May 11, 2023 - MN Spokesman- Recorder

DIVIDE AND CONQUER: Park Board’s plan for Hiawatha

The ongoing battle over preservation of an African American historical site

By Charles Hallman Staff Contributor

The Hiawatha Golf Course in South Minneapolis has received a National Register of Historic Places designation by the National Park Service, which was approved on April 27,

Metro Transit starts Lake-Selby rapid line construction B

Line bus service to replace Route 21

By H. Jiahong Pan

Contributing Writer

Vernon Crowe, owner of Selby Wine and Spirits, never understood why Route 21 took a weird dog-leg bend into Midway—running on University between Snelling and Hamline Avenues— on its way to and from Minneapolis. The angled route was implemented to bypass an unsafe bridge spanning Selby Avenue between the two streets, which was closed in 1989.

“The bridge is back up,” said Crowe. “I don’t know why they don’t continue running the bus down Selby to Fairview, turn off Fairview, and [go] left on Marshall.”

Beginning late next year, the dogleg onto University will be eliminated as 21 is restructured. The B Line, a rapid transit bus line similar to the A Line on Snelling Avenue, the C Line on Penn Avenue, and the D Line on Chicago and Fremont Avenues, all of which make stops at specially-designed stations, will replace 21A’s existing routing. The new B Line will operate similar to the pre-1989 Route 21 alignment. Meanwhile, the 21A itself will be split into two segments–one will only run in Minneapolis, while the other segment will only run in St. Paul.

“It is connecting people to a thriving community. This is an opportunity for us to get to jobs, housing, transit stations, key destinations,” said Metropolitan Council chair Charlie Zelle at the groundbreaking for the new bus line. “I always say this is not a commuter line. This is the ‘live your life in the city’ line,” he added. However, not all riders are happy with the change, and some businesses are worried about the impacts the B Line will have on them during and after it is built.

The B Line project has been in the works for years, one of 11 transit corridors studied by the Met Council in 2011 and 2012. Originally envisioned to operate along stops between the Lake Street Southwest Light Rail station and Snelling and University, the proposed route was extended to serve downtown St. Paul stops in 2019, after rider feedback. The agency plans to extend the proposed route to serve the Minneapolis-St. Louis Park border, at Lake and France avenues.

The project will cost $65 million, with funding to come from state and federal sources. Hennepin County will receive $12 million from a Department of Transportation grant to reconfigure Lake Street with

two lanes, a turn lane, and a westbound transit lane. The project east of Hiawatha will be built by Rogers-based Thomas and Sons Construction, who built the A, C and D Lines, while the agency will put the project west of Hiawatha out to bid later this year.

Ahmed Ahmed likes the idea of converting the 21 to the B Line. “That makes me feel good. It feels different and will be faster,” said Ahmed Ahmed one Saturday morning as he rode the 21 to a friends’ house in Minneapolis.

Not everyone agrees with him. Some riders the MSR spoke with on the 21 did not like the idea of the B Line, in part because the B Line makes fewer stops and they appear to be accustomed to Route 21, having relied on it for their transportation needs for decades.

Some corridor businesses left in dark Some business owners in the Longfellow and the Rondo neighborhood said they did

olis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), finally approved its proposed “Hiawatha Master Plan” by a vote of 4-3. The Park Board plan includes reducing the public golf course from 18 holes to nine holes, improves water management and addresses long standing flooding issues. The flooding problems reached a critical point

meaning the golf course now joins the list of historic preservation sites across the country. However, the fight to keep Hiawatha as it currently is—an 18-hole course—continues.

Last March, the Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) believed that the site was National Register-eligible and helped with the application process. In a statement, TCLF President and CEO Charles A. Birnbaum said, “The National Register designation of the Hiawatha Golf Course, an action we first called for on March 1, 2022, reaffirms the cultural and historic significance of the site. The designation reminds us that African American history is American history, and the recognition includes important information about Hiawatha that we believe is essential to any decision-making process about the course’s future.”

Beginning in the early 1930s, Hiawatha has been a gathering place for African Americans in the city for recreation and golf, at a time when they were discriminated against and often excluded from public spaces.

Last September, after three previous attempts, the Minneap-

in June 2014, when significant rainfall flooded the Hiawatha golf course—described as a “100-year flood”—and forced its closing, until it was fully reopened in 2016.

MPRB Commissioner Becka Thompson’s motion last July, to separate the water issues from the course redesign was rejected. In addition, a rift between Black community members, who are mostly against the “Hiawatha Master Plan,” and Native Americans, who support it because they want the land returned to its ancestral roots, became apparent during public-comment meetings.

When asked last week by the MSR, about Hiawatha’s new historic status, MPRB President Meg Forney said, “Hiawatha golf course’s National Register listing does not impede the Minneapolis Park Board’s implementation of the Hiawatha Plan but requires the MPRB to consult with the State of Minnesota regarding future work.”

The Minneapolis-based Bronze Foundation, which commissioned the National Register nomination, paid more than $18,000 for a study to look into water issues, while maintaining the golf

■ See HIAWATHA on page 5

Survivors of human rights abuses testify at Minneapolis UN hearing

By Cole Miska Contributing Writer

On May 2, members of the United Nations (UN) Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement (EMLER) held hearings in Minneapolis to gather testimony related to racism and policing. The event, which was held at the Urban League building at 2100 Plymouth Ave. N, was one of six stops on EMLER’s visit to the United States. International human rights lawyer Kerry McLean, who has done work for the UN AntiRacism Coalition (UNARC), set

up Tuesday morning’s hearing.

According to McLean, the goal of EMLER’s visit is to examine the causes and realities of systemic racism faced by people of African descent involving law enforcement and the legal system, and to learn how laws may lead to disproportionate interactions between law enforcement and Black people compared to people of other races.

The Minneapolis hearings are part of a two-week tour that included hearings in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and New York City. UN representatives who

on page 5

Mayors Melvin Carter and Jacob Frey at B Line groundbreaking

Photo by H. Jiahong Pan

Photo by Chris Juhn

Hiawatha Golf Course

Photos by Chris Juhn

Last officer in George Floyd murder case convicted of state charges

By H. Jiahong Pan

Contributing Writer

Last week, a three-year-long saga of the officers involved in murdering George Floyd finally came to an end with the conviction of the last officer involved in the tragedy.

On May 2, former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao was convicted of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in an opinion written by presiding Judge Peter Cahill and signed Monday evening. As part of an agreement between Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office and Thao, in which he waived his right to a jury trial as well as to cross-examine and confront witnesses and testify in his own defense, the court dismissed the more serious murder charges that Thao aided and abetted Derek Chauvin in Floyd’s death.

The bench trial, held by stipulated evidence, involved Judge Cahill relying on and analyzing the evidence presented by attorneys on both sides. Each side submitted their arguments on January 31, and Cahill had 90 days from that date to render a verdict.

“Like the bystanders, Thao could see Floyd’s life slowly ebbing away as the restraint continued. Yet Thao made a conscious decision to actively participate in Floyd’s death: he

held back the concerned bystanders and even prevented an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter from rendering the medical aid Floyd so desperately needed,” wrote Cahill in his opinion convicting Thao of aiding and abetting manslaughter.

He added that Thao retrieved a hobble, a restraint device used to render suspects immobile, but decided to tell his former colleagues not to use it to avoid having a sergeant respond to the scene and a useof-force review. “The short of it: Tou Thao did not want to follow the proper protocol and the work it would entail. George Floyd died as a result.”

based on stipulated evidence because they don’t dispute what Thao did that day when George Floyd was murdered.

“It’s just a question of, do the facts indicate that the law has been broken,” Schultz said. Thao’s conviction is especially crucial because no jury was involved. “What jurors have to do besides assess credibility is…they’re not supposed to be–moved by emotion,” says Schultz. “Cahill’s not going to be moved by emotion.”

“My thoughts today are with George Floyd, his young daughter, and his family. Floyd’s loved ones can never have him back, yet they have turned their private tragedy into a public movement for accountability, healing, and justice that keeps Floyd’s legacy vibrant and alive to this day and beyond.”

county and federal prosecutorial colleagues, as well as “the community in Minnesota and around the world for their clear, unrelenting focus on accountability and justice.”

and Lane’s decision to strike plea deals means that George Floyd Square’s Justice Resolution 001 demand has been met. The demand calls for the four officers involved in murdering George Floyd to be tried in Minneapolis, and is among a list of 24 demands crafted by community activists who reclaimed 38th and Chicago days following his murder.

“All four former Minneapolis Police officers who lynched George Floyd have been found guilty in the city of Minneapolis,” said lead caretaker Marcia Howard in an Instagram post while calling attention to city, county and state officials to meet the remaining demands before community members will entertain discussion on completely reopening the street to traffic.

David Schultz, an attorney who teaches political science at Hamline University, believes both sides agreed to a trial

In a statement released following Tuesday’s conviction, Attorney General Keith Ellison heralded the conviction as a “historic and right” outcome. “It brings one more measure of accountability in the tragic death of George Floyd,” said Ellison.

‘Stolen lives’ protested outside governor’s mansion

By Cole Miska

Contributing Writer

A group of about 50 protestors showed up at the Minnesota governor’s Summit Avenue residence on on Thursday evening May 4 to demand “justice for all stolen lives.” The group was also celebrating the belated birthday of Justin Teigen, who was killed after being pulled over by police in 2009.

The St. Paul Police Department (SPPD) has previously said Teigen died when a garbage truck picked up a dumpster he was hiding in when fleeing from police. Toshira Garraway Allen, who was Teigen’s fiancée, disputes SPPD’s account, saying it is a fabrication meant to cover up his death.

Garraway Allen believes Teigen’s body was thrown in the dumpster after he was beaten to death by SPPD. She says she saw “bite marks” from police dogs on his body and other injuries that were inconsistent with SPPD’s

official account of Teigen’s death. Teigen’s death inspired Garraway Allen to start Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence (FSFAPV), a group consisting of family members whose loved ones have been slain by police.

mansion on Thursday evening to show support for Garraway Allen and to remember Teigen.

“My heart is so full of joy right now,” Garraway Allen said. “And it’s not like it’s a whole bunch of people out here, right? But just to see the

Ellison in his statement also called for Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would make it easier to convict officers who engage in reckless misconduct as well as limit qualified immunity. The law would also grant the Department of Justice administrative subpoena powers when conducting a pattern-inpractice investigation.

Ellison also thanked his

Several members of the Hmong community in St. Paul showed up in solidarity for Teigen after Garraway Allen supported the family of Yia Xiong, who was shot outside of his apartment by SPPD when he emerged from his doorway holding a knife on Feb. 11. Xiong’s niece, Priscilla Xiong, expressed thanks for the support given to her and Xiong’s other relatives, and called the FSFAPV community a “new family.”

Floyd family attorney Ben Crump, along with co-counsel Antonio Romanucci and Jeff Storms, said the family was grateful for the conviction.

