Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis plans to close 5 outdoor ice rinks due to low funding
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Facing a $1.5 million funding shortfall, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board announced in October plans to close five outdoor rink sites.
The proposal comes after an unusually warm winter forced the city to shut down all 22 outdoor rink sites eight days after it opened them in January. The abbreviated season cost the city $887,646, or $110,955 per day. The board cited “uncertain climate fluctuations” as well as warming room rental costs and inflation as reasons for the proposed closures.
The proposed closures include Lyndale Farmstead, Powderhorn, Webber, Matthews and Windom.
The plans frustrated some who use the rinks each winter.
“It was a total surprise to us,” said Eric Vegoe, a volunteer coach for the Minneapolis Titans, a youth hockey team. “It’s difficult to see them make that choice just off of one year. We know global warming is happening, there’s climate change. What will be the future of rinks? We don’t know. But it’s hard to see because this one’s used by so many kids.”
Vegoe said the children on his team, including his two sons, are upset. He said the closures would leave Logan Park as the only other rink site in the Northeast neighborhood.
“If they’re going to want to skate outdoors, they’re not going to be able to walk to the park,” he said. “They’re going to have to get rides and go somewhere else and find a place to play.”
The board plans to meet Wednesday to discuss the proposal. It also plans to curtail the hours at recreation centers at five locations.
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis musician Dessa, cocktail creator Marco Zappia turn music into cocktails
Minnesota Musician Dessa is coming out with a cocktail book, titled after her last album, “Bury the Lede” with a cocktail named after each track.
The recipes were created by Marco Zappia, one of the creative forces behind 3LECHE, a fermentation company.
MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Dessa and Zappia about the book.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Correction (Nov. 4, 2024) : Marco Zappia is the former beverage director of Martina and Colita. This story has been corrected to reflect his current career.
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Minneapolis, MN
'We Miss You, George Floyd' is a picture book by a Minneapolis writer that aims to start conversations with kids
We Miss You, George Floyd (U of Minn Press)
But the book — one of just two of her many books that Gibney says poured out of her in roughly its final form — is not just for Black kids and parents.
“I think for the moral and psychological health of white children, they also need to talk about this stuff with caregivers and teachers and parents and caring people in their communities. That’s part of what I really hope this book can do: give all those folks I just mentioned some sort of place to start, to develop a shared language to talk about this stuff,” said Gibney (who sometimes reviews books for the Minnesota Star Tribune).
The writer and teacher has spoken with kids about their concerns in visits to Bancroft Elementary School, which Marwein attends and Boisey attended. Gibney met kids whose families had been directly affected by the unrest after Floyd’s murder, including having their businesses burned. Her experience was that while these kids knew about the murder and were curious about its aftermath, many of them remain traumatized by things that happened when they were too young to process them.
“There’s a line in [the book] about how we can imagine a world without police violence because we can imagine a world without police. Some kids really seized on that: ‘We can’t have a world without police. We have to have police to stop crimes.’ And I would say, ‘Do police really stop crimes?’ ” Gibney recalled, adding that kids saw many possibilities. “One kid said, ‘We could take all that money and put it into housing and food.’ And these are third graders!”
Even before its release, writing the book was an act of healing for Gibney, who thinks of writing as a sacred way to work through her experiences and feelings. She began work on “We Miss You” four years ago.
“It feels like, for me, you work with something for a while on your own and then, if you’re lucky, with one or two other people — a good editor and, for children’s picture books, a good illustrator. Again, if you’re lucky, it goes out into the world and other people encounter it and interpret it and experience it through their own lenses,” said Gibney, who can’t wait to find out what readers make of her new book. “It’s this beautiful process. It comes back to you, but it comes back different. I love that process so much.”
Minneapolis, MN
MN ranked in top 10 states for jobs: survey
(FOX 9) – A new ranking from WalletHub puts Minnesota in the top ten states for finding a job.
What we know
WalletHub’s survey for the Best and Worst States for Jobs ranks Minnesota highly in both job market and economic environment rank.
Minnesota came in eighth for job market rank and third in the economic environment ranking. Minnesota also placed third for median annual income.
Earlier this year, Minnesota also ranked sixth in CNBC’s Top States for Business 2024.
Context
As always, FOX 9 urges you to take any “survey” with some scruntiny.
Companies often use surveys for marketing purposes, to establish its brand, appear trustworthy, and position the company as an expert in the field. It’s a strategy known as “thought leadership” marketing.
But often the research or methodology behind these surveys and studies can be specious, reductive, or flawed.
Top 10 best states to find a job
1. New Hampshire
2. Vermont
3. Minnesota
4. Massachusetts
5. North Dakota
6. Virginia
7. Maine
8. Rhode Island
9. South Dakota
10. Maryland
The states ranked last for finding a job
41. New York
42. Idaho
43. Wyoming
44. Oklahoma
45. Montana
46. Alaska
47. Kentucky
48. Indiana
49. Louisiana
50. West Virginia
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