When it comes to food shelves in Minneapolis, halal food is hard to come by. But a group of Somali women want to change that. Isuroon, a local nonprofit that works to develop the health and empowerment of Somali women, is asking the city to help develop a new food shelf that provides healthy, ethnic food to the Muslim community living in South Minneapolis. The nonprofit, along with dozens of community members, are asking the city to allocate $150,000 to fund the new food shelf as a start-up. “As a Somali community, we cannot use some food shelves,” said Isuroon member Waris Mohamud. Continue Reading
Sept. 22 marks the official start of fall, offering a bounty of colorful fall foliage, apple orchards, corn mazes, and an endless wave of pumpkin flavors! Below we’ve highlighted an assortment of festivities in the Twin Cities (and beyond) to help you get the most out of the season. Please share with us your favorite thing about fall by taking our poll below! <a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/8320869/”>What do you enjoy most about fall?</a>Looking for Halloween and Dia del los Muertos events? See: Creeps, crawls, candy and more: Halloween highlights in the Twin Cities. Also, if you know of great upcoming holiday or seasonal events, spread the word by using our calendar or send an email to paigeelliott@tcdailyplanet.net.Fall AttractionsTwin Cities Harvest Festival and Maze 8001 109th Ave N, Brooklyn Park, MN 55445 | 952-992-9326Weekends: 10am – 6pm; Admission: $12 per guest. Continue Reading
Last week, the signs announcing that Sullivan’s SuperValu at Lake and Nicollet was closing were small so many people didn’t notice. But by Sunday, word spread that everything was 50 percent off and people were grabbing anything they could.
Not everyone thinks about their food as art, but one St. Paul artist is using art to spread awareness about food access issues in his neighborhood. When artist Seitu Jones looked out the window of his apartment in Frogtown, he noticed many people in his neighborhood were buying their groceries from the local convenience store. It was a revelation to him, and he decided he wanted to do something about it. On Sept. Continue Reading
When it comes to improving the beauty and environmental friendliness of any neighborhood, there’s no better way to get things done and done in the right way than through the power and initiative of
If you’re a landlord in the city of Minneapolis, you already have the home field advantage when it comes to the rental game. But some North Minneapolis residents say they’re tired of out-of-state landlords playing hardball with their neighborhoods.Last month, more than 130 Minneapolis residents signed a petition demanding a moratorium on rental licenses issued by the city of Minneapolis until all Northside residencies have been inspected and brought up to code.“There is a problem in the city of Minneapolis with proper tracking of the conditions of some of the rental properties,” said north Minneapolis resident Connie Beckers in the petition. “Too many single family homes have been scooped up by investors who rent them out, don’t screen their tenants and don’t keep up with even minimal upkeep at their properties.”Data from the Minneapolis Regulatory Services shows the number of rental licenses distributed to owners with more than 10 rental licenses has risen dramatically in the city over the last decade. According to the data, monopolization of properties by single owners in the Folwell, Jordan and Hawthorne neighborhoods have more than doubled in the last five years.Beckers said that part of the problem is that there’s too much focus on rental properties. An out-of-state investor recently purchased five homes on her block, she said, bringing the number of rental properties on her block to 15, while only nine are retained by homeowners.“Most are single family homes which are often poorly cared for and maintained.” Beckers said. Continue Reading
This weekend offers a number of colorful outdoor events, from hip-hop fests and fine arts shows, to beer fests and Open Streets. Taking place in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the events encourage you get out and savor the last official summer weekend of the year.Let us know how you will spend the weekend by sending your photos and comments to tcweekend@tcdailyplanet.net or tag them with #tcdpic or the name of the event, and we’ll add them to our story. If you know of an event fit for TC Weekend, use our calendar to upload the event or use the email address above. Fall Fine Arts Show: Opening Reception, September 19The Fall Fine Arts Show is sponsored by the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA) and features works from over 150 artists. The Opening Reception offers the opportunity to view and purchase a diverse collage of paintings, photography, sculpture, mix-media art, while enjoying hors d’oeuvres from Create Catering, wine from Indeed Brewing, and live music from Upton Mixx. See the Facebook page for updates.Solar Arts Building711 15th Ave NE, Minneapolis6 p.m. – 9 p.m.Free PARK(ing) Day, September 20This event is billed as the “largest Park(ing) Day celebration in the Twin Cities,” the second annual PARK(ing) Day, and is sponsored by Experience Southwest and the Minneapolis Government’s Great Streets program. Continue Reading
When I discuss the problems in Minnesota’s education system with others, I frequently reference one telling statistic more than any other.No, it’s not proficiency scores; and it’s not graduation rates.It’s the fact that, over the past 70 years, the number of school districts in Minnesota has decreased by 96 percent! In 1947, there were 7,607 school districts in Minnesota. Today, there are just 328.This is a Community Voices submission and is moderated but not edited. The opinions expressed by Community Voices contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the TC Daily Planet.The 96 percent decrease in Minnesota school districts roughly mirrors the trend toward educational centralization that happened across America over the last century.Presumably, a desire for efficiency drove this dramatic effort to centralize Minnesota’s and America’s education systems. Districts were increasingly consolidated (and they’re still being consolidated today) under the guise that we could better assure the education of our youth.But here’s the thing: centralization is not synonymous with efficiency. Sometimes centralization results in greater efficiency; other times, it acts as an obstacle to efficiency.And today, our increasingly centralized education system is more often than not a beacon of inefficiency. Continue Reading
When Cynthia Smith was told Hiawatha Academies wouldn’t be opening their high school until 2019, she felt deceived. With her daughter entering eighth grade, Smith needed to know her child had somewhere to go next year — something she said Hiawatha had promised to provide when her daughter first enrolled there.But ramped up parental pressure has led Hiawatha Academies, a network of public charter schools, to work quickly toward opening a new high school in time for the inaugural class that just started eighth grade to attend. Hiawatha Academies announced last month that their new high school, Hiawatha Collegiate High School (HCHS), will open next fall. It will be the fourth charter school in the network. Officials have yet to pick a location for the school.“When I found they wouldn’t have high school, I was upset,” Smith said. Continue Reading
Outcry from residents and business people temporarily stopped the Minneapolis Park Board from locating an operations center on the Mississippi River at 1720 Marshall St. NE.They got through close to 40 comments in about 45 minutes Aug. 20, chiding the board for going contrary to the Above the Falls plan, which calls for continuous riverfront parks, and inconveniencing residents by taking away Psycho Suzi’s valet parking which then would clog up the neighborhood streets more than usual.There were concerns about living next to a facility where trucks come and go frequently. Ire that the park staff and consultants didn’t seek other location options.Directing staff to work more with the public on the issue, the board plans to revisit the plan at their first meeting in November. North Minneapolis Park Commissioner Jon Olson made the successful motion.Board member Annie Young, as chair of the parks’ planning committee, conducted the public hearing.As reported in the Northeaster July 2, the park system owns the land and the vacant building on it which because of a bad roof, is full of mold. Continue Reading
