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Twin Cities indy media: Here to stay?

This Friday at Breakfast with Gary

Indy Warriors: Speaking at this month’s Breakfast with Gary are The Minnesota Independent’s Andy Birkey, The Uptake’s Graig Stellmacher and The Twin Cities Daily Planet’s Mary Turck.

With traditional print journalism shrinking in recent years, including cuts in the number of staff dedicated to local news, a number of online outlets have sprung up to fill the void. Organized as nonprofits, the “new” news media has covered topics that mainstream media have ignored, and shown an ability to shape national political discussions. A speech given earlier this year about gay rights by Minnesota State Representative Steve Simon might have gone unnoticed if it weren’t for The Uptake, whose video upload quickly surpassed half a million hits.

Join City Council Member Gary Schiff and guest speakers Mary Turck from the Twin Cities Daily Planet, Andy Birkey from The Minnesota Independent, and Craig Stellmacher from The Uptake at Breakfast with Gary this Friday, June 24^th. Panelists will give their perspective on the state and strength of local independent media and discuss how local coverage of Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann is affecting the Republican Presidential nomination process. 

Breakfast with Gary is a monthly meeting held from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. the final Friday of the month at the Mercado Central, 1515 East Lake Street. $5 buys breakfast.

Tornado ravaged neighborhoods receive city funding

Photo by Tony Webster

The Minneapolis City Council has approved additional funds for neighborhood groups impacted by the May 22^nd North Minneapolis tornado. A total of $600,000 will be distributed to Folwell, Harrison, Jordan, McKinley, Webber-Camden, and Willard-Hay neighborhoods.

The funds will help to support community organizations as efforts shift from clean up to long-term recovery and rebuilding. The funds are derived from two years of interest earnings from post 2009 Neighborhood Revitalization Program funds.

Since the tornado hit on May 22, thousands of volunteers, nonprofits, church groups, businesses and government agencies have all pitched in to help residents recover and rebuild. This weekend more volunteers are needed to help on Saturday, June 25.  Shifts are 8:00 a.m. to noon or noon to 4:00 p.m., with 100 volunteers per shift. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old, commit to working a four-hour shift, be able to lift at least 40 pounds and wear thick-soled boots (ideally work boots). Family members are welcome to volunteer if they meet the above criteria. Volunteers will be provided food, work gloves, and protective eye gear. Sign up by calling (612) 673-2243 or emailing ncr@ci.minneapolis.mn.us. Be sure to include name, phone number, email address and preferred date and shift. Volunteers will get specific meeting location information once they are signed up and committed to volunteering.

 State budget fight: Clare Housing warns Governor of impact

Clare Housing provides 45 homes in Corcoran to those living with HIV/AIDS and may suffer severely if the state legislature goes ahead with proposed cuts.

As a shutdown approaches and state legislators propose cuts to the Minnesota budget, community organizations, businesses, and residents are bracing for the impact. This month, the Ninth Ward e-news takes a look at one such devastating cut aimed at Clare Housing, which provides 45 homes for people in the Corcoran neighborhood living with HIV/AIDS.

In a letter this month to Governor Dayton, Clare Housing executive director Lee Lewis warns that two of the organization’s six adult foster care homes face closure under the proposed cuts. “Reducing the availability of housing with services to people living with HIV and AIDS is a public health issue,” he wrote. “HIV is a communicable disease and housing stability is closely associated with access to care, medication adherence, lower viral loads and a reduction in behaviors that spread the virus….There simply is not a way to cut costs further while maintaining an acceptable level of care for people living with HIV and AIDS.”

Clare Housing is the largest provider of stable, safe housing and supportive services to those with HIV/AIDS in Minnesota. Each night there are an estimated 400 people living with HIV/AIDS on the streets or in shelters in the Twin Cities. Clare Housing offers 120 units of housing total, and 200 people are on its waiting list. They provide an array of housing with service options from simple rental assistance to supportive housing, assisted living, and adult foster care. Clare Housing employs 80 people. The building of Clare Midtown alone provided an estimated 200 construction jobs.

For those interested in contacting state legislative leaders at the Capitol responsible for deciding if these cuts go through, contact your state legislators, Governor Mark Dayton, as well as Senate and House leadership: Senator Tom Bakk, Senator Amy Koch, Representative Paul Thissen, and Representative Kurt Zellars.

Longfellow to reopen as school for teen moms

Longfellow Community School will house a program for pregnant and parenting students for the 2011-12 school year.

Longfellow Community School, located at 3017 East 31st Street in the heart of the Longfellow neighborhood has been closed for nearly a year due to low enrollment numbers but will reopen this fall as the Teenage Pregnancy and Parenting Program.

The program provides early childhood services to forty pregnant and parenting students and their young children. Child care, transportation, parent education and support services for student parents will be offered. According to Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson, spacing constraints forced the program to be housed in different buildings in the past few years -with parents and children split in two different locations- harming the program’s outcomes.

Other programs may be added in the future to fully utilize the building, according to Minneapolis Public Schools administrator Diane Glawe.