A stunning 27 percent of U.S. military veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have difficulty putting food on their tables, according to a study published online Thursday by researchers at the University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System.

That percentage is substantially higher than the already disturbing 14.5 percent of all American households that are similarly “food insecure,” or unable to reliably access sufficient amounts or quality of food to be healthy.

About 15 percent of the veterans in the study had low food security, or difficulty accessing enough nutritious food. Another 12 percent had very low food security, which meant they struggled repeatedly to access enough food of any quality. The veterans’ low-food-security rate was more than double the 5.7 percent rate of the general public.

“These findings were shocking and a lot higher than we expected,” said Rachel Widome, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of epidemiology and community health at the U’s School of Public Health, in a phone interview with MinnPost.

Minnesota vets surveyed

For the study, Widome and her colleagues at the Minneapolis VA mailed surveys during the summer of 2012 to veterans who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan since October 2001 and who had been to the Minneapolis VA for at least one outpatient visit.  The surveys were returned by 922 of the veterans, for a response rate of 52 percent, which, as the researchers point out in their study, “exceeds the response rate of nearly all other population-based survey research in Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.”

The survey asked the veterans to respond to statements about food insecurity (such as “The food that (I/we) bought just didn’t last, and (I /we) didn’t have money to get more”) as well as to questions about other health behaviors.

In addition to revealing that 1 in 4 of the veterans were food insecure, the survey found that veterans were more likely to have trouble feeding themselves and their families if they were younger, not married or in a partnership, had children in their household, had a low income, or were unemployed.

Other factors were involved as well. The veterans having trouble accessing sufficient food were more likely to report that they smoked or engaged in frequent binge drinking. They also tended to get fewer hours of sleep.

The number of tours of duty or having a mental or physical condition that was service-related was not found to be associated with food insecurity, however.

What came first?

The study's design — a one-time survey — means, of course, that it can identify only correlations between various factors and food insecurity, not causations.

“So we don’t know what came first,” said Widome. “We don’t know, for example, if having a low-income job comes first or the food insecurity comes first. But you can imagine potential causal connections between these things. You can even imagine how some of these things might be cyclic.

Rachel Widome

“Someone who is struggling to afford food might be under a lot of stress, and that stress could be influencing their sleep, and those things might make it more difficult for finding a job or being able to work,” she explained.

Widome and her colleagues believe their findings may actually underestimate the number of veterans nationally who have trouble securing food.

That’s because the vets who responded to the survey were more likely to be older and married  — two factors associated with a lesser likelihood of food insecurity — than the vets who didn’t respond.

In addition, Minnesota has more employment opportunities and less overall food insecurity than other states, said Widome.

“Given that, one might think that veterans of other states might be dealing with even more food insecurity than our veterans were,” she said.

Needed: awareness and jobs

The study is the first to look at the issue of food insecurity among veterans. Widome hopes its findings will not only make people aware of the issue, but also help instigate more programs that will connect veterans in need of food assistance to programs that will provide that assistance.

“But really the best thing to do — the real long-term solution — is to continue working with veterans to provide them with jobs that pay a livable wage,” said Widome. “If you have sufficient resources, then affording food is not a problem.”

“The United States has engaged in two wars that have been immensely expensive,” she added. “The estimates for the costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq range between $4 and $6 trillion. They went on for over a decade. I just think it’s unconscionable that such a sizeable proportion of our military that we sent to fight these wars are struggling to afford food.”

The study was published in the journal Public Health Nutrition.

If you don’t know about the Hennepin County Board election next Tuesday, you’re not alone. Marion Greene and Anne Mavity have not been buying billboards or airing radio commercials. They don’t have time.

What they have been doing is trying to contact the Minneapolis/St. Louis Park district’s primary voters before the May 13 general election. Greene, a former Minneapolis state representative, prefers going door-to-door. Mavity, a St. Louis Park City Council member, works the phones.

Both are liberal DFLers, so teasing out the differences in this barely noticed race can be subtle.

LRT, health care, human services

MinnPost photo by Karen Boros

Anne Mavity

On the hottest-button issue, both candidates favor the establishment of a regional transit system that includes Southwest Light Rail, which runs though — and has cut a vein in — both district cities.

Mavity once cast the only vote in favor or moving the freight line to St. Louis Park — in a community that was strongly opposed to that option. Greene says it is time to move ahead with the project that has been strongly opposed by many Minneapolis district residents.

