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Community notebook: Holidazzle contest
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By Amanda Kushner
Nicollet Mall
Holidazzle Parade launches storybook character contest
Organizers of this year’s Target Holidazzle Parade are inviting children to vote for their favorite storybook character in a new online contest.
“Our characters bring to life the Target Holidazzle Parade every year, so we thought they would be the perfect representatives to commence the 2009 Target Holidazzle season,” said Leah Wong of the Downtown Council, in a prepared statement. “Parade goers can look forward to another great line up, and, new this year, the Favorite Character Competition.”
Kids of all ages who are interested are encouraged to submit who their favorite character is and why in 50 words or less on the Target Holidazzle Facebook page or e-mail entries to favoriteecharacter@downtownminneapolis.com. One winner will be featured with their family in the parade. A runner-up and second place finisher will receive Hot Seats to watch the parade.
The contest runs through Dec. 6. Winners will be notified Dec. 11.
The 18th season of the parade will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 27 and will continue until Dec. 20, every Thursday through Sunday on Nicollet Mall between 12th and 4th streets.
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Elliot Park
Couple returns to thank HCMC staff
Elizabeth and Al Abraham returned to Hennepin County Medical Center on Oct. 27 to thank the emergency staff who saved them two years ago.
The couple was driving home from a family reunion in Nebraska on Highway 169 and had just passed a sign that said 40 miles to Minneapolis when an 18-wheeler truck smashed into them, Elizabeth Abraham said.
The collision sent the Abraham’s car careening across the median and into oncoming traffic during morning rush hour.
Al Abraham was airlifted to HCMC. He had brain trauma, fractured vertebrae, hematomas, extensive internal injuries and partially paralyzed his left shoulder and right leg. Elizabeth Abraham had multiple fractures and a mild brain injury. Al Abraham was at HCMC for a month before he moved to a transition hospital and then rehabilitation, she said. He’s on his way to 100 percent recovery.
The couple said they felt blessed to have had such a quick response to the horrific accident.
“It was the perfect storm in reverse. The outcome was really good instead of really really bad,” she said.
She said her husband could have been paralyzed or had permanent brain damage, but said HCMC staff did everything right.
In a former career Elizabeth Abraham worked in a hospital. She said staff often don’t hear back from their patients.
“I think I wanted them to know it was worth all the time and effort, and all the extra hard work that they do and how competent they were to get Al started down on the right leg, so he could have an opportunity to recover,” she said.
While rewriting their will the couple decided to donate to the Hennepin Health Foundation.
While returning was an emotional experience, Elizabeth Abraham said it was an uplifting synergetic event because they were thanking the staff while the staff also thanked them.
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Downtown core
Unique reunions at St. Thomas School of Law
Stephen Rondestvedt, a former lawyer defrauded clients of more than $750,000. David Logan, former CEO and city administrator in Pipestone, pled guilty to bank fraud at Global Ventures and bribery offenses related to his time as city administrator. Nick and Carolyn Ruberg pled guilty of mail fraud in connection to a $1 million false-invoicing scheme.
On Nov. 12, a forum at the University of St. Thomas will introduce the four white-collar criminals to the judges and prosecuting attorneys who faced them in court.
At “Crime, Punishment and Redemption: Three Unique Reunions,” prosecutors who charged the cases will lead discussions between those convicted and the judges who sentenced them.
In 2003, when Hank Shea worked for the United States Attorney’s Office for Minnesota he invited a venture capitalist, who he prosecuted for security fraud, to speak to MBA students about where he had gone wrong.
Shea said the event was a success, and since then he has expanded the event. This is the first time the judges are invited to join, he said. The forum will also focus on how the offenders are trying to rebuild their lives after spending time in prison.
The purpose of the event is for people to hear cautionary tales from these persons and to discover opportunities for finding and obtaining redemption even after they failed and were held accountable, he said.
The forum is part of a series of Medtronic Business and Law Roundtables hosted by St. Thomas’ Opus School of Business Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions and the Center for Ethical Business Cultures.
The event is from 4–6 p.m. at the Schulze Grand Atrium at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, 1000 LaSalle Ave. The forum is free and open to the public but those interested in attending should reserve a spot at stthomas.edu/
ethicalleadership/.
A transatlantic partnership
Globe University Minnesota School of Business, which has a campus in the IDS Center, joined Vision Slovakia to partner with University of Zilina in the Slovak Republic. On Nov. 16 the public is invited to join both institutions for a panel discussion about building transatlantic and international academic cooperatives. The discussion will be at 11 a.m. followed by a networking event at the concourse level of the IDS Center, 80 S. 8th St. RSVP to Kathey Gartland by Nov. 11 at kgartland@globeuniversity.edu or 651-332-8065.
