‘Cover Stories’ Archives
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, [...]
Controversy reaches crisis
Editor”'s note: The following was submitted as an open letter by Carol Pass, Cassandra Holmes, Chad Hebert, Clarence Bischoff, Dean Dovolis, Abah Mohamed, Steve Sandberg, and Jose Luis Villasenor. TESHA M. CHRISTENSENThe city threatened eminent domain to purchase the Roof Depot site in order to expand its public works facility at 26th and Hiawatha Ave, as viewed from the Sabo bridge. Neighborhood citizens want part of the property for use as an urban farm to create jobs for local residents. On Dec. 7, 2018 the Minneapolis City Council unanimously passed a resolution which we naively thought held out hope for serious community-driven green, sustainable activities in a portion of the Roof Depot site. We waited for over two months for a meeting with Council Member Alondra Cano to explain the “back doors” that appeared to have been opened in her “Staff Direction.” We then had a long-awaited meeting with City Chief Financial Officer Mark Ruff [...]
