MINNEAPOLIS — After concerns over crime in the area near the University of Minnesota campus in recent years, new data is showing improvement the last few months.

From the start of the school year through December, data from Minneapolis Police shows a 49 percent decrease in reported crimes in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood, which includes Dinkytown.

The drop has come in conjunction with the opening of UMN’s off-campus safety center, as well as the colder temperatures of winter.

Feelings of safety in Dinkytown hit a low point last summer when 20 people were arrested for shooting fireworks at cars, bystanders and police.

Now, students and recent alums tell WCCO they’re feeling more comfortable in the area.

“I’m a freshman, so I felt pretty safe honestly,” said Femi Abodunrin. “At the beginning of the year there were definitely a bit more crime alerts but since then, it’s gone down.”

Mathew Krelitz graduated last year.

“I think it probably has gotten safer,” he said. “When I did attend, I did witness some crimes on this block [near campus]. I spend the weekends here and I haven’t noticed that.”

MPD data shows the number of reported crimes in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood was 144 in September, then decreased to 133 in October, 81 in November and 73 in December.

September is when UMN opened its Dinkytown safety center for both police and students.

“This will reduce opportunities for some of the crimes we’ve seen that happen, but it will also give us a foothold in Dinkytown to start building stronger partnerships that we already have,” Nick Juarez with UMN’s Department of Public Safety said in August.

“When it’s later at night there’s definitely a few police cars that I see around, and I think it does make a difference,” Abodunrin said.

She knows it’s still important to be mindful and protect herself.

“If I have something that could be used as a weapon like a water bottle, I make sure I have it handy, or if it’s later at night, I just walk around with friends and not by myself,” Abodunrin said.

A spokesperson with UMN shared this statement: 

“Though there are many ways to define safety in our community, any positive statistical trends are a positive indicator of strong community safety efforts. Working in close partnership with the Minneapolis Police Department, the University and our Department of Public Safety have invested more in public safety in the Dinkytown area than ever before. These investments have included UMPD’s mutual aid expansion, creating the Dinkytown Alert notification system, and funding additional overtime shifts for UMPD officers to conduct visible patrols throughout the area. The Off-Campus Safety Center expanded on these previous investments. It’s become an accessible resource for University students, faculty and staff, as well as those working or socializing in Dinkytown. We look forward to continuing these programs in Dinkytown, and working closely with MPD, to keep our community safe.”

The 20th annual U.S. Pond Hockey Championships wraps up this weekend at Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis.

On Thursday, Tucker Hafner was sitting at a table with his team in a heated tent after winning their first game. This tournament is Hafner’s fifth time competing with work friends, who take time off to play in the event.

“Conditions are really nice compared to last year,” he said. “It’s really hard ice, so you’re able to fly around out there. There’s just a lot of cracks, which is normal on a on a lake or a pond. So pretty darn good.”

Hafner, who lives in St. Paul, hopes his team makes it to the championship round.

“My favorite thing about being a part of this is one, taking work off — that’s awesome. And then two, just hanging out with all these guys and having a beer between games and just kind of messing around,” he said.

Mason Coudron of Minneapolis has played at Lake Nokomis since 2013. He looks forward to the hockey championship to reunite with old friends from North Dakota, where he once lived.

“It’s great getting to see people I used to play with,” Coudron said. “And then the facilities usually work really well for this. We could sit out here all day. Take a couple days off of work and just have some fun.”

Scenes from the Saturday championships

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Could Kevin Garnett be a part-owner of the Minnesota Twins?

It sounds like it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Buried deep in a recent feature from ESPN’s Dave McMenamin about Randy Mims, a longtime associate of NBA superstar LeBron James, there was an interesting nugget about potential Twins buyer Justin Ishbia wanting to line up some famous Minneapolis sports figures to be involved in the ownership group.

According to the story, Ishbia and Mims discussed several local sports stars who would fit that bill, including current Minnesota Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson, former Vikings Cris Carter and Robert Smith, Baseball Hall of Famers Dave Winfield and Joe Mauer and former Timberwolves stars Kevin Love and Garnett. Mims is fairly close with Garnett and told Ishbia, a part-owner of the Phoenix Suns and brother of Suns majority owner Mat Ishbia, he’ll get them in touch.

Garnett was previously interested in putting together an ownership group to purchase the Timberwolves, and it would be interesting to see whether he’d be interested in joining the Ishbias’ bid to purchase the Twins. There has not yet been an agreement to purchase the Twins, but it’s been reported that Justin Ishbia is “very, very serious” in his interest.

If the Ishbias land the winning bid, a direction the sale appears to be trending, it will be interesting to see whether they bring any current or former Minnesota sports stars, like Garnett, into the fold. It should become more clear in the near future as rumor has it the Pohlads are pleased with the interest and are expected to sell the team by Opening Day.