Three leaders from the University of Zilina — President Jan Bujnak, Dean Zdena Kralova and Michael Valco, a faculty member of Natural Science and Informatics, will speak during the discussion.
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North Loop
Northstar Commuter Rail opens
At 11:15 a.m. on Nov. 14 the first Northstar Commuter Rail will arrive with passengers from Fridley at Target Field Station.
Before the rail arrives a civic ceremony will be hosted by Metropolitan Council Chair Peter Bell at 10:30 a.m. Representatives from the city, county, Twins and the Minneapolis Ballpark Authority will speak at the upper Hiawatha light rail station and then move down to the Northstar platform to greet the Northstar, said Bob Gibbons, a Metro Transit spokesman. Once the rail arrives participants can take tours of the new rails, he said.
The celebration will continue until 5 p.m. with bands and kid-friendly activities, including toy trains and a station for children to craft conductor hats. The celebration will also feature information booths.
The 40-mile rail, which will travel from Big Lake to Downtown, will officially begin serving passengers on Nov. 16. The Hiawatha light rail extension will begin paid service on Nov. 14.
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Loring Park
More trees on their way
When Mike Addy, a Loring Park resident, noticed sections of the sidewalk were torn up as part of the Hawthorne and 12th street reconstruction he saw an opportunity.
The Loring Park Post Office originally had four trees planted next to the building a few years ago, but the trees were in poor condition and were removed, he said.
Two years ago the post master agreed to add tree cut outs to replace those that were removed, he said. So since sections of the sidewalk immediately adjacent to 12th Street were torn up it was a great opportunity to add trees since that section of the sidewalk was already removed.
Trees and mulch will be added this spring and Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is responsible for the plantings, he said.
Addy said the planting of the trees is to the credit of Public Works for arranging for the green space, CLPC and the forestry division.
Reach Amanda Kushner at akushner@mnpubs.com.
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City declares snow emergency
UPDATED February 8, 2010, 1:28pm
By Cristof Traudes
With snow falling almost non stop since Sunday, the City of Minneapolis this afternoon declared a snow emergency.
Starting at 9 p.m. today, cars will not be allowed to be parked on either side of snow emergency route streets. From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow, cars should only park on the odd side of non-snow emergency route streets, and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, cars should only park on the even side of non-snow emergency route streets. Cars parked on the wrong sides of streets will be ticketed and towed.
To look up what streets are affected when, click here. More information is at ci.minneapolis.mn.us/snow.
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Development update :: AIA MN kicks off weekend of pro bono design
By Gregory J. Scott
It could be a scene out of some Bravo reality television show. Beginning at about 8 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13, teams of student and professional designers will have less than 24 hours to turn nonprofit proposals into graphic realities. The one-day scramble is part of the 23rd annual Search for Shelter Charrette, a weekend of pro-bono design organized by the American Institute of Architects Minnesota’s Housing Advocacy Committee. Nonprofits that lack the funds to hire a professional design firm submit wish-list building proposals — anything from a simple redesign of a lobby space to an inside-out renovation of an entire apartment complex. Then volunteer architects, landscape architects and interior designers collaborate to produce visual tools
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Park Board votes to open search for next superintendent
UPDATED February 4, 2010, 9:05am
By Cristof Traudes
President says Superintendent Jon Gurban has done great work but that moving on 'happens as the natural growth of an organization' The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is set to move beyond Superintendent Jon Gurban, voting 6–3 Wednesday night to begin a search for candidates.
It’s the will of Minneapolis’ residents, said a majority of the board that included all three new commissioners. The campaign trail sealed Southwest’s Brad Bourn and Anita Tabb’s decision, they said, while Northeast’s Liz Wielinski said people brought up the issue repeatedly last fall.
But three of the board’s longest-serving commissioners fought back, stringing along a discussion that dominated the night’s meeting.
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'Beyond Our Differences' screening on Friday
UPDATED February 3, 2010, 5:02pm
By Sarah McKenzie
There will be a special screening of the documentary “Beyond Our Differences,” a film exploring the positive impact of religion and spirituality in the world, at the Mayo Memorial Auditorium at the University of Minnesota campus Friday.
Peter Bisanz, the film’s director, will be on hand after the screening for a Q&A session.
Bisanz of St. Paul is the director and founder of New York-based Entropy Films. He is one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders — a group of people committed to turning their visions for positive change into action on a variety of important social causes.