“Nearly three years after George was killed, the family and Minneapolis community continue to heal as the criminal justice system prevails. With each of these measures of justice, it is even more so demonstrated that police brutality is an illegal— and punishable—act,” said the attorneys in a statement.

Thao’s conviction along with Chauvin’s conviction and Kueng

“Protestors remain at this spot with eyes on any and all the 24 demands to be fulfilled. We still stand. Meet the demands.”

Thao is currently being held in solitary confinement at the Hennepin County jail inside Minneapolis City Hall, where he is serving a federal sentence for violating George Floyd’s civil rights. He will be sentenced in-person at the Hennepin County Government Center at 9 am on August 7.

H Jiahong Pan welcomes reader comments at hpan@spokesman-recorder.com.

Many members of the group that Garraway Allen had previously helped through hard times were at the governor’s

people who actually showed up to support me and support the rest of our families today really means a whole lot.”

“I am grateful for the Hmong community as well, as this is Yia’s family showing up today,” Garraway Allen said. “I think it’s

very important that the Black and Brown communities unite.”

Karen Wells, mother of Amir Locke, says Garraway Allen has been there for her “since day one… Losing my baby, the way that he was stolen, only another person who is dealing with the same type of situation can really truly understand,” Wells said.

“Toshira, she’s out here, she’s been here, doesn’t matter if it’s cold outside, raining outside, sunny outside, Toshira is here and she’s a beautiful person. She had a calling of her life after she lost her fiancé, and she didn’t understand what it was for—and this is what it’s for.”

Garraway Allen says it is important to keep having celebrations for the families, even years after their loved ones’ deaths.

“It’s important to be here for the families because it keeps our loved ones alive, it keeps their name and their memory alive,” Garraway Allen said.

“We know that they try to sweep our loved ones under the rug, make it seem like they never existed, make it seem like they’re not human beings, that they didn’t deserve to live. And they left families behind that love them, and I think it’s important to keep their names and their legacy alive.”

Governor Walz was not at the mansion Thursday, as he is temporarily staying at a residence in Sunfish Lake while the mansion undergoes renovations.

Cole Miska welcomes reader comments at cmiska@spokesman-recorder.com.

SNAP/EBT, Medicaid, or free and reduced price school lunch. For more eligibility information, visit xfinity.com/getIE.

Activists protest in front of the governor’s mansion, which is unoccupied while it is being renovated.

Photos by Chris Juhn

Toshira Garraway Allen speaks at Justin Teigen Memorial

“It’s important to be here for the families because it keeps our loved ones alive, it keeps their name and their memory alive.”

“Nearly three years after George was killed, the family and Minneapolis community continue to heal as the criminal justice system prevails.”

All children should be safe in the water Where structural racism and drowning intersect

dren aged 10-14 drown at rates 7.6 times higher than White children. Black children and youth are more likely to drown in public pools, and White children and youth are more likely to drown in residential pools.

In natural water, American Indian and Alaska Native people have the highest drowning death rates, with rates 2.7 times higher than White people.

race, ethnicity, poverty, or where they live, which places some youth at greater risk of injury and injury death than others.

By Andrew W. Kiragu, MD, FAAP, FCCM Guest Contributor

May is National Water Safety

Month with the goal of engaging the public and raising awareness about water safety. It is also meant to highlight the importance of public education regarding safer practices for children and adults in and around water.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), every year in the United States there are an estimated 4,000 fatal, unintentional drownings, including boating-related drowning—an average of 11 drowning deaths per day. In addition, there are 8,000 non-fatal drownings. For every child under 18 who dies from drowning, another seven receive emergency department care for non-fatal drowning.

Drowning and race

Injury death rates for African American and American Indian/ Alaska Native children are disproportionately higher than those for White children. According to the CDC, American Indian and Native Alaskan children are two times, and African Americande children are 1.5 times more likely to die from drowning than White children.

In swimming pools, Black chil-

In the United States, the past several years have been marked by a renewed focus on the pervasiveness of racism and its effects. An important aspect of this focus has been the understanding that the high rates of the most common cause of death for children and adolescents, intentional and unintentional injuries, are rooted in the history and consequences of structural racism in the nation.

The notable differences in injury and death rates across pediatric age groups and disparities across ethnicities do not occur in a vacuum. These differences are best seen within the context in which they occur.

Structural racism creates an environment that affects the risk of injury and death for children who are vulnerable by virtue of

These disparities have a historical and current context rooted in systemic racism. The historical denial of access to public swimming pools, the lack of municipal pools in marginalized communities, and the expenses associated with swimming lessons are reasons these disparities persist.

What is drowning?

Drowning is the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion or immersion in a liquid. Fatal drowning happens when the drowning results in death. Non-fatal drowning occurs when a person survives a drowning incident with a range of outcomes, from no injuries to severe injuries or permanent disability.

According to the CDC, children ages one to four have the highest drowning rates. Most drownings of these children happen in home swimming pools. However, drowning can happen anytime, including when children are not expected to be near water, such as when they gain unsupervised access to pools, ponds, or in natural waters.

Certain factors make drowning more likely:

• Not being able to swim. Many adults and children report that they can’t swim or are weak swimmers. Structural racism and the legacy of Jim Crow has meant that many Black families have grown up with less access to swimming pools and swimming lessons.

• A lack of representation

in swimming competition and myths surrounding people of color and swimming have also led to restrictions in performance and limited participation in swimming.

• Missing or ineffective fences around water. Barriers such as pool fencing prevent young children from gaining access to the pool area without caregivers’ awareness.

• Lack of close supervision. Drowning can happen quickly and silently anywhere there is water, especially to unsupervised children. It happens in lakes and oceans, pools, bathtubs, and even buckets of water. Drowning can occur even when lifeguards are present.

• Not wearing life jackets. The U.S. Coast Guard reported 613 boating-related deaths in 2019, and 79 percent of these deaths were drowning-related. Of those who died from drowning, 86 percent were not wearing life jackets.

• Using drugs and certain prescription medications can increase the risk of drowning.

• Drinking alcohol. Among adolescents and adults, alcohol use is involved in up to 70 percent of deaths associated with water recreation, nearly one in four emergency department visits for drowning, and about one in five reported boating deaths.

• Certain medical conditions,

such as epilepsy, autism, and heart conditions, are also associated with a higher risk of drowning.

Location of drowning

The highest risk locations for drowning vary by age. Among infants under one-year-old, twothirds of all drownings occur in bathtubs. Most drownings happen in home swimming pools among children ages one to four. More than half of fatal and nonfatal drownings among people 15 years and older occur in natural waters like lakes, rivers or oceans.

Drowning prevention

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the CDC point to several ways to prevent drowning deaths. These include:

• Teaching school-age children basic swimming, water safety, and safe rescue skills. Learning to swim can reduce the risk of drowning by 88 percent for oneto four-year-olds who take formal swimming lessons.

• Ensuring equitable access to swimming pools and expanding swimming pool access in communities and schools that serve children of color.

• Strengthening public awareness of drowning and highlighting the vulnerability of children.

• Ensuring close adult supervi-

sion whenever children are around water. The AAP recommends assigning a Water Watcher, an adult who will pay constant attention to children in the water. Close supervision is required when kids are in or near water (including bathtubs), always. Drowning happens quickly and quietly, so adults watching kids in or near water should avoid distracting activities like playing cards, reading books, talking on the phone, and using alcohol or drugs.

• Placing four-sided isolation fences, with self–closing and self–latching gates, around backyard swimming pools can help keep children away from the area when they aren’t supposed to be swimming.

• Learn CPR. These lessons can help save a life.

• Make sure kids wear life jackets in and around natural bodies of water, such as lakes or the ocean. Life jackets can prevent drowning during water activities, especially boating, and swimming. Life jackets can be used in and around pools for weaker swimmers too.

Swimming is a fun activity and sport that can and should be enjoyed safely by all. We should work towards a society where all children can learn how to be safe in the water.

Dr. Kiragu is an associate of the Children’s Respiratory and Critical Care Specialist’s group and provides pediatric critical care at Children’s of Minnesota. Dr. Kiragu is a passionate advocate for children and is a past president of the MN Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He is also a past president of the Minnesota Association of Black Physicians. He is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota.

Structural racism creates an environment that affects the risk of injury and death for children who are vulnerable by virtue of race, ethnicity, poverty, or where they live.

hiawatha

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course and paying for needed improvements. Darwin Dean, president of the Bronze Foundation, says its water management plan would address the water problem. His organization also contacted engineers and devised a water management plan it calls “Alternative 6” that would address the water

B Line

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problems, including groundwater intrusion into adjacent home basements, improve Lake Hiawatha water quality, as well as preserve the current 18-hole course.

Last week, Dean told the MSR that the Board must now follow Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires public meetings and must show that no “adverse effects” will arise if the MPRB reduces the historic site to nine holes, in addition to any other proposed changes.

“The Minneapolis Park and

not know about the project until after the B Line stops were finalized, and other Rondo-area businesses did not even hear about the project until the MSR reached out to them last week.

“I just opened six days ago,” said Aretta-Rie Johnson of her candy shop, the Tooth Fairy Candy Store at Selby and Victoria, last Friday. “I’m gonna get closed out right away if [Metro Transit closes] the intersection [to build the station]. It’s going to be another minipandemic.” Johnson’s candy shop is a social enterprise that trains girls about entrepreneurship and the struggles that come with it.

Across the river, Tiff Singh is one of the co-owners of Laune Bread, which moved into a storefront at Lake and 36th Avenue in Longfellow in 2021. They also didn’t know much about the project and were unable to provide feedback on the stations to the agency because Metro Transit had finalized placements by then. A station for the B Line is to be built in front of the owner’s storefront.

“It was kind of poor timing for us as business owners, because we were new to this business community and to this project,” said Singh, who also

Un hearing

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heard testimony included Juan E. Méndez of Argentina, and Dr. Tracie L. Keesee, an American who is the co-founder of the Center for Policing Equity (CPE). Six people gave testimony about the effects of solitary confinement, particularly on minors, followed by a coalition of families that gave testimony on having had a loved one killed by police.

Lucina Kayee, executive director of Atlas of Blackness, helped organize speakers who were willing to testify about their experiences in solitary confinement. Kayee says she personally experienced solitary confinement several times when she ended up in the shelter system as a youth.

Antonio Williams, who helps people of color reintegrate into society after completing their prison sentence, asked the UN to “put the full pressure” on the United States to ban the use of solitary confinement not only for children, but for everyone.

“You don’t ever stop thinking about it,” Williams said of his time in solitary confinement. “You just learn to kind of suppress it a little bit, so it doesn’t overtake what you’re doing in the moment. Prisons, in and of themselves, are an unnatural environment. Everything that makes us humans, prisons try to stomp that out of you.”

