Candidate Debates in 58B

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, video from the Senate District 58 website. 

Last week we had candidate debates for district 58 A and B - although we don't know for sure where the boundaries will be for the house districts for a few weeks more.  On Tuesday night, four candidates for 58B debated at UROC.  Nancy Pomplun, Ian Alexander, Terra Cole, and Raymond Dehn attended the debate.  Former state representative Willie Dominguez is believed to be running as well.  He was invited but did not show.

At this point in the election, I'm not sure who of the candidates in attendance I support.  (Although I am predisposed to elect someone new instead of returning Dominguez to office if he continues to run.)  In fact, I have personal and professional relationships with all four candidates and may therefore refrain from openly endorsing anyone - at least until after the district convention.

The full debate video is posted above, and my impressions were...

Lowry Bike Lanes and a Blogging Success Story

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, above image from Hennepin County, and photo below from the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition blog.

Last summer, I found out that the Lowry Bridge bike lanes initially planned were not up to the standards that I had hoped to see - nor did they meet what many bicyclist groups had wanted, nor did they pass muster in accordance with long-term plans for Lowry Avenue.  So I did a rather extensive post (linked above) about the topic.  What followed was a result that affirms why I put so much energy into both reading comprehensive area planning documents, and blogging about them as best as I'm able.

Obviously in this case I wanted to see a better design for bike lanes on the Lowry Bridge.  But after the initial post I did not have the time, energy, wherewithal, or connections to see things through to a full and successful end goal.  Others did.  The Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition and a whole host of other cycling activists began a dialogue with Commissioner Stenglein around how to improve the bike lane designs.  That dialogue has proven successful, and I'm told that the bridge will have "slip ramps."

An example of a slip ramp, although the lanes on the Lowry Bridge will be much wider.

In a poetic twist, the bike lane pictured above is from the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, Oregon.

So thank you to Commissioner Stenglein, the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, and anyone else who helped the Lowry Bridge get much-improved bike lanes!  And check out the coalition's post for the specific details about how the lanes came about and how they will work.

We always knew the Lowry Bridge would be well-built, but now we can rest easier knowing it will be built right.

"Get to NoMi" Gets Real on Facebook

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Today is "New Member Monday" over on the Get to NoMi Facebook page, so if you haven't yet joined in, now's your chance to see what the buzz is all about.  And the page has been buzzing quite a bit lately.  Shortly after the tragic shooting death of Terrell Mayes Jr, a community brainstorming session was organized by several NoMi residents and announced on the eponymous page.  The event went quite well overall, with everyone treating each other with civility and respect while we came up with as many ideas as possible to combat the problems that led to an innocent child losing his life to gun violence.

Up until the event was posted, Get to NoMi had primarily been used as a forum to promote real estate sales, local businesses, and an overall feel-good sentiment of north Minneapolis.  In other words, at least from my perspective, it was boring milquetoast.  I rarely checked the page, and usually when I did it was to reset a huge number of Facebook notifications.  Maybe the page had its uses, but I didn't find much value there.

Since the brainstorming session, subscribers to the page have increased by several hundred and now over 1,400 "like" this part of Facebook.  We started to talk about why it was that there was a much higher representation of people of color and renters at the vigil, but the brainstorming session was made up mostly of white homeowners.  That kind of question is essential to tackle if we're going to do a better job of engaging everyone, but too often when we try to discuss it somebody says something that offends someone else and before you know it...

New Windows at Friedman's Shoes!

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photo from the West Broadway Coalition Facebook page.

In my opinion, too much has been made about the windows and facade at Friedman's shoes.  The owners run a good store and give plenty back to the community.  That was enough for me to become a customer, and one purchase was all it took to earn my loyalty.  For others, that wasn't enough, but now even they have no excuse.

That's because over the next week, Friedman's will replace all of their old glass with the windows you see here.  The sign will also be refurbished - but no worries!  The iconic Friedman's signage will stay; that's an institution in and of itself.  The doorway will also be redone to include historic photos of the store throughout the decades.  The redesign is being done by Hawthorne's leading resident architect Alissa Luepke Pier, and another Hawthorne business, Mitchell Construction, is handling the installation work.

It's the best of all possible outcomes.  Everybody wins and the work to refurbish is kept local.  So what are you waiting for?  Get yourself some shoes already.

Community Concerns Heard, Hub Voted Down

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

At today's Community Development Committee, the West Broadway Hub proposal came for an initial vote.  A yes vote would have supported plan modifications to the city's overall plan and allowed the proposal to move forward as it has been presented.  Instead, a motion to deny such support passed the committee unanimously.

About eight or so residents from several north Minneapolis neighborhoods gathered outside City Hall to show our dissent.  The last time I was involved with neighborhood groups bringing signs downtown in protest was when the council dismantled NRP.  So even in small numbers, the fact that residents were driven to this point is quite serious.  Our political theater was meant only for outside the council chambers, though.  Once we got inside and the hearing started...

MPR Sound Points at Five Points Building

Post, photos, and video by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Almost a year ago, I did a blog post about one idea of the many nifty things one could do with QR codes.  I tossed out a few other ideas to neighborhood partners, but the right project hasn't come along yet.  What I forgot to do, however, was to send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the President of Inventions, along with a detailed summary of all my great ideas.  Had I remembered to do that, I might have gotten credit for the work shown above.  Instead, like most people who come up with interesting ideas that never get fully developed, I'm relegated to saying "Yeah, but I thought of it first."

And then the real credit here goes where it's deserved:  to Minnesota Public Radio, the City of Minneapolis, Catalyst Community Partners, and the various artists who participated in the project.

For those of you new to QR codes, they are the equivalent of bar codes for your smart phone.  And they work like this...

Gang Graffiti in Willard-Hay

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, bottom photo contributed via email, top four photos from a flickr account.

Earlier this week, residents in Willard-Hay woke up to see an entire block covered in explicit gang graffiti.  The level of arrogance and stupidity on display here is astounding, and matched only by the physical and psychological damage the tagging was intended to inflict.

"RIP Bow Wow" most likely refers to Ray'jon Gomez, the troubled youth who was fatally shot this summer.  While this should not be the only thing we remember about Gomez, his family's connections to criminal and gang activity are extensively documented on Johnny Northside.  The actions of these thugs does nothing to help the community remember a child in a more positive light.

 The "Larry Hoover" tags refer to the gangster who started the Gangster Disciple Nation, or GDN, as well as the Folk Nation and Black Disciples (the BD tag).  The 7-4-14 tag refers to the corresponding letters G, D, and N.  Hoover went to prison for his gang activities, and then in the most transparent attempt at misleading brand identification since "Kentucky Good Chicken," claimed that G and D now stood for "growth and development."  He was reformed and was calling on his fellow gang members to follow his lead.

Except that he wasn't really reformed.  The good behavior was just a pretense to get him out of prison early and none of the proceeds from the "Growth and Development" charity work ever went to anyone in need.  He was caught resuming his illegal activities and is now serving a life sentence.

About a year ago, a friend's cousin moved into NoMi and had never been to Minneapolis before.  She immediately thought of north Minneapolis as the part of town that was safer than south, because of the relative lack of gang graffiti we have here.  When incidents like this happen, residents should be diligent about filing community impact statements.  Doing that will help the judge hand down a more appropriate sentence if and when these thugs get caught.

CM Samuels is working with the community to assist with a response, and a local organization, Asian Media Access, has also offered to reach out to youth in the area and give them a more positive outlet for their energy.  People across NoMi are already asking what they can do to help as well.