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125 years: Hamline Church Dining Hall
What happens if you remove I-94?
No recommendation on historic status
Farmers markets:
Summer in the cities finds metro residents flocking like sheep to partake of the bounty offered at more than 15 local farmers market from various neighborhood locations. (See sidebar on page 3.) …
MAKEOVER AT ST. PETER CLAVER CATHOLIC SCHOOL
As she looked over the new landscaping at St. Peter Claver Catholic School (1060 Central Ave. W.), longtime staff member and former student Lynn Wright said, “This looks so …
Johnson school to house LEAP
Changes are continuing for area schools. The 2022-2023 academic year will be the last in Midway for LEAP High School. The immigrant-focused program moves out of the Wilson building at 631 N. Albert …
EXPO elementary teacher releases ‘Sprinkles’
Local author and illustrator team Allison Wood and Samuel Waddle have released their first children’s picture book, “Sprinkles.” Wood, an elementary English Learner teacher at St. …
Twin Cities diversity highlighted in anthology
Carolyn Holbrook loves to bring people together to discuss difficult issues. As an educator, author and advocate for the healing power of the arts, she has spent much of her life doing just that. …
PLAN IT August 2022
AUTHOR AT RICE STREET LIBRARY AUG. 20Summer may be winding down, but there is still a lot of fun to be had at the library. Summer Spark, the library’s reading and activity challenge program for …
MANDALA DAY OF SERVICE
Twenty-four Africans from 15 countries who are part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders volunteered at the Books For Africa warehouse in St. Paul (717 Prior Ave. N.) on …
SAINT PAUL COLLEGE HONORED
The State of Minnesota has designated Saint Paul College as a Yellow Ribbon organization, becoming the 84th Yellow Ribbon Organization in Minnesota. Being identified as a Yellow Ribbon organization …
Harvest Fest coming to Tilden Park
Harvest Festival at Tilden ParkThe Como Community Council will be hosting a Harvest Festival at Tilden Park on Saturday, Sept. 10 from 3-5 p.m. Whether you come with your neighbors or come to meet …

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Monitor August 2022

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POLLS
Rebuild, Repair, Recycle
Have you heard about Plastic Free July? It’s a decade-old movement to get people to reduce their use of single-use plastics. The hoped-for result: cleaner streets, lakes, rivers, and …
Mr. Michael Recycles Bicycles is one of 108 bicycle shops across the US and Canada to receive the 2022 Bicycle Retailer Excellence Award from the National Bicycle Dealers Association (NBDA). The St. …
Asphalt or trees? A group of St Anthony Park residents gathered on Tuesday, May 31, 2022 to declare their firm allegiance to the trees.Armed with packing tape and scissors, the tree advocates affixed …

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Aging Well
“Elders from diverse backgrounds are becoming more aware of the importance of working together to build power,” said St. Paul resident Vic Rosenthal. “For many elders, because of …
Perched on a hill overlooking the Como Park Golf Course is a two-story vivid spruce green and fuchsia pink cube made of steel and glass. Situated on a bend in Lexington Ave, it’s impossible to …
At age 69, I was a “silver sneaker” poster child – fit and healthy, living on my own, fiercely independent and proud of it. Ironically, my main fitness exercise, avid fast walking …

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Voices Against Violence
 FAILED BY FAMILY COURT
Helpless and hopeless.That’s how Kelsey Kruse felt for years as she tried to co-parent with her ex and his wife, Brett and Sarah Hallow.And then one day, she got the call she was scared …
‘I RAN’
At 25, Sarah* doesn’t speak to her dad. And she points the finger squarely at him and how he treated her before and after her parents’ divorce.She knows that people often blame mom when a …
They took her children away
When Starr Jones* tells her story, people can’t believe this is happening in Minnesota. They can’t believe that the dad was investigated by child protection when their first daughter was …
'She must have done something wrong'
 Broke. Homeless. And in danger of losing custody of her children. That’s where Bonnie Roy found herself while trying to get a divorce in Minnesota 10 years ago. Because of …
You don’t have to leave to seek help
Local and national staff, along with Carmen Yulín Cruz (mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico), and Teresa Rodriguez, from Univision, who served as the emcee of Casa de Esperanza’s 35th …