Williams spent 14 years in prison, approximately four years of which were spent in solitary confinement. He says the experiences of solitary confinement still deeply affect him. Loud noises startle him, and the sound of keys makes him uncomfortable since officers jingled their

“The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

Recreation Board could have placed [Hiawatha] on the National Register itself, but they failed to do that,” Dean pointed out. “The majority of people who showed up at the Park Board meetings were against the master plan,”

cited the pandemic and the unrest that stemmed from George Floyd’s murder.

“And we didn’t really know about it to begin with. And maybe if we had, we could have had more input and ideas to contribute.” Singh said she polled 20 area businesses; all except one of them had heard about it.

The agency says they might not have done outreach to those businesses because of staffing constraints—the project has only one designated outreach person—and the pandemic, which limited in-person outreach opportunities. To handle the staffing shortage, the agency said they prioritized conducting outreach at the exact locations where the stations will be built. They also relied on those working at the businesses to get the word to the owners.

Despite the lack of outreach, Golden Thyme owner Mychael Wright still thinks the project is a good idea. “When I did take the bus on University Avenue, there was an express [bus] that I could take. If they have the express [on Selby], I think that’s great,” said Wright, who adds that the only downside is people may have to walk farther to get where they are going. “But people will walk six blocks in order to take the Green Line, so in the same vein, a block or two isn’t going to hurt anybody.”

At the groundbreaking, Rep. Frank

keychains as they made their rounds.

Also, the complete lack of touch for years while in solitary confinement has made all human touch something he has to force himself to do. Williams credits writing with saving his life while in solitary, saying he wrote narratives about the conditions inside the prisons he was in, even though his writing caused retaliation from the guards.

Beginning as a teen, Myon Burrell spent 18 years in prison for a crime he maintains he did not commit. “When I first came into [solitary], I just remember hearing people

recalled Dean. In March, the Metropolitan Council also approved the Park Board’s Hiawatha Master Plan. Under state law, the Met Council must review longrange plans for regional parks, and if approved, then regional

Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis and chair of the state House transportation committee, said he anticipates funding three more lines as part of the transportation package this session. The three lines will serve Central and University avenues, between downtown Minneapolis and Blaine to the north, Rice and Robert streets between Little Canada and West St. Paul, and Como and Maryland avenues between downtown Minneapolis and Sun Ray Transit Center in St. Paul. Metro Tran-

funding can be sought. However, according to its website, “Golfing is not considered an eligible regional activity and therefore not eligible for regional funding.”

That said, Dean noted that the Park Board may have a hard time implementing its plan unless they work with those who are opposed to it, especially raising the necessary funds, roughly $90 billion, to enact their Hiawatha Plan.

Dean says that their next step is to raise the community awareness of what will happen

place next year. They plan to maintain transit service on Lake and Marshall avenues, where they can continue having a lane of traffic going in each direction during construction.

However, on Selby Avenue, intersections where B Line stations are proposed — at Hamline, Lexington, Victoria, Dale, Arundel, Western and John Ireland — will close for one month each. Dale and Arundel will close sometime between the Fourth of July and the state fair, while the remaining intersections will close sometime between May 15 and the Fourth of July weekend.

to the Hiawatha golf course if the Park Board doesn’t reverse course with its master plan.

“It is on the National Register,” he concluded. “The public becomes stewards of this property and because we’re stewards that means we have to do the right thing. [The Park Board] is not doing justice to this community in insisting on destroying a cultural and historical golf course.”

vice changes that will take effect in late 2024. All Route 21 branches except the E branch will be discontinued, meaning the 21 will only operate between the Uptown Transit Station and Minnehaha Avenue. The Selby Avenue segment of Route 21 would instead be served by a new Route 60 that operates between the State Capitol and the Midway area, with drivers taking their breaks at Pascal and St. Anthony, where the 21C currently stops.

yelling and screaming and crying,” Burrell said.

“Me, as a child, it was a super devastating experience because I’d never seen grown men be so hopeless and have nobody to come to their aid.” Burrell says he still has to sleep with towels wrapped around his head, since doing so was the only way he could block out the fluorescent lights in his cell to fall asleep.

Elizer Darris was given a life sentence as a juvenile for first-degree homicide and was immediately placed in solitary. He later got the life sentence overturned on appeal.

After being given a life sentence, Darris stockpiled sleeping pills. He says he was “shocked” to wake up after taking an overdose of pills one night. He lost a friend in prison, who was also sentenced as a juvenile to a life sentence, to suicide. Darris says

sit is accepting comments on where stops for the F Line–the Central and University Avenue line–should be located until May 14.

Construction service changes

Metro Transit plans to start building out the B Line stations the week of May 15. Construction will occur in two phases: construction of the stations and revising travel lanes east of Hiawatha will take place this year, while construction of the stations and travel lanes west of Hiawatha will take

juveniles in adult correctional facilities are 36 times more likely to commit suicide than adults.

“The UN should issue a position statement calling for a commitment of all nations to end solitary commitment for minors and condemning such practices as torture,” he said.

“The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has already stated as much. I also call upon the UN Security Council to add solitary confinement as the seventh great violation of children and to express a commitment to ending the practice.”

The second group to testify to the UN representatives was a coalition of families who had a loved one slain by police in Minnesota. The group included Toshira Garraway Allen, Valerie Castile, Courteney Ross, and Mark and Cindy Sundberg, among others.

Mark Sundberg noted that Minneapolis was much smaller than the other large cities where UN EMLER was conducting hearings on their tour, such as New York, saying Minnesota should be known for beautiful lakes but was now known for “cops that kill people of color.”

McLean knows that the testimony for UN EMLER will not change things overnight, but he is hopeful something could come out of the testimony, noting how the Obama administration sometimes incorporated suggestions from experts on incarceration.

“We know there’s no way that these experts are going to say something and things magically change,” McLean said. “But with the current government, they might consider some of the things the experts say.”

In the meantime, between Hamline and Western, buses will run on Marshall Avenue and stop at every other block, as opposed to at every block as they do now on Selby.

Between Western and John Ireland, eastbound buses will run on Concordia and make no stops, while westbound buses will run on Marshall and make a stop at Farrington. The agency hopes to return the 21 to Selby Avenue before the state fair begins but emphasizes that they will not return Route 21 to Selby until stations at the six intersections are completed.

Local service changes

The project will result in local ser-

The agency does not plan to operate local service routes on Lake Street between Minnehaha and the Mississippi River, as well as on Marshall Avenue between the Mississippi River and Snelling Avenue. The agency has no plans to allow B Line riders on that segment to make “request stops,” where drivers can let riders on and off the bus in between designated stops in the evening, citing the need to keep buses moving. Drivers who feel safe doing so may make stops for riders to get on and off between designated stops in the evening, if they request it.

They also plan to decide the fate of Route 53, a currently-suspended limited-stop bus route that operated between Uptown Transit Station and the state’s Lafayette office complex, closer to when the B Line opens in 2024. H. Jiahong Pan welcomes reader comments at hpan@spokesmanrecorder.com.

Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments at challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.

“It is connecting people to a thriving community. This is an opportunity for us to get to jobs, housing, transit stations, key destinations.”

could have placed Hiawatha on the National Register itself, but they failed to do that.”

Cole Miska welcomes reader comments at cmiska@spokesmanrecorder.com.

(l-r) Myon Burrell and Antonio Williams gave testimony at the UN hearing.

Photo by Chris Juhn

Mind the Crown Black Business SPOTLIGHT

By Jiccarra N. Hollman

Contributing Writer

“As Brown and Black women, we are told that we need to be strong at all times,” says Adrianna Willis, CEO and founder of Mind the Crown, LLC. “As Black women we are so strong that we sometimes come across as domineering. We have to guard our hearts at all times. We can’t be vulnerable because of the burden of having to be strong,” says Willis.

In response, Willis launched Mind the Crown with the mission to help women adopt a lifestyle that allows them to set boundaries to protect their peace and unapologetically explore the things that bring them joy through the compa-

Royalty is a way of life

Helping queens challenge the superwomen myth

ny’s products and services on its website.

At its #SOFTLIFE party held in a suite at 708 N. 1st St. in Minneapolis, on Sunday, April 23, Mind the Crown held its business relaunch event tailored to helping women have a #SOFTLIFE and crowning the men who provide space for Black women to be vulnerable.

The company helps Black and Brown women find their joy by providing radical self-

care with products such as incense, candles, Woosah journals, #SoftLife affirmation cards, games, and activities.

The company also sells curated gift boxes—including a “Self-Care Sunday” basket, “Girl Manifest It!” box, “Straight Trippin Weekender” box, and even “A Cancer Picked the Wrong Queen” chemo bag—in paying homage and reaching back to others, as they have done for her. There’s also a “Self-Love” box that includes everything to host a two-hour party of selfindulgence.

Willis has learned from her speaking engagements that men want to give women space to be vulnerable. She feels if a man is coming to a ##SOFTLIFE launch party, she wants to recognize the kings making space for their queens.

Mind the Crown was originally formed in 2020, during COVID and after the murder of George Floyd, says Willis, “because we were being called everything but a child of God.”

Willis started by spreading love and cheer by gifting her

friends during unprecedented times. Then the offering was shared with the community. She found that many women she encountered were also looking for gifts not only for themselves but for their friends and family. She wanted to focus on women being nurturers.

Willis is a testament to the fact that second tries don’t mean failure—or in this case, a reboot of her original concept— but are a testament to lessons learned. When she first started, Willis found herself chasing different things in her business as a fledgling entrepreneur. “I didn’t know who my target audience was or how to reach them,” she said.

“You think your friends and family will support your business. But the first lesson you learn is that they are not your target audience,” she adds. “I didn’t have a business and marketing plan, which caused me to be all over the place.”

Willis found a business coach, Minnesota-based CEO Angel Evens of Led by TRUTH (ledbytruth.org). Willis credits Evens as the “business whisperer” who showed her how she could go from working full-time at someone else’s business to working for herself. Her coach gave her business self-esteem. “A business coach can get you out of your own way,” says Willis. But it didn’t stop there, Evens coached Willis on how she can build five streams of income through her one business. This

was built into an eight-month business coaching program where Willis was able to identify her business model including her mission and vision for her business. Then Evens helped Willis establish her business plan. This is why Willis encourages others to have a business coach—or in this case, a business whisperer. They can see things from a different perspective.

Willis now has a business plan to get into LunarStartups and is getting sales on Amazon through the Black Business Accelerator program. Willis’s ultimate goal is to be a part of the global market for Black and Brown women across the world.

People around you may not understand what you are doing but if it is something that you feel you want to do, you need to put the work in, get the education, network, find free resources, and build community.

One goal of Mind the Crown is to change the narrative to let women know that “strong and strength are not equal.” Another goal is to allow women the space to become softer and men more vulnerable to heal as a family.

Find more info at mindthecrown. com or call 612-275-5468.

Jiccarra N. Hollman welcomes reader comments at jhollman@ spokesman-recorder.com.

