march 2008 uptown neighborhood news

8/7/2019 March 2008 Uptown Neighborhood News

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Commentary ............................................2

Livin’ Small .................................................. 3

Crime & Safety ......................................5

CARAG Report ......................................... 8

ECCO Report ............................................9

Calendar...................................................... 10

Covering the Neighborhoods of CARAG and ECCO in the Uptown Area March 2008 • Volume 4, Number 3

inside

Photo (left) by Kay Nygaard-Graham

“Resurrection” -This bronze relief can befound on the gate near the entrance toLakewood Cemetery

Upton Arts And Crafts Gt Onn By Kelly Newcomer

Uptown artists, Jen Krava, Brenda Senechal and Julia Kumba YingHua

Curran are taking their handmade work directly to the buyer with inter-net sales through a website called etsy.com. It’s kind of like Ebay, but it’sonly for hand-made arts and crafts. These savvy uptowners are also get-

ting out in the community and networking to get people to their websitesthrough face-to-face interactions at local craft fairs and shops.

Photo by Westy Copeland

“Peace with Birds,” acrylic painting by Westy Copeland on exhibit in the Intermedia Arts exhibit 55408 beginning March 14. This is an example of the type of item sheoffers as prints and on cards at area art and craft fairs.

Photo by Bruce Cochran

Skijoring: Jim Benson and company, of Blaine, Minnesota, finish the Skijor-

ing event with a healthy lead at 7:52.6. Complete Loppet results are available atwww.onlineraceresults.com.

Photo by Naomi Oshiro

The family faces the future with smiles. (From left: Corey Dawson, Kesha Cooper,

Tyesha Cooper, Dominique Dawson)

By Aaron Rubenstein

As is often the case, there is quite abit of Uptown business news. Res-

taurants first:

Southwest Minneapolis Latin res-taurateurs Hector Ruiz, his wife

Frnds, Ngbors SupportFamy Dspacd By Fr By Scott Schiefelbein

N Stors AndRstaurants Opnng

Anyone who has spent time at Bry-ant Square Park over the past fewyears has seen the family of Kesha

Cooper. Her children are regulars

at the park, attending communityevents, participating in many of

the activities offered there, andjust spending time with friends.If you don’t know them by name,

you may know them by sight.Corey Dawson, 17, and Domi-nique Dawson, 16, tower over the

other kids their age (and mostadults), and James Dawson, 14,is quickly catching up to them in

height. Tyesha Cooper is a whirl-wind of energy, with a big smilewhen you can coax it out of her.

She seems to be everywhere, rid-ing around the neighborhood on

a bike one minute, running backand forth to the wading pool in thesummer the next, and somehowalways in the park building when-

ever one wanders in. The boys allattend Southwest High Schooland Tyesha is a student at Jeffer-

son Community School.

Sadly, on the night of January 29

the family was almost pulled awayfrom the neighborhood wherethey are so active and which has

become such an integral part of their lives. The apartment wherethey had lived for the past six years

was destroyed by a fire. None of

the family members were injured,but nearly all their possessionswere lost. The most devastat-

ing result of the fire was that thefamily found themselves without

a home. Lacking insurance, theyhad no way to replace what hadbeen taken from them. They spenta few days with relatives and then

moved into a hotel with some helpfrom the Red Cross, but that assis-tance didn’t last long.

Fortunately, Dominique’s footballcoach at Southwest High School,

Sean McMenomy, opened his hometo Dominique and Corey. Whenthe offer was extended to include

the rest of the family, Kesha and

Tyesha joined the brothers. Jamesis staying with family in Faribault.

Erin Ungerman, and his father

Loreto Ruiz, are betting on a tri-fecta. Their newest Mexican gour-met restaurant, Indio, will open

in mid-March at 1221 West Lake

Street in the space formerly occu-pied by Pizza Nea. They also own

El Meson at 35th and Lyndale,

a Spanish/Caribbean restaurantthey bought nearly five years ago,and Cafe Ena at 46th and Grand,

a Latin fusion restaurant they

opened in May 2007.

I you would like to help theamily with the expenses osettling into their new home,please send donations ocash or git cards to super-markets or departmentstores to:

Kesha CooperC/o Bryant Square Park3101 Bryant Avenue SouthMinneapolis, MN 55408

Pannng Commsson Snds CaounSquar Back To Drang BoardCites Insufficient Amenities By Aaron Rubenstein

The city’s Planning Commission voted 7-0 on Feb-ruary 25 to lay over Calhoun Square’s redevelop-ment plans to March 31. Most members expressed

concerns about the plans—particularly that the levelof amenities is insufficient to warrant the requestedzoning exceptions. They also expressed concern

about the number and size of variances requested toallow larger individual stores.

Calhoun Square is requesting nine zoning approv-

als for the redevelopment and expansion project. Thetwo most significant are a conditional use permit fora planned unit development (PUD) and a variance to

increase the gross floor area of individual retail andservice spaces from the maximum of 4,800 square feet.

PUDs are intended to provide flexibility with largerprojects “to obtain a higher quality of development

How Green Is Your Business? Let everyone know in theUNN Earth Day Special Edition.

Space Is Limited, Make Your Reservation Today: Contact Susan Hagler, Advertising Sales Representative,612.825.7780 or [email protected]

ONliNe pge 6

New pge 7

CAlhOUN pge 7

FiRe pge 6

loppt ladrs



2 • Uptown neighborhood news March 2008

UPTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS

Uptown Neighborhood News is a monthly publication of Calhoun Area Residents ActionGroup (CARAG) in cooperation with the East Calhoun Community Organization (ECCO).UNN covers the news of and is delivered free to households within the area bounded by Lyn-dale Ave. S. and Lake Calhoun, between Lake Street and 36th St. W. Extra copies are distrib-uted to businesses in the Uptown area, along Lake Street, and Lyndale and Hennepin Aves.Circulation is 5,100, with a pass-along readership of 10,000. Publication and distribution isnear the first weekend of every month. Subscriptions are available for $30 per year, prepaid.Send check to: UNN, 711 W. Lake St., Suite 303, Minneapolis, MN 55408.

Contributors are area residents who volunteer their time to bring the news of the area to resi-dents. Articles, letters to the editor and story ideas are welcomed and encouraged. The editorreserves the right to edit for length, clarity, relevance to the area, or other reasons. Editorialand advertising guidelines are available. Please contact the editor:

NewS, TiPS & leTTeRS TO The [email protected], 711 West Lake St. #303Minneapolis, MN 55408612.259.1372

SeNiOR eDiTORBeth Seth

iNTeRiM ASSOCiATe eDiTORPhyllis Stenerson

ADveRTiSiNGSusan [email protected]

MANAGiNG BOARDAppointed/Elected Reps:Ted Ringsred, Chair (ECCO)612.824.6474Anna Matthes, Vice Chair (CARAG)Kay Nygaard-Graham, Interim Treasurer (CARAG)Gary Farland, Secretary (ECCO)Jill Bode (CARAG)

Ralph Knox (ECCO)Volunteer MemberMary Ann Knox

CAleNDAR eDiTORWendy Auldrich

CONTRiBUTiNG PhOTOGRAPheRSBruce Cochran, Kelly Newcomer,Kay Nygaard-Graham, Naomi Oshiro

CONTRiBUTiNG wRiTeRSErika Backberg, William Boudreau, BruceCochran, Westy Copeland, Mary Ann Knox,Jen Krava, Kelly Newcomer, Aaron Ruben-stein, Scott Schiefelbein, Brenda Senechal,Julia Kumba YingHua Curran

GRAPhiC DeSiGN & PRODUCTiONBruce Cochran

NewSPAPeR CiRCUlATiONCARAG/ECCO Circulation:Bill Boudreau 612.825.0979

MiNNeAPOliS CiTY COUNCilTenth WardRalph Remington, [email protected]

CRiMe PReveNTiON SPeCiAliSTTom Thompson, 5th PrecinctSAFE Unit, Sector 2, 3101 Nicollet AveMinneapolis MN 55408Serving the neighborhoods of;CARAG, East Harriet, ECCO, Kingfield,Linden Hills, Lyndale, West Calhoun

5Th PReCiNCT COMMUNiTY ATTORNeY

Lisa Godon 612.673.2005

Uptown Neighborhood News reserves the right to refuse

publication of articles or advertisements as it sees fit.

But we will see fit to publish most things, don’t worry.

Copyright © 2008 Uptown Neighborhood News.

lttrs To T

edtor PocyWrite to us, provided you

write fewer than 250 words!

Your letter may be edited and

we don't know if it will be

published, but we will cer-

tainly try to do so. We need

to know your name, address,

phone number and neighbor-

hood. Send to uptownnews@ yahoo.com.

Opnons Pocy Please submit your opin-

ion pieces to the editor. We

encourage thoughtful essays

about anything that’s going

on in the neighborhood. On

occasion, we will solicit con-

trasting views on one subject

and run multiple opinions.

We reserve the right to edit

for space or clarity, taste and

legal concerns.

commentaryletters

DeADliNe

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MARCh 20Th.

vOlUNTeeR wRiTeRS!

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Call 612.259.1372 mal [email protected] .

A non-partisan study recently

released by the Legislative Audi-tor confirmed a sad reality thatmost Minnesotans already knew.

The state has not invested enoughin roads and transportation. In theauditors own words, the report

paints a “grim picture.”

As residents of the Southwest Min-neapolis and Uptown area we dealwith this reality on a daily basis.

We live in a heavily populated area

of the city that suffers from grosslyinadequate transportation options.Every morning cars are backed

up on Hennepin Avenue fromdowntown to Calhoun Square andaround the Chain of Lakes. And

every evening we slowly make ourway around potholes on roads thatare in desperate need of the most

basic maintenance. Our failure toact will only worsen our ability toreverse global warming.

Many of us try to take advantage

of alternatives such as walking,biking and mass transit. But eventhese choices are not viable or

available.

