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Schools notebook // Flanagan to fill board vacancy
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By Dylan Thomas
Flanagan to serve out Costain’s term
The School Board voted July 6 to appoint former member Peggy Flanagan to fill a vacancy on the board.
Flanagan was the youngest-ever member and first Native American elected to the School Board when she served 2005–2009. She left the board after one term without running for re-election.
Flanagan will fill the vacancy created in June, when former School Board Member Pam Costain resigned to take over as president and CEO of the district’s nonprofit foundation, AchieveMpls. Costain had previously announced she would not run for re-election.
School Board Chair Tom Madden said the board members reviewed about a dozen applications for the empty seat before inviting four finalists in for interviews June 29.
After her swearing-in, Flanagan said she was “excited to get to work.”
“This feels like a good step and a good place to be, so thank you for your confidence, and I won’t let you down,” she said.
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Childcare for student parents at Park View
BRYN MAWR — The former Park View Montessori site will serve as the temporary location of a childcare program serving student parents during the 2010–2011 school year, the district announced in June.
The Teenage Pregnant and Parenting Program, or TAPPP, childcare site is moving from Broadway High School, which will close. The School Board in April approved a plan to build a new headquarters on that site at 1250 W. Broadway Ave.
District spokesperson Emily Lowther said the temporary relocation of the TAPPP childcare site was anticipated to last only for the 2010–2011 school year, and that the district was seeking another site to house the program long term. Park View was available for the fall because it was one of four school sites closed when the School Board last fall approved Changing School Options, a cost-saving plan that also reduced busing of students.
Lowther said the student parents with children in the TAPPP childcare program at Park View would attend classes at North High School. The district will provide shuttle service between the two sites for parents.
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Blake science teacher receives presidential award
LOWRY HILL — Steve Kaback, a teacher at The Blake School’s Upper Campus, was one of 103 recipients nationwide of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in June.
The award, established by Congress in 1983, honors outstanding teachers in math and science in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, other U.S. territories and Department of Defense schools.
Kaback’s award specifically honored his work teaching science, although he also teaches math courses. The award included a citation signed by President Obama, an expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for the awards ceremony and $10,000 from the National Science Foundation.
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AchieveMpls wins grant
The Xcel Energy Foundation awarded a $10,000 grant in June to AchieveMpls, a nonprofit foundation that supports Minneapolis Public Schools.
The grants to Minnesota environmental and educational organizations totaled more than $800,000. Grants to educational organizations accounted for about $570,000 of the total and were targeted to programs that boost student performance and prepare young people for the workplace with business, science and technical training.
AchieveMpls manages several district programs, including the Career and College Centers located in city high schools and the Step-Up Summer Jobs Program that places students in paid internships with Minneapolis employers. The district foundation also directly supports several programs, including GEMS, or Girls in Engineering, Mathematics and Science, and GISE, or Guys In Engineering and Science, both after-school programs for students in grades 4–8.
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Southwest students named National Merit Scholars
Four Southwest High School students were named National Merit Scholars July 12, bringing the total number of National Merit Scholars from Minneapolis Public Schools to nine for the 2009–2010 school year.
Each of the four Southwest students won college-sponsored scholarships and were selected for the awards by the institutions they plan to attend. The scholarships are worth $500–$2,000 per year for up to four years of college education.
The award winners were: Isabella Dawis, University of Minnesota; Caroline Lauth, Colby College; Rose Milavitz, Northwestern University; and Ruth Styles, University of Minnesota.
In May, Southwest student Mikayla MacNally was awarded a National Merit Northwestern University Scholarship, as well.
Southwest also had two winners of corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarships, Ashley Bielinski and Christopher Riddle, whose awards were announced in April.
Semi-finalists for the scholarships are selected from the pool of more than 1.5 million juniors who posted high scores on the preliminary SAT or another similar college entrance exam in 2008. To advance as finalists, they were required as seniors to complete several additional requirements that included maintaining a strong academic record and submitting an essay to the National Merit Scholarship Program.