Guide to building a healthy small business

benefits, copyrights, or patents you hold or will seek.

• Marketing and sales: Marketing strategies, plans for attracting and retaining customers, and sale processing details.

Every small business starts with an idea and a dream.

However, growing a healthy business is different for every small business owner, depending on their business’s size, industry, and goals, says Stephen Spears, senior vice president of Twin Cities community banking at Bremer Bank.

“Generally, a business that is performing well is one that can drive consistent revenue, with that revenue eventually manifested into actual profit,” Spears says. “One thing business owners should keep in mind is that there’s a difference between sales and profits. Well-performing businesses are able to operate at a healthy profit margin, which again, will look different depending on the owner’s business goals and preferences.”

To ensure your business stays on a healthy path, follow these tips.

Seek information first

Building a successful small business requires research, planning, commitment, capital and knowledge. For the latter, owners should gain as much information as possible before launching a business.

If you’re considering opening a small business of your own, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recommends first doing a market analysis to truly “understand your customer base at the outset.”

Gathering customer demographics also helps identify opportunities and limitations for gaining customers. The more you learn, the more you can de-

termine how to meet customer needs and maintain a competitive edge. This market analysis will be helpful to share with future banking partners or investors.

“Whether it’s Bremer Bank or another bank, you need to understand what is required to obtain a consistent means of capital. That’s where banking and financial institutions come in,” explains Spears. Banks are a great informational resource and essential finance partner. They will lend more capital over time to help your business grow. So, begin with and maintain a solid connection and leverage your banking team’s financial expertise.

Develop a strong business plan

“Once you’ve obtained information, including bank requirements for lending, the next step is to develop a strong business plan to guide the future of your business,” Spears recommends.

Creating a solid business plan helps secure funding, attracts investors, and provides a roadmap for operating and growing your business, according to the SBA.

Key components of a traditional business plan include the following:

• Executive summary: The business mission statement, your product or service, leadership team details, employees, and location.

• Business description: The problems your business will solve and consumers, organizations or businesses your business aims to serve.

• Market analysis: Research about your customer base and competition.

• Organization and management: Your business’s structure, including leadership details.

• Service or product line: Products and/or services your business will sell and customer

• Funding request: An outline of your business’s funding requirements.

• Financial projections: A financial forecast and outlook for the next five years.

• Appendix: Relevant supporting documents such as licenses, credit reports and patents.

A detailed, well-written business plan should convince lenders and investors that working with your business is a smart decision.

Establish boundaries between business finances and personal finances

Many small business owners use their own money when starting their business. To avoid blurry lines and murky accounting, it is important to remember that you, as an individual, are one entity, and your business is another. Therefore, it’s essential to establish healthy boundaries between your business’s finances and your personal finances.

“If you’re an individual investing in and owning your small business, consider yourself to be the bank – you’re lending both your time and your money,” Spears says. “Determine whether your lending of these two valuable resources is a good investment or not.”

To keep clear and accurate business records, open a business checking and savings account and obtain a business

credit card. Use these accounts to pay bills, order supplies, complete employee payroll and pay any other business-related financial transactions. Always keep your personal funds and expenses in a separate account.

Drawing a salary is important

It may take a while to build consistent revenue streams –and as a small business owner, you might hesitate to even draw a salary. However, you should start paying yourself as soon as you have a good sense of your business’s cash flow.

“It is important for small business owners to be thinking of their investments of time and

able and what makes most financial sense can help set your business up for even greater success,” says Spears.

For example, earning minority-owned enterprise status “can open up new opportunities for federal, state, local and corporate contracts,” according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Many U.S. government agencies and corporations earmark a percentage of their contract budgets solely for minorityowned businesses. To land these kinds of customers, qualifying businesses can apply for minority-owned certification status with the National Minority Supplier Development Council. Other certifications include women-owned small business certification and veteran small business certification.

Understand when to do a financial audit

personal finances as something that is immediately salary-worthy,” Spears advises. “At the very least, view it this way: If you’re investing time, energy and finances in your business, you have to plan for when you can begin collecting your return on it.”

Leverage government and association certifications

Securing government and association certifications can provide significant opportunities to grow your customer base and in turn, your profit.

“Understanding what is avail-

A financial audit reviews your business’s financial statements and accounting activity, identifies potential issues, and assesses performance. Your accountant is a valuable resource who can work with you to understand formal, industryspecific audit processes and determine if (and when) your business needs one.

Keeping all your financial partners in the loop as your business grows will help keep you on track to meet your business goals–and Bremer Bank can help! Bremer’s team of small business bankers can work with you to evaluate your individual financial situation and if needed, connect you to other experts to explore tools and processes that will benefit your business. Learn more at bremer.com.

“A business coach can get you out of your own way.”

If you’re investing time, energy and finances in your business, you have to plan for when you can begin collecting your return on it.

Sponsored Content

Photo courtesy of seventyfour74

Founder Adrianna Willis (c) with daughters Rajine (l) and Raquel Williams

Photo by Jiccarra N. Hollmon

A Mind the Crown self-care basket

#SoftLife affirmation card

past THEATER REVIEW

By Farah Habad

Contributing Writer

To celebrate its 60th anniversary, the Guthrie Theater returns to its roots with a revival of its first-ever production of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”

Theatre Artistic Director Joseph Haj brings the Wurtele

Thrust Stage to life and makes one of The Bard’s most dense works accessible, creating a timeless production with modern sensibilities while still maintaining the essence of the time period.

This production is truly a feat on all levels. Set designer Jan Chambers creates a rigid and jagged set built completely in-house, with sharp staircases that almost burst into the audience. The concrete structures and twisted metal steps read less like a castle and more like a prison of King Claudius and Queen Gertrude’s own making.

Jack Herrick brings the play to life with a wonderful soundscape, even playing a recorder at one point. Robert Wierzel and Francesca Talenti’s choices

in lighting and effects bring an already vivid play to another level.

Haj’s choice to use levels, utilizing blank space in front of the stage as well as making the choice to have a two-story set design, illustrate the enormity of the stakes the characters are contending with.

The set design, lighting, effects, music, and use of space all work together to guide the audience through what is typically a difficult play to follow for newcomers to Shakespeare. Ultimately though, it is the absolutely mesmerizing performance of Michael Braugher

as Hamlet that brings about the most delight. Braugher approaches his performance with surgical precision, utilizing a wide array of performative tools to bring a completely new texture to the tragic Prince.

While Hamlet is often known as a brooding teenager, Braugher showcases a man in the throes of internal anguish. He wishes to avenge his father, but battles with the unintended consequences that may come with choosing vengeance.

The constant push and pull between right and wrong wears on Hamlet throughout the play, and Braugher negotiates the diametrically opposing positions through hauntingly honest moments of self-re- flection. With a runtime of two hours and 45 minutes, including intermission, the audience gets to really sink their teeth into each performance in this truly special production.

There are a few choices made in the order of the play that gives the performance a unique character and allows Braugher to make this version of Hamlet truly his own.

Ray Dooley is an absolute treat as Pelonious; he plays the slick and cunning father of

Laertes and Ophelia with a certain knowing humor.

Regina Marie Williams and John Catron each play Gertrude and Claudius respectively. Both actors bring a unique humanity to their roles with Catron playing a Claudius who at least tries to be a father no matter how bad he may be at it.

Williams brings a stubborn elegance to her portrayal of Gertrude, dancing along the fine line of guilt and avoidance for her role in her late hus-

band’s death.

Grayson DeJesus plays a remarkable Laertes, both the foil for Hamlet and, in many ways, his own reflection. DeJesus captures the single-minded obsession of Laertes and almost makes the audience sympathize with his mission for revenge. Each performer fit their role like a glove, a testament to the process Haj and his team took in casting such a well-known play.

This production is a celebration of all the beautiful work done throughout the 60-year history of the Guthrie. This version of “Hamlet” allows the Guthrie to serve as a wonderful example of how we can remember where we came from, while also exploring the uncharted waters ahead.

“Hamlet” is currently playing through May 21 on the Wurtele Thrust Stage, in the Guthrie Theater, 818 South 2nd Street, Minneapolis. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. and matinees begin at 1 p.m. For more information, visit www.guthrietheater.org.

Farah Habad welcomes reader comments to farhabad@gmail.com.

Discover new jazz favorites and savor old ones

forthcoming album.

By Robin James Contributing Writer

It’s always a good time to check out new music from jazz artists stretching their creativity. Even after all these years, I still marvel over what’s available from month to month.

Recently I discovered new music from drummer Brian Blade, drummer Louis Hayes, and saxophonist Eric Alexander.

Blade, who is one of the best drummers of his generation, is set to release “King’s Highway” on July 7 from his own label Stoner Hill Records. “People’s Park” is the first single from the

Blade’s band The Fellowship includes guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, pianist Jon Cowherd, bassist Christopher, and saxophonists Myron Walden (alto) and Melvin Butler (tenor). This cohesive unit sounds like they’ve been playing together forever. Visit brianblade.com/ kinghighway to order or stream.

HighNote and Savant Records have consistently released quality albums and have done so once again with albums by Hayes and Alexander.

“Exactly Right” from Savant Records highlights bandleader and 2023 NEA Jazz Master Hayes in rare form. His dexterity is still very much intact at 85 years old.

The band features Abraham Burton on tenor saxophone, Steve Nelson on vibraphone,

David Hazeltine on piano, and Dezron Douglas on bass. The album’s title fits.

The music includes two Cedar Walton tunes, “Hand in Glove,” and “Ugetsu.” Also, there’s an unusual rendition of Wayne Shorter’s “Nefertiti.” It just hits differently with Nelson on vibes. Other standout songs are “Is That So” and “Mellow D,” a composition by pianist Horace Silver.

On so many of the tracks I found myself more and more impressed by Hazeltine’s modern jazz playing— it is sparkling and refreshing. Such is the case on “Carmine’s Bridge,” a Hazeltine original composition.

On Alexander’s latest, “A New Beginning-Alto Saxophone with Strings,” he trades his signature tenor saxophone playing for an alto saxophone that would make even Cannonball Adderley smile.

This new release also features pianist David Hazeltine, who is joined by familiar bandmates John Webber on bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums, both of whom have played and recorded with Alexander for years.

The album kicks off with “Blues for Diane,” one of two originals from Alexander. “Anita” is the other. Both songs show off his strong songwriting abilities.

Hazeltine shines on “All My Tomorrows,” but it’s the sheer lushness of “Embraceable You” that really reveals the band’s telepathic chemistry. “She Was Too Good to Me” and “Maybe September” are two additional tracks that help round out a Grammy-worthy outing by a

real band.

As with new music month after month, there comes a time for celebration. Duke Ellington’s birthday was on April 29. The jazz pianist, composer and bandleader led perhaps the world’s greatest jazz orchestra starting in 1923 and through the rest of his life. My favorite Ellington song is “Reflections in D.”

