Category: Minneapolis, Minnesota Local News

Minneapolis’ Lake Harriet Band Shell is back to its old familiar blue.

As part of a yearlong renovation, workers have turned the band shell from a light brown color back to a grayish blue hue, similar to what covered the structures in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The band shell has also been reroofed with blue wood shingles and its windows have also been updated to bring air flow to the stage and add safety measures to prevent birds from running into the glass, said Francisca Pass, project designer for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. Bathrooms have also been renovated in the pavilion so that they are accessible. Other renovations continue on surrounding buildings.

“The band shell area is iconic, and park visitors and neighborhood residents really care deeply about it,” Pass said. “It means a lot to have it restored and looking great. We’ve heard from hundreds of people who are glad to have it repaired and delighted with how it looks.”

More than 1,500 people had signed a petition to change the color as part of a renovation project to the band shell and nearby buildings.

There was no record of the original blue color, and park staff worked to match it as best they could, landing on a color called Bluestone.

Steve Brandt, a member of the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation, started the petition and said he’s glad to see the structures changed back to blue.

“I have run around Lake Harriet several thousand times in the last 47 years, so it’s a familiar icon for me,” said Brandt, a retired Star Tribune journalist. He said he’s looking forward to seeing the blue building: “Sitting there on a June night with sun, wispy clouds floating across the horizon, a blue sky and a blue lake, and this iconic building housing wonderful musicians.”

Secondary buildings, like the pavilion next to the concessions building and the building next to the boat launch, will also be repainted blue over the summer and reroofed in the fall, Pass said. Early estimates on the entire project came in at about $7 million.

The Park Board plans to commemorate the renovations at the beginning of the annual Music and Movies in the Parks kickoff event on Memorial Day weekend.

“We look forward to hosting events and gatherings that create wonderful memories for people at Lake Harriet for decades to come,” Pass said.

The renovation was a welcome change for William Hedges, who stood near the band shell with his daughter visiting from out of town this week.

Hedges said he was 18 years old when he saw the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra perform at the Lake Harriet Band Shell on its opening day in May 1986 and it was “the moment of a lifetime.” He has been returning frequently ever since.

He said he was happy to see it repainted to its old blue look, like he remembers it.

“It’s vibrant. It catches your eye,” Hedges said. “It’s a beautiful blue shade. Reminds of the first time I was here in 1986.”

His daughter, Hannah Hedges, said the building looks like it’s from an art museum.

“I love how the building matches the lake and the sky,” she said. “It’s gorgeous.”

Madison Roth is a University of Minnesota student reporter on assignment for the Star Tribune.

Tyka Nelson, a onetime recording artist who has been one of the faces of her late brother Prince’s estate, will give her farewell performance June 7 at the Dakota in Minneapolis.

On what would have been Prince’s 66th birthday, Nelson will perform with a lineup of special guests including 3rdEyeGirl guitarist Donna Grantis, NPG saxophonists Adrian Crutchfield and BK Jackson, singers Shelby J and Marva King, and St. Paul Peterson & the Minneapolis Funk All Stars. The concert is being billed as Tyka Nelson & Friends: A Night of Purple Music.

Nelson, who is two years younger than her famous brother, released her debut, “Royal Blue,” in 1988 on Cooltempo Records, a division of Chrysalis Records. David Z, who worked with Prince, produced most of the album. “Yellow Moon, Red Sky” followed in 1992 on a North Carolina label.

In 2008, Nelson offered a gospel album, “A Brand New Me,” and performed at Bunkers. She issued “Hustler” in 2011.

Following her brother’s death, Nelson has appeared on “The Today Show” and other national media. She accepted his honorary degree from the University of Minnesota in 2018.

By 2022, Nelson, one of Prince’s six siblings, sold all but a small fraction of her shares of the Prince Estate to Primary Wave, a music publishing and management company.

Primary Wave’s Prince OAT Holdings LLC runs the estate along with Prince Legacy LLC, led by Londell McMillan and Charles Spicer.

Tickets for Nelson’s concert, priced from $70 to $90, will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at dakotacooks.com.

