Midtown Greenway a success story

by DENNIS GEISINGER

Midtown Phillips resident Jessica Treat relies on her Fuji road bike to get around. She is the executive director of St. Paul Smart Trips, and said her favorite place to ride is the Greenway.

Have you walked across the Midtown Greenway during rush hour lately? If you haven’t, here’s some advice: Look both ways.

Traffic on the two paved lanes running through the hollow north of Lake Street, where the old Canadian Pacific railroad tracks used to lie, is steady and moving at a clipped pace and with good reason. With enough time and wind, you can ride the new bike path from Chanhassen all the way to where the Mississippi River divides Minneapolis and St. Paul, from north and south legs of the Southern LRT bike path through the Greenway to West River Parkway.

“The recognition of Minneapolis as a national leader in promoting and investing in bike/walk infrastructure has led to its selection by Congress as one of only four demonstration sites in the country to participate in the non-motorized transportation demonstration grant program,” said City Council Vice President Robert Lilligren (DFL-Ward 6). “This brings $21.5 million to spend in Minneapolis and adjoining cities to shift people from motorized to non-motorized transportation,” Lilligren said.

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Plastics ban legislation would protect children

by DENNIS GEISINGER

Minnesota Rep. Karen Clark (DFL-Minneapolis) is the sponsor of the House bill banning Bisphenol A from baby products.

Minnesota has moved onto a growing list of government bodies mounting campaigns to ban certain compounds in plastics that are common to a variety of children’s products such as baby bottles, teethers, sippy cups and toys.

“When it comes to children and our protection of children we have to pay attention to what’s going on,” said State Sen. Sandy Rummel who introduced a bill this year to ban the use of Bisphenol A (BPA) and another plastics additive, phthalates, from baby products. Her bill was tabled in the Senate, but its companion bill in the House, authored by Rep. Karen Clark (DFL-Minneapolis), is still alive in conference committee.

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Powderhorn Crime watch

BY DENNIS GEISINGER

“When you get up during the night,” Crime Prevention Specialist (CPS) Karen Notsch recommends, “take time to see out the window.” Notsch reported to the 3rd Precinct Advisory Council (3-PAC) at its regular meeting on April 28 that a suspect who had thrown rocks through the windows of several South Minneapolis businesses was arrested with rocks in his vehicle.

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Click here for a list of articles for May 2008

Christ Church Lutheran Preschool kids—with a little help from their families, the church’s youth group and a Red Cross volunteer’s book club—gathered 1,135 pounds of food for local food shelves. The church sponsors a food drive each spring. We celebrate caring kids and their “helpers.”

We’re not ready to pass universal health, says legislator

by DENNIS GEISINGER

“Timing-wise and politically-wise, we just weren’t ready to pass universal health care in Minnesota,” said State Rep. Ken Tschumper (DFL-La Crescent). “We think the level of public acceptance for a single-payer system needs to be worked on,” Tschumper said.

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MN State Senator Sandy Rummel “Safer Baby Products” bill passed, and now needs the governor’s signature to become law.

BPA ban squashed in “Baby Products” legislation

by DENNIS GEISINGER

“Yes,” confirmed State Sen. Sandy Rummel to Southside Pride on May 7, “the provision banning BPA (Bisphenol A) from children’s products was removed from the “Safer Baby Products Bill.”


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NRP is a “work in progress”

by DENNIS GEISINGER

The future of the NRP (Neighborhood Revitalization Program), which gives dollars and help with redevelopment programs to Minneapolis’ inner city, is still very much a work in progress, according to City Council members representing a large chunk of Southside neighborhoods.

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Click here for a list of articles for May 2008