A thin stretch of land along East Franklin Avenue in south Minneapolis is fenced in and overgrown.

Several ‘no trespassing- MNDOT’ signs hang prominently around the one-and-a-half-acre site.

“Well, right now we’re looking at a bunch of concrete and light poles that we have put in here,” he says. “Because they don’t want an encampment to develop here again.”

But where some might see blight, Indigenous activist Mike Forcia sees opportunity.

“I would like to see this a memorial garden for all those we’ve lost to the opioid epidemic that our community’s been suffering from,” he explains. “We could have all of our community here selling their beadwork, selling their wild rice, selling their artwork.”

At least two encampments have been set up and cleared here in recent years, sometimes known as ‘The Wall of Forgotten Natives.’

At a nearby overpass, there are groups of people experiencing homelessness and hypodermic needles on the ground.

“We’re not dealing with homelessness and addiction,” Forcia declares. “You go under this bridge, there’s at least a hundred people there right now, and the shelter is right there, 100 feet away.”

Forcia says he’s contacted MnDOT in hopes the agency would turn over the property to the Native American community.

In a statement, MnDOT says it’s open to the proposal and is exploring the idea with tribal organizations and local government. 

“You know, I’ve lost quite a lot of friends due to it,” says Sanchez Brown. “It’s heartbreaking.”

Brown says she’s had her own struggles with substance use disorder.

She hopes the memorial space or garden could be the start of something new for the area.

“I think it would be beautiful to see,” Brown says. “I’d actually like to see a lot more happen to Franklin as far as buildings remodeled, things like that.”

But Forcia also wants a land-back of East Phillips Park.

He’s calling the proposal to re-use the six-and-a-half-acre park, including the gym, ‘The Red Road Village Plan.’

“Right now, if we close down the encampments, we could use that spot as a navigation center,” Forcia says. “Similar to what they had a few years ago at the Red Lake apartment building.”

He envisions a treatment center and a shelter at the gym for people experiencing homelessness.

The plan would include a tiny home village with culturally based wraparound services, including addiction treatment and employment services. 

However, the bar for the Red Road Village project appears to be high.

An MPRB spokesperson notes East Phillips Park is a thriving neighborhood park that’s part of a master planning project. 

She says in order to dispose of the land, the board would have to determine the property was no longer needed for a park purpose and a district judge would have to sign off on the sale.

That’s according to the Minneapolis City Charter.

But Forcia says he’ll keep on advocating for both projects.
  
“We’re not asking the city for any money, we’re not asking the park board for any money,” he says. “We’re asking for the land back. Once you give us the land back, we’ll take care of our own people.”

Minneapolis — Nothing gets past Minneapolis Metro Transit bus driver Jayne Arendt-Verhelst on her bus.

But last month, Arendt-Verhelst noticed a problem outside of it. Her bus was approaching an intersection when she saw a woman standing in the middle of the street waving her down. Even though the woman wasn’t at a bus stop, Arendt-Verhelst broke policy, pulled over and let her board.

“When I opened up the door, that’s when I really saw her,” Arendt-Verhelst told CBS News. “I saw her from head to toe and I was just like, wow.”

The woman, who appeared to be homeless, wasn’t wearing any shoes.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like walking around with bare feet on the hot pavement,” Arendt-Verhelst said. “And just, nobody sees you. She’s just kind of invisible, you know?”

But she was not invisible to Arendt-Verhelst, who immediately took the shoes off her own feet and gave them to her.

“I knew that you’re not supposed to drive in your socks, it’s a big no-no, but I couldn’t help it,” said Arendt-Verhelst, who has been a bus driver with Metro Transit for 18 years.

After her good deed, she contacted a supervisor from the bus to inform her of the unplanned stop.

“And I told her what I did. And she (the supervisor) said, ‘Well, you don’t have far back to the garage, so continue.’ I’m like, ‘OK,’” Arendt-Verhelst recounted.

Several riders witnessed that moment, but perhaps no one was more touched by it than passenger Sarah Seldon, who had been homeless before and knew how meaningful a simple kindness can be.

“It really, like, affected me because it was like, oh my gosh, she sees this woman,” Seldon said.

Often, we’re told to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. But in certain moments, it’s even more important to let that someone stand in ours.

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MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Metro Transit is taking extra steps to ensure safe and reliable transit services for several upcoming events in the Twin Cities and is making new changes to light rail and bus services starting on Saturday.

Every quarter, Metro Transit introduces changes to transit services throughout the Twin Cities metro area. These changes adjust the services based on current and projected ridership, available resources, and driver workforce, according to a press release. 

With several upcoming events in the Twin Cities metro and a general increase in ridership, here is what you need to know about the changes starting on Saturday. 

Changes to light rail, bus scheduling

Beginning on Aug. 17, Metro Transit says the light rail will run more frequently, and several bus route services will also have improvements as part of the quarterly service change. 

Here are a few quarterly changes implemented by Metro Transit: 

• On the METRO Blue Line and METRO Green Line, trains will run every 12 minutes between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day. Currently, trains run every 15 minutes.
• Routes 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 18, 21, 22, 32, 46 and METRO C Line will have trip and schedule adjustments to accommodate new school end times for Minneapolis Public Schools.
• On weekdays, METRO Orange Line buses will run every 10 minutes between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. northbound and between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. southbound, up from the 15-minute service currently provided during these times. On Sundays, trips will run every 15 minutes.

To see additional changes, click here. 

Upcoming events

The busy stretch of events starts with a Metallica concert at U.S. Bank Stadium on Friday, Aug. 16, and Sunday, Aug. 18, a Green Day concert at Target Field on Saturday, and a Def Leppard concert at Target Field on Monday. 

The Minnesota State Fair begins on Thursday, Aug. 22, and runs through Labor Day on Sept. 2. Metro Transit provides up to 87 express buses to transport fairgoers from several park-and-ride locations to the fairgrounds. 

In a press release, Metro Transit said there are plans in place for a busy Aug. 24. Minnesota sports teams, including the Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Lynx, Minnesota United, and St. Paul Saints, are each hosting home games on Saturday. Zach Bryan is also performing at U.S. Bank Stadium, and the Open Streets event is happening on Lyndale Avenue.

Officials said that before and after large events in the city, additional police officers and staff will help direct fans. Additionally, three-car trains will be used to accommodate an increase in riders.  

Crime down, ridership up 

While additional staff and police officers are present during large events, Metro Transit said that reported crime is down 17.5% when comparing the second quarter of 2024 to the previous year. 

Additionally, ridership has increased 9% for the first half of 2024 when compared to the previous year. 

“Across the organization, there has been a sustained and deliberate effort to make our system safer and more welcoming to riders and frontline transit workers,” General Manager Lesley Kandaras said in a statement earlier this month. “We hear clearly that there is more work to be done but are encouraged by the progress we’re making.”

To learn more about Metro Transit’s progress, visit their website here.