Last week, the Minneapolis school board was presented with "uncomfortable" assessment data for students in math and reading. Melissa Whitler reports that assessment data show that the district is outperforming in educating white students and underperforming in educating students of color and other groups of students (e.g. special education, English learners).
Melissa also created a spreadsheet with the assessment data that the public can access and share.
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The Farm to School BBQ is back! After a three year hiatus, Minneapolis Public Schools is hosting its Farm to School Community BBQ from 4 - 6:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the district's Culinary Center at 812 Plymouth Ave. N. And it's free!
Activities include veggie car racing, live honeybee hive observations, seed art, and apple sampling. Farmers who grow food for the kids' lunches will be in attendance.
Dinner will consist of Farm to School produce, local meats, and several recipes developed by MPS Culinary & Wellness Services. The event will also include a variety of family-friendly activities such as veggie car racing, live honeybee hive observations, seed art, apple sampling and more.
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Minneapolis Documenters published notes from numerous City Council-adjacent meetings last week. A few highlights: Sean Ericson's Public Works & Infrastructure Committee notes, which includes info on residential properties being added to a special service district that goes "over and above what the city normally does. Cleaning, greening, snow removal, better maintenance of public spaces."
And Isaac Specktor covered last week's Budget Committee meeting where the newly established Office of Community Safety requested six full-time positions including an ongoing chief of staff position set at $207,331. The total office budget is just over $1 million for 2023 and 2024.
You can read through other recent meeting notes from local Documenters here.
LINK ROUNDUP 🔗
Deena Winter dug more into the story behind the City of Minneapolis' connection with the Michels construction company, based out of Wisconsin. Deena specifically looked into the Minneapolis Police Department patrols that do off-duty security for Michels contract work. In August, we reported Michels has spent nearly $12 million of his own money working to get elected as governor of Wisconsin, and a portion of that has come directly from Minneapolis taxpayers.
Primitiva, a boutique filled with goods made by local artists is expanding into healing services. Craniosacral therapy, tarot readings, reiki, and Thai massage are just some of the services people can book. Primitiva is located in the 7 Corners building and can be accessed along Hennepin Ave. (Primitiva)
Bakken Museum and Highpoint Printmaking have hired new leaders focused on making space and listening. Their background stories in Minneapolis are worth a read, too. (Star Tribune)
WCCO picked up the story about the petition requesting that the Lake Harriet Bandshell be painted back to blue. We published a story from Steven Brandt about this last week. (WCCO)
A recent poll conducted by local news outlets find that the majority of Minnesota voters feel like crime has increased in their communities but do not personally fear being threatened or physically attacked. (MPR News)
COMMUNITY RESOURCES ✊
Minneapolis Parks & Rec are asking people to report their turtle sightings. Did you know baby turtles continue to hatch through October? Some hatchlings emerge from the nest and make their way to water for the winter. Others overwinter in the nest and emerge next spring. Sage advice: avoid handling healthy turtles, unless they need help crossing a road. Adult turtles are moving to their winter ponds and know where they want to go.
The City Council agenda for tomorrow has been posted. The bulk of it is voting on committee actions taken over the last week.
Free groceries are available today from 3 - 6:30 p.m. in Whittier.
OUT & ABOUT 🚃
Tonight at Driftwood Char Bar, Wake Eddie and Jesse Street Band. Show starts at 7 p.m.
Honeybutter and Mike Kota play at Icehouse starting at 8 p.m.
It's the last week to play mini-golf on the Walker rooftop.
It's large dog breed night at Unleashed Hounds & Hops! Go hang out with big dogs, drink some drinks, and eat some yummy food. Non-dog owners are always welcome.
Cherry Cycles, which used to have its home in Fawkes Alley in Loring Park, is hosting an inclusive group bike ride tonight. If you are new to bicycling or want to meet some other bike people, this looks like a great place to do so.
