Food shelf gets $40,000 grant
Northeast Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines recently awarded a $40,000 grant to the Southern Anoka Community Assistance (SACA) Food Shelf & Thrift Store. The funding is part of FHLB Des Moines’ Member Impact Fund, a program supporting affordable housing and community development across Minnesota.
The new fund will support SACA’s efforts to better meet the needs of Minneapolis residents experiencing food insecurity.
Columbia Heights Mayor named 2025 Bush Fellow
Columbia Heights Mayor Amáda Márquez Simula has been named a 2025 Bush Fellow. The former activist and nonprofit co-founder will receive a stipend which she can use to broaden her leadership capabilities. A press release says she will “deepen her language skills, expand her leadership training and build a replicable framework for community-led governance in increasingly diverse cities.”
Block party registrations open
Saint Anthony Village has opened registration for Night to Unite 2025. The event, an annual block party, is billed as a way to “improve the safety of neighborhoods” and to “get to know your neighbors.” Registrants can request street barricades or a visit from the police department, fire department or city officials. Registered events come with a complimentary “ice cream certificate.” Interested parties should apply by noon on Monday, June 29. For more information, go to the St. Anthony Village website: https://www.savmn.com/FormCenter/Police-Department-5/Nite-to-Unite-Registration-Form-46.
Changes at SANB School Board
The Saint Anthony New Brighton School Board recently appointed Barry Kinsey to fill a fresh vacancy left by Ben Phillip, who served for six years and cited health problems as a reason for his resignation on June 7. “It’s been a great honor to serve during this time,” he said. “But now we want to fill a vacancy.” The board opted for a “streamlined appointment” due to the “very short timeframe before the (next) election.”
DeLaSalle students earn awards
Congratulations to Amelie Richard and Indira Ambur, Dexter Haeg and Henry Eldred, and Mason Kujawa and Vivian Krocheski-Meyer, all students from DeLaSalle High School. Each pair earned an Honorable Mention Award in the recent National History Day competition: the first for “The Woman Rebel: Margaret Sanger’s Crusade for Women’s Reproductive Rights”; the second for “The Broadcast that Changed Radio: Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds”; and the third for “The Great Mill Disaster: An Explosive Rights Reform.”
Congratulations, students
University of Minnesota Rochester has unveiled its Spring semester Chancellor’s List. To make it onto the list, students must have earned a 3.66 GPA or higher and completed a minimum of 12 credits’ worth of courses. Congratulations to Ajla Cerimovic and Sophie Moracco, of Minneapolis, and Alexis Moracco, of St. Anthony Village.
Columbia Heights’s own Tarrell McCoy landed the same honor at Bemidji State University.
Karly Daniels-Carlson, from Columbia Heights, was named to the Wartburg College Winter/May Term Dean’s List.
Minneapolis’s Claudia Huxmann and St. Anthony’s Josie Johnson landed spots on Marquette University’s Dean’s List.
Congratulations to Thomas Klaesges, a Minneapolis student at University of Wisconsin-Stout, who earned a spot on his university’s Dean’s List.
Normandale Community College recently announced its Dean’s List inductees as well. Congratulations are in order to Minneapolis’s Hunter Armstrong, Taliyah Crosby, Bryant Felipe, Asiya Mohamud, Adna Muse, Esmeralda Nelson, Anna Reuer, Emma Sprenger and Harper Ward; Saint Anthony’s Anna Tsukamoto; and Columbia Heights’s Abdishakur Farah.
Minneapolis’s Eli James, a Minnesota State Community and Technical College student studying Computer Programming, has been named to the school’s Dean’s List.
Lucas Kosek, of Columbia Heights, has been named to the University of Minnesota Crookston Dean’s List.
St. Anthony’s Louis Seiler landed a spot on South Dakota State University’s Dean’s List.
Safia Saleh, also of Columbia Heights, recently graduated from Normandale Community College with an Associate of Arts in Liberal Education. Several Minneapolis students also recently graduated: Sarah Cross, Pipe DiMaggio, Aislyn Saravia and Emma Sprenger with Associates of Arts in Liberal Education; Alec Prince with an Associate of Arts in Liberal Education and an Associate of Science on the Chemistry Transfer Pathway; and Joseph Kelley and Adna Muse with Associates of Science in Nursing.
Nora J. Nederloe graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts from Clark University.
David Lechleitner received a Doctorate of Business Administration from Newman University.
Emmalise Margot DeBlieck graduated Cum Laude from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology; Sophia Grace Schmidt graduated Summa Cum Laude in the University Honors Program from the same university, receiving her Bachelor of Science in Horticulture.
Parkway and road closures
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and Minneapolis Police Department recently announced road closures for the July 4 weekend. Along with some closures further downtown, the Stone Arch Bridge will be closed to pedestrians and cyclists and the 3rd Avenue Bridge will be closed entirely. The Boom Island Park parking lot will be open exclusively to vehicles with a disability parking permit. University Avenue SE from 35W to Oak Street will be limited to one lane of traffic.
Fall adult sports registration
The Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board recently opened adult registration for this autumn’s sports season. Sports on offer include basketball, flag football, pickup hockey, soccer, volleyball, softball, kickball and tennis. Officials and referees are also needed. Interested parties can visit the Minneapolis Parks website: https://www.minneapolisparks.org/activities-events/sports_leagues/adult_sports_leagues/.