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Park Board: We want 100 percent independence
UPDATED July 2, 2009, 4:30pm
By Cristof Traudes
The Park Board wants voters in November to decide whether they should become their own governmental unit, entirely separate from the city.
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation wants complete independence.
For what’s believed to be the first time in their 126-year-history, the board’s commissioners are seeking an amendment to the city’s charter that would end their reliance on the Board of Estimate and Taxation. They’re expected to begin collecting signatures for a petition over the Fourth of July weekend.
Although they are commonly referred to as an independent board, the Park Board’s finances are actually not entirely under their control. Their money technically flows through the city, and their annual property t
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Park Board: We want 100 percent independence
UPDATED July 2, 2009, 4:30pm
By Cristof Traudes
The Park Board wants voters in November to decide whether they should become their own governmental unit, entirely separate from the city. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation wants complete independence. For what’s believed to be the first time in their 126-year-history, the board’s commissioners are seeking an amendment to the city’s charter that would end their reliance on the Board of Estimate and Taxation. They’re expected to begin collecting signatures for a petition over the Fourth of July weekend. Although they are commonly referred to as an independent board, the Park Board’s finances are actually not entirely under their control. Their money technically flows through the city, and their annual property t
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Fireworks return to riverfront
UPDATED July 2, 2009, 1:30pm
By Carly Reynolds
The city’s annual Independence Day celebration — Red, White and Boom — will return to the Downtown riverfront July 4 from 5 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
Aside from fireworks, the event will feature street performers, live music and food. Music will begin at 5 p.m. at three stages along Main Street: the Main Street stage, the Courtyard stage and Father Hennepin Bluffs Park stage. Performers include Grayson, Orange Whip, The Irresistibles, Linquist, Brad Dunse, Karl Commer’s Neil Diamond Tribute and Art Kistler’s Elvis Tribute. As another form of entertainment, buskers, or street performers, will be at multiple locations, including Boom Island Park, Mill Ruins Park, Gold Medal Park and West River Parkway. From 6 p.m.-9 p.m. free
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City offices closed, parking meters enforced on July 3
UPDATED July 2, 2009, 9:24am
By Cristof Traudes
Saturday is the Fourth of July, and in observance, city offices will be closed July 3. Also unavailable on Friday will be Minneapolis 311 and Downtown’s Solid Waste and Recycling customer service office. Trash pick-up will occur. Meanwhile, city parking meters will be enforced all day July 3. City offices will reopen at regular hours July 6.
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City celebrates five years of Hiawatha Light Rail
UPDATED June 26, 2009, 4:04pm
By Elizabeth Sias
In celebration of the Hiawatha Light-Rail-Transit line’s fifth birthday on June 26, representatives from some of the line’s partners spoke about its success and the future of the light-rail transit system at the Government Plaza Station on 5th Street South and 3rd Avenue South. Since opening in 2004, the line has given 42.9 million rides, exceeding ridership projections for 2020 by 20 percent, Metropolitan Council Chair Peter Bell said. “I remember that beautiful summer morning when the first train rolled down the tracks,” Bell said. “Since then, trains have logged 8.7 million miles.”
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Trocaderos closed
UPDATED June 25, 2009, 3:26pm
By Carly Reynolds
Downtown nightclub and restaurant Trocaderos closed this week, according to a brief message on the company's website. The message said the business is closed and the building is for lease or sale. "Thank you for your patronage," the site said. The night club's owners could not be reached for comment. “Trocaderos” took its name from a famous area of shops, restaurants, and clubs around the Eifel Tower in Paris, France, the “Trocadero Hill.” The business claimed the name was synonymous with a luxurious and comfortable ambiance that exceeds your entertainment needs, which explains the buildings many facilities. Not only did it house a two-story restaurant, but also a 8,000-square-foot dance
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Downtown architectural exhibit open through Friday
UPDATED June 24, 2009, 4:42pm
By Elizabeth Sias
Various display boards, architectural models, video displays and computer animations of community building and transportation projects from the region’s top developers and architects are on exhibit this week in the Northstar Center’s food court at the corner of 7th Street and Marquette Avenue. The tenth annual “Building Community: Visuals and Models of the New Urban Community” is open 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. June 25, and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. June 26. The exhibition includes a scale model of the future Stillwater lift bridge, a computer animation of the road construction project on 2nd Street and Marquette Avenue, a display of new sustainable urban tree technology used in Minneapolis and a display of various methods of transportation to get to and from the ne
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It's hot outside. Protect yourself.
