MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – This neighborhood along Elliot Avenue in South Minneapolis is filled with children. For some of them, bringing the basics of the 4th estate to their block is child’s play. 

Anika Freeman is the de facto editor-in-chief of the neighborhood newspaper the kids put out once a week named the Elliot Avenue Gazette.

The 7th grader says after watching the movie “Newsies” last year, they thought it would be fun to deliver newspapers, so they decided to create their own.

“I really like just learning about all these cool things that kids have done and that are happening around the world and this is just a good excuse to learn about it,” said Freeman.

The Elliot Avenue Gazette covers everything from presidential politics to family vacations gone wrong, with all the articles penned by the neighborhood kids themselves.

Hazel Fitch writes a column called “Storytime With Hazel” about one of her dad’s misadventures in college.

“He was with his friends and they decided to take this golf cart and drive it around the campus and they got caught. So that was fun to write about,” said Fitch.

So far they’ve published about 7 editions, which they deliver on Sundays to about 20 of their friends and neighbors.

“I’ve heard from so many people ‘This is the highlight of my week. We love the gazette’. My neighbor across the alley said her second grader does the crossword every week, and she loves it,” said Anika’s mother Alicia Freeman.

In addition to hyper-local news, weather.. and sports, Freeman says there’s a healthy dose of good news in every issue.

“I feel like so many bad things are happening in the world and that’s usually like the headliners and everybody wants to know about that but there are good things that happen as well,” said Anika Freeman.

And they have no plans to stop the presses anytime soon.

“For now we are still really interested in it. so I think we are going to keep doing it,” 

While most of the newspapers have been in physical form, the kids have put out a couple of electronic editions as well, so people far beyond Elliot Avenue can keep up with all the news that’s fit to print.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – A report released last week outlines the plan for policing reforms for the Minneapolis Police Department after an investigation in the wake of the killing of George Floyd found a pattern of racial discrimination by the department.

Background

In 2023, a court approved a consent decree order between the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and the City of Minneapolis after an investigation following the murder of George Floyd. A consent decree is an agreement between two parties that is enforced by a court. In this case, the two parties are the state and the city.

The decree laid out the framework for a plan for the Minneapolis Police Department after an investigation found a “pattern or practice of race discrimination” within the department.

The consent decree laid out the goals for the department. The new progress report released last week looks at where things stand and outlines the path moving forward.

What’s new?

On Friday, the independent evaluator (Effective Law Enforcement For All) was hired to oversee the consent decree process for Minneapolis released its plan to implement changes.

The report shows the goals for the next four years. The first two years will focus mostly on implementing changes and the second two years will focus mostly on evaluating the progress of the new programs and their effectiveness.

• Year 1 (Mar. 2024 to Mar. 2025):Review and update policies for body-worn camerasPolicy and training updatesRevamp the accountability systemIncrease support for officers and officer wellness servicesBrief supervisors on their new dutiesCreate a data systems plan and map of community resources
• Review and update policies for body-worn cameras
• Policy and training updates
• Revamp the accountability system
• Increase support for officers and officer wellness services
• Brief supervisors on their new duties
• Create a data systems plan and map of community resources
• Year 2 (Mar. 2025 to Mar. 2026):Complete policy changesEnact data systems planEvaluate officer wellness progressEnhance coordination with crisis intervention teamsConduct audits on plan progress
• Complete policy changes
• Enact data systems plan
• Evaluate officer wellness progress
• Enhance coordination with crisis intervention teams
• Conduct audits on plan progress
• Year 3 and 4 (Mar. 2026 to Mar. 2029):Continue to assess the progress of the evaluator’s plan; receive public inputBegin annual policy reviews to determine if implemented policies are effective in moving forward with decree goalsOfficer wellness and data system plans should be fully enacted.
• Continue to assess the progress of the evaluator’s plan; receive public input
• Begin annual policy reviews to determine if implemented policies are effective in moving forward with decree goals
• Officer wellness and data system plans should be fully enacted.

Read more

The full report is available online and below: