Minneapolis, MN

Growing encampment in South Minneapolis prompts safety concerns

Published

6 hours ago

August 18, 2024

Growing encampment in South Minneapolis prompts safety concerns

Welna Hardware is a family business with deep roots in South Minneapolis.

“We’ve been on the block for seventy years,” owner Mark Welna says.

But he explains he has concerns about a new neighbor.

“We have another encampment in the old Super America parking lot,” Welna notes. “It’s just been very tough on the neighborhood.”

He says about three weeks ago, a couple of tents began appearing just across the street, at East 25th Street and Bloomington Avenue.

The encampment is now much bigger — and Welna says it’s having an impact.

“The shoplifting at the store, the panhandling, people afraid to come across Lake Street and shop at our store,” he declares. “On a daily basis, we’ve had people coming in and out that we’ve had to kick out that have been from the encampment.”

Welna, who has tenants living in a building next to the encampment, says some of them have moved out because of safety concerns.

“It’s really unsafe, and we really need something done,” says Angel Roa. “This is getting worse every time.”

Roa, a longtime employee at the store, has lived in the building since 1992.

He showed us hypodermic needles littering an alley behind his apartment — and part of a cardboard box used as an outdoor restroom.

Roa says the needles began appearing when the encampment went up.

He adds his 80-year-old mother, visiting from Puerto Rico, is afraid to leave the building.

“Every time we have to open the door, there’s people blocking the door using heroin and all kinds of drugs,” Roa says. “You see young people doing the heroin and stuff right in your face. It is sad.”

Welna says he believes police are doing what they can — there is an MPD security camera right next to the encampment.

“I feel bad that people feel like that, I don’t like it that people are scared or in fear, but I doubt that’s happening,” declares Nicole Nalewaja.

A 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS crew tried to speak with people in the encampment but were asked to leave.

But Nalewaja — who says she has friends and family there, agreed to be interviewed.

“We started in tents, teepees, and wigwams, whatever, right?” she says. “So, it’s like a community, we’re like a family, right, so why is that a bad thing?”

Nalewaja disputes that encampment residents have done any shoplifting at Welna’s store — and says there were drug issues in the area long before the encampment arrived.

She argues that people have a right to live there.

“We don’t want to live in houses, some people don’t want to live in houses, they want to live like we used to live,” Nalewaja declares. “So, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

City Council member Jason Chavez, who represents the area, released a statement Saturday, which says in part:

“People are going to live outside until we have enough public health infrastructure to meet their needs. If we don’t have adequate shelter space that’s effective for people and they have nowhere to go, they will be living outside in the community.”

Chavez says the city recently lost a total of one-hundred-thirty shelter beds, run by two different programs, despite a search for resources by Agate, a Minneapolis housing and services non-profit.

He says he’s also reached out to city staff to see how to address issues like more “proactively cleaning up the neighborhood and cleaning up the needles.”

On Monday, Ward 8 Council Member Andrea Jenkins is hosting a meeting to discuss the city’s unhoused community and encampment issues.

Chavez says the City Council will hold a public hearing on September 11th to discuss one of four ordinances designed to address homelessness in the city.

Still — Roa says he’s worried about the future.

“Ten years from now, what’s my neighborhood going to be?” he asks. “I work here, I go to church here, I go to the bars here, my grocery store is a few blocks away. This has been my life for over thirty years.”

Welna — who’s planning to sell the store to his children to keep the business in the family, hopes there will be a path to move forward.

“It’s very, very sad. I’m kind of at my wit’s end about this situation,” he says. “But I would hate to close down the store because of crime. That’s the part that really, it tugs at my heart.”

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Minneapolis, MN

1 resident injured in Minneapolis kitchen fire

Published

13 hours ago

August 17, 2024

Press Room

1 resident injured in Minneapolis kitchen fire

The Minneapolis Fire Department said a resident was injured after a kitchen fire.

The fire occurred on the 3700 block of Newton Avenue North at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

When crews entered the residence, they found a fire in the house’s kitchen where a stove and trash can were on fire.

Fire crews said they were able to extinguish the fire.

One resident had been injured due to the fire. The department said a resident was medically evaluated and sent to the hospital with burn injuries to their arm and leg.

The condition of the resident is unknown at this time.

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Minneapolis, MN

Downtown Minneapolis rocks with big name concerts 4 nights in a row

Published

20 hours ago

August 17, 2024

Press Room

Downtown Minneapolis rocks with big name concerts 4 nights in a row

Rock bands roll into Minneapolis this weekend

Some of the biggest names in rock and roll history are hitting downtown Minneapolis this weekend, with Metallica, Green Day, The Smashing Pumpkins, Def Leppard, Journey and Steve Miller Band set to perform over the next few days.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – In downtown Minneapolis, rock is on a roll.

“It’s incredible we are having so much fast metal music, rock music coming to the cities,” said Kathryn Lenertz.

A steady stream of fans popped into Metallica’s pop-up at North 9th Street and Hennepin Avenue to get their hands on some new merchandise ahead of Friday night’s show.

“Very, very excited. I love Metallica. They’re one of the best bands out there,” said Dawn Bera-MacDonald, who was picking up T-shirts for co-workers at the store.

The city will be rockin’ for four nights in row, with Metallica playing at US Bank Stadium on Friday and Sunday nights.

Combined with Green Day and The Smashing Pumpkins at Target Field on Saturday Night, and Def Leppard, Journey and the Steve Miller Band appearing at the Twins ballpark on Monday night, the unprecedented run of stadium rock shows is expected to hit a home run with fans.

“Extremely excited. It’s his first time going to a show in general, and I grew up with Metallica, so I decided to pass the tradition on,” said Jeffrey Zerwas, who was taking his son to Metallica’s first show and then going with his wife to see Green Day on Saturday.

“I grew up with both those bands so Metallica, Green Day, both influenced me to play. I play instruments so they were big influences for me,” said Zerwas.

But for some fans, heavy metal is a family affair.

“It’s definitely something we share with the family. Even if we don’t take more than the T-shirt or any physical things away from it. Just the family memories and the experience,” said Patrick Lenertz.

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Minneapolis, MN

Indigenous activist advocating for re-use of 2 Minneapolis properties to help those struggling with opioids

Published

1 day ago

August 17, 2024

Press Room

Indigenous activist advocating for re-use of 2 Minneapolis properties to help those struggling with opioids

Indigenous activist lays out vision to reclaim land for memorial garden, treatment hub

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.”

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