UPDATED June 23, 2009, 2:04pm
By Cristof Traudes
1 Comment
With temperatures in the mid- to upper 90s today, it’s smart to be safe outside. The city of Minneapolis just released a few tips for how our trained-for-cold-but-not-hot bodies can make it through the day: - Drink more fluids, and don’t wait until you’re thirsty. Don’t go for the alcoholic, caffeinated or heavily sugared variety. - Don’t leave anybody or any animal in a closed, parked vehicle. Not even for five minutes or just one. - Wear lightweight, loose-fitting clothing. - Stay indoors and air-conditioned as much as possible. If you have to go outside, do it in the morning or evening. - Don’t rely on fans. Yes, the wind feels good, but they don’t protect against heat-related illness. Wet cloths or mist s
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Stone Arch Festival of the Arts enlivens St. Anthony Main
UPDATED June 23, 2009, 11:16am
By Sarah McKenzie
Hundreds of artists lined Main Street on the East Bank for the Stone Arch Festival of the Arts last weekend. The 15th annual festival featured 250 artist booths showcasing a variety of arts and crafts, including ceramics, photography, paintings, jewelry, glassworks and more. The event also featured performances by Roma di Luna, Caroline Smith & the Good Night Sleeps, the Idle Hands and the Laura Balfour Dance Company, among others. Another highlight was the "Art of the Car" show, which featured classic cars.
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I-394 ramp closing for one month
UPDATED June 22, 2009, 11:31am
By Dylan Thomas
The busy 12th Street exit ramp from Interstate 394 will close for one month beginning Tuesday, the city reported. The ramp will close to all traffic at 6 a.m. so that construction crews can begin work on 1st and Hawthorne avenues, which will be converted from one-way to two-way streets later this year. The ramp was expected to reopen the week of July 20.
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Wellstone apartments complete Franklin Portland Gateway
By Tara Bannow
What used to be an intersection blemished with broken-down gas stations, drug trafficking and prostitution is now a center for development and community rejuvenation on Franklin Avenue. The Wellstone apartment complex, opened in December 2008, marks the completion of the third phase of the Franklin Portland Gateway, a four-phase project aimed at making the area more family, transit and environmentally friendly. The gateway, located at the northeast corner of Franklin and Portland avenues, is a joint project between Hope Community, Inc. and Aeon, two local, nonprofit developers. The Wellstone offers a mix of affordable and market-rate units in addition to 4,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor, per the neighborhood association’s request. It
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Check it out: Hootenanny
By Sarah McKenzie
‘Hootenanny: A Community’Minneapolis photographer Tony Nelson showcases his photographs documenting Jim Walsh’s weekly musical gatherings — the Mad Ripple Hootenanny — in a new exhibit at the Gallery @ Fox Tax. In the fall of 2006, Walsh (aka The Mad Ripple), a veteran Minneapolis journalist, music critic and songwriter, started hosting the Hoot in the basement of the Southwest coffee shop Java Jack’s. The gatherings have brought together a wide mix of musicians, including many well known performers and emerging songwriters. Soon the Music Box Theatre on Nicollet in the Loring Park neighborhood will be home to the Hoot. “Seeing local legends, up and coming acts on tour, and completely unknown
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Biz buzz: Unbank opening
By Tara Bannow and Sarah McKenzie
2 Comments
Unbank opening on HennepinAn Unbank is opening in the former Teener’s building at 8th & Hennepin. The business, which provides check cashing, wire transfers and money orders, among other services, is scheduled to open around July 15, said Jess Haro, Unbank’s office manager. It will open next to the former Shinders space, which has been vacant for nearly two years. There are 16 Unbank locations in the Twin Cities. Not all are enthusiastic about its arrival on Hennepin. Tom Hoch, president and CEO of the Hennepin Theatre Trust, owner of the State, Orpheum and Pantages Theatres, has worked for years on efforts to revitalize Hennepin and is frustrated by the news. (Note: Hoch is a columnist for the
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09 legislative session: Upon conclusion, a $30 million hit
By Cristof Traudes
Minneapolis is expected to lose a major chunk of local-government aid. The governor’s message: “Reduce."