The Minnesota Department of

Transportation is broken. TheLegislative Auditor’s report is astinging indictment of the way in

which the current administrationhas managed our transportationsystem. The system is pushed to

the limits. There is no room for

Mystry Dats PuzzCARAG-eCCO Ngboroods By William Boudreau

She stands proud and hawk-like perched 20 feet in the air her gaze focused

on aplump resident of the CARAG neighborhood as it struts below. Soon

she’ll

attack and kill, and in a move most brazen, she’ll leave theeviscerated

corpse to rot on your sidewalk! This is one cunning, murderous bird

and youare responsible for its reign of terror.

Her appetite for flesh and blood is insatiable; she’ll pluck two

(perhaps

three) unwary strollers in a single week, snatching them off the publicprominade with a grip of tempered steel. Then she’ll tear into them

remorselessly, dissecting flesh from bone like a brawny meat-cutter

armedwith a cleaver, in order to gorge on their warm, still-beating hearts.

She’ll do this for family, future and freedom, and you’ll stand in awe

forshe does it not with animal brawn, but with intellect, brain-power.

She’ll announce her carnivorous yearnings with a shower of softplummage

see-sawing to the ground like falling leaves and you’ll look up

admiringlyat her choice of yellow blouse and blue blazer with charcoal-grey

hooded

cape. Her tail of course, is an obverse cream trimmed in chocolate orrust

with two transverse stripes at its tip.

At a crow-sized 20 inches and a fraction shy of two pounds, she is the

largest of urban acipiters and thus cannot depend on over-powering speed like the

rocket-influenced peregrine falcon, a smaller, faster avian predator.

Instead she has gone inward, developing a gift for invisibility usingnatural items such as the ci ty tree canopy - and human constructed

buildings, balconies, roofs, etc, - to cloak her lethal presence untilit

is too late, according to Carrol Henderson, Minnesota DNR’s Supervisor

of the Non-Game Wildlife Program and the author of several books.

Henderson says the treed neighborhoods of Uptown with their abundantdevelopment, provide the concealment necessary to hop, glide and drop

ontoprey as it squats flat-footed upon the ground harvesting the cracked

seed of

amateur ‘birders.’ This stealth over speed adaptation incorporatingelements of the built environment into a bird of prey’s routine is just

one

more indication of the area’s natural advantage. Oh, the bird inquestion,

the author of the numerous neighborhood corpus undelecti -- the

Cooper’shawk.

William Boudreau lives in CARAG and delivers the UNN.

growth, no money for expandedbus service and no one from the

Department is investing the muchneeded time and energy into inno-vative solutions for today’s and

tomorrow’s transportation needs.Consequently, we will continueto waste time and money stuck in

traffic, and polluting our air.

There are no quick fixes to our

growing transportation problems.We cannot borrow our way out of this mess and we shouldn’t want

to. We need to move forward witha vision and feasible solutions. “Nonew taxes” is not a vision.

The transportation system pro-

posed by the DFL is an importantstep on the road to a better Minne-sota. How can we improve educa-

tion, the economy, the healthcaresystem and the environment if wecan’t even take care of our roads?

As chairs of our chambers’ respec-tive transit committees, we have

worked hard on resolving thestate’s growing transit needs. Wehave done much to accommodate

the needs and concerns of mem-bers of the minority party. We arenow at the point where further

delay will only cause matters to getworse.

We can no longer afford the poli-tics of procrastination. The time

for action is now!

Representative Frank Hornstein District 60B437 State Office Building,St. Paul, MN 55155651.296.9281

Senator D. Scott Dibble District 60111 State Capitol, St. Paul, MN 55155651.296.4191



March 2008 Uptown neighborhood news • .

MOHNElectric & Lighting Co.

925 West Lake Street, Mpls., MN 55408HOURS: Mon.-Sat. 10:00am-5:30pm

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Today’s redesignedcompact uorescentlight bulbs are re-defning lighting ora new generation osavvy consumers.Reduce your carbonootprint withoutbreaking a sweat. CFLlight bulbs are 3 timesmore efcient thanincandescent bulbsand last up to 3 timesas long. Take that

global warming!

Please Recycle Responsibly: www.greenguardian.com or 1.877.630.0668

All CFLs 20% Off!

Sustanabty, enrgy Rductons and a Fr Bag Livin’ Small

culate the accrued savings can befound at the Challenge website

(see end of article). If you want toknow how much energy you use,and calculate how much money

and carbon emissions you couldsave by making some small chang-es in your life, go to the website

and sign up. It will automaticallycalculate your current usage, basedon your input of yearly electri-

cal and natural gas usage, vehiclemileage, etc. After completing thesurvey, you can also calculate how

much you have already saved byprior changes to your energy-guz-zling lifestyle. The average Min-

nesotan’s carbon footprint is over2 tons per year. The Minneapolissavings of 2 million pounds is the

equivalent of removing the emis-sions of about 225 cars from the

roads for a year.

The block club of 3100 Colfax

Avenue South had an organizingmeeting last fall, and 10 of the 12households at the meeting have

signed up, promised to reduceenergy use, and saved an estimated48,522 pounds of carbon output,

for a savings of $4,032. They arethird on the list of block clubs inMinneapolis who have organized

in this way.

Leader Rebecca Miller organized

the meeting and found that resi-dents of her block “were interestedand motivated to make changes.”

Her household lives an environ-mentally-aware life already, but

Miller received some good infor-mation from the meeting, andappreciates the “60 Simple Ways to

Save Money on Your Energy Bill”that was supplied at the meeting.

If you want to organize such ameeting on your block, a guest

speaker from the Alliance for Sus-tainability will come to the meet-ing to give you information, tips,

and advice. Sign up to host a blockparty at either of the addresseslisted below. A party kit will be

sent to you to help plan the meet-ing: it contains a leader guide, andto do lists for all households to

post on their refrigerators. Takethe challenge––it’s quick, simpleand makes a difference. Maybe

CARAG and ECCO can lead theneighborhoods of the city.

Tips to get started:

• Fight vampire energy. Resolveto unplug appliances and elec-tronics when they are not inuse. Phantom load, or vampireenergy, is the energy drain thatoccurs when appliances andelectronics––like cable boxes,computers, cell phone chargers,etc.––are left plugged in when

By Mary Ann Knox

Ngborood Sustanabty

Confrnc

The Alliance for Sustainability is

sponsoring a Neighborhood Sus-tainability Conference at Augs-burg College on Saturday, March8 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. It’s

free; to get more information, andto register in advance, visit theAlliance website (end of article).

Small group sessions will discussgardening, rain barrels, native

plants, public transportation, solarprojects, local food, peak oil, airquality and many more topics.

Learn about grant opportuni-

ties to fund grassroots projects inthe areas of energy, water quality,

waste reduction, graffiti preven-tion, transportation and Climate/ Energy Citizen Partnerships.

Keynote Speaker will be Jay Wall-jasper, Senior Fellow at Project forPublic Spaces, and Executive Edi-

tor of Ode magazine, previously of the Utne Reader and author of The

Great Neighborhood Book: A Do-It

Yourself Guide to Placemaking.

The mission of the Alliance is tobring about personal, organiza-tional and planetary sustainabil-

ity through support of projects

that are ecologically sound, eco-nomically viable, socially just and

humane.

ha You Takn T

Mnnsota enrgy

Cang?

Some of your neighbors havetaken the Minnesota Energy Chal-

lenge, with impressive results. TheChallenge is sponsored by TheCenter for Energy and Environ-

ment (CEE), a nonprofit organiza-tion that works to promote publicinterest through the responsible

and efficient use of natural and

economic resources. The Chal-lenge encourages all of us to con-

sider our energy use, to makemore efficient decisions and totake small steps to limit our energy

use. The primary goal is to reduceglobal pollution; the second ben-efit is reduction in energy costs

for your household. Several localgroups have organized: the blockclub of 3100 Colfax, the Bry-

ant Square Park Bike Club, FirstUniversalist Church, CARAG,ECCO, St. Mary’s Greek Ortho-

dox Church, The Bakken Museumand a group called Uptown haveshown an estimated reduction in

total carbon emissions of about 2million pounds, and total cost sav-ings to the tune of $115,000. The

city of Minneapolis group esti-mates a savings of over one-and-a-half million dollars! The Bakken

Museum is first on the business listwith 769,702 pounds of carbon and$47,499 savings. The 3100 Colfax

block club just received a prize of a pizza party from Galactic Pizzafor being one of ten city neighbor-

hoods with the most neighborssigned up for the Challenge.

The formula to define and cal-

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not in use. Some estimatessay vampire energy is costingAmerican consumers over $7billion a year.

• Install water-saving devices inyour toilet and shower.

• Switch to compact fluorescentlights to save energy.

• Turn down the thermostat atnight.

Fr Rusab Bag

The Minnesota Pollution Control

Agency will mail you a free reus-able bag if you complete a quickand simple survey at www.reduce.

org/bags. Supplies are limited.

Alliance for Sustainability:

www.afors.orgMinnesota Energy Challenge:www.mnenergychallenge.org

Mary Ann Knox lives in CARAG

and promises to reduce carbon emis-

sions by 1582 pounds this year.



• Uptown neighborhood news March 2008

...And Of T PopCitizens Turned Out In Record Numbers To Speak Up

By Bruce Cochran

This citizen reporter attended three caucuses in the neighborhood and asked three different party people

questions about the election process. Here are the questions and some answers.1-w ul yu v f f yu cul’ v f yu ay’ al caa?2-h ll yu cvc f yu ?3-wa’ ff au ya’ lc?4-wa u a ma f yu?5-d yu u caucu ym a y? y a a ul yu ca?6-h ul yu c ma’ l fa ya lc?

Laurie Hanson (DFL)

1-Abstain

2-I will try to stick to acts and theplatorm

3-All o the candidates are articulate, anddiscuss policy. These candidates are unto listen to.

4-Health Care, Social Security,transportation or Seniors.

5-Caucus NO. Would have primary electionor days so everybody has a chance to vote.

6-I think they are swaying the electioninstead o reporting on the election.

Harry Savage (GOP)

1-Obama

4-Banking System, Federal Reserve needsto be put to sleep, Full pull out o Iraq.,Border security.

5-Caucus YES, More power and controlwith this system.

6-The media has a very big bias towardsHillary and McCain and most candidateswho are bought and paid or.

Kurt Anderson (INDEPENDENT)1-I would vote or both Democrats orMcCain.

