcement playing a real and jobless Minnetonka man not too proud to admit he and his family use their local food shelf.That symbolic everyman is Steve Gallagher, married, the father of two girls, and, along with his wife, jobless for two years. “I’m the face of middle-America, the middle class who is now down to poverty. I’m looking for work. I’m applying for 50 to 100 jobs a week and not getting any bites,” said Gallagher, who was laid off from a job in shipping and receiving with a small medical company that was sold off in parts in 2008.Pictured at the front door of a house in Queens, N. Y., and dressed in a billed cap, white t-shirt and cloth jacket, Damon starts out saying, “Hi, my name is Steve. Recently things got so tight we had to go to our local food bank for help.”Community Sketchbook focuses on the economic and social challenges facing communities, especially low-income communities and communities of color, and how people are trying to address them. It is made possible by support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Minneapolis Foundation, and some Minneapolis Foundation donor advisors.Community Sketchbook articles may be republished or distributed, in print or online, with credit to MinnPost and the foundations.Damon says a few more lines, then turns to Gallagher off-camera, saying: “How’d I do, Steve?” Gallagher, dressed just as Damon, ambles into camera range. Continue Reading
This year’s budget is the most difficult I have experienced since taking office. One concern I’ve heard is the increase in proposed property taxes for 2011.
Actually four, here’s how:1) Eliminating all the future funding for the Como neighborhood, causing me to lose my job — my means for paying property taxes and buying goods and services in the city.2) Eliminating all future funding for the neighborhood I live in, Armatage. So my neighborhood has less resources to work with to entice me (or others) to stay here vs. moving to some other locale with lower taxes (and more representative city leadership).3) Increasing the amount I have to pay for these reduced services and my loss of a job by more than $300. Paying much more for much, much less.Additional information on NRP/Property tax decisionsOPINION | Save NRP! by Jeff SkrenesOPINION | NRP and Politix by Cam GordonThe University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) has prepared a series of maps showing the impact of NRP. Continue Reading
