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Erasing racial covenants, writing new future
City’s plan to buy Peoples’ Way met with apprehension
A Little Free Library in every community
Citizens ask city to support community needs
Despite an increase in the budget proposed by the mayor and with property taxes likely to increase for many property owners, only two of the nearly 100 comments received by the city so far have …
Letting staff go
Lyndale Neighborhood Association Board President Doug Herkenhoff made this announcement in the association’s e-newsletter on Nov. 28:  “As the LNA Board of Directors, we have …
Standish author’s latest thriller chills
In a blog post for Barnes & Noble, local author Marcie Rendon writes of the stories that lurk at the edge of our consciousness, waiting to be told. Stories that are “too disturbing, too …
City’s plan to buy Peoples’ Way met with apprehension
At a neighborhood meeting at Sabathani Community Center on October 24, Minneapolis’ Community Planning & Economic Development (CPED) agency announced plans to purchase the former Speedway …
Subversive Sirens imagine a better world
The world of queer synchronized swimming is very small. But the Subversive Sirens, a non-binary synchronized swimming team out of Minnesota, is making a big splash. (Forgive the pun.) Advocating …
FOSTER THE FAMILY
What do you do when a foster child you have raised for several years is suddenly going home to her birth parents? How do you react the first time the school principal calls you in to discuss a …
Riverview Theater one of few one-screen theaters still operating locally
It was Dec. 30, 1948, that the Riverview Theater at 3800 42nd Avenue opened its doors, showing the film “June Bride,” starring Bette Davis. The neighborhood icon caters to its community …
Creativity and community in a time of Isolation
In 2021, retired University of Minnesota filmmaker Paul Eide and a few members of his family pictured a way to fight pandemic isolation – a way that creatively drew them together.Just before …
Best time to prune most plants is late winter
As fall turns to winter, you may be looking at the bare, brown branches in your yard and wondering when to cut them back. Overall, the answer is not yet! But there’s lots to think about before …
Park updates December 2022
MINNEHAHA PARKWAYDue to the recent cold weather and snow, construction has wrapped up for the year on a project to improve safety for trail users and drivers along Minnehaha Parkway Regional Trail …
CITY BRIEFS
42nd St. safety improvementsThe city and county have agreed to work together to improve several intersections along 42nd St. Using Highway Safety Improvement Program funds, they will install traffic …
"This is too much"
When five people in the throes of a mental health crisis were killed in incidents with police, Michelle Gross said she knew Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB) had to act. CUAPB …

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Dec. 1, 2022 Connector

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BEGINNING A NEWSPAPER

Welcome, readers of the new Southwest Connector. We’re glad you’ve picked up a copy of our inaugural edition. It’s an exciting time for neighborhood journalism. Thanks for coming …

VOTERS GUIDE
 Election brings many firsts
The 2022 midterm election provided many firsts for Hennepin County and Minnesota as a whole. Black women will serve in the Minnesota Senate for the first time with the election of Zaynab Mohamed, …
COLLIN BEACHY
Beachy is currently in his 21st year of teaching. This is his eighth as a special education teacher with Minneapolis Public Schools.  “I come from a family of teachers, and I am a strong …
KERRYJO FELDER
How will you reduce the achievement gap between Black and White students in the district?Even before the school board started discussing it, I knew we had to get on a structured literacy with heavy …
Who votes, who doesn’t and why
This is part of a series about the 2022 municipal elections by the League of Women Voters Minneapolis.Recent Supreme Court rulings have exposed the reality that government representatives often …
DAWANNA WITT
wittforsheriff.comWitt is a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. She has 22 years of experience in law enforcement and currently serves as a major at the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, where she …

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Voices Against Violence
 A SAFER APPROACH FOR CUSTODY CASES
Who’s right? Who’s wrong? And how does it affect the kids?Figuring out family dynamics in custody cases can be tricky, but the Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP) in St. Paul …
FAILED BY FAMILY COURT
Helpless and hopeless.That’s how Kelsey Kruse felt for years as she tried to co-parent with her ex and his wife, Brett and Sarah Hallow.And then one day, she got the call she was scared …
‘I RAN’
At 25, Sarah* doesn’t speak to her dad. And she points the finger squarely at him and how he treated her before and after her parents’ divorce.She knows that people often blame mom when a …
Professor gives tips to helpers on how to help families affected
Like many issues, domestic abuse situations have only been heightened by COVID-19. Jerrod Brown, a professor at Concordia University and program director for the Master of Arts degree in human …
They took her children away
When Starr Jones* tells her story, people can’t believe this is happening in Minnesota. They can’t believe that the dad was investigated by child protection when their first daughter was …

