Dex is Getting Better

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Well, it's that time of year again.  Phone books are getting dropped off at people's homes whether they want them or not, and also whether the houses are technically occupied by people or not.  I've made an issue out of phone books at vacant properties before, even to the point of bringing them back to the Dex headquarters.  Earlier in the week, a northside neighbor and I were commiserating about how he had been seeing phone books at vacant properties, AGAIN, and that he had STILL received phone books even though he opted out of them some time ago.

So when both Hawthorne and Jordan had their clean sweeps today, I made a point of looking at vacant properties where anyone had left phone books.  What I saw was...

Watching Hockey with the Polish Lady

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, contributed photos.

Lately the content on North by Northside has slipped a bit, and that's been intentional.  The NHL playoffs are ongoing, and this is the one time of the year when I let issues take a back seat to watching the pursuit of the most hallowed trophy in all of sports.  One afternoon, when work in the EcoVillage garden was done, Valeria (aka "The Polish Lady") invited me over for the typical thank-you meal of Polish sausage.  Her husband, The Artisan of Meat (called this because he makes the Polish sausage and sells it at Sentyrz), asked me to join him in watching hockey.

Ok, so "ask" is putting it nicely.  It was more like, "Why the hell you not coming over here to watch hockey?  I got the big screen, I got the sausage, I got Polish beer.  Don't wait no two, three ****ing months to come see me!"

Well, when you put it THAT way, there's not much room for argument.  And when I went over for the first game...

FenaMacher Properties Does Restoration Right

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman except where noted otherwise.

The Hawthorne Voices blog showcased the EcoVillage LEED home, but I also stopped by a few other NoMi homes on the Minneapolis/St. Paul Home Tour.  One place that just blew my mind was 1500 Dupont Ave N, owned and rehabbed by FenaMacher Properties.  (top photo is from their website)

After being amazed by the gorgeous woodwork throughout, the next thing I noticed was, of course...

Public Meeting for Farview Wading Pool

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photo from the Bike Cops for Kids blog.

The wading pool at Farview Park will be getting a $500,000 makeover and various other improvements will be made to Hawthorne's park this year.  A press release for an upcoming meeting on May 18, 6:30 at Farview can be found here.  Or you can read it after the jump...

North High WILL Have a Freshman Class in 2011

Photo from Minnesota Public Radio.

Photo from Minnpost.

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photo credits linked above.

The Star Tribune recently reported in error that there would not be an incoming freshman class at North High this year.  However, a proud North High parent posted to the Minneapolis Issues Forum an email from Superintendent Johnson that indicates the exact opposite.  Organizers who have recruited new students repeatedly say that the number one barrier to getting committed students, parents, families, and other supporters is the concern that North High will close.

Since Johnson specifically stated on May 9, 2011, "I am pleased to announce that North High School will welcome a ninth-grade class in the fall of 2011," we need to spread the word that our North High Polars will indeed have a freshman class this year.

Superintendent Johnson's email is reprinted in full after the jump...

River of Life Thanked for Homeless Shelter

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Last fall, members of River of Life Lutheran Church at 22nd and Fremont wanted to maximize the use of our space.  (I attend and am the Vice President of the congregation.)  We began to look into ways that we could serve our community and those in the most need.  My pastor called me up one day and asked if I could join other church council members in touring several homeless shelters.  We wanted to explore whether the gym could be used as an overflow shelter for the winter, and needed to understand how we could accomplish that.

Fortunately we had plenty of support from partners at the city and county level, as well as partnerships from other Minneapolis shelters.  We heard the concerns of residents in the Hawthorne and Jordan neighborhoods and JACC board member Todd Heintz was crucial in building a relationship between our church and Jordan so that we could move forward.  KSTP reported when our permit was approved by the city, and we were on our way.

Last Friday, our temporary shelter permit expired, and we "celebrated" the closing.  Celebrated is a tough word to use here because...

City Pages Best of NoMi Roundup

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Here are the Best of 2011 City Pages winners with connections to NoMi:

Best Undiscovered Neighborhood:  Victory Neighborhood, Minneapolis
Best Local Blog:  The Adventures of Johnny Northside (Two years running!)
Best Burger:  Victory 44 (not really, in my opinion, but we'll get to that in a moment)
Best Neighborhood Bar (Minneapolis):  Tootie's on Lowry
Honorable mention for something that SHOULD be in NoMi, Best Bike Trail:  Grand Rounds, along the Mississippi River.
Various other downtown spots with North in their street address garnered top honors as well, but they are not technically in NoMi.  Out of all of those, however, the best bike shop jumped out at me because we need a bike shop here.  (And a REAL one, mind you, not some taxpayer/non-profit funded program-based notion that will dry up with future budget cuts.)

Now, about that burger (and the best blog)...