Puccini’s Suor Angelica will be the first-ever opera to be performed at The Basilica of Saint Mary – June 26-29

TICKETS

Out of the Box Opera, which designs productions that get to the heart of what makes opera exciting, is a pioneer of popup opera. Past production venues include Uppercut Boxing Gym, Weisman Art Museum, A-Mill Artist Lofts and Canopy Hotel. For this historic first, The Basilica of Saint Mary is acting as co-producer.

Few places in the Twin Cities can rival the Basilica’s power to stun. The iconic building is a place of beauty, mystery, and drama – the perfect complement to Suor Angelica, an intense one-act work set in a convent and sung by an all-female cast. As the tragic story of Sister Angelica unfolds, audiences will visit three separate locations within the Basilica: the Teresa of Calcutta room, the Chapel, and the majestic Nave. As if swept along by the music itself, at times actually mixing with the performers, the audience will have a uniquely immersive opera-going experience that will be unforgettable to first-time opera goers and veterans alike.

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Side note  – Learn more about this production when Mill City Times publishes a Becky Fillinger interview with Out of the Box Opera President, Noah Eisenberg, in May!

A Minneapolis boutique marking its 10-year anniversary will close in late May, the owner announced in a blog post.

Proper, a sibling-run Uptown women’s boutique located on Lyndale, will close so owner Ashlie O’Day can spend time with her family. O’Day’s family is due to welcome a new addition after the store’s closure.

“I saw it as a sign to make the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make and step away from Proper and not renew the lease,” she wrote.

Other uptown stores including stationery store Paper Source and apparel store Scout have also closed their doors since the start of the year.

The boutique’s founding location in Fargo will remain open.

Transit planners say two major Xcel Energy underground electric transmission lines will need to be moved to make way for the $3 billion Blue Line light-rail extension in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood. The recent disclosure has raised questions about the cost and time needed to move the lines, which provide power to parts of downtown Minneapolis.

Officials with the Metropolitan Council and Hennepin County say they’re confident a solution can be reached with Xcel, and that these kinds of discoveries are routine when building a major transit project in a complex urban environment.

“We look at it as just normal coordination [with utilities], although this one takes a little more work,” said Nick Landwer, Metro Transit’s director of transit system design and engineering. “We’re working with the Xcel team to simplify how to get the work done. It doesn’t pose an issue at all.”

Project opponents were not appeased: “It’s just another example of the Met Council not doing their due diligence on these projects,” said Matt Bruns, who lives in the 918 Lofts along 10th Avenue, now part of the Blue Line extension route in the North Loop.

Xcel’s transmission lines run under 10th Avenue between 7th Street and Washington Avenue, part of which is expected to be used as a transit mall for light-rail trains and a bike and pedestrian trail. Vehicle traffic will be rerouted elsewhere in the area, although it’s not known yet where.

The North Loop stretch is a relatively late addition to the project’s route after Lyn Park residents complained two years ago about the previous alignment along Lyndale Avenue, west of Interstate 94. The overall 13.5-mile route, which stretches from Target Field to Brooklyn Park through north Minneapolis, Robbinsdale and Crystal, is expected to begin service in 2030.

Because Xcel’s transmission lines are located in a public right of way — in this case a city street — the utility will assume the cost to move them, said Dan Soler, Hennepin County’s director of transit and mobility.

At this point, officials are unclear how much that would cost. The project has a bottom line estimated at $2.9 billion to $3.2 billion.Construction is expected to begin in 2027.

“Because it’s a transmission line, it does take a little longer to relocate,” Soler said. “But it doesn’t affect the cost of the light-rail project. We have to build it into our schedule. We’ve got a tremendous amount of experience with this kind of thing.”

Soler said there were complexities rerouting utilities in downtown St. Paul and along University Avenue for the Green Line light-rail project, which began service nearly a decade ago. “You have to get in there and investigate early to see what’s there,” he said.

Xcel Energy spokesman Theo Keith said the utility has had preliminary discussions with transit planners and the city about the transmission lines. “This process is in the very early stages, and we’re committed to continuing to work with stakeholders on a way forward,” he said in an email.

