Landlords push back on Minneapolis proposal to limit tenant screenings
A proposed ordinance by the Minneapolis City Council is generating the criticisms of landlords across the city. Championed by Council Members Lisa Bender and Jeremiah Ellison, the ordinance is set to change how landlords screen prospective tenants. Its aim: to improve accessibility to the city’s housing system and to address the growing racial disparities borne out of the city’s affordable housing crisis. The ordinance would prevent landlords “from rejecting applicants with an insufficient credit or rental history” and those “who have committed crimes that are no longer illegal in Minnesota.”
What will become of the ordinance remains to be seen, as a public hearing on it will be set for later this summer.
For more, read Bring Me The News.
Under new leadership, McKinley neighborhood makes a comeback
McKinley Community (MC), a Minneapolis neighborhood association, underwent significant transformation over the last three years, after having been stymied by controversy and internal struggles. Known specifically for the McKinley neighborhood in North Minneapolis, MC has earned newfound engagement, just as it recently opened its board to local community members. New leadership and devoted residents are hoping to recenter community voice as upcoming changes, such as the Upper Harbor Terminal Development, looms.
The closure of Serendripity Spot Coffee Shop on Lyndale Avenue, where MC will reopen its doors, will bring “new ways to build community power, while exploring community members’ capacities to engage in organizational work.”
Read the full story on My North News.
Soul Lao: On making the case for Lao food in Minnesota
Coalescences of a country’s culturally rich, palatable cuisine come together as the staple of a food truck phenom in the Twin Cities known as “Soul Lao.” Its co-owners, Eric Phothisanh and Sabrina Boualaphanh, highlight the foods of the lesser-known, landlocked country of Laos, a country that belongs to the tragic history of the U.S. involvement in the French-Indochina wars in Southeast Asia. It is a country that is often elided when discussing Southeast Asia. Part of their impetus, both Phothisanh and Boualaphanh’s, is to give Lao cuisine its much-needed platform on the global scene.
“We had been told that Thai food would do well, but Lao food can’t go that far. Our food isn’t Instagram-ready. [It’s] messy, it’s funky, it’s spicy. We want to represent the underrepresented,” Boualaphanh explained.
Check the story on Insight News.
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