Mississippi Watershed Management Organization landscaping and marking a living lab, public park at new site

By |

Before Tony Jaros’ bar, before the IBEW union hall, when big chunks of Northeast and North Minneapolis showed up as wetlands on early plat maps, there was a ravine on what is now the Tony Jaros property. As their new neighbors, the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, establish their new back yard at 2522 Marshall St. NE, they’re going to put back that ravine’s function.“It’s not a creek restoration project,” rather a “more engineered” version, said Eric Holt, a designer with Barr Engineering. “The site is meant to demonstrate the mission and values of the organization as well as reconnecting people to the resource. It’s going to function as a public park.”As shown in the diagram, a switchback path, handicap-accessible, winds its way down to the river. Continue Reading

School pathways, five-year enrollment plan: What North and Northeast Minneapolis schools are affected?

By |

Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) parents have been given one more month to comment on a complex Five-Year Enrollment Plan, but many say they should have been involved long before the district administration developed the plan.In a fast-paced hour Tuesday, Oct. 22, parents and community advocates peppered Associate Superintendent for Area A, Michael Thomas, with questions and statements on themes of disingenuous engagement, selling North Community High School short, and other concerns. For the most part, Thomas acknowledged and answered the questions before, after a few attempts, dividing the room into small discussion groups for a half hour of discussion plus half hour to report back and wrap up.What would have been the decision date, Nov. 12, will become a “status update, or Recommendation 2.0,” Thomas said. The school board, at its regular meeting at 1250 West Broadway, will hear and question the staff on its recommendations. Continue Reading

Velodrome proposed for Shoreham Yards site in Minneapolis

By |

One Gear. No Brakes. That’s what velodrome bike racing is all about, that’s the slogan in a promotional video. I did not know that. They have to keep pedaling, though they can slow down by holding back.There are lots of people who do know this; they and curious neighbors with other questions came out Oct. Continue Reading

Johnson & 34th: Trying for a safe route to school in Minneapolis

By |

“Okay! One look, two looks, three looks, four looks. Flags out. …Flags in.” The school patrol team captain calls to teammates on the other three street corners. A walkie-talkie hangs from a lanyard; a voice from nearby Waite Park School informs him the 3:45 bell has just sounded, the last students heading their way.Crossing 34th Avenue NE at Johnson Street (see photos, above) just got easier thanks to a Safe Routes to School-sponsored temporary traffic modification. Continue Reading

“The Jingle Dress” films in Northeast

By |

Yes, that was Chaske Spencer walking down the alley near Edison High School, and hanging out talking on his cell phone last week. He stars in “an immigrant story,” The Jingle Dress, about an Ojibwe family that moves from the White Earth Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota to Minneapolis. It becomes a murder mystery.

Continue Reading

Privately funded Platform to Employment subsidizes ‘risk-free’ hiring of long-term unemployed workers

By |

“These days, to get a job, you have to have a job,” is a phrase I started hearing about two years ago, coincidentally, about the time the recession was “over.” The hiring community was and is suspicious of the long-term unemployed, especially those over age 50, especially when there are tech-savvy young people out there eager to work as well.

Continue Reading

A better bus system on Penn Avenue in Minneapolis?

By |

In a nutshell, Hennepin County wants to put Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on Penn Avenue, now that they “know” light rail will not be going down that path. And they’ve put out a request for proposals for consultants to work with the community on how that will look.It’s called Penn Avenue Community Works, and covers Penn between Interstate 394 and 49th Avenue N (from 44th to 49th it’s actually Osseo Road). According to the project’s website, the goal is to stimulate economic development, livability and job creation. Hennepin County’s Project Manager Patricia Fitzgerald talked with the Lowry Corridor Business Association at their meeting Sept. 17.Earlier this summer, working with the City of Minneapolis, one of the county’s partners (Metro Transit is the other), artists Wing Young Huie and Ashley Hanson and their colleagues set up various activities to document current conditions and get people’s thoughts on what they want to see.Fitzgerald explained that a series of “charrettes” will be held for brainstorming informed by the results of the artists’ work. Continue Reading

Waite Park in Minneapolis plans for new playground, wading pool

By |

An 18-foot high climbing net, a “tilted skyrunner,” “double wild” slide and more attractions will be coming to Waite Park’s playgrounds in a $200,000 project that could get underway in mid-September. It’s a good example of a park that doesn’t need the typical additional $100,000 to $150,000 for infrastructure, the “play containers” are already there, along Garfield St. NE a block north of 33rd Avenue NE.A new handicap-accessible wading pool is also planned, and there will be public meetings Sept. 24 and Oct. 8 to get public comment toward those plans.At an Aug. Continue Reading

Minneapolis park board buys another Marshall Street property

By |

They’ll have to look out the third floor of their house to get a river view, but moving it to the other side of Marshall Street will create possibilities for public parks.The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) Aug. 21 approved purchasing 2128 Marshall St. NE from Jim Rosenberg and Christine Bravo for $385,050. Rosenberg said they will move the existing home across the street to 2111 Marshall St. NE “we hope, before the snow flies.”The property at 2111 is a now-vacant lot which for a while held The Sample Room’s garden. Continue Reading