Also celebrating recent birthdays are the late vocalist Shirley Horn on May 1 and bassist Ron Carter and drummer Gerald Cleaver on May 4. Horn’s album, “Here’s to Life” is a masterpiece.

Carter, at 86, just gets better with time. He’s the most recorded jazz bassist in history. Cleaver is 60 years old and from Detroit, Michigan.

If you’ve heard him play with pianist Craig Taborn, then you know that you’ve heard a bit of greatness at work.

When you’re not listening to the latest music by today’s jazz artists, why not support the local scene by checking out a live performance? Jazz fans will get their chance with upcoming gigs at the Dakota.

Pianist Hiromi is scheduled to perform on May 17-18. Rapper, singer, and record producer Terrace Martin performs on May 26. Multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello takes the stage on June 13-14.

Hiromi is a virtuosic player and Dakota regular; Martin is well-known for his collaboration work with Kendrick Lamar; Ndegeocello just signed to the Blue Note Records label and debuts with the album, “The Omnichord Real Book.” Visit dakotacooks. com for ticket information.

Robin James welcomes reader comments to jamesonjazz@ spokesman-recroder.com.

‘Hamlet’ is a thrilling and fresh nod to the

Regina Marie Williams and Michael Braugher in “Hamlet”

Photos by Dan Norman/Guthrie Theater

The cast of “Hamlet”

Terrace Martin performs at the Dakota on May 26. Courtesy of the Dakota

Courtesy of Savant Records

Will Minnesota repair broken justice for lifers?

By J. S. Nemo

In 1978, the Supreme Court of Minnesota wrote, “An inmate who is denied parole suffers a grievous loss.” While most inmates today have determinate sentences and will never know that pain, I suffered my third such grievous loss in February of this year.

Remembering the Children’s Crusade

By Marian Wright Edelman

“Daddy,” the boy said, “I don’t want to disobey you, but I have made my pledge. If you try to keep me home, I will sneak off. If you think I deserve to be punished for that, I’ll just have to take the punishment. For, you see, I’m not doing this only because I want to be free. I’m doing it also because I want freedom for you and Mama, and I want it to come before you die.”

This teenage boy overheard talking to his father by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of hundreds of children and youths in Birmingham, Alabama who decided 60 years ago this week that they were determined to do whatever it took to stand up for freedom for their parents, elders, and themselves. They were assaulted by fire hoses and police dogs, went to jail by the hundreds, and finally broke the back of Jim Crow in the city known as “Bombingham.”

On this 60th anniversary of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade it is again time to remember, honor, and follow the example of the children who were frontline soldiers and transforming catalysts in the movement for civil rights and equal justice.

The Children’s Crusade happened at a critical time in the civil rights struggle in Birmingham. In April 1963 the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), together with the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and its fearless leader Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, had started a desegregation campaign in the city.

There were mass meetings, lunch counter sit-ins, nonviolent marches, and boycotts

of Birmingham’s segregated stores during the busy Easter shopping season. Dr. King was one of several hundred people arrested in the first weeks of the campaign when he was jailed for violating an anti-protest injunction on Good Friday, April 12.

Four days later he wrote his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” But as the days went on with little response from city leaders, a new tactic was raised: including more children and youths.

On this 60th anniversary of the Birmingham

Young people didn’t face some of the risks adults might, including losing breadwinning jobs, and college students had already proven to be extremely effective activists in cities across the South. But once it became clear that many of the children volunteering for meetings and training sessions in Birmingham were high school students or even

younger, concerns were raised about whether allowing them to protest was too dangerous.

Dr. King later described the decision this way: “Even though we realized that involving teenagers and high school students would bring down upon us a heavy fire of criticism, we felt that we needed this dramatic new dimension. Our people were demonstrating daily and going to jail in numbers, but we were still beating our heads against the brick wall of the city officials’ stubborn resolve to maintain the status quo.

“Our fight, if won, would benefit people of all ages. But most of all we were inspired with a desire to give to our young a true sense of their own stake in freedom and justice. We believed they would have the courage to respond to our call.” Their response, he said, “exceeded our fondest dreams.”

For the children, May 2 was “D-Day.” Black disc jockeys were key allies in encouraging and deploying their listeners, and class presidents, star athletes, and prom queens from local schools led the way as hundreds of children skipped class, gathered at the 16th Street Baptist Church, and marched into downtown Birmingham in groups of 50, organized into lines two by two and singing freedom songs. More than a thousand students marched the first day, and hundreds were arrested. Segregationist police commissioner Bull Connor’s overwhelmed force started using school buses to take the children to jail. But that first wave of children was only the beginning.

When hundreds more returned the next day, Bull Connor directed the police and fire department to begin using force on the child marchers. The decision surprised even those used to his meanness and brutality, but it was not enough to stop the marchers. The searing heartbreaking pictures of children being battered by powerful fire hoses and attacked by police dogs appeared on front pages around the country and world and helped turn the tide of public opinion in support of the fight for justice.

sight and no one I can appeal to. The willful shirking of rules and shortage of oversight tie into the second major problem—a complete lack of transparency.

submissions@spokesman-recorder.com

submissions@spokesman-recorder.com

submissions@spokesman-recorder.com.

Marches and protests continued in Birmingham with children leading the way. As more were arrested and attacked others kept coming to take their place, leaving jails so overflowing that some child prisoners were held at the city’s fairground and in an open-air stockade where they were pelted by rain.

On May 8 a temporary truce was called. On May 10 an agreement was reached that released the jailed children and others on bond and paved the way for desegregation of Birmingham’s public facilities.

Hateful segregationists in the city did not give in quietly.

Three times now, the Commissioner of Corrections has decided against moving my case further along the path to parole. Worse, the continuances between reviews keep getting longer and longer. One could be forgiven for assuming I have done something wrong, some dire disobedience warranting further incarceration. Honestly, I haven’t. Quite the opposite. Unlike an inmate serving a determinate sentence, I have not only had to do my time, but also work hard at demonstrable rehabilitation. The reasons for my parole denials remain obscured because the commissioner can blithely ignore rules without accountability—the first of three major problems with the lifer review process.

Minnesota statutes required the commissioner to create rules governing the review process for the release of inmates serving a life sentence. These rules stipulate the commissioner must explain in writing the reasons for his or her decision, whether parole or continuance.

Neither of the two commissioners I have gone before has ever clearly stated why they chose not to grant me parole in the letters they sent me after my review, summarizing the event. Not only have I been left in the dark as to how I fell short of presenting a sufficient case for release and what concerns I need to address, but the lack of a written record shields the commissioner’s decision from scrutiny. There’s no way to investigate whether the decision might be arbitrary, erroneous, or flat out illegal.

The commissioner must also state in writing actions the inmate can take to alter the date of their release or next review. While each of my letters from the commissioner lists a number of directives I must complete, actually doing so had no discernible positive effect. I was simply ordered to do them - even when the directive called for me to do a defunct or nonexistent program. Still, I have gone out of my way to comply. When told to do the “Criminogenic” class after it was shut down, I wrote a book report on Inside the Criminal Mind. When told to do a class on relationships that has never even been offered, I purchased a relationship workbook, filled it out, and turned it in. There has been no lack of effort on my part, I assure you. Yet at each review, my continuance is longer than the prior review’s. There is no over-

Within hours, the Gaston Motel where Dr. King and other SCLC leaders stayed was firebombed, as was Dr. King’s brother Reverend A.D. King’s home.

Four months later, a bomb was placed under the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church with a timer deliberately set to go off Sunday morning. The bomb exploded as children were in the church’s basement preparing to lead Youth Sunday services, and 14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley and 11-year-old Denise McNair were killed, with more than 20 others injured.

Months later, when an interviewer asked Dr. King how

The totality of the life sentence review process isn’t just hidden from the public, it’s hidden from the Lifer as well. Police, prosecutors, judges, and victims’ families all get to weigh in on whether a Lifer should be released, but their input is never shared.

Since completing directives clearly doesn’t equate to moving forward, frustrated, I once asked what the commissioner really wanted from me. I was told to “figure it out.” In other words, if I was told what to do, I might fool them. The sad irony is that this mindset favors those few sociopathic Lifers who are skilled at manipulation - discerning and telling people exactly what they want to hear. The lack of transparency leaves Lifers like me confused and disheartened, asking ourselves what more can we possibly do?

The third problem is that ex-

have all concluded I’m at a low risk for future violence and there was no reason not to move me toward release. Instead, I was interrogated about what I meant by “soul-wrenching regret” for my crime and whether my release plan was overconfident because I hoped to get my PhD in social psychology within six years of being released. Rather than focusing on rehabilitation and risk, the review was spent nitpicking minutiae.

“At this point, I feel the system itself is broken,” was my friend Quinn’s response. I agree. Unless Minnesotans are prepared to accept a system of “justice for some,” the “lifer” review process must be reformed. Existing rules must be enforced, and accountability established.

Expectations must include a set of clearly stated, flexible criteria that can be individualized for each inmate, and a standard by which to judge whether those criteria have been met, such as “beyond a reasonable doubt” or “a strong likelihood.” Police, prosecutors, and judges should be barred from input - their job ended when the inmate was convicted. Finally, how victims’ families are involved needs to change. Rather than retraumatize them, the review process should empower them by allowing them input into selecting criteria for release. Wouldn’t it be more meaningful if they could require an accountability statement from the inmate or answers to lingering questions about the crime that may have haunted them?

aggerated fears and elevated emotions are allowed to hijack rational thinking. Reviews always take place mere hours after the commissioner speaks with victims’ families. Is this a good and fair practice? It must be heartbreaking and take an emotional toll. How could someone remain unbiased in the face of such pain? Couldn’t the same purpose be accomplished with a week or a month between the review and meeting with the families?

Wouldn’t a sufficient cooling-off period be prudent? Emotionally compromised, it was all too easy in my reviews to gloss over every positive thing I’ve accomplished in 30 long years, including earning my bachelor’s, completing treatment plus a full year of aftercare, and having a bona fide job offer upon release in a trade I learned in prison. All of the risk assessments compiled by the Department of Corrections put my highest risk of reoffending at less than 2 percent, but this fact was disregarded as was the fact my psychological evaluations

he felt after that bombing, he first described his despair at thinking if men could be that bestial maybe there really was no hope. But, he said, time eventually “buoyed me with the inspiration of another moment which I shall never forget: when I saw with my own eyes over three thousand young Negro boys and girls, totally unarmed, leave Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church to march to a prayer meeting— ready to pit nothing but the power of their bodies and souls against Bull Connor’s police dogs, clubs, and fire hoses.”

He added: “I never will forget a moment in Birmingham when a White policeman ac-

The review needs to become part of a larger transitional process aimed at healing the inmate, the victim’s family, and the community as much as possible. A bill is before the Minnesota legislature right now that, if passed, will redirect the power to parole those serving life sentences from the Commissioner of Corrections to an Indeterminate Sentence Review Board. It seems likely this bill will soon become law.