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Newest development proposal: A courtyard with pool and movie screen in the heart of the Uptown nightlife scene
UPDATED August 31, 2010, 11:04am
By Nick Halter
A new development proposal in Uptown calls for the construction of a three-level restaurant with a rooftop patio, plus a private, ground-level courtyard with a pool and movie screen in the heart of the Uptown nightlife scene. The courtyard would go between Cowboy Slim’s and the new restaurant, which would be built directly across from the Lagoon Cinema on Lagoon Avenue, according to a plan submitted to the city of Minneapolis. The owner of the site is Uptown Gassen LLC, which is owned by Clark Gassen. Gassen is proposing a 3,000 square-foot, single-level retail building that would go along Girard Avenue between Lake Street and Lagoon. Underneath the proposed development would be a 125-car parking ramp. The restaurant’s three
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Harriet concession contract nears approval
UPDATED August 30, 2010, 1:00pm
By Jake Weyer
2 Comments
The board will decide this month whether to approve local restaurateur Kim Bartmann’s concept, Bread & Pickle.
After more than a year of community review and a selection process that narrowed a field of nearly a dozen applicants, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is scheduled to vote this month on a new Lake Harriet concession contract.
Staff recommended local restaurateur Kim Bartmann’s concept, Bread & Pickle, based on the suggestion of a community group that reviewed and interviewed the applicants. That group was made up of former members of a Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) the Park Board assembled last year after public outcry over a proposed concession change that would have required a new building. The CAC examined concession opportunities and drafted recommendations used to review applicants.
“The CAC was really a lengthy, drawn-out, long process,” said Park Board General Manager Don Siggelkow. “But it yielded the information and the understanding that I think brought this conclusion the way it needed to happen.”
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Urban fashion store and art gallery opens on Hennepin
UPDATED August 26, 2010, 10:14am
By Nick Halter
With rare Michael Jordan sneakers dating back to 1985, local art work, a DJ table and pinewood floors, Moh Habib on Aug. 21 unveiled Studiiyo 23, an urban fashion store and art gallery at 2319 Hennepin Ave. Everything about Studiiyo 23, from the name to the design to the merchandise, is a reflection of Habib, a 34-year-old world traveler who spent his high school and college years in Minnesota. “In those travels — I’ve been to 30 countries and 169 cities so far — I picked up the best of what I like from all those spots, and what I did was try to merge everything I love in life into one space,” he said. Habib has spent the last eight years working in Japan and Switzerland, first for Northwest Airlines and later as a
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Bryant Lake Bowl operator plans to buy Casey’s Bar and Grill
UPDATED August 25, 2010, 2:12pm
By Nick Halter
Kim Bartmann, who runs popular Lake Street establishments Bryant Lake Bowl and Barbette, said she has a purchase agreement for Casey’s Bar and Grill, 3510 Nicollet Ave. Bartmann wouldn’t offer specifics on what she will do with the space. She is asking to present to the Kingfield and Lyndale neighborhood groups soon to show them her plans. She said the renovation will last a couple weeks and said work will be done on the kitchen and dining area. Casey’s has a very limited food menu. “We’re a very food-focused company, so I think that will be a major change,” she said. Bartmann said Casey’s current owner has taken good care of the place and kept it clean. “It has a lot of potential,&rdq
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Neighborhood notebook
By Dylan Thomas, Nick Halter and Sarah McKenzie
THE WEDGELHENA hires new newspaper editorLowry Hill East Neighborhood Association hired a new editor for its monthly newspaper, The Wedge. Wedge resident Quentin Skinner took over with the July issues of The Wedge. Best known as the theater critic for City Pages, Skinner also has written two novels set in the Wedge, where he has lived for 15 years, according to an announcement posted Aug. 2 on thewedge.org. ——— WHITTIER Rex Hardware demolishedWrecking crews in early August demolished the former Rex Hardware building at 2601 Lyndale Ave. S. The demolition came 11 weeks after the Minneapolis City Council overturned a Heritage
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Parks update // Lake Harriet health
By jake weyer
