MN VOICES | Artist, activist Kathryn Haddad gives voice to many

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Lebanese-American writer Kathryn Haddad co-founded Mizna in 1999, when artists like her had no place to tell their stories. “There was a frustration with the fact that the Arab-American voice wasn’t being heard in a multicultural kind of scene,” she said. “Nobody even was aware of it, or even if you tried to bring it up, they didn’t even know what I was talking about.” Today the nonprofit Mizna, located in northeast Minneapolis, sustains a literary journal with national readership and hosts regular arts events. That Haddad and her colleagues started Mizna before 9/11 – after which many outsiders became more interested in Arab and Muslim culture – is an important distinction to note, she said. Continue Reading

Dog Days at the Dome will help hungry pets this Thursday

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Dog-lovers and their canine friends can get together this Thursday at the Metrodome to socialize, sniff and help hungry pets in need. 
The winter’s last Dog Days at the Dome event will be held March 4 from 5 to 9 p.m. Organized by Podium Sports Marketing, this is a monthly get-together in which people bring their dogs to run and play off-leash in the Metrodome concourse. The entry cost is only $1 per dog, though The Pet Project will be accepting pet food donations for its food shelf drive. The Twin Cities-based nonprofit seeks to keep people with their pets by providing financially struggling owners with food, basic supplies and access to veterinary care. Pet Project founder Kim Carrier said she’s hosting the pet food drive this month so it coincides with Minnesota FoodShare’s annual March Campaign. The campaign’s organizers said the month-long drive raises more than half the food distributed annually at food shelves across the state. Continue Reading

Minneapolis Public Schools poised to make familiar face its new leader

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When it came time to find its fifth superintendent in ten years, the Minneapolis School Board decided to forgo a nationwide search and shop locally instead. On Tuesday, the board is expected to appoint to the post its only candidate and finalist, current Deputy Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson. Bill Green, the district’s current superintendent, will retire June 31. While the board’s decision to avoid a traditional search process has raised some eyebrows, Chair Tom Madden insists they made a sound choice. They consulted with nationwide experts, he said, and they also considered St. Continue Reading

Trying to beat the achievement gap with “self-governed” schools

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Could the secret to closing the achievement gap for struggling school children in North Minneapolis be French? Oui, say supporters of a plan to open a new French immersion elementary school next fall. “I’m very interested in the proposal,” Minneapolis Board of Education member Pam Costain said. “I think it shows a lot of creativity and moxie.” If Costain and her fellow board members give the proposal the go-ahead on February 6, the Pierre Bottineau French Immersion School would be the state’s first “self-governed” school. Continue Reading

Feeding seniors and neighbors, Minnesota food shelves stretch to meet increased needs

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Surrounded by kitchen-cupboard staples like pasta, beans and rice, Rick Martineau of the Senior Food Shelf held up a can of vegetable soup and showed it off to Maria, 68. “No!” said Maria, a limited English speaker who moved to Minneapolis from Ecuador nearly 10 years ago. 
Martineau, the food shelf’s stock clerk of 17 years, tried again to pinpoint Maria’s fancy. “No!” she said to the can of tomato soup. Continue Reading

MN VOICES | Minnesota’s Peg Chemberlin heads National Council of Churches

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Growing up in rural Carver County, Rev. Peg Chemberlin was steeped in a faith that’s harder to find today. “It’s not a faith of fear, it’s not a faith of judgment, it’s not a faith that gets a lot of headlines. And yet it’s the best part of the faith: the love, the acceptance, the justice and the community,” said Chemberlin, 60. “So I hope by the time I’m done with this life, I will give witness to that faith in some pretty significant ways.” Now Chemberlin, the longtime leader of the Minnesota Council of Churches and an ordained member of the Moravian Church of America-North, is especially well-positioned to reach her goal. Continue Reading

Remembering Rondo: Central Corridor residents speak in Headwaters St. Paul tour

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Carl Griffin grew up in the Rondo Neighborhood in the late 1950s, when “there actually was a Main Street” there. And then, in the 1960s, Griffin watched as the construction of I-94 devastated the landscape and culture of this predominately African-American neighborhood in St. Paul. “We had a really close-knit neighborhood, and the freeway destroyed it; it really did,” Griffin said Thursday to a group of activists, citizens and community organizers who are concerned about the coming Central Corridor light-rail line. “And it’s not like our parents didn’t try to fight it,” Griffin added. Continue Reading

Close calls in dark corners: Questions about Minneapolis bike trail’s safety

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It was close to 10:30 on a Friday night when cyclist Allison Thoele’s regular ride home turned ugly. As she headed north on the paved trail that parallels the Hiawatha Avenue light-rail line, Thoele, 28, spied three shadowy figures lurking up ahead. She briefly considered turning around, but – weary from a long day at work at the VA hospital and wanting to get back to her home in Northeast – she opted to employ a tactic used by many other cyclists facing would-be attackers. She rose high off her saddle, cranked up her speed and kept barreling down the trail. But this time, it was the wrong decision. Continue Reading

Funders Collaborative wants positive message for Central Corridor in St. Paul

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Amid mounting concerns and complaints about the coming Central Corridor light rail line, a group of deep-pocketed funders is working together to ensure the “equitable (and) responsible redevelopment” of University Avenue.Jonathan Sage-Martinson, director of the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative, delivered this message Thursday to media members on a bus tour of the proposed 11-mile corridor line that will connect downtown Minneapolis to St. Paul. Sage-Martinson said they want to ensure the presence of affordable housing, a strong local economy and “vital transit-oriented” places along the route, as well as facilitate effective collaboration and communication amongst all the project’s stakeholders. They hope to do this through promoting learning, building “shared solutions” and investing capital, he said.Already the Collaborative has invested more than $800,000 in research, consultants and planning projects, according to a press release. To date they have raised $5 million, and they hope to raise an additional $20 million to put toward achieving their goals over the next ten years.The Funders Collaborative   Founded in late 2007, the Collaborative strongly supports the coming light rail project. Continue Reading

Citizens lobby for more Central Corridor stops

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An impassioned group of St. Paul citizens, civic leaders and city officials on Tuesday urged state officials to help fund the construction of three additional light rail stops along University Avenue. Addressing the House Transportation and Transit Policy and Oversight Division at a legislative hearing, they said it’s necessary to have stations at Hamline Avenue, Victoria Street and Western Avenue if the area’s poorest and most ethnically diverse residents are going to be equitably served by the proposed Central Corridor system. “Enough is enough with being pushed around and moved aside,” boomed Keo Walker, a member of the Stops for Us coalition. “We need these three stops to ensure jobs, benefits and transportation.” Continue Reading