Would this be a positive first step? Yes. However, even if it passes, it does nothing to address any of the problems I have outlined here. More must be done and now. I ask you to urge lawmakers to repair and improve this broken system, restrict the “grievous loss” of being denied parole to those inmates who refuse to do the necessary work to change, and let “Justice for All” truly become our state’s guiding corrections philosophy.

J.S. Nemo is at Moose Lake, a medium-security facility.

This commentary was made possible through a partnership with Twin Cities Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee.

costed a little Negro girl, seven or eight years old, who was walking in a demonstration with her mother. ‘What do you want?’ the policeman asked her gruffly, and the little girl looked him straight in the eye and answered, ‘Fee-dom.’

“She couldn’t even pronounce it, but she knew. It was beautiful! Many times, when I have been in sorely trying situations, the memory of that little one has come into my mind and has buoyed me.” The same example that buoyed Dr. King should still inspire us today.

Marian Wright Edelman

Children’s Crusade it is again time to remember, honor, and follow the example of the children who were frontline soldiers and transforming catalysts in the movement for civil rights and equal justice.

is founder and president emerita of the Children’s Defense Fund.

Unless Minnesotans are prepared to accept a system of “justice for some,” the “lifer” review process must be reformed.

Homebuyer education is easy to access

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It’s no news flash that buying a home is one of the biggest financial transactions most of us will ever make. It’s also common knowledge that purchasing a home is a complicated process, with many important choices and decisions involved along the way. Yet many of us turn to a Realtor® or lender we meet only as a result of some quick online research or an ad in a church bulletin, and we look to them to successfully guide us through the process.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Realtors and lenders are in the business of helping people to purchase homes successfully. But there’s a smarter way to start the process, and it can save you from unnecessary frustration, anxiety and overspending along the way.

We’re talking about professional, HUDcertified homebuyer education and advising. This week’s installment from the Minnesota Homeownership Center will cover homebuyer education. (Advisory services will be covered in our next article.)

When it comes to homebuyer ed, the Minnesota Homeownership Center’s Home Stretch© workshop is among the best offerings out there. The regularly updated curriculum, newly refreshed as of May 1 to include input from past participants and aspiring firsttime buyers, is approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Those presenting the class must earn HUD certification as professional homebuy-

ing educators. Topics covered include Managing Money; Understanding Credit; Preparing to Apply for a Mortgage; Finding the Home that’s Right for You; Making an Offer; the Purchase Closing Process; What New Homeowners Need to Know; and more. The class presents the full story of homeownership, including its history of racism, its wealthbuilding and stabilizing impact today, and the opportunities for all of us facilitated by equitable access to owning one’s own home. Participants learn in a peer-to-peer environment and get to share the experience with others seeking the same goal.

The Home Stretch workshop stretches for eight hours, often divided into smaller chunks. And it’s designed with an eye toward keeping participants enthusiastically engaged. Outside experts, including local real estate agents, mortgage lenders, home inspectors and others, join the instructors for real-world discussions. And students

leave with a host of resources to continue helping them into the future. Participants who have taken the class consistently rate it highly, with 93 percent of 2021 respondents eager to recommend the course to others.

While some loan products require HUDapproved homebuyer education as part of the mortgage approval process, the best time to take the class is before you start your homebuying journey. Even if you see homeownership for yourself as still a few years away, you can Get Ready now, so you’ll Be Ready when the time is right for you.

As luck would have it, (or perhaps by design via the careful timing of this article), June is Homeownership Month. And that means many Home Stretch workshop providers are waiving the usual $40 class fee. Advance registration is required for all classes, and a full list of class offerings, both virtual and in-person, is online at HOCMN. org/HomebuyerEd. Providers offering free

classes this June in the Twin Cities include African Economic Development Solutions, CAPI USA, Model Cities, Neighborhood Development Alliance, NeighborWorks Home Partners, Project for Pride in Living, Urban League Twin Cities and Washington County CDA. Additional classes may be listed after the publication of this article. In addition to English, free classes are being offered in Amharic, Oromo, Somali and Spanish.

The bottom line is—knowledge equals power. Educated consumers make informed decisions, and set themselves up for successful, and sustainable, homeownership.

The Minnesota Homeownership Center’s Home Stretch homebuyer education workshop is easy to access, and well worth the time it takes to complete.

Homeownership is possible. We can show you how.

For more information on the Minnesota Homeownership Center and its advisor and education services, go to www.HOCMN.org.

Learn steps to multigenerational wealth at “Setting Up Your Black-owned Business for Success,” the second event hosted by community organizations to benefit the Black business community in the Twin Cities.

The event features Gloria Freeman, founder of Olu’s Home & Olu’s Beginnings; Frederic Estes, CEO of Estes Enterprises; and Duane Ramseur, CEO of Ramseur Consulting. The gathering also includes lunch and small group discussions centered on business issues.

“Setting Up Your Black-owned Business for Success” is made possible through a partnership between University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC); Metropolitan Economic Development Association (Meda); Minnesota Minority Goods & Services Association (MMGSA); Neighborhood Development Center (NDC); Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON); and the University of St. Thomas Family Business Center.

Educated consumers make informed decisions, and set themselves up for successful, and sustainable, homeownership.

SOE

Continued from page 12

used to describe her style of play. But with Angel Reese exhibiting those same qualities, the narrative became very different.”

“It happens to Black women in the workplace and in society at large,” continued Watts, adding double standards are “multilayered.”

Watts also remembers how Aliyah Boston, the No. 1 WNBA draft pick out of South Carolina, was often treated during her college days. Despite her winning many individual honors, a national championship and a national runners-up, some media loved to show her over and over again crying after missing a game-winning shot.

“The media tended to focus instead on her failures,” said Watts. “They chose to focus on…images of her crying. Obviously, what was a very painful moment, but it was so intrusive.”

After her team’s loss to Iowa, South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley let it be known during her post-game comments to the assembled mostly White media that disparaging her majority Black

ViEw

Continued from page 12

$80 million in four months, and I played a major role in putting the Ohio State brand and contributed to that season to win a championship,” Clarett said. If indeed the players bring such value to the school, they should be fairly compensated for it, he noted.

COaCh

Continued from page 12

and business administration.

Listening to her father was the right thing, Lindsay reflected.

From Tiffin, Lindsay went to Bethany (KS) College as head coach and assistant athletic director (2015-18), then an assistant position at Seattle University (2018-20), before landing at ECU three seasons ago as the school’s third-ever head volleyball coach.

Arriving on campus in midMarch, “I kind of rushed in down here, accepted a job on the third of March, and I was here by the 10th,” said Lindsay. “I needed to get here in time to evaluate everybody.

“I think it’s only fair as a coach [to] come in and evalu-

Employment & Legals

team is wrong.

“We’re not bar fighters,” stressed the coach. “We’re not thugs. We’re not monkeys. We’re not street fighters.” She strongly advised the group to stop misjudging her players. “If you really know them, if you really know them…you would think differently.”

Watts pointed out, “When you look at who’s covering college sports and who’s covering women’s basketball, it’s already skewed. So it would make sense that is how the stories get reported.”

Will double standards ever leave our society? We asked this of Watts, the mother of a young Black daughter. “I think it is really important showing up as our authentic selves as Black women in whatever spaces that we’re in,” surmised Watts. “I think more importantly being able to call out behavior when we see it.

“I’m hopeful that we are at a time where we can use social media..to have your voice be heard or to be able to reject some of this negativity that comes our way. But it’s a battle.”

Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments at challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.

Longtime opponents of college players getting paid contend that a college scholarship is their pay. But unlike nonplaying students on scholarship who can work during the school year, college athletes are not allowed to do so. Therefore, NIL can now give the players some walk-around money. The panelists expressed their fears that student-athletes can be vulnerable to fi-

BLACK MUSIC MONTH

SATURDAY JUNE 3 12-3 pm

State of Minnesota District Court County of Hennepin Judicial District: Fourth Court File Number 27-FA- 23-286

Case Type: Dissolution without Children

Asli Abdi Ali, SUMMONS Petitioner Without Real Estate and Adam Abrahim Nuur, Respondent

THE STATE OF MINNESOTA THE ABOVE-NAMED RESPONDENT:

WARNING: Your spouse has filed lawsuit against you for dissolution of your marriage. copy of the paperwork regarding the lawsuit is served on you with this summons. This summons is an official document from the court that affects your rights. Read this summons carefully. If you do not understand it, contact an attorney for legal advice

1. The Petitioner (your spouse) has filed lawsuit against you asking for dissolu-tion of your marriage (divorce). copy of the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage is attached to this Summons

2. You must serve upon Petitioner and file with the Court written Answer to the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage and you must pay the required filing fee. Answer forms are available from the Court Administrator’s office. You must serve your Answer upon Petitioner within thirty (30) days of the date you were served with this Summons, not counting the day of service. If you do not serve and file your Answer, the Court may give your spouse everything he or she is asking for in the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage.

3. This proceeding does not involve real property.

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”

Music can soothe, affirm, comfort, inform, and reach places and spaces where words often fail. Sister Spokesman will kick off Black Music Month with a panel discussion with media veterans, tastemakers, musicians and artists that highlight the richness of Black music.

nancial mismanagement, or sign bad deals. They might also be discouraged from fully pursuing their college degree, if NIL deals are so lucrative.

“You are a brand at 18-yearsold,” said Baker. “Are we giving all the information needed to our 18-22-year-olds attending school? There’s a fine line from being a brand and just enjoying the college experience.”

The 90-minute panel did

ence known. “We have practice at six am,” stressed Lindsay. “I’m there at five, and I’m gonna be sitting right at the front making sure you’re here at 5:30 because it’s a new set of standards…a different level of expectations.”

come to a consensus. No one knows where NIL will ultimately lead college sport.

Jeremiah Carter recently was named senior associate athletic director for NIL/Policy and Risk Management at Minnesota. Our conversation next week will be with the Gophers’ “NIL czar.”

Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments at challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.

NOTICE OF TEMPORARY RESTRAINING PROVISIONS

Under Minnesota law, service of this summons makes the following requirements ap-ply to both parties to the action, unless they are modified by the court or the proceeding is dismissed:

(l) Neither party may dispose of any assets except (a) for the necessities of life or for the necessary generation of income or preservation of assets, (b) by an agreement of the parties in writing, or (c) for retaining counsel to carry on or to contest this proceeding.

(2) Neither party may harass the other party.

(3) All currently available insurance coverage must be maintained and continue without change in coverage or beneficiary designation.

(4) Parties to a marriage dissolution proceeding are encouraged to attempt alternative dispute resolution pursuant to Minnesota law. Alternative dispute resolution includes mediation, arbitration and other processes as set forth in the district court rules. You may contact the court administrator about resources in your area. If you cannot pay for mediation or alternative dispute resolution, in some counties, assistance may be available to you through a nonprofit provider or a court program. If you are a victim of domestic abuse or threats as defined in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter518B, you are not required to try mediation and you will not be penalized by the court in later proceedings.