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Opinion

Deceitful public process undermines democracy in Saint Paul

Two months ago, the Saint Paul Public Library (SPPL) announced its plans to demolish the historic Hamline Midway Library, claiming that the decision was the result of “extensive work with …

Chamber directory

Development
 Hamline-Midway library to be demolished
By Jane McClure The Hamline Midway Library will be demolished and replaced with a new structure for $5.8 million. St. Paul Public Library administration announced the decision May 26, 2022. Social …
Next up: figuring out rental control ordinance
Rent control for St. Paul was approved, 53 to 47 percent, by the voters. Now the challenge of figuring out the ordinance and what it means begins.The measure places a three present cap on maximum …
There’s a brand new play space at Hamline Park
Located in the Hamline-Midway area at 1564 Lafond Ave., this play space has been completely replaced, including new safety surfacing and new drains underneath to keep the playground dry. The new play …
Development Roundup November 2021
Keystone project moves aheadKeystone Community Services’ planned new and expand food shelf facilities took a step ahead Oct. 20 as the St. Paul City Council approved an allocation of $902,255 …
B Line plan moves ahead
B Line bus rapid transit service is to start in 2024, providing a faster connection between St. Paul’s Union Depot and Uptown Minneapolis. The $65 million project’s final corridor and …
Hamline-Midway
How have businesses in the Midway weathered the dual challenges of the pandemic and racial unrest? Hear from two local leaders, one from the art community and the other from the business …
By JAN WILLMS When children’s book author Ioana Stoian started taking her two and a half-year-old son, George, on walks to the Hamline-Midway Library, he would stop and point at the …
A unique and historic University Avenue building will become the Twelve22 University apartment building, as part of a larger effort to provide very low-income housing. The St. Paul City Council …

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Como
You remember the one. The one who knew the best car repair shop. The one who knew someone to get your snow blower started, or find your dog that got out. If somebody’s kid was playing a local …
It’s been a whirlwind few months at the Como Community Council, we’ve had lake clean-ups, blood drives, community gardening events, Como Tree Trek, Como Homo Hangout, new community events …
Graduation HighlightsSeniors from the Class of 2022 and their families were busy celebrating accomplishments in early June. Graduation took place at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in downtown St. Paul on …
Frogtown
In the summer of 2021, a woman came to get lunch at Shobi’s Table, a pay-as-you-can food truck started by Christ Lutheran Church (105 University Ave. W.), just because she saw the big blue …
“The naked truth is always better than the best-dressed lie.” – Ann Landers “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will… The limits of …

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School & Sports
 First skater trail opens in St. Paul
When a “skater trail” and other skater amenities opened in June at St. Paul’s Highland Bridge Gateway Park, supporters of other city skate parks watched with great interest. That …
LEARNING HOW TO SWIM AT THE YMCA
Little eyes brighten and smiles break out when mommy or daddy say it’s time to go to the pool at the Midway YMCA Saturday mornings for swimming lessons for infants and toddlers.Mitch Lallier …
Making St. Paul even more awesome
What do a Makerspace teacher at Randolph Heights Elementary School, the owner of a St. Paul Frogtown-based non-profit that provides medical supplies to Bolivians, and a library media specialist at …
Flight Academy for JROTC Cadet
On June 10, 2022, Alex Le will complete his junior year at Como with the No. 1 academic ranking in his class. Two days later, Le began training at the U.S. Naval Summer Flight Academy.Le earned a …
IN BRIEF May 2022
GREG RATHERT NEW VICE PRESIDENTSaint Paul College President Deidra Peaslee announces that Greg Rathert has been named the college’s new vice president for academic and student affairs, …
Uprising & Unrest
 Breathing new life into 27th and Lake
The 27th Avenue block between Lake and 31st Street bustled with community life. The block included a Latino night club, a popular Indian-Bangladeshi restaurant, and a community organization serving …
Learn to listen
Dr. Remi Douah is a listening presence at the “Say Their Names” Cemetery near George Floyd Square, just off East 37th Street between Chicago and Columbus avenues. He spends hours there …
Billboards at George floyd square show connection, unity
Two new artist-created billboards are up on the rooftops at George Floyd Square. Part of the Social Justice Billboard Project, “La Conneccion,” by Maria Cristina “Tina” …
Ribbon cut at Lloyd’s Pharmacy
Lloyd’s Pharmacy owner Jim Stage (back center) and his family officially cut the ribbon of their rebuilt pharmacy on Aug. 5, 2021. Celebrating with them were Mayor Melvin Carter (far left), …

