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.

Message from Council Member Kevin Reich

February’s release of the Minneapolis Creative Vitality Index (CVI) confirmed what many of us long suspected: the Twin Cities metro area’s arts economy is one of the most vital in the nation. It’s significant news for the city as a whole and particularly impactful for the First Ward, with its thriving local creative economy. The Index demonstrates that the non-profit and for-profit creative sector puts an annual average of $700 million into the City’s economy and employs nearly 20,000 people, making up 5% of all City jobs. The metro area arts economy as a whole came in at sixth nationally in size, exceeded only by Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston. We see this vitality in microcosm in the First Ward, with the many artists in our Arts District, their strong organization with the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA) and signature events such as Art-A-Whirl as visible symbols of a creative economy in action. Additionally, as many of you pointed out at our ongoing Ward One Creative Economy forums over the past 3 years, a strong arts economy isn't limited to the artists themselves; it spawns a host of other industries and undertakings. Corporate Art Force, which relocated to the Arts District from Plymouth in 2010, is one such business, making connections between artists and corporate customers seeking to acquire original art. Blu Dot is another example of a company that chose to locate in the Arts District due to of its vitality. And there is a clear continuum of creative, productive endeavors from formal artists to designers to prototype makers and craftspeople, etc. co-locating in NE and driving our vibrancy and economy. It’s an axiom of business that if you can’t measure it, you can’t evaluate it. The CVI is a first step in measuring our creative economy and, as such, it’s a valuable tool for developing effective City planning and policy around arts and culture. On a smaller scale, NEMAA has undertaken a project to measure the economic impact of events like Art-A-Whirl on the NE community. We've always known we had something special in the First Ward; it’s good to have numbers to back that up.

One-Sort Recycling Rollout Update

The second phase of the One-Sort recycling rollout will commence late April this year. Customers who did not receive a new blue, one-sort recycling cart last fall, will receive one this spring and will receive letters in the mail with instructions about a week before the cart arrives. These customers will stay on the same schedule and keep the same recycling day as before. When they get the new cart, customers may choose to either leave their old bins out to be recycled or keep them for other uses such as garage storage. If you choose to keep your old bin, do not leave it outside near your pick-up location after you receive notice of the new cart to ensure that it’s not picked up. Tip: if you find, after trying out your new cart, that it’s too large for your needs, you may request a smaller cart by calling 612-673-2917. Last year, Minneapolis expanded the types of plastics and paper it collects. Recycling customers can now include plastics numbers 1 through 7, which includes yogurt, pudding and fruit cups; disposable cups and bowls; margarine, cottage cheese and other containers; and produce, deli and takeout containers. New paper items accepted include milk cartons, juice boxes, and soup, broth and wine cartons. For more information, visit www.minneapolismn.gov/onesort.

“We Can Grow” Initiative

Last year Windom Park resident and U of M School of Agriculture student Mike Smieja created Buchanan Street Farm, an urban farm, complete with activities and workshops for neighborhood children. This year Smieja has launched We Can Grow, a non-profit that offers education and access to fresh, healthy food for low-income residents of Minneapolis. We Can Grow provides raised bed gardens at no cost to low-income families who complete a 4-part educational program. Classes covering basic gardening, cooking, preservation and environmental stewardship, will teach families to grow, harvest and enjoy the fruits of their gardens. We Can Grow will also provide memberships to the families’ local Gardening Matters Resource Hub, including seeds, seedlings and access to gardening tools. If you are interested in participating in this program, as a recipient, volunteer or sponsor, visit We Can Grow at www.wecangrow.org.