IF YOU VIOLATE ANY OF THESE PROVISIONS, YOU WILL BE SUBJECT TO SANCTIONS BY THE COURT.

Signature:

Dated: 1/17/2023

Asli Abdi Ali, 2705 Pillsbury Ave., Apt. 108 Minneapolis, MN 55408 651-261-8146 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, May 4, 11, 18, 2023

ate because you want to see if there might be somebody you really, really like. I’ve never been a huge fan of coaches coming in and cleaning house.

“So, you come in and give yourself time to evaluate everybody, give everybody a fair shake if they can fit into your program, and then you go from there.”

The new coach almost immediately made her pres-

Lindsay’s competitive, nononsense attitude comes naturally: “I have three brothers. All of them played college football, one of them playing in the NFL. My sister plays college basketball. Both my dad and uncle also are coaches. We had a very, very competitive, aggressive household, but definitely that [competitiveness] comes from my dad’s side of the family.”

Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments at challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.

Cheri Lindsay Courtesy of Twitter

The afternoon includes shopping with local vendors, networking, games, prizes, food, & music @ sisterspokesman

ROYAL FOUNDRY CRAFT SPIRITS

241 VAN WHITE MEMORIAL BLVD MPLS, MN 55405

—Bob Marley

Employment & Legals

CONDEMNATION

STATE OF MINNESOTA IN DISTRICT COURT COUNTY OF HENNEPIN FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT Case Type: Condemnation Court File No.: 27-CV-23-4764 State of Minnesota, by its Commissioner of Transportation, Petitioner, vs. Keats Bloomington, LLC

Respondents. IN THE MATTER OF THE CONDEMNATION OF CERTAIN LANDS FOR TRUNK HIGHWAY PURPOSES NOTICE

To the Respondents hereinabove named:

You, and each of you, are hereby notified that on August 4, 2023, at 1:00 p.m., or as soon thereafter as counsel can be heard, before Judge Joseph R. Klein, in the at Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, via remote hearing, the Petitioner will present a Petition now on file herein for the condemnation of certain lands for trunk highway purposes. This hearing will not be in person at the Courthouse. This hearing will not be in person at the courthouse. The remote hearing may be accessed by video at https://Zoomgov.com/join, or by phone at 833-568-8864. For either method, the Meeting ID is 161 976 9066 and the Meeting Password is 069902. A copy of the Petition is attached hereto and incorporated herein.

YOU, AND EACH OF YOU, ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED, that Petitioner will also move the court for an order transferring title and possession to Petitioner of the parcels described in the Petition in accordance with Minn. Stat. §117.042, as of September 8, 2023.

YOU, AND EACH OF YOU, ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED, that all persons occupying the property described in the petition must VACATE THE AREA BEING

ACQUIRED AND MOVE ALL OF YOUR PERSONAL PROPERTY FROM THE AREA BEING ACQUIRED ON OR BEFORE SEPTEMBER 8, 2023. All advertising signs or devices located in the area being acquired must be removed by September 8, 2023.

YOU, AND EACH OF YOU, ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED, that (1) a party wishing to challenge the public use or public purpose, necessity, or authority for a taking must appear at the court hearing and state the objection or must appeal within 60 days of a court order; and (2) a court order approving the public use or public purpose, necessity, and authority for the taking is final unless an appeal is brought within 60 days after service of the order on the party.

Dated: 5-3-2023 KEITH ELISON Attorney General State of Minnesota

s/Mathew Ferche Mathew Ferche Assistant Attorney General Atty. Reg. No. 0391282 445 Minnesota Street, Suite 1400 St. Paul, MN 55101-2134 (651) 757-1457 (Voice) (651) 282-2525(TTY) ATTORNEY FOR PETITIONER STATE OF MINNESOTA IN DISTRICT COURT COUNTY OF HENNEPIN FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT Case Type: Condemnation - - - -State of Minnesota, by its Commissioner of Transportation, Petitioner, vs. Keats Bloomington, LLC, Minnesota Bank & Trust, Goodwill Industries, Inc., County of Hennepin, Northern States Power Company, doing business as Xcel Energy, The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, National Association, BNY Midwest Trust Company, Richfield Realty Holdings, II, LLC, Richfield Realty Holdings, LLC, DMT SPE I, LLC c/o Dwight Capital, KOTN Acquisitions, LLC, Richfield Opco LLC, doing business as Richfield A. Villa Center, Fortis Management Leasing NH, LLC, Unknown heirs of Joseph H. Ranft, Margaret Deichelbohrer, John Ranft, Asian Direct Oriental Market, Inc., doing business as Asian Direct Oriental Market, Steve Ranft, Greg Goodman, Mary G. Munoz, Pachyderm Properties, LLC, The Sherwin-Williams Company, Realty Income Properties 3, LLC, Northern Tier Retail, LLC, doing business as Speedway SuperAmerica #4188, Texas SFI Partnership 49 LTD, SFI Limited Partnership 18, SFI Ltd. Partnership 57, West Bloomington Motel, Inc., Bridgewater Bank, also all other persons unknown claiming any right, title, estate, interest or lien in the real estate described in the Petition herein, Respondents. - - - - -

IN THE MATTER OF THE CONDEMNATION OF CERTAIN LANDS FOR TRUNK HIGHWAY PURPOSES - - - -PETITION

To the District Court above named the State of Minnesota brings this Petition and respectfully states and alleges:

I.

That Trunk Highway Legislative Route numbered 393, which has been renumbered 494, and which has been located according to law and designated as a controlled access highway, passes over the lands herein described.

That it is duly covered by Right of Way Plat Orders numbered 99799, 99800, and 99801; and by Designation Order numbered 28880.

II.

That the Commissioner of Transportation deems it necessary that the State of Minnesota for trunk highway purposes obtain the lands herein described in fee simple absolute as to Parcels 241C and 241E; and an easement as to Parcels 214C and 403, together with the following rights:

To acquire all trees, shrubs, grass and herbage within the right of way herein to be taken, and to keep and have the exclusive control of the same, to acquire a temporary easement in those cases which are herein particularly mentioned.

It is the intention of the above-named Petitioner to move the court for an order authorizing the Court Administrator to accept and deposit payments, in an interestbearing account, from the Petitioner to the court pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 117.042. Further, it is the intention of the above-named Petitioner to move the court for an order transferring title and possession of the parcels herein described, prior to the filing of an award by the court appointed commissioners, pursuant to Minn. Stat. §117.042. The Petitioner reserves its right to recover costs of clean up and testing and all other damages arising from the presence of pollutants, contaminants, or hazardous materials on the property described herein, from all potential responsible parties, including respondents herein where appropriate, in a separate legal action to the extent permitted by law.

III.

That the following described lands in these proceedings taken are situated in Hennepin County, Minnesota; that the names of all persons appearing of record or known to your Petitioner to be the owners of said lands or interested therein, including all whom your Petitioner has been able by investigation and inquiry to discover, together with the nature of the ownership of each, as nearly as can be ascertained, are as follows:

A/1 Contract No. 24-017

Certificate of Title No. 1087295, said easement shall cease on December 1, 2028, or on such earlier date upon which the Commissioner of Transportation determines by formal order that it is no longer needed for highway purposes; And also a temporary easement for highway purposes in that part of Lot 2, Block 1, WILSON SUBSTATION IN BLOOMINGTON, except that part which is registered in Certificate of Title No. 1087295, shown as Parcel 222C on Minnesota Department of Transportation Right of Way Numbered 27-241 as the same on file and of record in the office of the County Recorder in and for Hennepin County, Minnesota, by the temporary easement symbol, said easement shall cease on December 1, 2028, or on such earlier date upon which the Commissioner of Transportation determines by formal order that it is no longer needed for highway purposes.

Names of parties interested in the above-described land and nature of interest:

Northern States Power Company, doing business as Xcel Energy Fee

The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, National Association Mortgage

BNY Midwest Trust Company Mortgage County of Hennepin Taxes and Special Assessments

FEE ACQUISITION Parcel 241C C.S. 2785 (494=393) 903 S.P. 2785-424RW

symbol, said easement shall cease on December 1, 2028, or on such earlier date upon which the Commissioner of Transportation determines by formal order that it is no longer needed for highway purposes.

All of the following:

That part of the West Half of the Southwest Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of Section 35, Township 28 North, Range 24 West, shown as Parcel 241C on Minnesota Department of Transportation Right of Way Numbered 27-239 as the same on file and of record in the office of the County Recorder in and for Hennepin County, Minnesota; containing 3344 square feet, more or less, of which 3300 square feet are encumbered by an existing roadway easement; together with other rights as set forth below, forming and being part of said Parcel 241C:

Temporary Easement:

A temporary easement for highway purposes as shown on said as to said Parcel 241C by the temporary easement symbol, said easement shall cease on December 1, 2028, or on such earlier date upon which the Commissioner of Transportation determines by formal order that it is no longer needed for highway purposes.

Names of parties interested in the above-described land and nature of interest:

Richfield Realty Holdings, II, LLC Fee

Richfield Realty Holdings, LLC Fee

DMT SPE I,

All of the following: That part of the Southwest Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of Section 35, Township 28 North, Range 24 West, shown as Parcel 241E on Minnesota Department of Transportation Right of Way Numbered 27-239 as the same on file and of record in the office of the County Recorder in and for Hennepin County, Minnesota; containing 230 , more or less, all of which is encumbered by a roadway easement; together with other rights as set forth below, forming and being part of said Parcel 241E: Temporary Easement: A temporary easement for highway purposes as shown on said as to said Parcel 241E by the temporary easement symbol, said easement shall cease on December 1, 2028, or on such earlier date upon which the Commissioner of Transportation determines by formal order that it is no longer needed for highway purposes.

Names of parties interested in the above-described land and nature of interest:

Unknown heirs of Joseph H. Ranft, deceased Fee Unknown heirs of Joseph H. Ranft, deceased Fee John Ranft Claimant of an Interest Mary G. Munoz Claimant of an Interest Asian Direct Oriental Market, Inc., doing business as Asian Direct Oriental Market Claimant of an Interest Steve Ranft Claimant of an Interest Margaret Deichelbohrer Claimant of an Interest Greg Goodman Claimant of an Interest Richfield Opco LLC, doing

From Classified Department/MN Spokesman-Recorder

Names of parties interested in the above-described land and nature of interest: Texas SFI Partnership 49 LTD Fee SFI Limited Partnership 18 SFI Ltd. Partnership 57 Easement County of Hennepin Taxes and Special Assessments Parcel 502 C.S. 2785 (494=393) 904 S.P. 2785-424RW

All of the following: A temporary easement for highway purposes in that part of Lot 1, Block 1, THRIFTY SCOT ADDITION, shown as Parcel 502 on Minnesota Department of Transportation

Right of Way Numbered 27-240 as the same on file and of record in the office of the Registrar of Titles in and for Hennepin County, Minnesota, by the temporary easement symbol; the title thereto being registered as evidenced by Certificate of Title No. 1176829, said easement shall cease on December 1, 2028, or on such earlier date upon which the Commissioner of Transportation determines by formal order that it is no longer needed for highway purposes.