The two most-upset communities now have no one representing them on the County Board, following incumbent Gail Dorfman’s February resignation to become Executive Director of St. Stephen’s Human Services. May 13’s winner will be sworn in as soon as election results are official. 

Hennepin County Commissioner Linda Higgins notes that winner will face a SWLRT vote right away. The County Board is hosting a May 29 open house; a public hearing with a municipal consent vote is scheduled for late June.

Coming in this late will be hard on any candidate, notes Higgins, who joined the board in 2012: “I got here 15 years after they started Southwest. It’s hard to comprehend.”

Half of the county’s annual $1.3 billion budget is spent on health care and human services. Mavity comes to the race with a background in affordable housing and homelessness, which covers the human services part of the budget. Greene covers the other big chunk of the budget with her background in health care finance and early childhood issues.

“They are interested in the focus on childhood,” said Greene of the people she talks to.

Says Mavity, “I think the framing issues our community is dealing with are equity and smart growth and sustainability, and they have to go hand in hand.”

Powerful endorsements

Higgins has endorsed Greene; both served in the Minnesota legislature before redistricting cost Greene her House seat to fellow incumbent Frank Hornstein. Hornstein and Minneapolis City Councilmember Lisa Goodman are among the prominent elected DFLers backing Greene.

Says Higgins, “She has a great way of listening, asking good questions,” adding Greene’s background in health care and finance will bring a new voice and “external knowledge” to the discussion of those topics.

Higgins is the only sitting board member to endorse in the race. But Mavity scored a coup when Dorfman endorsed her.

“I worked on a lot of projects with Anne,” Dorfman said, including housing and homeless issues at Hennepin County, where Mavity served briefly on Dorfman’s staff.

“Because of all the work she has done in St. Louis Park and Minneapolis, she is really well connected, she knows all the players, she can pick up the phone,” Dorfman said. “She’s clearly somebody who can hit the ground running.”

“In recent years relations between Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis have often not been as collaborative as they should be,” Dorfman added. “Anne has the connections at City Hall. She is a friend of [Mayor Betsy] Hodges. They run together.”

MinnPost photo by Karen Boros

Marion Greene

Greene — spokeswoman for Hodges 2013 election rival Mark Andrew — also has a powerful City Hall ally: Goodman, who heads the council’s Community Development committee.

“Marion is not just the candidate I’ve supported, she’s really the better candidate in this race,” Goodman said. “Marion has a level of expertise in health care that really no one else on the board has. She also has a broad base of knowledge of children’s issues, she did a lot of children’s-related work at the legislature and I think that sets her apart from other County Board Members.

“Marion really took it upon herself as a legislator to be very active in the community and encourage people, as an elected official, to be in touch with her,” said Goodman. “I think that was one of the things she did best as a legislator. She was really connected to people.”

Across the border, St. Louis Park Mayor Jeff Jacobs champions colleague Mavity.

“What I like about Anne is her commitment to the public process,” said Jacobs noting that in his community they start the public discussion when there is a problem and keep going until they come up with a solution. “Ours is a very engaged and very grass roots process.”

A recent ongoing debate about sidewalks provoked a lot of public discussion. Some wanted concrete. Some wanted to keep the grass.

“Anne did a remarkably good job of working with the neighbors,” said Jacobs, describing Mavity as a good listener who is good at articulating her position and who does her homework.

“She’s changed my mind on more than one occasion because of her research,” Jacobs said. “Anne is very personable, she has a great background and would bring a unique presence to the county.”

Speedy strategy

Both campaigns have been targeting their calls and door-knocking likely voters and past supporters. In the primary, Mavity won 22 precincts to Greene’s 21. But Greene won 2,247 total votes to Mavity’s 1,768.

MinnPost photo by Karen Boros

Greene campaign manager Ray Hoover

“I think what brought us our success in the primary was that we had been hard at work for months making sure we were knocking on doors and calling voters on the phone,” Greene campaign manager Ray Hoover said.

“We did a really great job over the four days leading up to the primary of connecting with voters and making sure we got the folks out to vote,” said Hoover. “Marion has a lot of supporters among traditional voters, and her former constituents all got out to vote for her, so we’re optimistic that we can drive more of those folks to the polls on May 13.”

Says Mavity campaign manager Michael Ohama: “You pick the neighborhoods you need to go into and you just start calling, start calling, start calling, start calling. You reach out to as many people as you possibly can.”

