By Lindsey Fenner
MN State Senator Omar Fateh’s Ethics Hearing Continued Through July: Sen. Fateh represents Senate District 62, which includes all of Phillips. The ethics investigation, led by the Republican-controlled Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct, has raised questions about whether Fateh sought $500,000 in state funding for Somali TV of Minnesota after Somali TV ran campaign ads for Fateh for free. As a non-profit, Somali TV cannot endorse candidates. The other ethics concern involves Fateh’s connection to Muse Mohamed Mohamed. Mohamed, who is Fateh’s brother-in-law and volunteered with Fateh’s campaign and was convicted of lying to a grand jury during an investigation of voter fraud in the 2020 DFL primary race between Fateh and longtime incumbent Jeff Hayden. Fateh is now facing a DFL primary challenge in the August 9 Primary election from Shaun Laden, a Minneapolis Public Schools Education Support Specialist and union leader.
According to reporting by Deena Winter in the MN Reformer, two witnesses called to a July 7 hearing didn’t show up. They are expected to be subpoenaed for a hearing scheduled for July 27, after the alley goes to press. Check the MN Reformer https://minnesotareformer.com/ for updated coverage.
Little Earth Urban Farm Proposes Greenhouse on Empty Lot: The Little Earth Residents Association (LERA), which runs the Little Earth Urban Farm, is proposing to build a 20,000 square foot greenhouse on the vacant lot LERA owns at the northwest of Hiawatha Avenue and E 26th Street. According to LERA, the greenhouse “will host indoor vertical farming using nutrient-rich water circulated from a yellow perch aquaculture system.” The greenhouse project will expand existing gardening and farming programming and food accessibility.
Southside Green Zone Signs Going Up: The 120 signs, designed by Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre founder Sandy Spieler, are intended to raise awareness about the Southside Green Zone. Each sign has a map of the Green Zone boundary with the location of the sign marked by a heart. The signs are translated into Dakota, English, Ojibwe, Somali, and Spanish.
The project was funded through a Green Zones grant awarded to the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute, with additional funding from the Women’s Environmental Institute.