2-Inormal conversion, LISTEN and perhapsdierent approach to issues. Being open topersuasion mysel and contributing what Ican to a person’s thought process.

3-Things are dierent across the board.More uniying, not repeat polarisation.

4-Deicit, ederal budget.

5-Caucus YES, chance or people to makedecisions, inspiring and chance to weavesome social abric and get some collectivewisdom.

6-Playing cheerleader and airlyinormative. No big axe to grind this year.

Photo by Bruce CochranLyndale Farmstead Community Center hosted a meeting of the Inde-pendent Party.


A meeting of the Democratic Party at Joyce Mehodist Church.


The Republican Party met at St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church.

Raucous Caucuss by Ellen Boroughf

Minnesota’s caucuses on Super Tuesday were, well, raucous. On Wednesday, valiant attendees gatheredat favorite coffee house haunts and shared stories of both horror and glory. So many people! Streets werejammed everywhere. Parking spaces were non-existent. People abandoned cars and hiked as much as

two miles through wind and snow simply to get inside.

Being inside wasn’t an improvement. So many people! Corridors were jammed. People had to hikethrough heat and jostling crowds to find the elevators, the bathrooms. Some of us eventually ended upwhere we were supposed to caucus; others of us weren’t so lucky.

Two of my neighbors, good citizens both, arranged to get to our caucus by Metro Mobility. I kept look-ing for them, but they never showed up. Here’s what happened. Donna is wheelchair bound, and Naomi

will be 90 in May. Their driver picked them up on time but then got lost in all the traffic. After driv-ing around aimlessly, he finally called in for directions. Donna and Naomi arrived about 7 p.m. Naomipushed Donna all over the place, but they couldn’t find anyone who could help them find an elevator or

the room where our caucus was taking place. They finally picked a room, the wrong room, signed in,voted in the presidential preference poll, and stayed to caucus with enthusiastic non-neighbors. Theyhad a grand time, but did their votes count?

One woman had her back up against a wall. She was sobbing. I asked her if she needed any help. “Oh,no,” she said, “I’ve never been to a caucus before.” Out of curiosity, I asked her if she’d ever attend

another. “Oh, yes,” she said, “This is wonderful. I’ll never miss another.”

Those of us who actually got into our caucuses and stayed until the end were satisfied. The coffee housecrowds agreed that the caucuses were run efficiently. Conveners and chairs got accolades. All the partybusiness we needed to get done got done. We got our delegates and alternates elected. We responded

to calls for money and for volunteers. Resolutions, really interesting resolutions, were introduced. Ourgroup was diverse. We were young, old, in between; of different races, creeds, economic and ethnic back-grounds. The room was full of excitement. So many people! So many ideas! Such tangible involvement

in the democratic process.

Oh, yes, our Super Tuesday of raucous caucuses was an evening of horror, but oh! The glory!

Register for Youth Baseballat Bryant Square Park.

For youth ages 6 – 15.Season begins late April. Cost: $25Want to be a coach?Contact the park.

Bryant Square Park3101 Bryant Avenue South612-370-4907

Feel the Heat

Dopmnt Updat How Many Big Apartment Projects CanUptown Absorb?

By Aaron Rubenstein

GRECO Real Estate Development

is continuing its efforts to redevel-

op, with four to eight story build-

ings, underutilized parcels adjacentto the Midtown Greenway, while

the long-delayed, much-revised

Mozaic project may be finally get-

ting off the ground. It remains to

be seen how many of these large

rental apartment projects will be

financed and absorbed by the mar-

ket following city approval.

Mozaic, the large, 10-story, mixed-

use project on the parking lot

behind the Lagoon Cinema, has

been redesigned with 155 apart-

ments, above-ground structured

parking, and retail, restaurant and

office space. The project’s develop-ers are The Ackerberg Group and

C.A.G. Development (as in Clark

A. Gassen). Ackerberg Group

President Mary Armstrong said

they plan to submit land use appli-

cations for the project on March 7

and discuss the project at the Plan-

ning Commission’s Committee of

the Whole on March 20. She said

they anticipate the project will be

on the Planning Commission’s

April 14 agenda.

GRECO has one big Uptown proj-

ect under construction—the six-

story, 242-unit apartment buildingat Lake and Aldrich recently

named “blue”—and two more in

the pipeline. GRECO’s proposed

eight-story, 237-unit apartment

building at 2838 Fremont was

approved by the Planning Com-

mission January 28. A City Coun-

cil committee voted February 21 to

recommend approval of rezoning

the site and the full council was

expected to vote on the rezoning

February 29. The third Uptown

GRECO project is a four-story,

mixed use building planned for

2900 Lyndale Avenue that the

Planning Commission may reviewon March 17 or 31.

2838 Fremont: Brent Rogers,

GRECO vice president of devel-

opment, said he hopes to start

construction on this project in late

summer or early fall and complete

it in 16 months. He said the Lowry

Hill East Neighborhood Asso-

ciation (LHENA) recommended

approval of the project with con-

ditions (LHENA did not return

calls for this story). The Planning

Commission voted January 28 to

recommend approval of the rezon-

ing and it granted other land useapprovals for the project: condi-

tional use permits for 237 units and

to increase the maximum permit-

ted height, four setback variances

and a variance of the minimum lot

area per dwelling unit.

2900 Lyndale: GRECO submitted

plans for this project to the city

in early February. Rogers said he

expects the Planning Commission

to review the project in mid to late

March (which would be March

17 or 31). This four-story, mixed-

use building would feature 12,000

square feet of retail space along

Lyndale, a two-story restaurant

with a second story outdoor ter-

race, three live/work units along

29th Street, 40,000 square feet of

office space on three floors and

parking underground. Rogers

said he hopes to start construc-

tion this summer and complete it

in 12 months. GRECO bought the

property in January 2006 for $2

million.

GRECO’s six-story apartment

building blue is well under con-

struction at 2920 Aldrich—occu-

pying the entire west side of

Aldrich between 29th and Lake

streets. Rogers said a leasing office

and model unit will be open on-

site by March 15. First occupancy

will be in July. Rogers said units

range from efficiency to two-

bedroom plus den and rents willrange from approximately $975 to

$2,000 with an average of $1,400.

Efficiencies are 491 to 563 square

feet, one bedrooms are 735 to 878

square feet, and two bedrooms are

1,103 to 1,419 square feet.

GRECO is working on leasing the

retail space along Lake Street—

including to a restaurant tenant

that may occupy most of the retail

space.

Blue is definitely working the

hip and green themes, as one will

notice by visiting the blue web-site: move2blue.com. Two mar-

keting slogans on the website

are “an Uptown address and all

the perks of a rental” and “a new

lifestyle rising between Uptown

and Midtown.” The building

is LEED certified, meaning it’s

being built using environmentally

-sound design, materials, and

practices. The list of blue’s ameni-

ties for that new lifestyle is impres-

sive: swimming pool, sauna, spa,

fitness center, yoga studio, locker

rooms, dog park, cyber cafe, pub

room with billiards, car wash,

conference facilities and conciergeservice.




crime & safety

5Th PReCiNCT

(Soutst

Mnnapos)

Sctor 2: CPS Tom

Tompson: 673.2823 thomas.thompson@ ci.minneapolis.mn.us

January 2008Crimes by Location (ECCO: west of Hennepin. CARAG: east of Hennepin.)

Busline

E

C C O

C A R A G

Crm ents Time of Day

eCCO

CARAG

CARAGeCCO

Join us

Palm Sunday , 10:30 a.m.Maundy Thursday Drama , 7:30 p.m.

Easter Celebration , 10:30 a.m.

Tax Preparation Jack D. Manders

Certifed Public Accountant 1900 Hennepin Avenue South

Minneapolis, MN 55403

Call Jack at 612-874-7884 [email protected]

Divine Liturgy

Sunday 9:30 am

Fr. Paul Paris

The Uptown neighborhood news

iS NOw AvAilABle

AT The FOllOwiNGlOCATiONS

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Frst Unrsast Curc

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hnnpn-laklquors

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Joyc UntdMtodst Curc

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lotus Rstaurant

lynda UntdCurc of Crst

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Parnts AutomotPzza luc

Ranbo Foods

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FREE!classifieds(SEE DETAILS, PAGE 11)




Jen Krava, who considers herself

new to the craft scene, makes cus-tom-printed clothes and handbags.She adds minimalistic details to

each article of clothing or purse.Her online shop is http://Article-Clothing.etsy.com. She’s encour-

aged by selling eight pieces sincejoining etsy in October, 2007. Shesays, “living in Uptown gives me

access to really creative stores andpeople. In meeting people through-out the neighborhood, many either

craft themselves or would rathersupport a local artisan than buy ata conglomerate.” Krava is ahead

of the curve technologically whenit comes to getting packages outto her internet customers. “I do

all of my shipping labels online,”she said, “My trusty mail carrierbrings my USPS envelopes and

boxes right to my door.”

Brenda Senechal lives in Whit-tier and is a jewelry designer with

a specialty of creating vibrantly-colored necklaces and bracelets.She states, “being an artist liv-ing in Uptown, I think about the

rich variety of arts that have comeand gone in the area. This is aninspiring community.” To drive

traffic to her site, Senechal relieson “word of mouth, networking,art festivals, business cards, mail-

ing lists and internet posts.” Sheshows regularly at Mezzolago, agallery at 5225 Chicago Avenue

South in Minneapolis, and shealso participates in Gay Pride anddoes some trunk shows (a showing

of her and another crafter’s waresin a home/party setting). Her etsylocation is DancingJems.etsy.com.

Julia Kumba YingHua Curran of the Wedge neighborhood has a

shop called happify.etsy.com fea-turing her screen-printed T-shirts.Her extremely popular “Minneap-

olis City of Lakes” design featuresa happy pirate ship. Another pop-

Photo by Erika Backberg

Erika Backberg’s 24 inch long necklace with vintage enam-el & amber rhinestone flower pendant.

Photo by Jen KravaHand-sewn skirt by Jen Krava with screen-printedtree.

Necklace by Brenda Senechal. Four strands of colored pearls leap

in and through each other, with vermeil (22 karat gold plated onsterling silver), swarovski crystal and cloisonné woven together.