MinnPost photo by Karen Boros

Mavity manager Michael Ohama

“The nice thing about the short nature of this is that the call to volunteers is a little easier because there is no time,” Ohama said. “That urgency is very real. They can feel that. It helps keep your volunteers energized. Engaged. This isn’t the middle of July when the election is not for another few months. It’s right here. It’s right now.”

A closer look at the primary results reveals that Mavity carried all but one precinct in St. Louis Park and seven precincts in Minneapolis. All of Greene’s winning precincts were in Minneapolis and, while she did not win a precinct in St. Louis Park, she did win 214 votes there, or about 10 percent of her tally.

“To me, it’s really important to talk to people across the district,” said Greene who has been advised to concentrate on Minneapolis but is moving ahead with plans to campaign in St. Louis Park. “You learn so much when you go door-to-door.”

Says Mavity, who grew up in Minneapolis, “My life has been intertwined in this district for so long it doesn’t take much to scratch the surface and have a connection with the person on the other end of the phone.”

The four candidates eliminated in the primary had about a third of the votes. The third- and fourth-place finishers, newcomer Ben Schweigert and former State Senator Ken Kelash, have not endorsed a finalist.

Whomever wins faces another primary in August and general election in November for a full four-year term beginning next year. 

Pedro Florimon started 127 games at shortstop for the Twins last season and began this season in the same role, but now the 27-year-old defensive specialist finds himself mostly on the bench in favor of Eduardo Escobar. Ron Gardenhire has said that he plans to mix and match, but with Florimon hitting .109 and Escobar hitting .348 it seems safe to assume that Escobar will get an extended opportunity to claim the gig as his own. 

Florimon was always ill-suited to be an everyday player because he just can't hit and his defense, while very good, is not at the elite level needed to cancel out his lack of offense.

For Florimon's career, he's hit .208/.268/.306 in 678 plate appearances as a big leaguer and .250/.317/.352 in 1,150 plate appearances at Double-A and Triple-A. For some context, consider that bad-hit, good-glove role model Nick Punto's career OPS is 73 points higher than Florimon's mark in the majors.

On defense, Florimon makes lots of slick-looking plays, but he also botches his fair share of routine plays and overall Ultimate Zone Rating pegs him as 3.4 runs above average per 150 games. That's good but not great and when combined with a terrible bat makes him a utility man-caliber player being pushed into a larger role because the Twins lack other decent options.

Or do they? Escobar is hitting .348 and delivered a game-winning homer Monday night, after all.

Of course, even with his good work in a small sample of action this season Escobar is still a career .244/.295/.335 hitter in 383 plate appearances as a big leaguer. He also hit just .266/.312/.376 in 875 plate appearances at Triple-A, which is basically what Florimon did with slightly more power.

However, it's worth noting that Escobar is a couple years younger than Florimon and has recently shown some actual signs of improvement offensively.

In addition to hitting .348/.380/.522 in 53 plate appearances for the Twins this season, Escobar also hit .307/.380/.500 in 188 plate appearances at Triple-A last season. That's still far too small of a sample to get particularly excited about, especially when the good overall production comes along with poor strike zone control, but unlike with Florimon there's at least a little something on which to base some level of optimism for Escobar's bat.

Defensively, he's logged a grand total of just 375 innings at shortstop in the majors, so it's tough to make any real judgments, but Ultimate Zone Rating shows Escobar as 11.3 runs above average there per 150 games.

Toss in the consistent praise he received defensively in the minors and it seems fairly safe to say that Escobar probably has at least an above-average glove there. So he's younger than Florimon, can't be any worse offensively, and may be as good defensively. 

That's enough to convince me Escobar should be above Florimon on the shortstop depth chart — but then they aren't the only two options.

Eduardo Nunez, who was claimed off waivers from the Yankees last month, has plenty of experience as a starting shortstop in the majors subbing for Derek Jeter and the Twins seem convinced that he has offensive potential at age 26. Sadly, his defensive numbers are historically awful and there's little evidence that he's not a terrible hitter.

For his career Nunez has hit .268/.314/.379 in the majors and .272/.315/.365 in the minors, including .275/.318/.360 in 716 plate appearances at Triple-A. He's a better hitter than Florimon and might be a slightly better hitter than Escobar, but Ultimate Zone Rating pegs Nunez as 33.9 runs below average per 150 games at shortstop. Even if you give him the benefit of the doubt and cut that number in half Nunez isn't so much a shortstop as a guy who has played shortstop.

