Minneapolis, MN
Changes coming to Minnehaha Dog Park to comply with standards
Pushback to proposed dog park changes
Minnesotans who use a popular dog park in Minneapolis will see changes this fall.
After the Minneapolis Park Board voted yes in a Tuesday meeting, the plan is to add fencing to Minnehaha Regional Dog Park because they explained it does not meet city dog park standards.
A woman, Michelle Garens, who’s been going to the dog park for decades had concerns about the proposal so she started a petition that garnered nearly thousand signatures.
Pet owners explained they found out about the proposal a week ago and said they feel blindsided about the plan.
It’s a sanctuary of solitude where the dogs call the shots, Minnehaha Dog Park is a beloved area for pet lovers.
“I’ve been coming here for 20 some years and it’s my favorite place in all of Minneapolis. I love it,” Garens, dog park user, said. “He’s [dog] normally off the leash here, so he’s behaving pretty well for us right now,”
Saint is one of many pups at Minnehaha Dog Park in Minneapolis running freely.
“I would take him to the other parks, and it was just too confined and a lot of dog fighting and just not a place where he could just run and play freely,” Garens said.
But soon dogs at this park will be met with some boundaries.
The Minneapolis Park Board said in a statement the current off-leash areas do not meet city dog park standards.
They added dogs running off-leash can cause environmental damage and a danger to themselves or others depending on where they roam.
The park board plans to add fencing that stretches the length of the path to the Mississippi river and other areas near the shoreline.
Park officials also want to expand off-leash areas by 10 acres.
“It seems like they’re spinning it as if we’re getting a gift of extra additional park, but really, what they’re doing is cutting us off access to a large like even a larger majority of the park,” Garens said. “This is such a naturally beautiful place as it is, and it has a lot of natural barriers to keep the dogs inside this particular place.”
On behalf of their loyal companions who can’t say much, owners explained the restrictions would change the landscape of this park, which they said was perfect from the start.
“She [dog] just would not appreciate the sort of closed off, smaller parcel of land,” John Steitz, dog owner, said. ”It would severely affect my quality of life. Her and I come here literally every day. We hike four or five miles a day just to keep her and myself in shape. There’s such a wonderful community of people here.”
The cost of this project is at least $65,000. The park board said it will be funded through the National Park Service Grant.
“Maybe we’re in too much of a rush to find a find some sort of solution that satisfies these demarcations that we’re losing sight of the fact that this might be one of the best dog parks in the country,” Steitz said.
The construction is set to be completed this fall.
Minneapolis, MN
Broken A/C leaves 75-year-old cancer patient sweltering at north Minneapolis apartments
Apartment complex A/C problem
Scorching heat is making life miserable for some at heritage park apartments in north Minneapolis. FOX 9’s Mike Manzoni explains the situation.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Tenants at Heritage Park in north Minneapolis have had to settle for fans to cool off as broken air conditioning units remain unrepaired during a stretch of scorching heat.
Tenants say broken A/C units are just the latest problem
What we know:
Multiple tenants are dealing with broken air conditioning units, leaving their homes uncomfortably hot during the day and even hotter at night.
“I don’t like it very much at all. And especially with somebody running back and forth to the hospital, I don’t need all this stress,” said Eddie Robinson, a tenant at the complex. “It’s an oven.”
Temperatures inside Robinson’s apartment routinely climb into the 80s, and he said it gets even hotter at night because he must lock up his windows for safety.
“People will come in your house if they see a window open,” he said.
But Robinson said it is actually one of the better apartments he has lived in during his dozen years at Heritage Park.
“The first unit – the rats took it over,” he said.
None of the three air conditioning units outside his building were working on Monday, and he said he could not find anyone to fix them.
Other problems at the complex
The backstory:
Heritage Park has faced ongoing complaints from tenants about rats, mold, leaks and poor water pressure, among other concerns.
City Council Member Pearll Warren recently posted a video on social media showing moldy walls and dirty floors.
Outside the buildings, there are broken stairs, busted lights and boarded-up windows.
These issues have prompted the Minneapolis NAACP to call for the city’s public housing chief to step down.
The Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, which owns the land but does not maintain the property, said it is working with the court-appointed receiver to address hundreds of open maintenance orders. The agency said the previous owner ran into financial trouble and stopped making repairs. The property entered receivership in late 2025.
Robinson, who is 75 and battling cancer, said he is just trying to make it through the summer with his support dog, Lele.
“I got to keep water out for her all the time, you know. Otherwise, she’ll get dehydrated,” he said.
The management company, Property Solutions & Services Inc., said it is offering portable air conditioners to tenants with broken central units, but Robinson said he does not want one because they do not help.
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis City Council member Aisha Chughtai taking mental health leave for a month
Minneapolis City Council member Aisha Chughtai said Monday she will be taking a monthlong leave to seek outpatient care for her mental health.
Chughtai said her “office will remain open to continue serving the people of Ward 10,” but she will miss the council meeting on July 16. She plans to return before the July 30 meeting.
“I love representing the people of this Ward. It’s the greatest honor of my life. And that’s why I feel obligated to do so to the best of my abilities,” Chughtai said in a statement. “Because of the current state of my mental health, I fear falling short of that obligation. That’s why I’m briefly stepping back. I fully expect to return energized and ready to give more than ever for the people of Ward 10 and everyone in the city.”
In her statement, Chughtai cited “a high-stakes election … several mass shootings, and a federal occupation” as recent stressors on her mental health.
Chughtai said she has notified the council and Mayor Jacob Frey, and encouraged Ward 10 residents to contact her office via email with any questions or concerns.
“I know that when I return, I’ll be back stronger, ready to form deeper partnerships, and ready to fight even harder for our neighbors,” she said.
Chughtai was first elected in 2021 to represent Ward 10, which includes the south Minneapolis neighborhoods of East Bde Maka Ska, East Isles, Lowry Hill East, South Uptown and Whittier.
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress, get help from the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. Trained crisis counselors are available 24 hours a day to talk about anything.
In addition, help is available from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI. Call the NAMI Helpline at 800-950-6264 or text “HelpLine” to 62640. There are more than 600 local NAMI organizations and affiliates across the country, many of which offer free support and education programs.
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