Archive for February, 2019
UnBank and UnMission with common wall and uncommon purpose
by HARVEY WINJE The corner storefront that was Roger Beck Florist until November 2018 at 1100 E. Franklin Ave. is, apparently, now owned by and about to become the UnBank currently at 1009 E. Franklin after initially being restricted from being there because it was too close to a “mission” by city zoning requirements. Historically, businesses like UnBank and plasma centers being in a retail and residential area are seen as predators of poor people and people living within difficult circumstances. The presence of such businesses is usually a characteristic that reduces signals an area”'s decline and causes a drop in property values. This property”'s value and advantage to E. Franklin Ave.”'s vast improvements of the last three decades were raised when it was improved from Mr. Arthur”'s 3.2 Bar to the Wendell Phillips Federal Community Credit Union in 1996. Ironically, that credit union had the opposite mission and ethic of helping local [...]
Patron saint of lost causes
by TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN COURTESY OF Peter McLaughlinFormer District 4 Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin speaks during the South Minneapolis Hub opening along Lake Street and Hiawatha Ave.. The South Minneapolis Hub represents a move to decentralize human services from downtown to make it easier for people to get access the county”'s social services at a site that”'s more accessible. EDITOR”'S NOTE: This is part two of a two-part series that originally appeared in the Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger. The first section ran in the February 2019 edition of The Alley. If there”'s one thing that defines Peter McLaughlin”'s career as a public servant, it imay be his attitude towards what others consider to be lost causes. Â “I”'m sort of the Patron Saint of Lost Causes,” admitted McLaughlin. There”'s something about certain projects that kept him searching for solutions, even over decades, observed McLaughlin, [...]
Phillips West March 2019
By CRYSTAL WINDSCHITL Phillips West Neighborhood Upcoming Events: Check out the Phillips West Website: www.phillipswest.info Community meeting March 7 (Thursday) 6-7pm Join your neighbors and other Community Partners for updates from Local City Government, 3rd Precinct Police. Meeting will take place at the Center for Changing Lives in the Centrum Room (2400 Park Avenue). Free parking is available in the rear of building off Oakland Ave. Free delivery pizza and beverages will be provided! If you would like more information or would like to get involved with the neighborhood please contact Crystal at 612-879-5383 or email her at pwno2005@yahoo.com.