And then there's Danny Santana, a 23-year-old prospect called up from Triple-A way ahead of schedule because injuries left the Twins short-handed.

Santana has gotten a surprising amount of prospect hype for someone who hasn't actually done much to deserve it. He's posted some decent batting averages in the minors, which along with good speed and athleticism tend to get lots of people excited, but he's also never cracked a .750 OPS in a season and makes a ton of errors. 

Last season at Double-A, he hit .297 with 30 steals in 137 games, but he also managed just two homers and 24 walks in 587 plate appearances. This season at Triple-A prior to being called up, Santana hit .268/.311/.381 with zero homers and a 28-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 24 games. He's clearly not close to being MLB-ready and there's plenty of reason to question whether he'll ever be ready to contribute as more than a utility man.

In the short term, Escobar over Florimon seems like a fairly easy choice for Gardenhire and in the slightly longer term perhaps Santana will emerge as a viable option late this season or next, but as has been the case for more than a decade now the Twins lack long-term shortstop options that look capable of being assets both offensively and defensively. Their next good shortstop probably isn't in the organization, assuming such a person has even been born yet or will ever exist.

WASHINGTON — College administrators and legal experts convene on Capitol Hill Thursday to warn Rep. John Kline and his Education and the Workforce committee against the ill effects of unionized college athletes — a view already shared by Kline and other Republicans.

When a National Labor Relations Board regional director ruled in March that Northwestern University football players could collectively bargain, Kline said it was a decision that “threatens to fundamentally alter college sports,” and promised his committee, focused on education and labor issues, would take a look at the ruling. 

In the meantime, Northwestern appealed the ruling to the full NLRB, and the players' unionization ballots have been impounded until the board reaches a decision.

Kline said Wednesday he has a series of concerns about the potential impact of the decision: what if only some schools are allowed to unionize? (The NLRB only covers private entities, so it has no jurisdiction over public schools like the University of Minnesota.) What if unionized players try to dictate how many games they intend to play, contrary to what’s on the schedule? How would walk-on players be treated differently than athletes with scholarships? What if there’s a strike?

“This is such a radical departure from long-standing labor policy that I was concerned it would have ramifications that are far-reaching,” Kline said.

The NLRB’s March ruling reinforced the traditional Republican-Democrat split on labor issues. Democrats said the ruling was a good step toward treating student-athletes as university employees, responsible for millions of dollars of revenue for their schools and worthy of collective bargaining.

Republicans warned the ruling would upset the traditional structure of college athletics, where players’ scholarships, and the college education that comes with it, are considered compensation for their role on the field.

Ken Starr, others to testify

Republicans control the U.S. House, so most of the conclusions reached at Thursday’s hearing (titled, “Big Labor on College Campuses: Examining the Consequences of Unionizing Student Athletes”) are likely to reinforce with their point of view.

Witnesses include college administrators from two private schools (Baylor University President Ken Starr and the athletics director at Stanford, Bernard Muir) and lawyers who have argued for and against college athletics unions.

“These are basic questions that we can ask, and I think that the witnesses that we’ve got are a pretty good group,” Kline said.

But Minnesota sports and labor law experts who agree with the NLRB’s Northwestern ruling said they’re not expecting any new, blockbuster opinions at the hearing.

“Any hearing that starts with ‘Big Labor,’ you know what direction that’s going to go,” University of Minnesota labor policy professor John Budd said. “Just like any hearing that starts with ‘Fat Cat CEOs.’ ”

Unionization 'beside the point'

Minneapolis attorney Steven Silton said lawmakers would be better served if they heard from NCAA officials who have a financial stake in preserving the status quo, and who could mitigate the need for collective bargaining if they worked with students to provide the services a union might demand (Northwestern’s players, for example, aren’t looking to be paid right now, but they want more medical coverage for injuries and the ability to secure their own scholarships).

“If [NCAA president] Mark Emmert is brought in front of Congress, just to testify, that in and of itself would probably do enough to push the needle toward something,” Silton said. “Bringing in people to talk philosophically about whether or not unions are the answer to the problem is really beside the point. These kids are having their talents exploited for profit.”

Budd agreed, saying the issue isn’t necessarily whether students should be allowed to unionize, but whether their schools fairly compensate and provide for them.

To that end, Kline said he hasn’t landed on what the right approach should be — just that collective bargaining isn’t it.

