Additional photos from Twin Cities Polish Festival 2019

Additional photos from Open Streets Northeast 2019

About two decades after establishing that they have the right to tear down Minneapolis’ last railroad roundhouse, July 30, CP Rail’s contractors started clearing Shoreham Yard of an era when trains were king.

The orange traffic cone, sometimes called the state flower, is in majestic bloom in Northeast this season. Hennepin County, the City of Minneapolis, and CenterPoint Energy have street projects throughout the neighborhoods, some of which will go into the fall. Residents have already felt the inconvenience of parking restrictions and street closures.

County commissioners Irene Fernando (Hennepin) and Mandy Meisner (Anoka) have been in office for six months. The Northeaster decided to catch up with them and find out what their new jobs are like.

There’s a new single-family home going up on Fillmore Street near Spring, and it’s being built by volunteers. Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, which gets more than a hundred families into homes each year, estimates that by the end of 2019 at least 900 people from local companies, churches, and individuals themselves will have helped build this house, which will be home to a Somali family with 11 children. The homebuyers themselves put in hundreds of hours of “sweat equity” on the construction. Thrivent is the major sponsor.

The entrance to the Columbia Heights Pride Festival at Sullivan Lake Park was lined with women on both sides of the sidewalk, holding their arms out for anyone who might accept a hug. The members of the Minnesota chapter of Free Mom Hugs set a welcoming tone for the July 13 celebration of and for the Heights LGBTQA community.

This year was the 50th anniversary of Pride, but Columbia Heights held its first-ever Pride festival in Sullivan Lake Park on July 13, a couple of weeks after Minneapolis held their parade downtown. Lindsay Schell-Edwards, creative and social media manager for HeightsNEXT, said, “A lot of cities choose to have their pride event outside of June. For us it was based on when our organizers would be available to put on this event, as well as the availability of the park. We also believe pride is so much more than just a month!”