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Home & Garden
 Tile artist creates unique pieces for homes
Standish tile artist Haruko Ruggiero always had a sense that she would develop her own “something” related to interior design and patterns. She began by fashioning together …
FOR HEALTHIER YARD AND WORLD, SKIP FALL CLEAN-UP
Climate change, habitat loss and pesticides are causing dramatic declines in populations of insects and the birds who need them – with likely dire consequences for humans’ quality of life …
Standish tile artist creates unique pieces for homes
Standish tile artist Haruko Ruggiero always had a sense that she would develop her own “something” related to interior design and patterns. She began by fashioning together mosaics. …
Bringing houseplants inside for the winter
This summer, you may have brought your houseplants outside to enjoy the warmth and humidity – I certainly did! As the nights get colder and days get shorter, it’s time to bring …
Should you use eggshells and Epsom salt?
It seems like every time I open up social media, I see posts or videos with gardening advice. Sometimes the advice is good, but sometimes it’s useless or even harmful. But how to know which …

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Mindful Creativity
 All that was yummy in 2022
Another year is coming to an end, giving birth to a new one. What 2023 has in store is yet to be seen. A mystery like turning a page in a suspense novel yet to be written. This last year has not been …
Art for everyone
Tammy Ortegon considers herself a folk artist, and she believes folk art is created by and for the people. A part of making this a reality is by creating a space where community members can gather to …
Looking at nature, painting what she sees
Minneapolis-based artist Mary Bacon highlights local landscape  in her work, and has closely studied local flowers, trees, and parks. She is showing currently at Artacile Art Gallery in the …
Upholding civil liberties, rights across the Twin Cities
When in the course of human events...* Sometimes coincidence sparks a column. During the second week of October my volunteer work with the ACLU and attending a Guthrie Theater play coincided with …
'The Mary Hanson Show' celebrates 40 years
'The Mary Hanson Show,' the longest-running independently produced cable TV show in the United States, is 40 years old this fall. The talk show also was on public television for 23 years. The …

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Rebuild Repair Recycle
Green Minneapolis is dedicated to advancing the vibrancy of Minneapolis through parks and greening. The non-profit (81 South 9th Street Suite 260) conducted a study focused on establishing an urban …
According to the Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, limiting the earth’s warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius would require reducing greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 45% by 2030 and …
The Hiawatha Golf Course Master Plan is heading to a public hearing, another meeting in a long line of contentious meetings since the course flooded in 2014 and the public learned how much pumping is …

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Aging Well
Is it Halloween? Are there ghosts in my house? I can only focus on what is in front of me. What is this me being scared? It's a mystery. Do you ever get scared? Is it a mystery to you? Tell yourself, …
Beach to beechWhen I arrived in Minnesota as an east coast transplant in the late 1980s, my summer visions were of expanses of New Jersey beaches rather than expansive views of blue beeches, the …
By SHARON PARKERLeague of Longfellow Artists Watercolor painter Barb Morrison is excited to be joining the LoLa Art Crawl for the first time, and to be able to show off the recently renovated …