“I think it’s clear that the colleges and universities and the NCAA have a responsibility to provide for their students,” he said. “But I don’t think unionization and the confusion that may come because of that, I don’t think that’s the right answer.”

Congress can — but probably won't — do something

If Congress really wanted to, there are a couple things it could do to influence a labor spat within college athletics.

Lawmakers could amend the National Labor Relations Act to explicitly include or exclude college athletes from collective bargaining eligibility. But since its enactment in the 1940s, Congress has rarely touched the law, Budd said, most recently expanding it to cover non-profit hospital employees in the 1970s. And with divided government in Washington, it’s certainly not happening this year.

House Republicans have clashed with the NLRB more recently. In 2011, the House passed two bills meant to overturn NLRB rulings, one looking to block airline manufacturer Boeing from moving jobs from Washington to South Carolina, a right-to-work state, and another to speed up the timeline for union elections. The Senate, controlled by Democrats, never touched them. Kline’s Education and Workforce Committee approved a new version of the latter bill last month.

“We have really tried to rein in what we think are extreme over-reaches of the National Labor Relations Board,” he said.

Kline said he hasn’t found a legislative approach to college sports unionization yet. But Budd said he doubts lawmakers will nudge their way further into this fight, at least for now.

“One would think that the political calculus would be: Is this the issue we want to prioritize?” he said. “With everything else that’s going, I don’t think that would a very effective re-election strategy.”

Devin Henry can be reached at dhenry@minnpost.com. Follow him on Twitter: @dhenry

Spring fever has settled in on the Minnesota state Capitol.

Lawmakers have logged long hours in committee rooms and on the House and Senate floors, hoping to adjourn before the Constitution’s May 19 deadline. But those dreams are on hold, since DFL-dominated House-Senate conference committees made little progress last weekend.

In a pointed letter to legislative leaders this week, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton staked out substantial differences with legislators on the big three remaining to-dos: Bonding, tax cuts and spending.

A major complication: all three are somehow tied into the roughly $600 million remaining in the state’s $1.2 billion budget surplus. The size of each pie slice depends on whom you ask.

Counting cash, votes on bonding

Traditionally, bonding — construction-project borrowing — is separate from spending decisions and tax cuts. Not this year.

DFL leaders are chafing under a $1 billion biennial bonding cap negotiated in 2013 with senior Republicans. There’s $850 million left for 2014, and House Capital Investment Chair Alice Hausman believes a few million more would get the deal done. 

Track the bonding bill

Get the latest on the bonding bill
with MinnPost's 2014 Legislative
Bill Tracker.

“A little flexibly would help, just a little,” the St. Paul DFLer said. “Could we add $10 million more to $850 million in bonding?”

Hausman — who saw her bonding bill fall five House votes short last year — is apprehensive. She’s been holding meetings, counting votes and swapping in and out projects for a scheduled Monday floor vote.

Because borrowing requires 60 percent support, Hausman needs eight GOP votes to pass the bonding bill; Senate counterpart LeRoy Stumpf needs two.

However, on Monday, a group of rank-and-file legislative Republicans — without their caucus leaders — said they have no plans to break the $1 billion cap. They also asserted their unhappiness with the current bonding proposals, criticizing projects like the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and fixing ski slopes in northern Minnesota.

They called for more investments in roads and bridges and crumbling infrastructure, as well as the full $70 million needed to finish the Lewis and Clark water pipeline in Luverne. Democrats have proposed spending between $13 and $20 million on that project this year.

“We clearly have different priorities,” Rep. Matt Dean, the Republican lead on capital investment, said. “There’s been no commitment from us or leadership on votes for the bonding bill.”

‘Excessive’ spending

To get around the bonding cap, DFLers have agreed to spend $200 million from the surplus for bonding-type projects. But that would take money away from some combination of spending and tax cuts.

Dayton said this week he’d rather not use cash in the bonding process at all, although he has agreed to use that source for the $126 million remaining to restore the state Capitol. “I continue to believe that the use of cash in a bonding bill contradicts its very purpose and that cash should not be used for major capital investments,” he wrote in his letter. 

The governor has reserved his sternest assessments for the Legislature’s spending proposals.

Calling for fiscal restraint at the session’s start, Dayton proposed spending just $168 million from the surplus. He subsequently agreed to bring that up to $263 million, but lawmakers want to spend somewhere closer to $300 million. “Your spending target, totaling an additional $313 million, is excessive, in my judgment,” Dayton wrote.

