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Articles by Anna Koenning
Who’s the ‘Mastermind’? Teaching kids through Taylor Swift
The name Taylor Swift has been ringing through school hallways since I was young, and now Minneapolis Public Schools offers Swiftie-inspired programming. There are three extracurricular Taylor Swift-inspired classes at MPS– two are after school classes at Lake Harriet Upper and Anderson United Middle, and one will be offered through Community Education at Kenwood Elementary this summer.
City clears Whittier encampment
City crews cleared a homeless encampment on 3rd Avenue between Franklin Avenue and 22nd Street on Tuesday. The encampment was in the parking lot of a CenturyLink building, which a representative for CenturyLink said houses infrastructure for wireless and internet services. While one or two individuals frequently slept in the alcoves of the building for at least a year, the encampment of about 20 tents started in December, 2023.
What happened to Michelangelo’s Masterpizzas?
Martin Davis had big plans for Michelangelo’s Masterpizzas, a neighborhood favorite for 25 years, when he closed the 50th and Washburn restaurant for renovations in 2017. Construction delays and the death of building owner and Michelangelo’s founder Dave Stein halted those plans. Stein left the Michelangelo’s building to his sister Lisa and brother-in-law Clay Taylor when he passed away from bile duct cancer at age 61 in 2021. The restaurant was still closed when he died.
30 flirty things to do for Valentine’s Day '24 in Southwest and downtown Minneapolis
Enjoy Valentine's Day with your friends, sweetie pie, and family with our collection of events throughout Southwest and downtown Minneapolis. ❤️Stroll the lovey night market❤️ Shop handmade goods for your honey at the Old St. Anthony Valentine’s Night Market. Feb.
Rivershore Aquariums is a fish store like no other
When the nearly 50-year store A World of Fish closed in Richfield last year, a group of former employees moved across the border to Minneapolis to continue the local fish-keeping tradition. They found a window-filled, airy space in Windom to open Rivershore Aquariums in November of 2022. Customers could find cheaper supplies and fish at big box pet stores, but the knowledgeable staff at Rivershore are passionate about fish-keeping.
Niche gyms fill 'big box' gym gaps in Southwest Minneapolis
The gym industry is ever-changing with new fitness regimes and diets making claims to change lives drastically. When asked about changes in the fitness industry in the past five years, Balance Fitness Studios co-founder Morgan Luzier struggled to pick just one. When she opened Balance Fitness Studios in 2001, women’s fitness revolved around cardio and nothing else. She remembers being one of the only women in her gym experience who focused on strength training instead of cardio.
Harry Singh's Original Caribbean Restaurant is reopening
While taking a break at the Minnesota State Fair, Harry Singh told Southwest Voices that he plans to reopen his restaurant at 2653 Nicollet Ave. in September. Harry Singh's Original Caribbean Restaurant has been closed for almost a year after Singh broke his foot in four places last fall. Prior to the closure, the Business, Inspections, Housing and Zoning Committee held a quasi-judicial hearing on the restaurant over unpaid taxes last September.
A day in Hennepin County housing court
When I spoke to housing attorney Mike Vraa about renters’ rights in July of 2022, he called housing court one of “the most miserable things you’ll see… it feels very factory-like. Like an eviction factory.” Nine months later, I observed a full day of in-person housing court to witness a process that more renters are encountering. than before the pandemic. Evictions almost completely stopped in Hennepin County during the pandemic eviction moratoriums, starting in 2020.
Southwest music director focuses on community, representation
Reid Wixson started his dream job nine years ago teaching music at Southwest High School, creating community and encouraging equity in the classroom. His classroom, which is lined with instruments and photographs of diverse musicians, has become a safe haven for queer students and a comfortable place for the young musicians. Wixson was nominated for Teacher of the Year in 2023 and won the Minnesota Music Educator of the Year award for the 2019-2020 year.