In a recent interview, Bisanz said the concept for “Beyond Our Differences” came about while he was at the Dalai
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Twin Citites janitors vote to authorize strike
UPDATED February 1, 2010, 10:38am
By Gregory J. Scott
A near unanimous vote by over 500 union members has given Downtown janitors the authority to strike. Over 4,000 janitors in the Twin Cities have been working without a contract since Jan. 8. Negotiations with cleaning contractors have made little progress since then, and last Saturday's vote gives the bargaining committee the power to call a strike. Two more negotiation dates have been scheduled over the following weeks, but the affirmative vote means that the janitors who clean the vast majority of Downtown office buildings could walk off the job at any time. One of the major sticking points in talks is the green cleaning agenda proposed by the janitors. SEIU Local 26 has sought a transition to day shift cleaning, which the union argues could reduce
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Northeast spotlight :: Crafty entrepreneurs
By Sarah McKenzie
Stroll into I Like You and you are bound to find something that catches your eye. There are adorably hip outfits for little ones, artwork by notable local artists like Amy Rice and Adam Turman and all kinds of other handmade odds and ends you likely won’t find anywhere else. Owners Sarah Sweet and Angela Lessman recently moved their store to the neighborhood after a couple years in Kingfield in southwest Minneapolis. They plan on offering craft classes this spring to inspire other people in the community to tap into their own creative powers. Sweet recently spoke with the Downtown Journal about the business. DTJ: What do you look for when thinking about items for your store? Sweet: We look for things that you
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Community notebook :: Janitors’ union sets strike vote
By Gregory J. Scott
1 Comment
Janitors’ union sets date for strike voteAfter two full weeks of working without a contract, a union representing more than 4,000 Twin Cities janitors decided last week to set a strike authorization vote over unfair labor practices. The vote was scheduled to take place on Saturday, Jan. 30, at the union’s weekly member meeting. At press time, the outcome was not yet known, but the Downtown Journal has been posting web updates regarding this story at downtownjournal.com. SEIU Local 26 — Minnesota’s Property Services Union, which represents security officers and window cleaners in addition to janitors — had arranged for two additional weeks of negotiations at the end of last year, pushing the final deadline for a new
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Study shows uptick in Downtown skyway traffic
By Gregory J. Scott
If you’ve noticed a bit more jostling during your skyway lunch dashes, you’re not alone. Foot traffic in the elevated corridors jumped 4 percent in 2009, and in some areas pedestrian counts reached a 10-year high. The uptick is the major take-away from a report issued last week from Minneapolis-based Pedestrian Studies, a national consulting firm that analyzes foot-traffic patterns for people whose business depends on that sort of thing — shopping centers, property managers, organizers of public events. Pedestrian Studies founder Peter Bruce has conducted annual skyway counts in Minneapolis since 1991. For this study, Bruce focused on the corridors connected to Downtown’s major buildings, including City Center, Gaviidae Common, Northstar
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Biz buzz :: The Forum
By Gregory J. Scott
New restaurant to open in former Goodfellows spaceA former executive at Cargill is opening a new restaurant in City Center, taking over the space previously occupied by Goodfellows. The new restaurant, called The Forum, will blend comfort-food favorites and traditional chop house fare. It will also offer a “changing destination menu” that every month highlights a different culinary tradition from a region of the United States. Chef Christian Ticarro, executive chef at the Canyon Grille in Coon Rapids, will head the kitchen. The opening is planned for early April. The Forum takes over one of Minneapolis’ most historic spaces, the old Forum Cafeteria, which operated from the 1930s to the 1970s. The space was most recently
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Proposal would double fundraising needs for planetarium
By Cristof Traudes
In a shaky economy, it’s hard enough just to raise money. Try watching thought-to-be-secured dollars fall away. That’s what backers of the Minneapolis Planetarium project have been doing in the weeks since Gov. Tim Pawlenty presented his 2010 bonding proposal, a bill that would delete $22 million that’s been guaranteed to the Minneapolis Planetarium Society since 2005. Without the bonding, the society is looking at more than double the amount of money they need to raise to get the long-planned project up and running. “If the $22 million goes away, I think we have to really reconsider how everything looks,” said Angus Vaughan, president of the Minnesota Planetarium Society. The proposed planetarium would be a $35 million
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A tale of two housing markets
By Gregory J. Scott
// What do the 2009 numbers mean for Downtown? //The number of sales swelled, but median prices plummeted. Affordability reached a record high, but so did foreclosures and short sales. Realtors feel a twinge of optimism, but economists keep a nervous vigil. Since its release two weeks ago, a year-end report on the 2009 Twin Cities housing market has generated mixed emotions and mixed data, matching nearly every encouraging sign of a turn-around with a reason to keep hopes in check. And while real estate watchers metro-wide have chimed in with outlooks for the Twin Cities as a whole, getting an isolated assessment for Downtown has proven more difficult. “We stray from offering specific, neighborhood-level
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