But Bruns and others have been apprehensively following the fallout from the $2.9 billion Southwest light-rail line under construction between Target Field and Eden Prairie, which is more than $1 billion over budget and nearly a decade behind schedule. Cracks and flooding at the Cedar Isles condominium complex during light-rail construction in the Kenilworth corridor in Minneapolis, as well as the recent revelation that rail tracks in that area were installed improperly “are very concerning,” he said.

Those opposed to the 10th Avenue alignment have proposed an alternate route closer to Interstate 94 that is less disruptive to the neighborhood. That alignment “avoids some things but it doesn’t serve as many people,” Soler said. “Certainly there are people who would prefer it.” Others, including a group in Robbinsdale, have suggested scrapping light rail in favor of bus-rapid transit service.

Some in the North Loop like the 10th Avenue transit mall concept, including the North Loop Neighborhood Association’s Planning and Zoning Committee.

Minneapolis City Council Members Jeremiah Ellison and Michael Rainville, whose districts include part of the North Loop, did not respond to requests from the Star Tribune for comment.

The original route for the Blue Line extension, which largely operated alongside BNSF Railway freight trains, did not serve the North Loop or much of north Minneapolis, and was abandoned in 2020 after the rail giant refused to share its right of way. Transit planners then pitched a different route that better served north Minneapolis.

But that route proved controversial among neighbors in Lyn Park along Lyndale Avenue N., who said light-rail service would divide their neighborhood and be unsafe. Transit planners regrouped and came up with the North Loop route east of Interstate 94, which calls for a new bridge over the highway into north Minneapolis.

“I’m hoping that [10th Avenue] route is viable or something similar is,” said Lyn Park resident Eva Young at a recent Blue Line extension advisory committee meeting. “I don’t want the Lyndale route to come back to haunt us.”

Article by Becky Fillinger, photos provided

Sarah creating a felted vagus nerve

Bringing People, Plants and Place together through interactive art works

Sarah Nassif is Artist in Residence at Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO), where she developed her Weaving Water Workshops. Keep reading to learn about this workshop where you can share personal connections to textile traditions, bodies of water and the Mississippi River. That’s just one of the programs that Nassif has created in the local area. We talked to Sarah about her amazing nature-based projects in the Twin Cities and how you can participate.

Q:  You’re the Artist in Residence at Mississippi Watershed Management Organization. How did this marvelous appointment come about?

A:  Just months before the pandemic, I was awarded an MRAC Next Step grant and a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant. The funding was meant to allow me to continue the work I had started in 2018 with Weaving Water, which was funded by a 2017 Artist Initiative Grant by presenting it through MWMO. The plan was for me to present my first solo show in the beautiful MWMO Stormwater Park and Learning Center gallery space as well as provide some public programming for MWMO. My show plan was to create enormous weavings depicting three watersheds and design an immersive fiber art installation.

Of course, everything froze in March 2020– and then life took us all through some very hard times – fires around the world, the murder of George Floyd and the upheaval that followed, the isolation and fear brought on by the pandemic, etc.

Abby Moore, Outreach Principal at the MWMO, and I stayed in conversation through 2020-2021, having no idea when or how my project could (or should) resume.

Abby’s challenge when the MWMO reopened its offices (after more than a year) in fall 2021 was how on earth to move forward with the work of connecting the public to what this governmental body accomplishes day in and day out for our watershed, a world most people barely know. She had always engaged artists to present art shows each year with some public programming to complement them, but the MWMO building hours were now very limited, people were still scared of gathering, and circumstances were shifting due to COVID conditions and a very cold winter that set in in January 2022.

I have long admired the work of Christine Baumler as Artist-in-Residence at Capitol Region Watershed District, so I suggested we create a similar role for me as a way for me to collaborate with Abby to meet both her goals and mine as we rode the waves of changing circumstances starting in October 2021.

Both Abby and I wanted to create opportunities for people to come together safely, connect with the Mississippi River, and find creativity and relaxation in community to help offset the extreme stress of daily life at the time.

