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AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD
The Minnesota Toy Library is for parents, grandparents, educators, occupational therapists, and mostly, for kids, to come and choose toys that are fun and that help them learn. MTL Executive Director Rebecca Nutter said, “We can’t just keep consuming things. We need to do better.” (Photo submitted)
Minnesota Toy Library opens third metro location
The Minnesota Toy Library (MTL) is a toy lending program for families with children ages birth to five years. Members can check-out up to five toys at a time, and take them home for 2-4 weeks. And …
David Walcher of Urban Boatbuilders instructs Masyn May to lace ribs to the frame of a canoe.  Urban Boatbuilders teaches youth how to build boats through paid internships. Gretchen Wilbrandt of Urban Boatbuilders says they seek to let companies know they have employable youth. She cites COVID, global wars, and a mental health crisis as stressors that can make youth feel hopeless.
How can the community help youth succeed?
What are the biggest barriers to young people succeeding in the Twin Cities? Are there enough resources to assist youth facing overwhelming challenges? Are those resources readily accessible? And …
Begin planning kids' summer recreation now
Due in part to high demand, parents who want to place their kids in summer rec programs or summer camps should being vetting such programs and camps well in advance of summer. The following are a …
Mark Rivard of Do Rad Things
Hear from Mark Rivard, creator of Do Rad Things, at 'Let's Connect' event in February
Every artist has an interesting origin story. But nothing compares with how Mark Rivard got started. Rivard began illustrating skateboards with Sharpie markers in the early 2000s. That led to an …
Southwest Connector launches 'Let's Connect,' a new community speaker series
Minneapolis is filled with great local people doing great things in the world. The Southwest Connector will showcase them with "Let's Connect," a new community speakers series. Every month, the …
History

Fighting school segregation didn’t take place just in the South

School boycott picketers march across the Brooklyn Bridge to the Board of Education in 1964.
In the 1950s, Harlem mother Mae Mallory fought a school system that she saw as ‘just as Jim Crow’ as the one she had attended in the South.
AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Arson fires at Stevens House
The Minneapolis Park and RecreaCon Board Park Police Department is asking for the public’s help in solving three recent arson fires at the Stevens House, located at 4901 South Minnehaha Park …
Jonathan Reckford was the first to speak in "Healing Our House Divided" on Oct. 5, 2022.
Healing our house divided
This fall, The Westminster Town Hall Forum presents “Healing Our House Divided”   a four-part series in which intellectually diverse thinkers will argue that community can surmount …
Fire Motor Operator Mary Mohn, Firefighter Bonnie Bleskachek, Firefighter Vicki Hoff and Captain Jean Kidd, who from 1992-1994 formed the city’s first all-women crew, in front of their rig, Engine 5.
MFD commemorates 30th anniversary of first all-women fire crew
Current and former fire department staff, city officials, friends and family joined together at Minneapolis Fire Station 5 (2700 Bloomington Ave.) on Sept. 23, 2022, to honor the four members of the …
Gary Schatzlein stands in Schatzlein’s Saddle Shop at 413 W Lake St., holding a saddle that needs to be repaired. “It has been hard to compete with online shopping,” Gary Schatzlein said. “Brands have made it harder for us to buy from them.” The horse behind him is one customers used to sit on and see if their apparel fit right. Now, the horse displays a “Do Not Touch” sign
WHERE PAST AND PRESENT MEET
Before Lake Street was a popular hub of Minneapolis, it was a rural area where farming was prevalent. There were rarely any streetcars or buses that rode up and down the street, but rather, horses …
Repairs coming to historic park buildings
The Ard Godfrey House, John H. Stevens House, and Longfellow House are scheduled for repairs this fall as part of ongoing efforts to rehabilitate historic structures located in Minneapolis parks. …
Very interesting

A brief history of presidential inaugural speeches, from George Washington to today

Abraham Lincoln

Inaugural addresses that newly minted presidents have given over the past 250 years have aimed to do several key things, including unify the country and establish the speaker’s qualifications for the job.

When presidents would send handwritten lists of their nominees to the Senate, things were a lot different

President George Washington, left, and his Cabinet: Henry Knox, secretary of war; Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the Treasury; Thomas Jefferson, secretary of state; and Edmund Randolph, attorney general.

The US now faces the likelihood of a bruising and raucous set of confirmation hearings − a clear break from the cooperative system the founders established.

Righting a wrong, name by name − the Irei monument honors Japanese Americans imprisoned by the US government during World War II

The Aochi family in the Rohwer, Arkansas, detention camp. Photo courtesy of June Aochi Berk

The US government locked up nearly 126,000 Japanese Americans from 1942 to 1945, but never kept comprehensive records of all the people subjected to this unjustified incarceration.

An avid traveler, Pearl Young – waving at the top of the stairs – traveled to Hawaii on a UND alumni trip in 1960.
Pearl Young, the first woman to work in a technical role at NASA, overcame barriers and ‘raised hell’ − her legacy continues today
Many of her male colleagues believed Pearl Young had an attitude problem based on her efforts to advocate for herself and her team.
The National Cold War Center and Woodrow Wilson Center partner to elevate the story of the war that saved the world
(BPT) - In 1987, President Ronald Reagan boldly stood before one of the iconic symbols of the Cold War and, in words that shape his legacy, demanded from the Soviet leader, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down …
Excavating the new trackway site, with footprints from hominins, birds and other animals visible in foreground. Neil Roach
Fossilized footprints reveal 2 extinct hominin species living side by side 1.5 million years ago
Ancient fossil footprints are the first evidence of two different hominin species − Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei − living in the same place at the same time.
The 10 biggest tournament cash prizes recorded in poker history
Clubs Casino compiled a ranking of the 10 biggest tournament cash prizes in poker history (adjusted for inflation) using data from The Hendon Mob.
15 of the biggest sports gambling scandals
OLBG compiled a list of 15 gambling scandals from numerous sports around the world.