Photo by Brenda Senechal

Julia Kumba YingHua Curran’s “Minneapolis City of Lakes” silver on black t-shirt. Note that the pirate skullis smiling, all her happify t-shirts have a happy mes-sage.

Photo by Julia Kumba YingHua Curran.

The Sandbox playing with stardust

Margaret, 3 3/4yrs, CARAG: Because the news isn’t always enoughand sometimes we need to look a little further down the road at whatthe children see. Email your kids’ art, poetry, short prose etc. to bruce@

satellitedesign.com or UNN, 711 West Lake St. #303, Mpls., MN, 55408 .We’ll showcase one here each month in The Sandbox .

ular T-shirt is poetically described

by Julia on her webpage, “a vin-tage fan produces a flock of birds,its electrical cord reading ‘happify.’

Sometimes happiness is the birds,

the breeze, the thrill of days so hot

winter cannot be believed.” Julia is

the most successful of the uptownetsy sellers, having sold over 300

items since she started in Decem-ber of 2005. Her T-shirts cost $22each. She states, “As a designer,

I strive to make lovely goods ina socially and environmentallyresponsible manner. I believe that

consumerism can be used for posi-tive change in the world, beauty

has an inherent value, and the

revolution starts with our dailychoices.”

Some uptown artists have internet

Tree Designs jewelry exclusively

in Uptown at Cliché Boutique. Itis difficult for jewelry designers,especially those using beads, to

stand out from the crowd on etsy.com. There are over 100,000 dif-ferent shops and many of them are

beaded jewelry. Unless they have areally unique niche, there is prob-

an environmental activist since she

was six years old. Sometimes it’sthose types of personal stories thatreally draw in shoppers and help

generate word of mouth recom-mendations.

Westy Copeland, of the Lyndaleneighborhood, has already invest-

ed a lot of energy into her artcareer and even accepts credit

cards when she shows at craftfairs, but she notes that justgetting started on internetsales is a huge time commit-

ment. She will have to set up aPayPal account (for acceptingonline payments), get her digi-

tal image files (jpgs) preparedand write up descriptions foreach item. Meanwhile, Westy

is staying busy making herpaintings, getting ready forthe 55408 show at Intermedia

Arts, and showing her printsin shops and art fairs. She willdo well when she gets started

selling on the internet, becauseshe already gets regular phonecalls from repeat buyers who have

remembered her work from an artfair and want to buy her cards andprints.

Kelly Newcomer is an artist in

CARAG who is interested in pro-

moting other uptown artists through

writing.

The generosity of McMenomy

and his wife, Jessica, has given thefamily a comfortable place to stay

While the assistance the family hasreceived has been appreciated andhas eased their immediate physical

needs, it will take time for Keshaand her children to regain thesense of security that comes from

having a place to call home. Whenasked what she misses most, Tye-sha did not mention a memento

or a favorite article of clothing,she answered, sounding exasper-ated, “I lost my house.” Pressed for

something more specific, she sim-ply said, “I do miss my room.”

The family has found a new placeto live, near Franklin and 11th

Avenue South, and they hope tomove in soon. Although they willno longer be living in the neigh-

borhood, they will still be spend-

ing a lot of time here. Corey plansto work at Bryant Square Park thissummer, and Dominique hopes to

join him. Tyesha will continue tocome to the park to participate inafter school activities and to hang

out with friends. Says Kesha of theneighborhood park, “It’s a placewhere I know they’re safe.”

Scott Schiefelbein lives in Uptown

and is happy to have a home.

while looking for a new home.

In addition to the hospitality of the

McMenomy’s, Kesha and her fam-ily have experienced an outpouring

of support from the community.There have been donations of fur-niture and household goods. They

have received help in buying somenew clothes to replace those thatwere lost in the fire. The children’s

schools and sports teams havesponsored a number of fundrais-ing drives and events to help the

family get through this difficultand costly period in their lives. Atthe CARAG Chilly Chili fest on

February 23, a simple coffee canfor donations placed on the sign-intable was filled with nearly $300.

ONliNe fom 1

FiRe fom 1

UPTOWN AREA SHOPSAND CRAFT FAIRS WHEREYOU CAN FIND HAND-MADE WORKS

Cliché Boutique, 2403Lyndale Avenue South; DesignCollective, 1311 26th StreetWest; The Handmaiden’sCraft Fairs www.the-handmaidens.blogspot.com;I Like You, 4222 NicolletAvenue; and Urban EarthGarden Store Coop, 910 West36th Street.

selling on their list of future proj-

ects. Erika Backberg of CARAGneighborhood, an eco-jewelrydesigner, says it’s on her list of

things to do. For the meantime,she’s selling her distinctive Tea

ably already someone doing simi-

lar selling work there. Backberg’sdesigns, a mix of fashion and envi-ronmentalism, are unique enough

to stand out if she ever lists themon etsy. Interestingly, she has been




Books Can B Burnd, Stors Can’tThe Syringa Tree written by Pamela Gien at The Jungle Theater through March 9. For more info. page 11

“Agnew makes this

story as tight and well

paced as as a street

drug transaction.”

By Bruce Cochran

History is alive and well throughthe lost art of storytelling at theJungle Theater. The beauty of

The Syringa Tree lies in its powerto tell a story that engages withthe charm and animation of

Sarah Agnew’s performance.Many characteristics of thisplay provide a context with

which to describe the recenthistory of South Africa. Theend of white rule took a long

time in South Africa becauseit was made up of Blacks,

Coloreds, British, Asians andAfrikaners who all had dif-ferent opinions about free-dom.

The play opens on young Lizzie

(Agnew) on her swing under thesyringa tree. Behind her is a wellaccommodating stage scrim that

could be considered a main char-acter in itself. It is at once beauti-ful and mysterious. Throughout

the play the scrim is discriminatelylit to describe the various moods.It is multi-layered in its ability to

convey grass and shrub, trees andmountains, stone and clay, day-time, afternoon and evening. If

you look hard enough you mayeven make out a drought ravagedlandscape or an ancient cave paint-

ing of the Bushmen, native to thisarea.

Candidly, I was not looking for-ward to an hour and 40 minute

monologue. But before I knew it

Agnew had drawn me into her

1960’s South African world of whimsy, love, happiness, discovery,fear and surprise. This non-inter-

mission play carries you throughcharacter by character without

missing a beat. There are no

dead spaces. Agnew jumpsback and forth between char-acters, creating a world that

requires multiple accentsand body rhythms of over 20different people. Under the

direction of Joel Sass, Agnewmakes this story as tight and

well paced as a street drugtransaction.

If you’ve ever wanted those two

hours back from a bad movie, Irecommend you see this play. Itwill exceed your emotional expec-

tations and pay you back double.

Bruce Cochran lives in CARAG and

likes to tell stories. Some are even

true.

Photo Courtesty of the Jungle Theater

The shuttered Vino 610, the

charming and short-lived winebar tucked between Fuji Ya andIt’s Greek To Me at 610 West

Lake Street, will reopen soon asAronas—a 49 seat Mediterraneanand American restaurant. Owner

Alkis Arambadjis, whose brotherAris is co-owner of It’s Greek To

Me (IGTM) next door, said Aro-nas will be more European andAmerican style than IGTM, with aseafood emphasis as well as steaks,

salads, and sandwiches. He hopesto open Aronas in March.

Five, the stylish and briefly high-flying restaurant at 2917 Bry-ant, has been reincarnated asFive Event Center. The restau-rant closed in January 2007; theevent center opened informally

last May and formally in January2008. Building and business ownerBruce Dachis is booking wed-

dings, corporate events and other

food-focused special events. Thefacility, located in the former Fifth

Precinct Police Station, can accom-modate up to 200 people for seateddinners and 325 people for passed

hors d’oeuvres. Dachis said theonly alteration to his high-style,contemporary, unique facility was

the removal of the wall betweenthe two dining areas.

Namaste Cafe, the delicious Nep-alese restaurant and chai shop at

2512 Hennepin, should soon beserving wine and beer as well. Acity council committee voted Feb-

ruary 20 to recommend approvalof a wine and beer license.

Marla’s Indian & Caribbean Cui-

sine, 1123 West Lake Street, is forsale. Marla Jadoonanan bought the

restaurant and opened it in August2005. She said it’s been for salesince last fall—because she wants

a smaller restaurant and “rents inUptown are getting high for smallbusinesses without investors.” Her

Lake Street restaurant will remainopen until sold.

Jadoonanan bought the formerJamaica restaurant at the corner

of 38th

Street and BloomingtonAvenue a few months ago andrenamed it Marla’s Caribbean

Cuisine.

Rta Ns

Things are rapidly changing onthe corner of Lake and Henne-

pin, with some stores in CalhounSquare or its expansion path clos-ing or moving, and two promi-

nent new retailers opening shop inMarch.

The sign has gone up on theVictoria’s Secret building at 3000

Hennepin which formerly housedThe Gap. It will reportedly openMarch 6.

A few doors down, at 3008 Hen-nepin, the new North Face store

will open March 28, according tothe North Face website.

Urban Traveler, a long-time Cal-houn Square tenant, is movingkitty-corner to the former Mozaic

sales center at 1426 West LakeStreet in the Rainbow Building(between MAC Cosmetics and

FedEx/Kinko’s). Aronas will beopen Monday through Saturday.

Menu items will range from $6

to $20 A City Council committeevoted February 20 to recommendapproval of a wine and beer license

for the restaurant (with a 1 a.m.closing time, so it could stay openlater in the future if business war-

rants it).

Alkis Arambadjis has worked inrestaurants since 1976 and will

do most of the cooking at Aro-nas. He grew up in Thessaloniki,Greece, moved to the U. S. in 1976,and came to Minneapolis in 1982

to open IGTM with his brotherAris. Alkis moved back to Greecein 1995 for four or five years and

then returned to the Twin Citiesand worked at IGTM until recent-ly to prepare for opening Aronas.

Alkis said “aronas” is a Greekword meaning a small area wherefisherman hang out, socialize and

fix their boats.

Traveler sells luggage, clothing,

and travel accessories and plans to

open at its new location April 1.