The first Weaving Water Workshop at MWMO was distanced/masked and outdoors in late October, but people loved the chance to gather by the river, get creative playing with indigo and fiber, and just be together again. We shared about our personal lineages of creativity and connection to water to kick off a couple hours of making. It felt like such a gift and a balm at that time, under the huge cottonwood trees with the sparkling river and smiling people. We planned monthly workshops after that, and I brought in fellow artists to expand on the theme of creativity and connection to water. So that was it, I became the first Artist in Residence for the MWMO, and I continue in this role to bring arts-engaged outreach programming to all corners of the watershed.

Q:  That’s quite a story – thank you for persevering with your vision. Your website notes that your passion is bringing people, plants and place together to create interactive art works. Can you tell us how you first became aware of your interest in unexpected collaborative experiences?  

A:  I like to say that my art practice is about the intersections of people, plants and place. When I moved to Minnesota in 2000, I had no history here, no family roots, and despite my B.S. in Botany from University of Washington, all the plants were brand new to me. My first jobs here were in marketing data analysis, far removed from my love of art and nature. I was living here, but didn’t feel connected to the place for the first five years. Unhappy with work, I left the corporate world in 2005 with room to return to my creativity at long last. Getting to know the plants was my first artistic ambition – I documented trees and plants on my hikes and created textile designs from them that I screen printed in my home studio.

In 2005 I launched Rectangle Designs: Botanically Inspired Fashion. This was a line of apparel and accessories featuring botanical screen prints I created from my field photography of plants. Each design connected the buyer to an actual plant and the place it grew. I had beautiful hangtags and a website where shoppers could learn more about each plant. I was trying to inspire people about nature in the unexpected location of a boutique where they were just shopping for clothes or gifts. In 2012 I was invited to host a solo trunk show at the Walker Art Center’s Gift Shop, and I loved talking to all the people who bought my designs.

But I decided to close the business when we moved to a new house that required me to pack up my screen printing studio indefinitely, and I just did teaching artist residencies for a couple years. In 2014, I got my first artist grant through Springboard for the Arts’ Irrigate program to create The Other Green Line, which was also my accidental introduction to “social practice” art. The Other Green Line was a free field guide distributed alongside other free printed materials at convenience store check outs and local businesses up and down the new Green Line light rail. This project was the real catalyst for me realizing the power of “unexpected creative (and collaborative) experiences.” It also led me to meet other local artists working in similar ways.

The Other Green Line revealed the natural history of the landscapes between Minneapolis and St. Paul that were obscured by urban development. It invited people to participate as field naturalists observing the world around them with curiosity and sharing their observations with other people. They could follow a self-guided foray route and draw on pages in the booklet. I offered guided forays for free. An article in Streets.MN was the ultimate validation to me that somehow, I was on the right track creatively.

Q:  Please tell us more about the Weaving Water Workshop at MWMO. How may we participate?  

A:  The Weaving Water Workshop was created in 2018 and is an ongoing project – an umbrella title for the collaborative work I do with a variety of organizations including (but not limited to) MWMO. The project can take the form of an art show installation, a public festival, or a privately held workshop for a smaller audience.

Above and below – some of Sarah’s workshop participants, clearly enjoying themselves.

I collaborate with select partners to design Weaving Water Workshops for organizations and communities. This summer, the project will travel south along the river to the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona in May and north to the Watermark Art Festival in Bemidji in July. Contact me here to inquire about commissioning a Weaving Water Workshop for your group. 

Subscribe to the MWMO newsletter to learn about public Weaving Water Workshops across the urban watershed. And listen to an in-depth interview of Sarah on the MWMO’s new podcast River of Ideas. Please follow me on Instagram @sarahjnassif.

Q:  Another of your creations is the Trees of Prospect Park (TOPP). Can you tell our readers about the program?  Will you possibly design other tree or plant walks in our neighborhoods?

A:  TOPP was a pandemic project designed to help people de-stress by connecting to nature and to each other in the safety of the outdoors and fresh air. I designed a 26-tree walk that anyone can follow on Google Maps using the link is on my website. I led free tree walks along the river banks south of the Franklin Bridge in my neighborhood. My friend was just starting Signature Arts in a former grocery building, and there was space where I could host drawing sessions safely – with masks, distanced and with an air purifier! I provided walnut ink I made from a neighborhood tree’s windfall of walnuts, paper, and my extensive collection of pressed leaves, cones, acorns and other tree treasures. I coached individuals and family groups from 10 feet away to trace the leaves and draw without self-judgment while we chatted about our tree affinities. After a winter of being isolated in our homes, this was a fun way to get out in the world! 