Park Board applies for grant to study Lake Harriet healthThe Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has decided it’s time for Lake Harriet to get a checkup. The board frequently receives complaints about the lake’s smells and surface algae and is hoping to perform a diagnostic study — funded by a $55,000 matching grant from the state — to see just how healthy the popular body of water is. “These grants are specifically being put out to prevent lakes from being designated as impaired lakes,” said the board’s Environmental and Field Services Director Debra Lynn Pilger. Pilger presented the details of the “clean water partnership grant” to the board at its Aug. 4 meeting. A
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Green digest // More mini markets
By Dylan Thomas
Farmers market season is at its late-summer peak, and more neighborhoods this year have easy access to fresh tomatoes and sweet corn thanks to an expansion of mini farmers markets sites. The number of mini farmers markets located mainly in low-income neighborhoods has tripled between 2008 and 2010, reported the Whittier-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), which established the market program in collaboration with the city. The Walker Place Farmers Market in the East Harriet neighborhood near a senior housing facility was one of the mini farmers markets to debut this summer. The Stevens Square Farmers Market, Southwest’s only other mini farmers market site, opened in 2008. The mini farmers markets are limited to five or fewer
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Wine may flow, after all
By Dylan Thomas
Uptown wine tasting was in question this springStart working on your swirl, sniff and slurp technique: The annual wine tasting sponsored by Hennepin Lake Liquors may go on this year, after all. This spring it appeared the wine tasting, an important fundraiser for Uptown-area neighborhoods, might not return for its 28th year. In mid-August, though, event organizer Pat Fleetham said he was nearly ready to announce a fall wine tasting. Fleetham said he was “tentatively proposing” a date in October for the tasting but still needed to finalize agreements with event sponsors before he could announce a time and location. The event in recent years had been held in early June. In March, though, Fleetham wrote in an email to
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Biz buzz // New improv theater
By Nick Halter
New Lyn-Lake improv theater will focus on long-formA new improv theater is coming to Lyn-Lake this fall, leasing the space formerly held by Lava Lounge clothing store at 3037 Lyndale Ave. Huge Improve Theater, the nonprofit company that is leasing the space, plans to have a roughly 100-seat theater open in late October and is pursuing a beer and wine license from the city. While Minneapolis already has improv theaters like Comedy Sportz and Brave New Workshop, HUGE Executive Director Butch Roy said the Lyn-Lake theater will be dedicated to a unique form of improv — long-form. No theater in the Twin Cities is devoted to the form. Most know improv in its short form through the “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” TV
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Schools notebook // Southwest steady on AYP
By Dylan Thomas
Six Minneapolis Public Schools in Southwest met goals for student proficiency in reading and math this year, down from eight schools in 2009. The district as a whole saw slightly fewer schools making AYP, or Adequate Yearly Progress, toward student achievement goals. About 14 percent of district schools met benchmarks on state standardized tests, down from nearly 19 percent in 2009. The slide means more district schools will face escalating sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind law, although many in education say the law sets an unachievable goal. Approved by Congress in 2001, No Child Left Behind set a goal of 100 percent proficiency on math and reading assessments by 2014. But the ever-rising benchmarks mean more schools every year are
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Park Board organizing LRT advisory group
By jake weyer
Adding another facet to the ongoing Southwest light rail discussion, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board voted last month to organize a citizens advisory committee (CAC) to mitigate the impact of the route on parkland. Park Board commissioners, City Council members, neighborhood associations, Mayor R.T. Rybak and County Commissioner Gail Dorfman will appoint the 17-member CAC. The group will consider historical, cultural, visual, social, and safety issues associated with the 14-mile Southwest Light Rail Transit line (LRT). The route will start Downtown, travel along the Kenilworth trail between Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles, then stretch through St. Louis Park, Hopkins and Minnetonka, ending in Eden Prairie. Along the way, it will intersect or run
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