Several new businesses recentlyopened at Lake and Bryant. Jamie

McDonald moved his Sunrise

Cyclery into 901 West Lake Street(on the southwest corner—former

home of Phoenix Games) in lateFebruary and he is open for busi-ness. McDonald, 42, lives on the

historic Healy Block and openedhis bike shop at 3031 SecondAvenue South in 2004 just a block

from his home. He said he movedto the new location because “it’s amuch bigger space” with signifi-

cantly “more biker traffic—“par-ticularly given the Bryant AvenueBikeway and an entrance to the

Midtown Greenway one blockaway. McDonald has worked inbike shops since 1986.

With five plus bicycle shopsalready in the area, one might

wonder what McDonald wasthinking. The answer is that Sun-rise Cyclery’s niche is used bikes.

McDonald sells some new bikesbut mostly used ones; last year hesold 500 used bicycles. (The other

area shops are Penn and Alter-native at Lyn-Lake, Flanders at

27th and Lyndale, Calhoun Cycleat 34

thand Hennepin (recum-

bent and folding only), UptownRe-Cycle at 2327 Hennepin (used

bikes), plus CRC Coffee at 34th

and Lyndale which does some bikesales and repair.)

Shakedown, a new “hippie bou-

tique and head shop,” openedFebruary 25 at 910 West LakeStreet—at the west end of the Cor-

ner Store building. Owner ZachBowman, 22, said he sells cloth-ing, glass art—including pipes and

wine glasses, posters, and stickers.He noted that his store is similarto Third Stone which used to be

located across the street. Hoursare Monday through Friday 10 to10, Saturday 11 to 10, and Sun-

day 11 to 8. Bowman, who lives inDinkytown but used to live in theUptown area, plays guitar and has

been in the jam band music scene“his whole life.” Shakedown is hisfirst store. He said he chose this

location because “it’s a good loca-tion that fits the neighborhood”and its population as well. “Shake-

down” means a vendor area atmusic festivals, said Bowman.

which incorporates high levels

of amenities....” Calhoun Squareseeks a height exception to allowa five-story building at 31st and

Hennepin and a seven-story build-ing on the south side of Lake Streetbetween Fremont and Girard; the

zoning code otherwise permitsfour stories.

The retail size variance requestedwould permit 14 stores up to 9,600

square feet and six stores with nomaximum size limit. City plan-ning staff recommended granting

all nine requested zoning approv-als—some with conditions, such

as limiting the six largest stores to30,000 square feet.

The staff presentation, public tes-

timony, and commission discus-sion took nearly two and a half tense hours—most of the entire

meeting.

City Council Member Ralph Rem-ington told the commission that heand the community are concerned

about the project’s amenities. Hesaid that the proposed Girardpedestrian plaza is not a good or

equal trade off (for a differentplaza approved two years ago as

part of an earlier redevelopmentscheme) and that the project needs

more imagination. “I think theamenities aren’t good enough; weneed to go a bit further,” Reming-

ton concluded.

After he closed the public hear-ing, commission president DavidMotzenbecker quickly moved to

postpone, saying the project isn’tready. “Our job is to steward theland use in the city…this is one of

the key spots in the city. Adequatesite amenities were attempted butnot met,” he said.

At the end of the meeting, therewas discussion about what and

how much direction to give to thedeveloper and architect. Com-missioner Walid El-Hindi said he

would like the developer to focuson the 31st Street loading dockarea, the Girard Plaza design, and

the variances for size of retail spac-es. He added that there’s an impor-tant mix of uses in Uptown and he

wants to keep a mix of sizes, ratherthan see the mall fill up with a fewuses.

When City Planner Hilary Dvorak

asked for more specific suggestionsor direction, El-Hindi replied “I’m

interested in laying down princi-

ples. Specifics are up to the devel-

oper and architect. It’s not our job

to dictate or design.”

Six CARAG residents attendedthe meeting (two spoke before thepublic hearing was closed), as did

one East Isles resident and twoCalhoun Square business owners.One business owner encouraged

approval, the other said he wantsa “prompt decision.” ResidentNancy Sjoquist expressed concern

about what happens to CalhounSquare and Uptown if the projectdoesn’t happen.

New fom 1

CAlhOUN fom 1



• Uptown neighborhood news March 2008

Calhoun Area Residents Action GroupCARAG reportLake St.

36th St.

H

e n n e p i n A v e .

L y n d al e A v e.

The CARAG Board meets the third Tuesday of each month, 7 p.m.at Bryant Park Community Center,31st and Bryant.All CARAG residents

are welcome and urged to attend.


If you had a pulse on Sunday, February 24th, you were probably at the Chilly Chili Fest at Bryant Square Park. Between bowl-fulls of some of the best chili this side of Hennepin Avenue, residents won door prizes, showed off photos and heard aboutupcoming neighborhood events. Many thanks go to chief cooks (and bottle washers) Diana Bogeman, Nancy Sjoquist andothers.

CARAG MONTHLY NEIGH-

BORHOOD MEETING MIN-

UTES for February 19, 2008

DRAFT: Subject to Approval at the

March 2008 CARAG Meeting

Board Members Attending: AnnaMathes (Treasurer; left about 7:15),

Ellen Meyer (Vice President), BillMorton, Kay Nygaard-Graham(President), Dan Qualy, Aaron

Rubenstein (Acting Secretary),Scott Schiefelbein, Howard Ver-

son.

Absent: Jamie Ronnei

Crm and Safty

(Lt. Marie Przynski and Tom

Thompson, MPD Fifth Precinct)

A rash of burglaries through Janu-ary has ended with the apprehen-sion of three juveniles aged 16 and

17. The assignment of beat cops toUptown has resulted in a 43 per-cent decrease in robberies in the

past six months; the beat cops areexpected to continue. The Bry-

ant Avenue Market was the tar-get recently of a burglary and anarmed robbery. Don’t leave vehi-cles running unattended on public

streets, even if locked; it’s illegaland ticketable. Minneapolis hasn’t

been hit yet, but most residentiallocks are vulnerable to key bump-

ing or lock bumping (a $3 key thatopens most brands of locks; googlefor more info).

Counc MmbrRap Rmngton

The Uptown Small Area Planwas recently adopted by the CityCouncil. A planning process for

the Lyn-Lake Small Area Planwill start soon and should takeeight to twelve months to com-

plete. The boundaries probablywill be Aldrich, Franklin, 31st andBlaisdell (i.e., Lake Street from

Aldrich to Blaisdell and Lyndalefrom Franklin to 31st). The CityCouncil is preparing to embark on

a street lighting plan. Petitions areout to create a new critical park-

ing area south of Calhoun Square;parking would be restricted from9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday throughSaturday. Amending the liquor

ordinance off-sale spacing/distancerequirement is on hold. Remingtonintroduced city planner Amanda

Arnold, who led the Uptown planand will lead the Lyn-Lake plan aswell. She said letters went out last

Thursday asking the four neigh-borhood groups to each appointtwo representatives for the Lyn-

Lake plan. The first steering com-mittee meeting should be in aboutsix weeks.

lak Strt and lyndaAnu Rconstructon

Hennepin County CommissionerGail Dorfman introduced the two

road reconstruction projects. Shesaid they had hoped the third phase

of Lake Street reconstruction—from Dupont to Blaisdell plus

Lyndale from 29th

to 31st

—wouldbe completed last season, but itwas not and will be completed thisyear. Lyndale reconstruction from

31st to Minnehaha Parkway willfinally start this year—after morethan a decade of discussion.

Don Shaffer of Hennepin Countysaid the Lake Street project will go

more smoothly this year. The con-tractor will start work at the endof March, weather permitting, and

replacement of gas mains will startin the first part of April. Work lastyear was slowed by the organiza-

tion of the utility work.

Nick Peterson, the Lyndale Ave-nue reconstruction project engi-neer with Hennepin County, said

the project is divided into three

phases and they are finalizingplans. In phase one, Lyndale from

38th to 50th Streets will be closedto through traffic for much of 2008. Utilities work will probably

start in April and roadway con-struction will happen from June toNovember. In phase two, Lyndale

from 31st to 38th will be recon-structed in 2009—with two lanesopen at all times. In phase three,

Lyndale from 50th to the creekwill be closed to through-traf-fic from April 2009 to November

2009; the Minnehaha Creek bridgewill be replaced. There will besome minor utility work for phas-

es two and three in 2008. The CityCouncil’s Transportation and Pub-lic Works Committee will hold

a public hearing on the proposed

assessment for paving and light-ing on March 25; there will be a

public information meeting aboutthe project and assessments priorto the hearing and notices will be

mailed by March 11.

Bryant Squar Park

Prformanc Spac

Alex Zachary and Jessica Berg,Minneapolis. Park and Recreation

Board

Alex is a parks planner and Jessica

is the concert and event coordina-tor. The new outdoor performance

space/amphitheater (designed andpaid for by CARAG NRP incoordination with MPRB) will beprogrammed with a broad range

of acoustic music Tuesday andThursday evenings during thesummer (7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. from

the first week of June to the thirdweek of August). Jessica proposeda kick-off celebration to recognize

CARAG’s contributions to thepark—ideally Thursday, May 29.Alex said he wants it to be a com-

munity facility. Everyone was veryhappy and delighted that MPRBwill be programming music twice

weekly at BSP (performers willdonate their time).

lman Cntr

Bk Program

Nathan Magel, Uptown Acad-

emy/Wellstone International HighSchool Volunteer Coordinator.

Magel introduced the schoolprograms (205 at-risk youth at

Uptown Academy and 170 inter-national students at Wellstone)and said he’s looking for both

volunteers—for all sorts of workwith students—and bicycles. TheWellstone School has a bike club

in which they build bikes during

the winter and then donate themto community members.

Agnda

The agenda was approved as

amended (adding Carl Holmquistand a board vacancy).

Mnuts

Minutes of the January 2008 meet-

ing were approved.

Trasurr’s Rport

The CARAG Treasurer’s reportwas approved. The UNN finan-

cial report was acknowledged.

