Frogtown | Midway Como Frogtown Monitor

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Reparations committee formed The St. Paul City Council June 16 appointed its Reparations Legislative Advisory Committee. In January, the city Council issued an apology for its role in institutional … more

By JANE McCLURE | 7/23/21

Mt. Airy Boys and Girls Club renovation complete

A five-month renovation project of the Mt. Airy Boys & Girls Club was completed on June 14. The construction – undertaken in partnership with Minnesota United and Target and led by … more

7/23/21

A mural adjacent to the Lily Pad garden on the southwest corner of Dale St. and Lafond Ave. celebrates neighborhood pride. (Photo by Margie O’Loughlin)

Creating green space in heart of city

The Lily Pad is an emerging community garden and gathering space on the southwest corner of Dale Street and Lafond Avenue in the Frogtown neighborhood. The Hmong Funeral Home occupied that space from … more

By MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN | 6/9/21

Public hearing on Hamline library replacement, other CIP projects slated for June 14

Funding for Hamline-Midway Branch Library renovation or replacement is one of five projects that made it through the first round of the 2022-2023 Long-Range Capital Improvement Budget (CIB) process. … more

By JANE McCLURE | 6/9/21

Let’s broaden our perspectives for fair and just state, country, world

“How different would perspectives be had we all been taught about Tulsa in 1921, even as early as the fifth grade?” - Tom Hanks Hello Monitor readers, Yes, how different would our … more

6/9/21

Rebecca Calvo is the interim director at District 10 Como Council.

In Brief June 2021

St. Paul edges out Minneapolis St. Paul bumped Minneapolis to third and took second in annual Trust for Public Land’s 2021 ParkScore® index. Washington, DC, is the best city park system in … more

6/9/21

Standoff over development continues

By JANE McCLURE The St. Paul City Hall standoff over the Lexington Station mixed-use development continues. The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office won’t be asked to weigh in on … more

6/9/21

Vaccine bus visits Hmongtown Market

North End resident Xia Yang drove the vaccine bus for Metro Transit to Hmongtown Market on Thursday, April 22 for scheduled and walk-up appointments. The vaccine bus is a joint partnership between … more

Tesha M. Christensen | 5/12/21

Turonda (last name withheld by request) stands with her family and accepts the Chief’s Award for helping a young woman in a mental health crisis in April 2020. She has dealt with her own mental health struggles and used what she has learned to help the young woman. (Photo submitted)

Frogtown resident receives Chief’s Award for helping young woman in mental health crisis

Turonda (last name withheld by request) got in her car one afternoon in April 2020, buckled up, and double checked to make sure she had everything she needed for a visit to her parents. The COVID-19 … more

By MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN | 5/12/21

Marvin Roger Anderson at the Rondo Commemorative Plaza (on the corner of St. Anthony and Fisk avenues). (Photos by Margie O’Loughlin)

Connecting past, present, future

ReConnect Rondo (RCR) is leading the effort to revitalize St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood. The non-profit organization and its partners propose building a community land bridge that would cap … more

By MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN | 5/12/21

Folks ride with Mayor Melvin Carter to celebrate the opening of the newly completed trail along Ayd Mill Road on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. Off-street trails along Como Ave. and Johnson Parkway were also completed in 2020. (Photo submitted)

St. Paul Bicycle Coalition advocates for safer biking options and connections

The bicycle system in St. Paul is improving each year, in part due to the advocacy of the St. Paul Bicycle Coalition.Co-chairs Andy Singer and Ian Buck point to the increased number of bicycle lanes, … more

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN | 5/12/21

Who will get STAR grants?

Creation of an African retail plaza, a new home for the Keystone Community Services food shelf and improvements to the pavilion at Como Park are among the hopefuls competing for 2021 Neighborhood … more

By Jane McClure | 5/12/21

Frog Food May 2021

by Z Akhmetova | 5/12/21

I appreciate finally being able to exhale

“The Future Depends On What We Do In The Present.” - Mahatma Gandhi Happy May Flowers, Mother’s Day, Teacher’s & Nurses’ Appreciation and more monthly Monitor … more

By Melvin Giles peacebubbles@q.com | 5/12/21

Ramsey County partners with Salvation Army to manage Bethesda Shelter site

The Salvation Army will serve as the new shelter services provider for people experiencing homelessness at the Bethesda Shelter site in Saint Paul. This new partnership will transition the current … more

5/12/21

Mayor vetoes city council vote on Lexington station project

The much-debated Lexington Station mixed-use project likely can proceed, despite objections from some St. Paul City Council and community members. April ended with a 5-2 vote by council members … more

By Jane McClure | 5/12/21

Nick Kor, of the Asian Minnesotan Alliance for Justice, said, “A fundamental belief of our alliance is that we have to name the racism against Asian Americans. We must be clear and we must speak up.” (Photo by Margie O’Loughlin)

Asian Minnesotan leaders name the racism

In the wake of a shooting spree in Georgia that left six Asian Americans dead last month, the Asian Minnesotan Alliance for Justice is encouraging the community to name the racism.Nick Kor is a … more

By MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN | 4/14/21

A PATH FORWARD

Ramsey County doesn’t want to return to the status quo.While 2020 was a hard year with unemployment spiking at 11% last May, it brought ongoing workforce disparities to the forefront, and the … more

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN | 4/14/21

Minnesota’s First Economic Competitiveness & Inclusion Plan implemented in Ramsey County

On March 23, the Center for Economic Inclusion (the Center) joined its peer consultants Fourth Economy, NEOO Partners, MZ Strategies, and Urban3 to present the first-ever Economic Competitiveness and … more

4/14/21

Transforming Systems Together

Activist and orator Danny Givens has been chosen as the first director of Transforming Systems Together (TST) – an initiative to improve, rethink, and reshape services and programs to be more … more

By MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN | 4/14/21