Message from Council Member Kevin Reich

I would like to extend an invitation to all to attend two upcoming Ward One forums on topics of great interest to our community: Public Safety and the Arts Economy.

The Public Safety forum, which is co-hosted by the NE Chamber of Commerce and 2PAC, will be held on Wednesday, May 8, 6 – 7:30 p.m. at the Firefighters Hall & Museum, 664 22nd Avenue NE. This family friendly event will offer the community an opportunity to welcome Inspector Kathy Waite to the Second Precinct, while also thanking Inspector Bryan Schafer (who now heads the First Precinct) for his past work. We will hear an overview of the current state of the precinct, the accomplishments under Insp. Schafer, and Insp. Waite’s vision for the future. The Second Precinct led the City in 2012 in declining rates of Burglary and Robbery, as well as the overall lowest Part I crime rate. Insp. Waite and Insp. Schafer will offer further detail about these impressive statistics and the programs and initiatives that have fostered them.

The Arts Economy forum, which is being co-hosted by Artshare, will be held on Monday, April 22, 7 – 8:30 p.m. at Chowgirls Parlor, 1222 2nd Street NE. Gulgun Kayim, the City’s Director of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy will be a guest speaker, talking about the recently released Creative Vitality Index. The forum location was chosen because the Northeast Life Size Book is on display at Chowgirls Parlor for the month of April, before it moves to its permanent home at the Northeast Library. A project of Artshare, whose mission is to create shared art experiences for the Northeast community, the Northeast Life Size Book was created in a series of community workshops guided by artists Bridget O’Malley and Laura Brown. Jennifer Arave of Artshare will introduce the process and results of this collaboration between artists and community members, as well as offer some background on other shared art projects Artshare has led in Northeast, including the Parade Project and the NE Audio-Guided Walking Tours.

Spring Street-Sweeping Begins April 16

Weather permitting, Public Works crews will begin a comprehensive sweeping of all city streets and alleys on April 16 to clean up the dirt and grime the melting ice and snow leaves behind. Minneapolis streets are swept completely curb to curb once in the spring and once in the fall to keep leaves and debris from clogging our storm sewers and polluting lakes and rivers.

“No Parking” Notifications
Starting Monday, April 15, drivers should watch for temporary “no parking” signs along roadways to avoid a ticket and tow. Street sweeping will continue through early May. Temporary “no parking’ signs will be posted at least 24 hours in advance to make sure streets and parkways are clear of parked vehicles. Parking will be banned from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the day a street is swept. The “no parking” signs will be removed as soon as possible after a street has been completely swept to allow people to resume parking. Drivers should not park along these streets until the “no parking” signs are removed.In addition to the “no parking” signs that will be posted the day before sweepers come through, the City will make about 3,500 automated phone calls each evening to let residents know their street will be swept the next day. The City’s website also offers an interactive tool for advance notice of the street sweeping schedule. Go to www.minneapolismn.gov/publicworks/streetsweeping and click on “Street Sweeping Schedule Lookup” to find out which week a street is scheduled to be swept. The weekend before that week, the lookup tool will tell which day of the week the street is scheduled to be swept. If you do not have internet access, you may call 311 or the Ward One office at 612-673-2201 for this information.

City of Minneapolis Call for Artists

The City of Minneapolis Art in Public Places program has a unique opportunity for local artists to submit designs for utility box wraps. Artists and neighborhoods have been painting and wrapping utility boxes in an effort to reduce graffiti and beautify their communities. The process for undertaking this type of project can be time consuming for neighborhoods – both for organizing the artist designs and for obtaining the necessary approvals. Minneapolis Art Wraps is an effort to assist interested groups to develop projects, with the goal of creating a vibrant city-wide gallery that celebrates the range and talent of creative artists living and working here. Twelve artists’ designs will be selected by the City for participating neighborhoods to choose from.

The City has released a Call for Artists that details the process for applying. The call is open to professional artists who live or work in Minneapolis in any media that can be translated to a digital image and wrapped onto a utility box. This includes painting, photography, collage, mosaic, etc. The deadline for applications is Wed, April 17, at 4 p.m. For more information, visit www.minneapolismn.gov/dca or contact Mary Altman at mary.altman@minneapolismn.gov.