With the 2009 legislative session being preceded by a major financial bang — news of an in-the-billions state budget deficit — it was only appropriate for it to end with another one. On June 16, Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced he would shift and cut about $2.7 billion worth of aid and services in the latest state budget, including $300 million in statewide aid to local governments. Minneapolis is expected to take a $30 million hit in local-government aid (LGA) over the next two years, according to estimates from the Department of Revenue. The cuts would be back-loaded: $8.54 million this year, followed by $21.34 million
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A push to spotlight readers, ditch advertising
By Sarah McKenzie
1 Comment
NEED Magazine launches campaign to recruit more subscribers with eye-catching Downtown photo shootNEED Magazine has needs, too. Unlike most publications, however, advertising is not one of those needs. The Northeast-based magazine, which reports on the work of international and domestic aid organizations, has launched a provocative campaign called “Screw the Man, Save the World” in effort to drum up more subscribers and phase out its advertisers. During a recent photo shoot Downtown, NEED staffers and volunteers held up signs and sported T-shirts with the campaign phrase. They posed for photos on Nicollet Mall and in the skyways, grabbing the attention of curious passersby. NEED has set up a website for the campaign &
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Tapping the power of personal connections
By Sarah McKenzie
A conversation with OLSON founder John Olson on building a culture of creativityApparently OLSON didn’t get the memo about the recession. The 180-employee agency in the Loring Park neighborhood is still in expansion mode, adding 14 new employees this year. The company, one of the fastest growing Downtown and throughout the metro, has been picking up new accounts at a remarkable clip. It was also just honored with a couple of Effie Awards — the most coveted honor in the marketing/advertising industry.
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Art picks: Zen Thoughts, tough questions
By Cristof Traudes
What is the sound of one man believing? Is betrayal possible if one is enlightened and strong within? Are destruction and creation the two faces on the same coin? Feel free to ponder over these questions at “Zen, Myths and Other Ways of Seeing,” the new exhibition from Tran Dan. The artist likes dealing with universal themes such as war, corruption and ideologies, and his latest collection certainly doesn’t deviate. The pieces touch upon beauty, talent, humility, death and numerous betrayals. Tran likens his newest work to koans, a Zen device similar to rhetorical questions. By putting Vietnamese literature and legends (plus a few Western twists) to canvas, he asks us to consider whether mythology has little application to the modern world or if it
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It's all about the oven
By Tricia Cornell
Wood-burning pizza ovens may be trendy, but Black Sheep Pizza has found something better: coalJordan Smith used to think of coal as the poor man’s wood — when it came to pizza, at least. When he first discovered coal-fired pizza, in New York City, he assumed the restaurants there couldn’t afford wood. “But in fact, those were the most sophisticated ovens you could buy at the time, the coal-burning ovens,” he says. “The best pizza I’ve ever eaten was made in a coal-fired oven.” His wife and business partner, Colleen Doran, remembers wondering, “Why are we going for pizza in New York? We can get pizza anywhere. But you can’t get coal-fired pizza anywhere.” And that is the revelation
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Civic beat: Ranked-choice a go
By Cristof Traudes
Ranked-choice voting a go for November electionA pair of decisions this month have guaranteed that Minneapolis will implement ranked-choice voting in the November election. On June 11, the state Supreme Court ruled that the instant-runoff elections method, which Minneapolis voters adopted in 2006, is constitutional. A citizens’ group, the Minnesota Voters Alliance, had argued that it doesn’t amount to one person, one vote, but the court’s unanimous opinion disagreed. Instead, Chief Justice Eric Magnuson’s opinion likened the runoff process to an accelerated primary system. “In the general election,” the opinion reads, “voters who voted for candidates eliminated in the primary are allowed to cast
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Meet the market: Braucher's Sunshine Harvest Farm
By Zoie Glass
We have all heard the expression “it tastes like chicken,” which basically means it tastes like whatever you put on it; tofu for carnivores. However, if you have been fortunate enough to have tried farm direct, pasture raised chicken from Braucher’s Sunshine Harvest Farm, you know that chicken does taste like chicken and it tastes great. Braucher’s in Webster, Minn., offers 100 percent grass-fed beef and lamb and pasture-raised chickens and eggs. Mike Braucher is quick to point out that there is a big difference in the terms free range and pasture raised, as free range only requires that chickens have a certain amount of space and access to the outdoors. They still can eat a diet of processed “grain products, protein products, grain by-pr
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Developing stage presence
By Tom Hoch
SpotLight Musical Theatre program nurtures a love of arts, community On June 14, Hennepin Theatre Trust hosted its annual SpotLight Musical Theatre Awards program at the Orpheum Theatre, recognizing students from more than 30 metro area high schools for their participation in their schools’ musical theatre program. Witnessing the amazing display of talent on stage underscored for me the ongoing necessity for our community to ensure arts education in our schools, especially through high school theatre programs. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation 2008: Highlights from a National Survey, most art forms are experiencing a persistent decline in attendance. For all types of arts forms, participation is slipping and is
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