MPS offers adaptive athletics for disabled students
Adaptive field hockey is in season at MPS, which means the team, coached by Greg Smith and Sasha Ryshkus Knutson, have the opportunity to compete against athletes throughout the state for the Minnesota State High School League title. As with all adaptive teams at MPS, the team is made up of students from across the district who play hockey at gyms with mats bordering the playing field to prevent the puck from flying under the bleachers.
Introducing Minneapolis Schools Voices Reporter Anna Koenning
Minneapolis Schools Voices is extra special for me because I am the daughter, granddaughter and sister of educators. My elementary school days were spent going to school early and staying late in the library where my mom worked, which means I’ve read a little bit of everything that a Catholic elementary school library has to offer. Don’t even get me started on the American girl doll books, because I can talk about them all day (I had Nellie, which still aligns pretty well with my personality).
You’ve got rights: A guide to renters’ rights and navigating the legal world of renting
Add it to the list of things we should have learned in school: how to rent an apartment and what rights renters have. Despite housing being one of the most critical aspects of living, HomeLine attorney Mike Vraa pointed out that there’s no required training on how to rent an apartment. “The thing about housing is it’s the biggest cost in almost everybody’s life. From the day you’re 18 to the day you die, it’s where you’re living,” he said.
Here’s the scoop on everybody’s favorite Malt Shop
The Malt Shop’s first big rush started when late Minneapolis Tribune entertainment writer Will Jones reviewed the restaurant with a comparison to the 50s nostalgia of the show “Happy Days,” which aired that week. The article published less than a year after Richard Henke’s friends, Patrick O’Brien and John Dimunation, opened the restaurant in 1973, with Henke joining shortly after.
Rep. John Thompson faces challengers Hoang Murphy, Liz Lee in endorsement race
The governor and the speaker of the Minnesota House called for him to resign. His party caucus ousted him. But embattled Rep. John Thompson is running for reelection. To win a second term, he’ll need to defeat two challengers in the strongly Democratic East Side St. Paul district. Hoang Murphy, founder of the St. Paul-based nonprofit Foster Advocates, and Kaozouapa “Liz” Lee, a nonprofit consultant and former Washington, D.C., staffer, are both in the race.
Did You Know You Have a Friend in Stevens Square?
Denny Jacobson watched a man die through the window of his favorite Minneapolis coffee shop last September. “That was the first time I’d ever seen someone be shot and die. You saw the life going out of him,” he remembers. “His name was Christopher.” It’s unsurprising that Jacobson knows the man’s name despite never meeting him. He’s the kind of person who takes the time to say hello and learn everyone’s name.
One man’s path out of homelessness
James Myers first became homeless in Minneapolis in March, 2019, not long after serving time at Moose Lake correctional facility. He had been staying with his dad and stepmom after his release. When his stepmom contracted COVID-19, Myers moved into his car off Olson Memorial Highway to isolate from them. He began staying at the nearby Catholic Charities shelter after some women who brought him food and water recommended it.
Free tests look for harmful chemicals in young children
Children starting kindergarten in southeastern Minnesota can get free testing for possible exposure to harmful chemicals as part of a new pilot program, the Minnesota Department of Health announced on Tuesday. Families who bring their kids ages 3 to 6 to early childhood screening appointments, which are required for public school enrollment, will receive a $40 gift card if they choose to participate in the voluntary biomonitoring program.
Home care workers union wins ruling from state board on unpaid pandemic bonuses
Hundreds of home care workers still have not received pandemic bonus pay the state Legislature set aside for them more than a year ago, but a ruling by a state employment board on Tuesday could help them be made whole. In October 2020, state lawmakers approved an 8.4% temporary increase in payments to home care agencies as part of the massive $1.9 billion spending package.
Walz appoints Kessler as pollution control commissioner
Gov. Tim Walz appointed Katrina Kessler to be his new commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, or MPCA, effective Nov. 1. Kessler, who has decades of experience as a water regulator, is being promoted after serving as assistant commissioner of MPCA for water policy and agriculture. Walz struggled to find candidates during a monthslong search, challenged by a political environment in which Senate Republicans have fired or threatened to fire several of his commissioners.