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Through Their Eyes
 Origin of Racism
By JAN WILLMSFloyd Williams describes himself as a student of life, a revolutionary on many different levels: mentally, spiritually and socially. “I am definitely a person who is about my …
Help kids through trauma
Telling his own children about George Floyd’s death was one of hardest things Rev. Ronald Bell ever did Reverend Dr. Ronald Bell Jr. with his wife, Dr. Eboni Bell, and his two sons. Bell encouraged …
How to shrink the racial divide?
A conversation with the Truce Center’s Miki Lewis Miki Lewis is the founder and director of the Truce Center in St. Paul. (Photo by Margie O’Loughlin)[/caption] By MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN The first …
Through East African eyes
Unrest painful reminder of violence immigrants left behind Youth & Family Circle Eexecutive Director Mahmud Kanyare helps during a food give-away for hundreds of East African families at the …

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HOME & GARDEN
 NO MOW MAY
Let’s face it – your lawn, with all the mowing, raking, fertilizing, weeding, chemical treatment and watering it requires – is pretty much useless. At least that’s what a lot …
Tiny spaces live large
Stephen Filing of Realty Group was looking to start a real estate business in 2014. He and his wife recently had a child and wanted to start something in the area. When Filing found the tiny office …
Why you should care about bugs
When I say I love insects, I’m normally met with a blank stare. Or worst case – a shudder. It’s not a very popular take, but with insect populations drastically declining across the …
Outdoor Gardening in February? You Betcha.
It’s early February: time to start planting garden seeds! That’s right, no need to wait until Memorial Day to get started gardening. But forget the grow lights, heat mats and inevitable …
Gardening activist moves on
After many years as a Hamline-Midway resident, longtime neighborhood activist Diane Dodge moved to rural Wisconsin at the end of July. Dodge was active in racial equity and social justice work …

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George Floyd Square
 REMEMBERING GEORGE FLOYD
People gathered May 25-28, 2022 to commemorate the 2nd angelversary of George Floyd’s death. Others lost to police violence were remembered, and their families, who continue to push for change, …
A voice for justice
Becoming an activist in a worldwide movement for racial justice was beyond anything Angela Harrelson would have imagined for her life. But the murder of her nephew, George Perry Floyd, Jr. – or …
Did Minneapolis mislead, downplay public input on 38th & Chicago survey?
Since late 2020 Mayor Jacob Frey has made known his intent to reopen the intersection at 38th St. E and Chicago Ave. S. When interim design surveys were returned in spring 2021, he and city leaders …
The People's Closet makes fashion, political statement
Sometimes a revolutionary act is quiet, unseen. Sometimes it’s loud and worn on a shirtsleeve. At The People’s Closet at George Floyd Square, it’s a little bit of both.Born out of …
George Floyd Global Memorial celebrates Floyd’s 48th birthday
By JILL BOOGRENOn what would have been George Floyd’s 48th birthday, the George Floyd Global Memorial (GFGM), with community members and supporters, hosted “And Still We Rise,” a …
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