Names of parties interested in the above-described land and nature of interest: West Bloomington Motel, Inc. Fee Bridgewater Bank Mortgage County of Hennepin Taxes and Special Assessments

WHEREFORE, Your Petitioner prays that commissioners be appointed to appraise the damages which may be occasioned by such taking, and that such proceedings may be had herein as are provided by law.

Dated: April 11, 2023 KEITH ELLISON Attorney General State of Minnesota s/Mathew Ferche MATHEW FERCHE Assistant Attorney General Atty. Reg. No. 0391282 445 Minnesota Street, Suite 1800

The party or parties on whose behalf the attached document is served acknowledge through their undersigned counsel that sanctions may be imposed pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 549.211.

Dated: April 11, 2023

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Sealed Proposals will be received by the Public Housing Agency of the City of Saint Paul at 200 East Arch Street St. Paul, MN 55130 for BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM UPGRADES AT PHA PROPERTIES, CONTRACT # 24017, until 1:00 PM, Local Time, on June 6, 2023

A Pre-proposal Meeting will be held in conjunction with a tour of the buildings on May 16, 2023 at 10:00 AM at Mt Airy Hi-Rise, 200 East Arch St., St Paul, MN. All questions arising from this pre-bid conference will be addressed by addendum, if necessary.

A complete set of bid documents are available by contacting Northstar Imaging at 651-686-0477 or www.northstarplanroom.com , under public plan room, BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM UPGRADES AT PHA PROPERTIES. CONTRACT No. 24-017. Digital downloads are no charge, contact Northstar for hard copy pricing.

Proposals must be accompanied by a $10,000 bid guarantee, Equal Employment Opportunity form, and a MN Responsible Contractor Compliance Affidavit. The successful proposer will be required to furnish a satisfactory performance bond and separate payment bond.

The PHA reserves the right to reject any or all proposals or to waive any informalities in the proposal.

AN EQUAL STEVE AHNER OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER PROJECT LEADER STEVE.AHNER@STPHA.ORG (651) 292-6069 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder May 11, 2023

PHONE: 612-827-4021

FOR BILLING INQUIRIES & TEARSHEETS

Please proof, respond with email confirmation to ads@spokesman-recorder.com

Please Note: New email address for all future ads is ads@spokesman-recorder.com

The MSR handles billing digitally. This means you will get e-tears and e-mailed invoices unless you specifically request a

The hottest topic in college sports today: NIL

he three-letter acronym NIL representing a third party paying a studentathlete for rights to their name, image and likeness has been around for a couple of years, but it still has everyone from coaches and administrators to fans and especially the players themselves scratching their collective heads in figuring it all out. It’s the latest hot topic in college sport today.

Last month, ESPN/Andscape Columnist William C. Rhoden moderated a panel of former players at the Drake Group’s college sport symposium in Washington, D.C., where NIL was mostly discussed. He asked them if NIL

had been around when they played, how much it would have helped them.

Former running back Maurice Clarett, who was suspended by Ohio State in the early 2000s

for illegally taking money, answered emphatically. “Things in my life would drastically change,” he said if NIL deals existed back then. “I would have more than enough money to get a plane

ticket [to attend a friend’s funeral]... A business owner or booster would have been able to help me.

“The sole reason I got into trouble in college was the trans-

mission [in his car] had broke and I went to a dealership to use a vehicle because I couldn’t afford $1700 dollars to fix the transmission. I linked up to a dealer to use a car, and that was illegal,” he pointed out.

“Get a NIL [deal] when we were in college—one thousand percent, yes,” admitted Brendan Cole, who played football at Hampton University and is now a high school athletic director.

The panelists also raised concerns about these private deals, such as student-athletes having no time to work due to the time demands of school and sports.

“Your sport is your job. There is no time,” said Sherill Baker, George Washington assistant women’s basketball coach. She was an All-American defensive player of the year at Georgia in

2006, and played professionally in the WNBA and overseas.

But the group agreed that football and men’s basketball bring in tons of money for their respective schools and players have always been undervalued. Baker recalled family members asking her, “You’re on the poster and you don’t get any money for that?”

“We made the university over

■ See View on page 10

Multilayered double standards still with us

Multilayered double standards still with us

wo female college basketball players have displayed a taunting gesture during a game this year.

One player’s actions were called competitive and aggressive by commentators and others. The other player who did something similar was called classless.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark was praised, but LSU’s Angel Reese got roasted. Clark is White; Reese is Black.

The Reese-Clark brouhaha that took place during this year’s women’s NCAAs suddenly became a hot topic on sports shows, a rare occurrence when it comes to women’s sport. But it also again raises the double standard that has long existed when it comes to race.

back in 2007, when he called the majority Black Rutgers women’s basketball team “nappy headed hoes,” after they played for the national championship.

This time around, Reese played on a majority Black team as well and won a national championship against Clark’s team, which was majority White. But the same double standard occurred to cheapen the former’s accomplishment.

Too often, Black women are negatively compared to the quote-unquote “ladylike” image of their White counterparts by White media, according to ESPN/Andscape Columnist

William C. Rhoden on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

The game that started it all

This game, while increasing my interest in high school basketball, also featured two student athletes who would go on to excel in athletics at the collegiate and pro level.

t was the game that started it all for me. It was a game I didn’t even want to attend, but my father talked me into it. It turned out to be the athletic event that sparked my interest in high school sports.

Robinson, who scored seven points in the game while standing at 5’10”, went on to an outstanding football career starring at wide receiver for North Dakota State University and then the NFL’s New York Giants, capturing two Super Bowl rings.

Reese was called an “[expletive] idiot” by Keith Olberman, who acted like Don Imus did

Sheritha Jones wrote on her blog, “The moment Reese did the same thing Clark had

Ralinda Watts

done (in an earlier game), sports analysts and Twitter went crazy. Some people don’t want our women athletes to be as aggressive or have as much swag as the men—unless they are White. The backlash Reese received was both racist and sexist.” Los Angeles native Ralinda Watts is a diversity expert who founded Ralinda Speaks, a di-

Submitted photo

versity, equity and inclusion consulting firm. She regularly speaks on the intersection of culture, race, identity and justice. She recently shared her expert analysis on the ReeseClark double standard.

“You definitely see that dou

ble standard layout again,” noted Watts. “Caitlin gets words

■ See SOE on page 10

New volleyball coach brings competitive drive to Prairie View

By Charles Hallman Sports Columnist

heri Lindsay, a 2012 Prairie View A&M University grad, has returned to campus as the school’s new head volleyball coach.

Lindsay, the Denver, Colo. native and a former star volleyball player at her alma mater (2008-11), is a proven program builder at every stop in her coaching journey for nearly a decade. She took over in 2020 an East Central (Okla.) University program that had won only two matches in two years. It had been over a dozen years since the team posted a winning record. Lindsay recorded her first winning campaign in 2021.

We recently caught up with Lindsay, who told us she took the PVAMU job in early March because she was primed for a new challenge.

“We had done great,” she pointed out. “We made them into a playoff contender in one year. A lot of work was done, and I love my team. But if you want to move up, you have to keep trying to get

better. You have to keep challenging yourself as a coach.

“This was just a good time for me,” continued Lindsay, of her leaving East Central. “Building a program and just really boosting the program from where it was, I just felt like I did everything that I really could do there.”

“What better place to be

able to come back to your alma mater,” said Lindsay, who is proud to be back at Prairie View in Texas. “Being able to come to a bigger place, a bigger city, more opportunities.”

Coaching is in her blood, but Lindsay admitted she had tried to deny it. After serving as a student coach (2011-12) in her senior year at PVAMU, she was looking towards playing pro volleyball overseas.

“Actually, a week before I was about to graduate, I got a call from one of my old coaches,” Lindsay recalled. “She was like, ‘Hey, I have an opportunity for you… Come out here to Ohio. You can be my assistant coach full-time. You get your masters and pay for it.”

“I had turned her down because I was going overseas. I asked my dad and he said, ‘No, you are going to Ohio.’

Lindsay packed up her playing desires and went to Tiffin (Ohio) University, where she served as an assistant coach for two seasons (2012-14), and earned two master’s degrees in education

■ See Coach on page 10

It was the 1979 Twin Cities boys basketball championship between St. Paul Central and Minneapolis North, a game played on Saturday, February 16, at Macalester College. The TC game is played annually between the St. Paul City Conference and Minneapolis City Conference boys basketball champions. The gymnasium was standing room only.

The 6’9” Coleman, who led North with 15 points on the cool winter afternoon, went on to the University of Minnesota before starring at the University of Maryland, and before a 12-year career in the NBA.

This game also started a rivalry that dominated the 1980s. During that decade, Central and North met in the TC game in 1980-82 and 84-88. North won the TC title in 1980, ’81, ’82, ’84, ’85, ’86, and ’87 before Central finally won in ’88.

The game featured Central—led by coach Dan Brink and North led by coach Tony Queen. It featured guards Brian Dungey, Davey Givens and Stacy Robinson, forwards John Williams and Ricky Suggs, and center Farron Henderson

Forwards Ben Coleman and Mike Esaw and guards Pat Burston and Damond Dickson led North.

For myself, an eighth grader at (St. Paul) Highland Park Junior High School at the time, the game was magical. Not only did it have some of the best athletes in the state competing, but also both teams were both 100 percent African American.

There was no NBA team during this time, so the players on the court were our role models. They were who we looked up to and aspired to be like.

Central won the game 6555 with Suggs, 6’1” forward, leading the way with 19 points.

The teams also excelled at the Class AA state level. North made state tournament appearances from 1980—winning the state championship that year—to 1986. Central never won a state title but appeared in the tournament from 1980-82, ’84, ’86 and ’89.

For myself, an eighth grader at (St. Paul) Highland Park Junior High School at the time, the game was magical.

The 1979 Twin Cities championship started it all. I fell in love with high school basketball. After 36 years as a prep sports photojournalist, the feeling remains the same.

“You are a brand at 18-years-old. There’s a fine line from being a brand and just enjoying the college experience.”

Maurice Clarett

Sherill Baker Photos courtesy of Twitter

“When you look at who’s covering college sports and who’s covering women’s basketball, it’s already skewed.”

Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald welcomes reader comments at mcdeezy05@gmail.com.

Ben Coleman MSR file photo

Stacy Robinson Courtesy Wikipedia

Cheri Lindsay Courtesy of Twitter

“It’s a new set of standards, a different level of expectations.”