Edison Voyagers at Chamber's "Best in Business" Event

Twenty Edison High School Voyager students attended the recent Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce’s annual “Best in Business” Awards luncheon. The Voyagers program provides the opportunity to interact with business leaders from around the region through exclusive participation in Chamber events. The Voyagers’ Junior Achievement arm took 4th Place in the 2010 Junior Achievement National Competition and 1st Place in the 2012 Junior Achievement Regional Competition, making it Minnesota’s top youth business program.

Safe Routes to School & Waite Park Patrol

In February the City of Minneapolis’ Public Works department applied for a federal Safe Routes to School grant for an infrastructure project aimed at traffic-calming around Waite Park School. The Waite Park School student patrol recently invited Council Member Reich to meet with them to discuss traffic concerns. Demonstrating a commendable sense of civic responsibility, they communicated their observations about sight lines, traffic levels and speeds on Johnson and other streets surrounding their school. The aforementioned grant will address these issues.

9th Annual Annual Annual “Hotdish Revolution”

The Holland Neighborhood Improvement Association (HNIA) invites all to join them at the 9th Annual Hotdish Revolution on Sunday, April 21, 4 – 7 p.m. at St. Maron’s Cedars Hall, 602 University Avenue NE. Hotdish Revolution is the Holland neighborhood’s annual community cook-off and jell-o competition. Six categories are offered for a hotdish entry – Darn Good (red meat, pork); Fins and Feathers (poultry, fish); I Made It! (kids under 16); Spicy; Vegetarian; and the quintessential Tater Tot. There is also a People’s Choice Award and a prize for the best Jell-o creation. New this year is a NE Brew District beer tasting. Five local breweries will bring some of their best craft brews, which will be offered in flights.

The Revolution committee promises good food, good drink, mayoral candidate judges, accordion music, information about exciting initiatives happening in Holland, and more. Admission is $10 for adults ($5 if entering dish or jell-o); $5 for kids 5-12; kids under 5 are free. Dishes are accepted for judged entry until 4:30 p.m. Find further information at www.facebook.com/hotdishrevolution.

Mpls & St. Paul Home Tour: NE Highlight

The Minneapolis & St. Paul Home Tour, April 28-29, will feature 60 homes opening their doors to visitors. On this free, self-guided tour, visitors can talk with the homeowners as well as interview contractors and architects. Northeast residents and art collectors Nick and Rosie Heille are among the homeowners featured in the tour. Their home in the Waite Park neighborhood is a unique showcase for the NE Arts District, displaying over 100 original art works by over 60 artists, most of them from NE Minneapolis. Go to http://sites.google.com/site/2013htnrmpls/ for more information about taking in this stop on the Home Tour. For information about the tour as a whole, go to www.MSPHomeTour.com.

Save the Date:

9th Annual Hotdish Revolution
Sunday, April 21, 4 – 7 p.m., Cedars Hall at St. Maron Church, 602 University Ave NE. www.hnia.org

Metro Blooms Raingarden Workshop
Saturday, April 27, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., Audubon Park Recreation Center, 1320 29th Ave NE. This City of Minneapolis sponsored workshop will explore the latest in healthy yard care practices and raingarden design. Cost is $15. To register, visit www.metroblooms.org or call 612-699-2426.

Spring WingDing
Saturday, April 27, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Audubon Park Recreation Center, 1320 29th Ave NE. This annual Audubon Park neighborhood celebration will include games, activities, food, arts-and-crafts demonstrations and more. http://audubonneighborhood.org/WingDing

Annual 2nd Precinct Open House
Monday, May 13, 4 – 7 p.m., 1911 Central Avenue NE. Visit with police officers and see displays from the 2nd Precinct, K-9, Mounted Patrol, Bomb Unit, SWAT, Crime Prevention Specialists, Minneapolis Emergency Communications Center (Dispatch) and Animal Control.

Art-A-Whirl
Friday, May 17 – Sunday, May 19. Presented by the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA), Art-A-Whirl is the largest open studio tour in the country. It’s a great opportunity to tour private artist studios and galleries, connect with the artists, and purchase original artwork.