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HENNEPIN AVENUE
 Hennepin Ave design: Helpful or hurtful?
If the proposed reconstruction plan for Hennepin Ave. passes, Kristin Traynor says The Corner Balloon Shoppe will be moving from 2455 Hennepin Ave. “I have an extremely diverse group of …
Hennepin for People supports city’s proposed plan for Hennepin Ave. South
As woman of color, Wedge resident Chandra Lalla says she knows how “our streets don’t serve everyone well.“For generations, city streets were built solely with car travel in mind, …
True progress on Hennepin requires a business plan
Small businesses are the lifeblood of any community. They provide distinctive character to a neighborhood and are the engine that drives a local economy. Without local businesses, there is no local …
COMPETITION FOR SPACE ALONG S. HENNEPIN
By Tesha M. Christensen In a one-way presentation on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, city staff acknowledged that there are competing desires for E. Hennepin Ave., and they can’t all be addressed …
BUSINESSES SUBMIT LETTER TO CITY
Opinion
 A more sustainable season
Extra waste from the holiday season is a big problem in America. The average American throws away 25 percent more trash during the Thanksgiving to New Year’s holiday season, according to …
Centrists research and don’t blindly check boxes
I take exception to Mr. LaVercombe’s premise that it is the unaffiliated swing voters (his “comfortable” who are tyrants.  I think it is the strident malcontents and activists …
Look closer at Credit Card Competition Act of 2022
The Black community has struggled to keep up financially with White peers. Much of this can be attributed to a lack of access to financial services offered to the community. Nontraditional services …
Musings on $20
Each day since writing the last Stories and Journeys column, I have been checking the obituries in the newspapers I read. None of them are mine. So, here I go again.Before starting to write this …
Carrying on a tradition, one step at a time
It was the summer before my junior year at Hamline University in 1977. I had already been named the editor of the Hamline Oracle, Hamline’s student newspaper, for my junior year, and I decided …

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COLUMNISTS
 Nothing beats forgiveness — in any season
The holidays are here. You know what that means. It's the most wonderful time of year. Or the worst. Depends on how you feel about Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. And what they …
More marvelous music for middle-aged Minnesotans
“We’re playing all originals tonight,” said band leader Terry Walsh as he ripped into another of his audience’ favorites. “I mean, since we’re celebrating Dan …
Our midterm elections and the tyranny of the comfortable
It’s Monday the 7th, and I’m writing the first section of this column the day before The Election. I’ll write the second half on Nov. 9...  PART ONE I’ve finally …
We don't need to live in suffering anymore
Pain is a terrible thing. Whether it's physical, emotional, or mental — pain hurts. I was in a lot of pain for many years. It was my right ankle. The pain was chronic and had become so bad in …
I am inviting you to my committal service
As far as I can tell I haven't died. I am writing this column. The service will take place at Lakewood Cemetery, the site of my internment. Details to follow. The theme of the service will be coming …

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George Floyd Memorial Square

Upholding civil liberties, rights across the Twin Cities

When in the course of human events...*  Sometimes coincidence sparks a column. During the second week of October my volunteer work with the ACLU and attending a Guthrie Theater play coincided …

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Neighborhood organizations
Neighborhood Briefs
Simpson Housing Open House DEC. 3 Simpson Housing is temporarily relocating its shelter to Zion Lutheran Church in the Lyndale neighborhood in December. Join them at Zion, 128 West 33rd Street, …
Community divided over better bike lanes on Summit Avenue
The city’s proposal to remove mature trees and parking along Summit Avenue to create a bike trail is creating controversy throughout the Twin Cities. More than 150 people attended an open house …
Neighborhood Briefs
Garden design preview party Nov. 17 Join the Kingfield Neighborhood Association for baked goods from Butter Bakery and a preview of the Nicollet Avenue Pollinator Pathway Project (P3) community …
Nicollet Ave. and Lake Street rebuild
The area around Nicollet Ave. and Lake Street is slowly being rebuilt after damage from the Uprising following the murder of George Floyd. The new Lake Street Post Office at 110 E. 31st St. is …
A new Nicollet
The Nicollet Redevelopment will take down barriers that have impacted residents and local businesses.  Lake Street and Nicollet Ave. was once an intersection of two commercial corridors. But …

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Web Extras - Contact us to sponsor this content
3 gift ideas for every kid on your list
(BPT) - Selecting the perfect gift can be a challenge, no matter who is on your list. However, when it comes to kids it can be particularly challenging to think of unique gift ideas year after year. …
The impact of physical activity on loneliness and social isolation for older adults
(BPT) - It’s been well-established that physical activity like walking, yoga and going to a fitness center has many health benefits for older adults. These include better sleep, less anxiety …
How spending at department stores has changed in the last three decades
Experian examined data from the Census Bureau's Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey to see how department store spending has changed since 1993.
One-hit wonders of the 1990s
Stacker compiled a list of one-hit wonders from the 1990s using Billboard chart data and music industry news.
From smart kitchens to robocooks: 10 tech innovations transforming restaurants
Task Group analyzed news and trends across the restaurant industry to find 10 innovations pushing the forefront of technology when it comes to food service.
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