Minneapolis, MN
Readers Write: The election, ranked-choice voting, homelessness in Minneapolis
I’ll be voting “no” in November and urge my Bloomington neighbors to do the same. Let’s keep RCV and advocate for the RCV local options bill, which nearly passed last session, to give all Minnesota jurisdictions the choice to adopt it.
Anita Smithson, Bloomington
The writer is a volunteer for RCV Bloomington.
The “Encampment Removal Reporting Ordinance” adopted by the Minneapolis City Council does nothing to end homelessness or encampments (“Murder charge in string of shootings,” Sept. 21). Although it is a compassionate, thoughtful analysis developed by caring city employees, it will increase bureaucracy and increase expensive bean counting but not solve the homeless challenge. It is not structured to record the crime, filth and disruption that is ruining Minneapolis neighborhoods. There will be no record of the harm done to our hardworking, taxpaying residents — the people we want in our neighborhoods — who pay for: road repairs, clean water, safe sewage, trash disposal, city lights, firefighters, officers of the peace, schools and clean, safe parks for all to enjoy. The proposed ordinance provides no record of the residents who sustain our diverse communities but move out of unlivable neighborhoods and leave our city’s tax base because of homeless encampments.
Encampments need to be removed as soon as they start by whatever means needed. Establishing, perpetuating and expanding encampments normalizes them, making them a way of life that helps no one. Many services are needed, need to be created and need to be sustained. If individuals do not want services, then collecting data solves nothing. We must top counting select numbers and eliminate encampments.
George Lundgren, Minneapolis
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis closes three beaches ahead of 4th of July weekend due to high e. coli levels
A stretch of Interstate 94 in Minneapolis has reopened after a fatal crash closed it for hours Wednesday morning.
The Minnesota State Patrol said the crash occurred on westbound I-94 near Interstate 35W around 2:30 a.m. The patrol said the crash was fatal, but did not say how many people or vehicles were involved.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation said the road was cleared just before 6:15 a.m., and a WCCO crew at the scene saw traffic moving through.
This story will be updated.
Minneapolis, MN
North Minneapolis Heritage Park tenants swelter as $500K grant sits locked for furnaces
Apartment complex A/C problem
Scorching heat is making life miserable for some at Heritage Park apartments in north Minneapolis. FOX 9’s Mike Manzoni explains the situation.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Tenants at a north Minneapolis apartment complex are struggling to stay cool as broken air conditioning and other problems remain unresolved during another day of high temperatures.
Tenants at Heritage Park turn to fans as heat rises
What we know:
Several tenants at Heritage Park are relying on fans to keep cool, but temperatures inside the apartments are still reaching the 80s.
“How I’m trying to keep cool is with this fan. I have another fan in that room,” Eddie Robinson, a tenant, told FOX 9 on Monday. “It’s an oven.”
Beyond the lack of air conditioning, tenants are facing other challenges inside and outside the building.
Some apartments have mold and dirty floors, while the exterior shows broken staircases and boarded-up windows.
Repairs and funding struggles at Heritage Park
The backstory:
The court-appointed receiver, Minnetonka-based Certus Financial, said it is waiting for a $5.1 million grant to help with repairs. There is $500,000 in city grant money available, but it can only be used for furnaces, which does not help tenants during the summer heat.
The property receives $85,000 each month from the federal government to help maintain the 200 public housing apartments.
Despite this, the complex is still losing $250,000 every month, according to the firm’s manager, Will Haase.
The property has 440 units, with nearly half set aside for public housing. More than half of the units are vacant, worsening the property’s financial situation.
Haase said his firm is working on patching 30 roofs to address leaks and has already replaced 168 furnaces. While there are still a couple of hundred open work orders, that number is down from more than 2,000 when the receivership began six months ago.
When asked if razing the complex could be an option, he said that is “never not in play.”
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