I am developing a plant walk for the Walker Art Center in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden – to be released this Spring/Summer!

I also have a 9-week art residency that I teach at older adult communities. We gather weekly to explore the trees growing around the residences, and the students create and illustrate a custom field guide of these trees. The course is called Seeing the Forest and the Trees. It’s so fun!

Q:  So many wonderful projects! How may we follow your news?

A:  Please do follow my Instagram @sarahjnassif or subscribe to my newsletter. My website sarahnassif.com – check out my news and projects there.

MINNEAPOLIS — The family of Ricky Cobb II on Wednesday morning filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state trooper that fatally shot him and another trooper involved in the traffic stop that preceded his killing.

The lawsuit accuses Ryan Londregan and Brett Seide of unreasonable seizure and excessive use of force in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. It was filed by civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers, along with Harry Daniels and F. Clayton Tyler on behalf of Cobb’s mother Nyra Miller-Fields.

“People have treated this officer like he is the victim in this case and so we’re here today to say that Ricky Cobb II lost his life but he should be here today,” Sellers said at a press conference Wednesday morning.

Cobb, 33, was pulled over in the early hours of July 31 on Interstate 94 for not having his tail lights on. He was wanted by Ramsey County law enforcement for violating a no-contact order in a domestic case.

Body camera video showed Londregan, Seide, and another officer stand on either side of Cobb’s car. The lawsuit says Londregan and Seide unreasonably seized Cobb by ordering him out of the car without explaining if he was under arrest, and by reaching into the car and grabbing him in an attempt to “forcibly remove him.” The troopers also used “unnecessary, excessive, and deadly force” on Cobb, the lawsuit says.

Londregan shot Cobb twice in the torso, and he died after a brief pursuit on the highway.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged Londregan with second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter in January. But since then, the largest police organization in the state has accused Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty of ignoring an expert’s opinion on Londregan’s use of deadly force and requested that Gov. Tim Walz hand over the case to the attorney general. The police organization and his lawyers argue that Londregan was following his training and protecting his partner.

MORE: MPPOA renews call for Walz to reassign Londregan case after instructors say he was following training

Moriarty’s office, however, argued the defense “cherry-picked” information from a preliminary conversation. 

Sellers threw his support behind Moriarty, arguing that she should keep the criminal case against Londregan. He added that she had been open and honest with Cobb’s family, and appreciated her transparency. 

“We want you guys to understand these are laws set in place for everybody and people that have badges don’t get set aside,” said Rashad Cobb, Ricky Cobb’s twin brother. “We want equality, we want justice, we want our peace and above all we want our freedom.”

If convicted on the criminal charges, Londregan could face up to 40 years in prison. 

The Minneapolis City Council is considering making a pack of cigarettes no cheaper than $15 — before taxes — the highest in the nation.

“That’s robbery,” said Ojo Trill after shopping at the Uptown Tobacco & E-Cigs store on Lake Street. “Stop raising the costs for us to be regular people.”

Public health officials and smoking cessation advocates say the high cost should reduce the number of people who smoke, especially youth, although opponents worry about the effect it could have on low-income smokers and potentially encourage black market sales. Jason Johnson, another man shopping at the Lake Street store Tuesday, said it’s unfair to people who already struggle with the costs of living in the city.

“People can’t afford $15, $16 for cigarettes,” Johnson said.

The proposal, headed toward a full council vote next week, would also ban discounts and coupons, set minimum prices for other tobacco products, and ban smoking inside cigar and hookah lounges.

While much of the proposed ordinance has widespread support among the council and from Mayor Jacob Frey, its immediate prospects aren’t certain. Following a public hearing Tuesday afternoon, a council committee moved the plan ahead without recommendation, as several members said they might want to change parts of it.

The proposal, led by Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw, is similar to one introduced last year that was shelved, in part, to give more time for businesses like Anthony’s Pipe & Cigar Lounge in Uptown, For years, cigar aficionados have kicked back in chairs at Anthony’s to take in stogies via an exception to the state’s indoor smoking ban that allows patrons to “sample” the products of tobacco shops. Under the current proposal, Anthony’s, as well as several hookah lounges frequented by East African immigrants, would have to ban indoor smoking Dec. 1, although outdoor smoking would remain OK.

That portion of the proposed ordinance is designed to protect workers, but the thrust of the package is aimed at curbing smoking itself.

$15 minimums

The price of tobacco products has been climbing for years, with a pack of smokes surpassing $13.50 in downtown Minneapolis convenience stores. But the $15 minimum — at least $15.74 after state taxes — would be a new high, eclipsing the $10-per-pack minimum enacted by St. Paul in 2021 and blowing past New York City’s $13 minimum, although actual prices are often higher.

Evalyn Carbrey, senior public health specialist for the city’s health department, said Minneapolis’ $15 floor would be the highest minimum price in the nation, and it wouldn’t be just for cigarettes.

A 4-pack of cigars would also be $15, as would a tin of chewing tobacco. Vaping compounds and e-cigarettes would not be affected.

The extra money would not be a tax, but simply a mandatory minimum price. The retailer would keep the extra money. The reasoning, Carbrey said, is that the extra money could “soften the blow from any decrease in sales” for retailers.

No coupons

Today, many tobacco users get their fix for less, thanks to coupons and discounts targeted so precisely, via email and social media, that nonsmokers might never know they exist.

The proposed changes in Minneapolis would render those coupons worthless within the city limits.

Goal: Less smoking

Smoking cessation advocates, ranging from public health officials to the American Cancer Society, have been pushing for minimum prices as a way to combat smoking in recent years because, they say, it works, especially with youth who haven’t yet taken up the deadly addiction.

Carbrey cited studies showing that every 10% increase in the price of cigarettes corresponds to a 3-5% decrease in adult smoking and a 6-7% decrease in youth smoking.

Still, forcing nicotine addicts, who are disproportionately lower income and can be disproportionately people of color, to pay more is not a painless idea.

Council Member Andrea Jenkins, who been active in the smoking cessation movement for 20 years, said she supported much of the proposal but emphasized a nuance: “The impact will negatively impact communities of color who smoke for many reasons, including, as stated (by a many who spoke at the hearing minutes earlier), ‘being Black in America.’ “

Although he was buying a vape cartridge Tuesday at the Uptown tobacco shop, Trill said he also buys cigarette packs each week. He was appalled by the idea of imposing a minimum cost, and said it feels like the city is trying to control smokers’ lives.

Johnson, who was buying a pack of Newports for $12.60, said cigarettes are crucial for himself and others to relax and ease stress.

Two Minneapolis men were charged Tuesday with attempted murder in a drive-by shooting that wounded three people and gave one life-threatening injuries.

The two defendants — Devante Derrell Boyd, 28, and Devonte Cortez Henry, 27 — now face four charges in Hennepin County District Court: attempted second-degree murder, two counts of second-degree assault, and drive-by shooting.

Officers responded around 8:50 p.m. Sunday to a report of a shooting in the 1800 block of Lowry Avenue N., and found three people in their 30s with gunshot wounds who were later taken to North Memorial Health Hospital. One man was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, while those of the other two, a man and a woman, were less serious. The critically injured man was still alive Tuesday, a Minneapolis police spokesman confirmed.

The officers recovered 9-millimeter and .45-caliber shell casings from the shooting scene. According to the charges, surveillance footage showed a silver Honda driving by as someone stood out of the sunroof and fired shots. Muzzle flashes were also seen coming from the driver’s side of the vehicle, the charges allege.

Police said they found the Honda matching the one seen in the video about 40 minutes later. Officers conducted a traffic stop and arrested Boyd and Henry who were inside, charges say.

Attorney information for Boyd and Henry was not available in online court filings Tuesday.

The two men admitted to police about firing shots, charges say. Henry said the shooting was over a previous incident involving one of the victims, while Boyd told police he didn’t know what the previous incident was, charges allege.