CARAG Offc Spac

The CARAG board met at 6 p.m.prior to the neighborhood meet-

ing to discuss CARAG office spaceoptions. The board voted 4-1 torecommend that the office move

to the Southwest Senior Center,3608 Bryant, at the end of March.A motion to negotiate a lease

with the Southwest Senior Centerpassed with one nay vote.

lak Dstrct Counc

(Carl Holmquist)

The Lake District Council met

January 24 and that preparation of a Lake Calhoun master plan will

start this spring.

Zoning Committee: Aaron Ruben-stein reported that CARAG held

a special neighborhood meetingJanuary 22 to finish discussionof Calhoun Square; the majority

voted to not recommend approvalor denial but to state a number of concerns and suggestions for the

project. The Zoning Committeemet January 29 to discuss Indio (anew restaurant planned for Pizza

Nea’s former space. The commit-tee voted to accept the proposed1 a.m. closing but expressed con-

cern about neighborhood noiseas patrons leave the restaurant.At 1015 W. Lake Street a new

one-story, two-bay retail buildingplanned to start construction thisspring on the Eastar Buffet site.

The developer met with the com-mittee and appreciated sugges-tions made no variances or special

zoning approvals are expected; thedeveloper wants to meet with thecommittee again to present revised

plans. Regarding Bryant LakeBowl (the city proposal to changethe food/liquor minimum ratio

from 60/40 to 50/50 for Bryant

CARAG pge 11

Cy C Fst




East Calhoun Community OrganizationECCO reportECCO meets the

first Thursday of

each month, 7

p.m. at St. Mary’s

Greek Orthodox

Church, 34th

and Irving. All

ECCO residents are welcome and

urged to attend.

L A K E C A L H O U N

Lake St.

36th St.

H e n n e p i n A v e

.

East Calhoun Community organization

(ECCo)upComing mEEtings

- A l l A r e w e l c o m e -

More Information: www.eastcalhoun.org

6:00 pm

NrP (Nighbhd rvitaizatin Pga)NrP Sting citt mting

7:00 pm

ecco Bad and Nighbhd

mnthy mting

td, mc 6, 2008

St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church

35th and Irving Ave. S.

ECCO BOARD MEETING

MINUTES for February 7, 2008

(East Calhoun neighborhood

monthly meeting)

Minutes recorded and submittedby Robert Kean

Mtng Tm

Meetings are on the first Thurs-day of each month at 7 p.m. at St.Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church.

The public is invited to attend.

Board Mmbrs Prsnt

Bruce Grimm (President), Rob-

ert Kean, Carrie Menard, TedRingsred, Elaine Beyer, MichaelEkholm, Ralph Knox, and Gary

Farland.

Otrs Prsnt

Kay Anderson, Judy Shields,

Nancy Ward, Gail Ellis, KrisArneson, Virginia Kuhn, RalphRemington, Kim Malrick, Liz Ste-

blay, Mike Schlecht

wcom andAnnouncmnts

President Bruce Grimm openedthe meeting. There were noannouncements at that time.

Pubc Opn Forum

1. There was concern about thenotice residents received in the

mail on February 6 concerningthe public hearing on February 21.The hearing concerned the vari-

ance St. Mary’s Greek OrthodoxChurch has applied for concerninga new deck. This deck would be

20 by 100 feet on the church prop-

erty overlooking the trolley path.A variance is necessary under the

revised Shoreland Overlay District(SOD) rules owing to the closenessof the structure to the lake and the

steep slope of the hillside.

A. A question was raised con-

cerning the effect of the newdeck on the trolley path, as it isa quiet, secluded place which

the NRP and the neighborhoodhas invested a lot of time andmoney into making it that way.

B. A second issue raised by Kay

Anderson about the project

proposal was about the necessityof a variance instead of a CUP

(Conditional Use Permit). Thee-mail stated that a CUP wasno longer necessary, that only a

variance was needed.

C. Councilman Ralph Reming-

ton explained that the changeswere due to the rules imple-mented under the Monster

House Ordinance. It is harderto get a variance than it is toget a CUP because a variance

requires the owner to prove ahardship. When asked if therequirements for the CUP

would still be part of the build-

ing rules, and if the develop-ers would have to meet any

minimal requirements beforethey started building, Council-man Remington explained that

projects would still need to

be approved and that the textchanges will make the Shore-

land Overlay stronger.

He promised that his officewould be sending out a link anda memo to explain what hap-

pened and that they would liketo answer any questions peoplehave about the changes that

were made.

D. It was requested that the

lead time on notices for variancerequests be longer than twoweeks, because the neighbor-

hood meetings are only once amonth. Bruce Grimm suggested

that three weeks to one monthshould be the minimum stan-dard.

4. Michael Eckholm announcedthat the sponsors of the wine tast-

ing event would like some infor-mation on how the proceeds werebeing used. Michael will send a

copy of our 2008 budget to Pat.

5. It was pointed out that the city-

wide wireless system is now work-ing well, and that problems weredue to bad modems in many cases.

Approval of December and Janu-

ary Minutes and February Agen-da:

1. There were some typos in theDecember Minutes: a sentence wasdropped and a number was given

a few extra 0s.

2. An NRP update was added tothe schedule; the Minutes and theAgenda were approved.

Grafft/ east Caoun

1. Inspector Kris Arneson report-ed that on January 3, one man

was robbed in the ECCO neigh-borhood. The crimes most preva-

lent in the neighborhood are autothefts and burglary of businesses.In 2007 the robbery rate was downbut there was a 35 percent increase

in burglary which is worrisome.

A. To prevent being burgled it

is recommended that you makesure to leave your house securewhen you are out and check

windows when the weather isnice.

B. A new technique to breakinto homes is called lock bump-

ing which works on most typesof locks. There are locks on

which lock bumping doesn’twork. Alarm systems are stilleffective.

C. There will be a remindere-mail sent out with a video onthe topic of burglary and more

information on lock bump-ing. For those who do not haveinternet access, it will be pos-

sible to get a DVD. For furtherinformation, one can contacther at 612.673.5504 or Kristine.

[email protected]

2. Virginia Kuhn talked aboutgraffiti as a very common formof vandalism. She stressed how

important it is to clean up graf-fiti quickly. Arneson responded

to questions and comments aboutgraffiti prevention and control.

A. There are special “easy to

clean paints” which can be puton the areas which are oftenblemished with graffiti. Goodlighting is also a deterrent, as

are murals and vines. Graffition brick is very hard to clean.There is a reward system; if you

call 911 and they catch the per-son who was doing the graffiti,you get money.

B. Most of the people doingthe graffiti are young men and

women. They like the Uptownarea, but the graffiti in Uptownis usually not gang related.

Surveillance cameras are goodif they are able to capture animage of the person’s face.

When the suggestion of a policestakeout was posed, Arnesonsaid it would most likely not

work, as people involved areorganized to watch for policeand do the graffiti quickly.

C. The people who do the graf-

fiti in some cases have an asso-ciation with Intermedia Arts,but Intermedia Arts to date has

not been very cooperative withpolice in a campaign to stopgraffitists.

D. The fire department hasfree graffiti cleanup kits, but

these kits are not to be usedto clean up graffiti on signsbecause it takes the reflective

layer off. It is recommendedthat you call 311 to get graffitiremoved from signs and other

public property. The city is typi-cally very good about cleaning

up graffiti on public property.

E. One suggestion was to useNRP money to clean up graffiti

in the neighborhood, anotherwas to form cleanup crews andorganize clean up days.

F. It was mentioned that one of the possible reasons there is so

much graffiti in the Uptownarea is that the area looks bad.It was brought up that there

should be regulations of thestreet furniture, and that theempty newspaper boxes should

be removed. Unfortunately, thecity cannot regulate the newspa-per boxes because it can be con-

strued as a violation on the FirstAmendment right to freedomof the press.

Cty CouncMmbr Updat

1. The Uptown Small Area Plan

was approved by the City Councilon February 1. Councilman Rem-ington thanks everyone for their

support. The next small area planto be done is the LynLake plan.The Whittier neighborhood is

likely to become more developed.The communities in the LynLakearea want more development.

The long-term goal is to open upNicollet, with a possible streetcarrunning down it to make it more

desirable real estate. This couldmean that the K-Mart would needto move.

2. The new street lighting plan

has been approved.

A. It does have a utility fee;

however it now set up so thatonly the people affected wouldhave to pay the two dollar

monthly fee.

B. The plan allows for lightingto be put in everywhere, and

although there no longer needsto be a petition to have the lightput in, there will still be an

opportunity for protest if some-

one is very against it. The costsfor installation would be 50 per-

cent from assessments and 50percent for general funds.

C. The lights would be respect-ful of the Dark Sky Initiative.

It was brought up that thelights should point down. KimMalrick assured the board that

the lights would be designed toshine the light down onto thestreets and walks, not into the

sky.

3. Change of liquor ordinances for

bowling alleys.

A. Liquor licenses in the cityare currently a hodge-podgeand are based on the proximity

of the establishment to resi-dents, on the type of license theyhold (type of establishment),

and when the license was grant-ed. In North East Minneapolis,there are “Old Man” bars which

sell only liquor. There is alsono food to liquor ratio require-ment. The ratio in the Uptown

area is 60:40, food to liquor,which creates an incentive forthe bars to sell their liquor very

cheaply and their food at a veryexpensive price. This low liquor

price encourages binge drink-ing.

B. Bryant Lake Bowl is a res-

taurant bar with some bowlingbut still has the restrictions of a restaurant. An ordinance is

eCCO pge 11




community events calendar

Ma bak u

Unn cala


Seen here are Scott Jackson, Trish Pipkin and Mark Hollock, meeting every week at 7:30 pm at Dunn Brothers at 34thand Hennepin. The Socraties Cafe is an open meeting of “recovery philosophers” or so they refer to themselves. Theevening is spent discussing a short list of questions of philosophy that range all over the map from self identity, capitalpunishment, perception and anything else in between. Bring your questions and prepare to engage your mind.

i’m PnkTrfor i’m Spam

(Editor’s Note: We will run community event listings every month on this page.Contact [email protected] to submit your event information by the17th of each month to be included in the next issue.)

VISUAL ARTSFLANDERS GALLERY3012 Lyndale Ave. S. • 612.344.1700www.flanders-art.com

Gallery hours: Tues. to Sat., 10 to 5.Sat. Mar. 1, 6-9 pm – Opening recep-tion Carnival of the Animals. NewPaintings by Bruce Nygren, Exhibi-tion runs thru April 19.