Sen. Tina Smith, former chief of staff to Rybak, will vote no on Question 2
U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, who is a Minneapolis resident when not in Washington, said Tuesday that she will vote no on Question 2 — the Minneapolis police ballot initiative — joining Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Gov. Tim Walz in opposition. Smith, once chief of staff to former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, said that she agrees with much of the amendment, but opposes the governing structure it would create.
Kids are waiting over an hour to get to and from school amid bus driver shortage
Dominique Smith’s daughter was offered a school bus ride to Brooklyn Center’s Earle Brown Elementary throughout pre-K and kindergarten. This year, due to a dire shortage of qualified bus drivers, she didn’t have that option. Smith said that the school sent her a message before the year started saying that the 6-year-old would walk to school. “I live eight blocks away, and that’s kind of far for her because she’s only six,” Smith said.
Arte urbano para recordar la historia de George Floyd
Leesa Kelly se despertó tarde el 26 de mayo de 2020. Cuándo se levantó hacia las nueve, su pareja estaba sentado en la cama, contrariado. Le contó el motivo de su malestar: un policía había matado a un hombre negro mientras gritaba I can’t breathecerca de una tienda llamada Cup Foods en Minneapolis. Había un video del suceso. Un video que ella no querría ver. «Fue un dolor diferente a todo lo que había sentido antes», recuerda. “Algo dentro de mí se había roto. Algo dentro de mí había muerto».
Un año después, ¿qué ha cambiado tras la muerte de George Floyd?
«I can’t breathe (no puedo respirar)». Fueron las últimas palabras de George Perry Floyd, un grandullón que el 25 de mayo de 2020 estaba en el lugar más inoportuno a la hora más inconveniente. Mientras el agente Derek Chauvin hincaba su rodilla en su cuello durante nueve minutos y 29 segundos, Floyd repetía: «I can’t breathe«. Su agonía fue grabada por varios testigos.
La tensión resurge en Minnesota tras la muerte de un joven por una policía
Minnesota, que aún no se ha recuperado de la herida que ha dejado la muerte de George Floyd, el pasado 25 de mayo, revive ahora su peor pesadilla. Una oficial de la policía llamada Kimberley Potter, de 48 años, mató a un joven afroamericano de 20 años, en Brooklyn Center. Su nombre, Daunte Wright. De nuevo muchos manifestantes han volcado su indignación en las calles. Varias ciudades han decretado el toque de queda.
se excedió con Floyd
«Derek Chauvin debería haber parado, una vez que George Floyd dejó de resistirse». El jefe de la policía de Minneapolis, Medaria Arradondo, ha sido claro: el agente Chauvin hizo un uso excesivo de la fuerza contra Floyd cuando le arrestó el pasado 25 de mayo. Floyd murió después de que el policía mantuviera su rodilla hincada en su cuello más de nueve minutos. Exactamente nueve minutos y 29 segundos.
Students seeking SNAP: A little help here?
Policymakers seem to think that all college students have a safety net. They didn’t include us on the first or second stimulus checks, they failed to protect many who got kicked out of their dorms when the pandemic hit, and they make access to benefits really, really hard. My school, the University of Minnesota, sent me an email in February saying that I might be eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by the looks of my financial information.
Students seeking SNAP: A little help here?
Policymakers seem to think that all college students have a safety net. They didn’t include us on the first or second stimulus checks, they failed to protect many who got kicked out of their dorms when the pandemic hit, and they make access to benefits really, really hard. My school, the University of Minnesota, sent me an email in February saying that I might be eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by the looks of my financial information.
Cuál fue la causa de la muerte de George Floyd?
«Black Lives Matter». El cántico («Las vidas de los negros importan») se ha escuchado en el centro de Minneapolis mientras comenzaban a escucharse los primeros testimonios en el juicio a Derek Chauvin, de 44 años, el ex policía que redujo de tal manera al afroamericano George Floyd, el 25 de mayo de 2020 que murió poco tiempo después. Es la primera vez que en Minnesota se juzga a un agente blanco en ejercicio de matar a un negro.
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