Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis City Council to hear community feedback on former 3rd Precinct site
Minneapolis City Council members on Tuesday will learn more about the community’s preferences for the future of the former 3rd Police Precinct site.
The building at the corner of East Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue has sat vacant since May 2020, when rioters burned the place in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
A poll found strong support among Minneapolis residents to convert the building into a “democracy center” and community space: 63% of all respondents supported the proposal, along with 70% of respondents within the 3rd Precinct.
Plans take shape for proposed ‘democracy center’ at former 3rd Police Precinct site
The “democracy center” would become the city’s new headquarters for Elections and Voter Services, which currently operates out of a business park in northeast Minneapolis.
Staff from the Minnehaha 3000 project will present the results of the community engagement process at the City Council Committee of the Whole meeting at 1:30 p.m.
This empty storefront at IDS Center on Nicollet Mall previously housed Nordstrom Rack. (Eric Roper/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Look at the fledgling Dayton’s Project, for example, where they can’t find tenants to occupy a gargantuan former department store. City Center’s sizable spaces are now boarded up. The glassy mall-facing retail spaces of IDS Center are all empty. I can count five restaurants that have cycled through a multistory space near 9th Street and Nicollet in the last decade.
I am told that retrofitting storefronts will be expensive and a tricky sell, partly since many of the building owners aren’t based here. It would also require a significant public-private partnership. Additional work would then be needed to entice small businesses. A 2023 report from the Minneapolis Foundation, “Downtown Next,” offers some strategies to address these hurdles.
And there are some potential sources of funding to incentivize the changes.
The city is redirecting about $6 million a year in taxes from certain buildings to a special “value capture” district that was supposed to pay for a streetcar on Nicollet and Central avenues. (The streetcar project is now dead, and a slight change in state law would loosen up that money.) City leaders also recently voted to impose a new 2% tax on hotel stays, which would generate about $6 million a year toward things that help boost tourism.
The empty storefronts of the Dayton’s Project, built into the former Macy’s department store on Nicollet Mall. (Eric Roper)
While we’re talking about storefronts, the city should get serious about another more basic problem that hurts the vitality of the mall: Windows.
The city has long had special rules for Nicollet Mall buildings, saying that their ground-level facades must have a lot of transparency. After all, seeing inside businesses makes cities more enjoyable to walk around. These rules have since been extended to much to downtown.
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis woman pleads guilty to driving into crowd, killing teen and injuring 5 others
Minneapolis hit-and-run suspect due in court
The woman facing charges in connection to a hit-and-run that left a 16-year-old girl dead and five others injured in downtown Minneapolis is set to make her first appearance in court on Wednesday afternoon. FOX 9’s Bill Keller has the latest.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – The Minneapolis woman accused of driving into a crowd, leaving a 16-year-old girl dead and several others injured, entered a guilty plea on Tuesday.
Driver enters guilty plea
What’s new:
Latalia Margalli, 23, was charged with one count of second-degree murder with intent and five counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon for her alleged role in a fatal hit-and-run incident in downtown Minneapolis on Sept. 14, 2024.
Court records show Margalli submitted a petition to plead guilty to one count of second-degree unintentional murder and five counts of second-degree assault.
Prosecutors filed a notice of intent to seek an upward sentencing departure. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said on Tuesday the state will request a sentence of 285 months (23.75 years) for the murder charge, and consecutive sentences for the assault charges.
Margalli’s sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 24.
What they’re saying:
“De’Miaya dreamt of becoming a nurse. Not only did her family lose a loved one, our community lost a person who aspired to help others,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a provided statement. “Ms. Margalli made a terrible decision that changed many lives that day. This guilty plea provides a pathway to a lengthy sentence that holds Ms. Margalli accountable and protects our community.”
Fatal downtown hit-and-run
The backstory:
The crash happened on the morning of Sept. 14 near 5th Street North and Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis.
Charges allege Margalli and her friends got into an altercation with the 16-year-old victim and her friends, which ultimately turned physical. At some point, Margalli allegedly got back into her SUV and started driving in reverse, hitting another person with the car door in the process.
While the victim was on the ground fighting with someone, Margalli reportedly started heading the wrong way on 5th Street and “drove directly into the crowd of people, without breaking, and struck numerous people, including [the] victim,” the complaint reads.
Margalli then fled the scene but was followed by a witness, and authorities eventually took her into custody.
De’Miaya Broome, 16, died from her injuries at the hospital. Five others were also injured, including two 14-year-old girls, a 24-year-old man, a 28-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman. Their injuries ranged from bruises to broken legs and a head injury, according to court records.
What’s next:
Margalli is scheduled to be sentenced by a Hennepin County judge in June.
![Minneapolis hit-and-run charges press conference [RAW]](https://c107833-mcdn.mp.lura.live/expiretime=2082787200/ba1b61b94d646dc85506d94bb05e2a5b36ac9611cd2cc4b9c27b88d4d83cc049/iupl/48F/21B/48F21BB856ADC5F95B46EE61073C2D8B.jpg)
The Source: This report uses previous FOX 9 reporting, Hennepin County court records and a statement from the HCAO.
Minneapolis, MN
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