HIGHPOINT CENTER FORPRINTMAKING2638 Lyndale Ave. S. • 612.871.1326www.highpointprintmaking.org

Gallery hours: Mon. to Fri. 10 amto 5 pm and Sat. noon – 4 pm.

Fri. Mar. 14, 6:30-9:00 pm – Free gal-lery opening & reception for Home-town Editions. The exhibit willhighlight work created by Minneso-ta-based artists. Get a glimpse insidethe drawers of HP Editions and anopportunity to see (and in some casespurchase) selected prints from col-laborations with David Rathman,Todd Norsten, Clarence Morgan,Mary Esch and Carolyn Swiszcz. Our“hometown” artists have exhibitedfar and wide and represent the strongfoundation of HP Editions. On viewthru Apr 26.

INTERMEDIA ARTS/SASE2822 Lyndale Ave. S. • 612.871.4444www.intermediaarts.org

Gallery Hours: Mon. to Fri., 12-7 pm and first Sat. 10 am - 5 pm.

Thru Mar. 15 -- Illustrating Action: ARetrospective Exhibit. Santiago Zar-zosa’s paintings for Teatro Del Puebloand Intermedia Arts have given theopportunity to better understand thelives of people in a single image; thefist. It represents the anger and frustra-tion of the people looking for answersand justice. The series of paintingshave covered immigration, identity,justice, law and order. Zarzosa hasshown a commitment to visually com-municate the intrinsic message of theplays year after year.

SOO VISUAL ARTSCENTER-TOOMERGALLERY2640 Lyndale Ave. S. • 612.871.2263www.soovac.org

Gallery Hours: Mon., Wed., Thur.,

Fri. 12–6 pm, Sat. and Sun. 12-4 pm.Thru Mar. 29 -- New Works by Saman-tha French. French’s paintings andmixed media drawings reflect a con-nection to the past and her own mem-ories of life in Minnesota. Her newseries focusing on bathers is her linkto home and the continual search forthe feeling of “sun on your face, warm

summer days at the lake.” Shades of blue dominate her work as gesturalfigures in swimming attire representmemories of her past and a romanti-cized time far before hers with woolsuits, dark eyeliner and bob haircuts.

BOOK CLUBSBRYANT LAKE BOWL810 W. Lake St. • 612.825.8949www.bryantlakebowl.com

Tues. Mar. 11, 6-10 pm—Books andBars’ Mar. book is Geek Love by Kath-erine Dunn. Social hour at 6, bookdiscussion starts at 7. You’re welcomeeven if you haven’t read the book.

ONCE UPON A CRIMEBOOKSTORE

604 W. 26th St. • 612.870.3785www.onceuponacrimebooks.com

Tues. Mar. 4, 7 pm -- Twin Cities Sis-ters In Crime. The book for the nightis What Angels Fear by CS Harris.• Wed. Mar. 12, 6:30 pm -- MysteryBook Club. Book for the night is Bar-bara D’Amato’s Death of a ThousandCuts facilitated by Ellen Hart.

WALKER LIBRARY2880 Henn. Ave. S. • 612.630.6650www.mpls.lib.mn.us

Tues. Mar. 11, 6:30-8 pm – WalkerBook Club. Mar. book is Everythingis Illuminated by Jonathan SafranFoer • Tues. Mar. 18, 6-8 pm – Lovein the Stacks: MPL’s Romance BookClub reads Lady Oracle by MargaretAtwood. The main character, Joan

Foster, ironically finds her own voicewhile writing romance novels under apseudonym.

AUTHOREVENTSMAGERS AND QUINNBOOKSELLERS3038 Hennepin Ave. S. •612.822.4611www.magersandquinn.com

Tues. Mar. 4, 7:30 pm – Aryn Kylereads from her dazzling new novelGod of Animals. From an award-winning and talented young novelistcomes one of the most exciting fictiondebuts in years: a breathtaking andbeautiful novel set on a horse ranchin small-town Colorado. A wise and

astonishing novel about the differentguises of love and the often steep tollson the road to adulthood; a haunting,unforgettable debut.

ONCE UPON A CRIMEBOOKSTORE604 W. 26th St. • 612.870.3785www.onceuponacrimebooks.com

Sat. Mar. 22, noon to 4 pm – SixthAnnual Write of Spring. See web sitefor schedule and list of authors.

GETINVOLVED/ COMMUNITYARISE! BOOKS

2441 Lyndale Ave. S. • 612.871.7110www.arisebookstore.org

Sun. Mar. 2, noon – Women’s PrisonBook Project. Help WPBP sort andpackage books to send to prisoners.

BAKKEN MUSEUM3537 Zenith Ave. S • 612.926.3878www.thebakken.org

Tues. Mar. 11, 6-8 pm – Bakken Eve-ning Out. Saints and Scholars: GreenInventors. Did you know that thefather of computer science hailed fromIreland? Join a St. Patrick’s Day cel-ebration of “green” inventors. LiveIrish music, complimentary Irish beerand food samples. Admission $7; freefor members and a guest.

BRYANT SQUARE PARK3101 Bryant Ave. S. • 612.370.4907www.carag.org

Sat. Mar. 8, 12:30-3 pm – Neighbor-hood Potluck. Bring a dish to share,your utensils and maybe even a neigh-bor.

JOYCE METHODISTCHURCH1219 W. 31st St. • 612.822.5288www.joycechurch.org

Sat. Mar. 1, 7 pm – Coffeehouse Event:Free Movie Night! A viewing of Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby,plus community and discussion timeafterward. Beautiful artwork by BethJoselyn will be on the walls, as well asbeing created then and there by her

and any others who want to get theircreative juices flowing. Free.

FOR KIDS& TEENSBRYANT SQUARE PARK3101 Bryant Ave. S. • 612.370.4907www.minneapolisparks.org

Mon. Mar. 31, 11 am – 4 pm – ScienceMuseum and Omni Theater. Comeand explore the wonders of the ScienceMuseum. Enjoy the special exhibit“Animation” that brings cartoonsto life. Hop down the musical stair-way, admire ancient dinosaur bonesand conduct your own experimentsin the lab. Fees include: transporta-tion, admission and an Omni Theatermovie ticket. Bus pickups start at 11

am and returns begin at 2 pm. Ages 6-12; Cost $15.

PAINTER PARK620 W. 34th St. • 612.370.4911www.minneapolisparks.org

Tues. Mar. 4-25, 10-11 am – FairyTails. Are wolves big and bad? Areturtles really slow? Just how wise areowls? What about those slimy snakes?Come and explore the common mythsassociated with common animals. Stu-dents will be able to read stories, playgames and meet a few characters dis-covering just how good, fast and drythese creatures really are. Ages 4-5;Cost $20. • Tues. & Sat., 10 am – noon– Indoor Playground. If your little onehas energy to burn then you need our“indoor playground” complete withballs, toys books and mats. Get to

know other families in the neighbor-hood and meet new friends. Pleasepre-register. Parents must accompanytheir child. Ages 0-5; Free. • Wed.Mar. 12-26, 4-5 pm –naturalist RoundUp. Naturalists will “round up” avail-able kids for fun, hands-on activitiesand games. Topics will be based on thekids’ interest and age. Ages 6-12; Free.

WALKER LIBRARY2880 Hennepin Ave. S. •612.630.6650www.mpls.lib.mn.us

Wed. Mar. 5, 12, 19, 26, 10:30-11 am– Preschool Storytime. An interac-tive experience especially designed forchildren ages 3-5 and their caregiv-ers. Sessions encourage early literacydevelopment through stories, songsand movement. • Thur. Mar. 6, 13, 20& 27, 7-7:30 pm – Family Storytime.Stories are aimed at preschoolers, butall ages & pajamas are welcome! • Sat.Mar. 8, 10:30 am – noon – Second SatSeries. Storytime 10:30 am, Music 11am Craft 11:30 am. March’s theme:Watch out for chemists in the library.• Thur. Mar. 6, 7-8 pm – Boys’ BookClub. Call for current selection. •Thur. Mar. 13, 7-8 pm – Girls’ BookClub. Call for current selection.

THEATERBRYANT LAKE BOWL810 W. Lake St. • 612.825.8949www.bryantlakebowl.com

Wed. Mar. 5, 7 & 8:15 pm – SampleNight Live. Featuring a diverse feastof the best music, performance art,independent film, spoken word, pup-

petry, theater (big and small), jazz,dance, novelty acts, wonder kids,comedians, improv, great local bandsand more! Act I (rated G): 7 pm, ActII (unrated and uncensored): 8:15 pm.A portion of the proceeds will go tocharity. Tickets $15 for adults, $10 forstudents and seniors, $5 children 5 to10, and free for preschoolers on laps.

FIRST UNIVERSALISTCHURCH3400 Dupont Ave. S. • 612.825.1701www.firstuniv.org

Fri. Feb 29 & Sat. Mar. 1, 7:30 pm– The Hero Project. Annual youthmusical. Suggested donation $7 foradults, $3 for students.

G h fnni is yu dsv.

Cn yu Local Expert dy!

Minneapolis Lowry Hill2120 H Av. S.

612-767-5600Member FDIC

Local experts.

Localbankers.com

CAleNDAR pge 11



March 2008 Uptown neighborhood news • 11 .

Citizen ACtion

CARAG Neighborhood612.823.2520 [email protected]

ECCO Neighborhood612.987.2344 [email protected]

City CouncilpersonRalph Remington612.673.2210 Ralph.Remington @ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Mayor R.T. Rybak612.673.2100 [email protected]

State RepresentativeMargaret [email protected]

State RepresentativeFrank [email protected]

State SenatorD. Scott [email protected]

Governor Tim [email protected]

U.S. CongressmanKeith Ellison612.522.1212 www.ellison.house.gov

U.S. SenatorNorm Coleman651.645.0323 www.coleman.senate.gov

U.S. SenatorAmy Klobuchar202.224.3244 www.klobuchar.senate.gov

PresidentGeorge W. [email protected]

classifiedsHANDYPRO

Professional Handyman Service.

Home repairs and improvement– skilled carpentry, restoration,wood and wall repair, doors and

windows, to-do lists and more.Licensed, bonded, insured. CallCarl at HandyPro (www.handypro.

com) to schedule a free estimate:

612.823.8128.

SeRviCeS

Got a little junk in thetrunk?Or maybe in yourgarage or basement?Sell it or give it awaywith a UNN classifed.

CARAG and ECCO residents

can run a ree classifed ad in

one UNN issue per year. Free

classifeds are limited to 25

words or less and must be non-

commercial in nature. Ater one

ree ad, classifeds can be run in

additional issues or a small ee.

Send your ads to

[email protected]

or

Uptown Neighborhood News

711 W. Lake St., Suite 303

Mpls. MN 55408.


These Minnestoa Twins won’t cry foul if you find them cute, but they may stealyour heart when you find out they were born on Valentines’ Day. Welcome to thehomefield of CARAG, Charllie Sebastian Cochran and Jasper Foss Cochran. We’ll

be rooting for you.

Boy-O-Boy,it’s A “Fd Of day Drams”

JUNGLE THEATRE2951 Lyndale Ave. S. • 822.7063www.jungletheater.com

Tues. thru Sun., Feb 1 – Mar 9 – TheSyringa Tree. Local favorite SarahAgnew portrays more than 20 char-acters in this virtoso one-woman showabout the abiding love between twofamilies – one black, one white – andthe two children that are born intotheir shared household in early 1960’sSouth Africa.

SURBURBAN wORlD TheATeR3022 Hennepin Ave 612.822.9000www.suburbanworldtheatre.com

Every Sat & Sun, 9 am –2 pm – Vin-tage cartoons and brunch..

CLASSES/ WORKSHOPSARISE! BOOKS2441 Lyndale Ave. S. • 612.871.7110www.arisebookstore.org

Every Tues., 6:30 pm – Ink & Action:Rhetoric For Activism. Class on usingrhetoric to motivate people to takeaction. Held through the Experimen-tal College. For more information orto register, visit www.excotc.org orcontact Jude Ortiz at [email protected]. Pre-registration is requiredand class size is limited. • Every Wed.,7 pm – The Icarus Project Minne-apolis Peer Support And DiscussionGroup. A weekly meeting for peopledealing with their own mental healthissues, whether that’s bipolar disor-der, depression, schizophrenia, anxi-ety, undiagnosed angst. We meet forabout two hours, and it’s somewherebetween a support group and a discus-sion group.

MPLS COMMUNITY& TECH COLLEGE1501 Hennepin Ave. S. •612.659.6000Whitney Fine Arts Theatre, Rm. F2200www.diamondway.org/minneapolis

Wed. Mar. 5, 8 pm – Buddhism in theModern World presented by DiamondWay Buddhist Center. Lecture byMike Freeland, Buddhist Teacher.

REMODELINGWindows and doors. Finish car-pentry. Custom tile installation.

Sheet rock, taping, plaster repair,texturing and painting. Local ref-erences, free estimates. Tom 612-

824-1554

TEMPLE ISRAEL2534 Hennepin Ave. S. •612.377.8680www.templeisrael.com

Sat. Mar. 15, 10:30-11:30 am – SaulBellow, Phillip Roth, and NormanMailer: Novelists of American JewishAngst and Assimilation. Instructor:Dr. Joseph Goldman puts a new spinon Jewish history by emphasizing sci-entists, theologians, artists and businessleaders. Join us for lively discussions of some of the most important events inJewish history. Free and open to all.

TWIN CITY MEN’S CENTER3249 Hennepin Ave. S. #55 •612.822.5892www.tcmc.org

Thurs. 7-9 pm – Addiction Bustersfor Veterans. Are you a veteran deal-ing with addiction? Want to learnand talk about different ways tobattle addiction? All in a safe, com-fortable, confidential setting withother vets? Tommy Jones, AddictionBusters facilitator, will lead this newgroup. Tommy is a Vietnam Vet whostruggled with addiction and its con-sequences for most of his adult life.He shares his knowledge and experi-ence with alternative approaches withall who seek to change their behavioraround addiction. This group will beopen to all service branches, men andwomen, combat and non-combat vets.

WALKER LIBRARY2880 Hennepin Ave S. • 612.630.6650www.mpls.lib.mn.us

Every Wed., noon -2 pm – Conversa-tion Circle: Welcoming New Immi-grants. A volunteer-led opportunityto practice English language conversa-tion skills with other adults. No regis-tration required.

DANCEHAUSER DANCE1940 Hennepin Ave. S. •612.871.9077Fri. Mar. 7, Sat. Mar. 8, Sat. Mar. 15, 8pm & Sun. Mar. 16 at 3 pm – HauserDance Spring Dance Concerts. Ourannual benefit with delicious food anddrink immediately follows the Mar. 8performance. Tickets $16 adults, $13seniors and children, Benefit Evening$25.

Lake Bowl and one other bowlingalley so that all bowling alleys have

50/50 requirement; committeemembers said they want to sup-port Bryant Lake Bowl but therewas not agreement on the issue;

no position was taken as there wasnot a quorum and no board meet-ing prior to city action. Aaron said

he received revised plans for Cal-houn Square this afternoon—revi-sions were based on input from

CARAG and city staff. The mostsignificant change is a larger pub-lic seating/gathering area at the

south end of the first floor with astage and flexible seating.

NRP

(Scott Engel)

A proposal to provide up to $6,500

of CARAG NRP funds for thepurchase and installation of newbenches around the Bryant Square

Park wading pool was approvedunanimously. The issue of NRP’sissue was referred back to the NRP

Steering Committee due to lackof time and will be on the Marchneighborhood meeting agenda.

Busnss Assocatons

(Bill Morton)

The Lyn-Lake Association did not

meet today. Thatcher Imbodenis the new Uptown Associationpresident.

Dan Quay

Dan resigned from the board as heis moving out of the neighborhood.Kay thanked him for his service to

the neighborhood and announcedthat there is an open seat on theboard.

The meeting was adjourned at

8:55 pm.

in the works to allow all bowl-ing alleys to go to a 50:50 food:

liquor ratio, which is beingcrafted with Bryant Lake Bowlin mind.

C. Councilman Remington is

okay with this change, but isgenerally in favor of harmoniz-ing the liquor laws across the

city and perhaps utilizing the50:50 ratio as the standard.

D. Because of the way the lawsare, liquor stores cannot bewithin 2,000 feet of one another

which means there can be noTrader Joes in Uptown. Coun-cilman Remington feels that

regulations should be reviewed/ updated so as to fairly treat bothbars, restaurants and liquor

stores.

NRP Updat

1. A specific proposal will be

reviewed at next month’s meeting.The proposal will identify plans to

spend some of the remaining Phase1 funds on projects that fall withinthe Phase 1 priorities. There willbe a vote next month on the action

to take.

2. For graffiti, it was suggestedthat we contact the owners of rent-al properties and ask them to sign

a letter that would allow clean-upteams to remove any graffiti onthat property. There would be a

system of quick clean up; the focusbeing on rental and commercialbuildings.

3. A proposal to establish a perma-nent Crime and Safety committee

to the board was approved. Elec-tion of committee members wasdeferred until next month.

4. Boulevard Elm Trees

A. A motion was passes toapprove $1,000 of phase 1 NRP

funds for a “tree program” totreat elm trees. The money hasalready been allocated through

Phase 1; but they need permis-sion to use the money. Theprogram would offer matching

funds up to $250 per homeown-

er for treatment of elm trees onthe boulevard.

B. Additional funds may

be utilized in contract withthe Park Board to acceleratereplacement of elms that are

already diseased. The removalof stumps of the old trees wouldbe ground out and a new tree

planted within the year. ThePark Board is supposed toreplace the trees anyway, but

currently, this can take up tothree years owing to a backlogof work and limited funds.

N eCCO Board Mmbr/

N Zonng Car1. Nancy Ward was elevated from

an alternate to a full board mem-ber to fill the position vacated bythe resignation of Heidi Niziolek.

2. Duane Thorpe was electedas the new Zoning Chair as a

replacement for Heidi Niziolek.His duties will include keeping incommunication with everyone and

making sure everyone has theirquestions answered.

laks CoatonMtng Updat

Item moved to next month’s meet-

ing.

UNN Updat

1. Board member Ted Ringsred isnow the new chair. The new edi-

tor is Beth Seth and there is a newinterim editor. There are six boardmembers, three from ECCO and

three from CARAG.

2. There is a need for writers and

people who have other things toput in the paper, i.e. issues.

eCCOnfo Dscussonand Updat

The web page’s software is work-

ing well.

The next ECCO Board Meeting

will take place on March 6, 2008.

CAleNDAR fom 10 eCCO fom 9

CARAG fom 8

Tdbts Be An Angel In DisguiseExpect the best, prepare for the

worst...and get trained! The Min-neapolis Emergency Prepared-ness Office will offer training for

the formation of COMMUNITYEMERGENCY RESPONSETEAMS (CERT) Get the skills

and knowledge required to helpyourself as well as your neighbor-hood prepare for - and respond to

a disaster.

The CERT course will be taught

by emergency responders from the

Minneapolis Fire Department in

three consecutive weekly install-

ments beginning March 29, 2008

(Also April 5, and April 12) from

8 am to 5 pm each day at 4111

Dupont Ave. N.

Training will cover topics includ-

ing the role your team could beexpected to play in 1) disaster pre-paredness, and as a first responder;

2) fire safety including identifyingand reducing fire hazards and fire

supression techniques; 3) first aidincluding CPR, triage, controllingbleeding, shock etc; 4) how to plan,assess and execute search and res-

cue missions; and 5) a tutorial interrorism.

If you or your neighborhoodgroup want to participate or wouldlike more information, contact

CERT Coordinator, Susan Udeat 612.581.9624, or [email protected]. Heck uv a

deal!



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Take Advantage Of The Most Dynamic Advertising Market In The State With 1 Ad.Advertise in the Uptown Neighborhood News Today. Contact our Advertising Sales Representative, Susan Hagler, 612.825.7780 or [email protected]

march 2008 uptown neighborhood news

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