That target — plus $102 million in tax cuts — leaves little wiggle room to put additional funds in the state’s budget reserves, Dayton added. He’d like to see another $100 million in that rainy day fund.

House Ways and Means Chairman Lyndon Carlson said spending goals were “lot closer than I think we were given credit for in the letter.” House-Senate spending negotiations were part of the weekend stall.

Legislators and Dayton have agreed on one major spending item for the year: about $83 million to give long-term care providers a 5 percent rate increase this year. But the House and Senate mostly break apart from there, with the House interested in broadband for rural Minnesota and adding to the state’s education formula, while the Senate seeks early childhood education grants. 

“I think the House has been really clear that we think it’s important to use some of the surplus to invest in Minnesota, especially in areas like education, potholes and broadband,” House Majority Leader Erin Murphy said.

Carlson said another major sticking point is how much spending should be allowed in “tails” — committed spending in future years, such as the 2016-2017 biennium.  Legislators have tried to clamp down on tails after years of budget deficits.

“There’s three parts of the equation, the governor and the House and Senate, and in the end we will have a blending of the three of them,” Carlson noted.

Agreement on taxes 

Taxes is one area where legislators have -- after many hours in  hearings -- found some common ground.

MinnPost photo by Briana Bierschbach

Revenue Commissioner Myron Frans talked with Senate Taxes Chair Rod Skoe during Wednesday's Tax Conference Committee meeting.

In a deal wrapped late Wednesday night, House and Senate conference committee members agreed to spend $103 million on everything from property tax cuts to extending sales tax exemptions to local goverments operating in joint agreements.

Roughly $17 million of those property tax cuts would go to farmers by enhancing the market credit for homested farms, $12 million to homeowners in one-time refunds this fall and another $12 million to a boost the renters' credit refund. 

The deal didn't, however, include a priority from Dayton to extend income tax child care credits to more families. 

Revenue Commissioner Myron Frans said the credit would would have cost state about $30 million a year and expanded it to those making $70,000 a year, or $94,000 a year for families with two children.

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House and Senate tax chairs haven't inked the deal yet, with plans to do so on Monday, but House Taxes Chairwonman Ann Lenczewski says she expects it to hold. Republicans support the proposal and Dayton has said he plans to sign the bill even without the child care credit. 

According to Stumpf, a wishful adjournment date — this Friday, May 9 — looks out of reach. “I think everybody realized that from day to day you don’t accomplish as much as you like,” he said. “It’s slow-moving.”

Despite the all differences that remain to be worked out, some lawmakers note that there’s still hope for getting out at least a little early: No votes can be taken on May 19, the biennium’s last day. Perhaps they’ll get an extra weekend back home.

Progressively soggier skies didn't stop Minneapolis mayor Betsy Hodges from taking part in the city's Bike to Work Day. Hodges, astride a bright green Nice Ride bike, met up with Ward 10 Council Member Lisa Bender and a group of rain-hardy cyclists to make the ride from Uptown Minneapolis to the City Hall's Bike to Work Day celebration. 

Riders pedaled over a variety of Minneapolis' bike infrastructure — from the Bryant Ave. 'bike boulevard' to the Lyndale-Hennepin separated path through Loring Park, on bike-bus-and-taxi-only Nicollet Mall and over on-street bike lanes like the one on 4th street, sandwiched between 3 lanes of car traffic and a bus lane running the opposite direction.

Still, on the few occasions riders needed to "take the lane," car drivers were courteous — it was not clear whether they recognized the mayor among the riders they were yielding to or not.

MinnPost photo by Tom Nehil

Upon arrival at Government Center, Hodges proudly displayed her "I biked" sticker.

Other rides scheduled for this morning included a North Side ride with Council Member Blong Yang and Hennepin County Commissioner Linda Higgins; a Northeast ride with Council Members Kevin Reich and Jacob Frey; and a South ride with Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, Council Members Andrew Johnson, Abdi Warsame, and Alondra Cano.

CC/Wikimedia/Jonathunder

Rep. Jim Oberstar

Without question, Jim Oberstar will long be honored as one of Minnesota’s most effective members of Congress. He had an uncanny ability to get things done and never shied away from what may have appeared to be an impossible mission.

Early in my administration, we were beset with the problem of a takeover of Northwest Airlines and a subsequent request for the state to lend money in return for some long-term commitments. This came on top of trying to deal with a multi-billion dollar deficit and passing a highly controversial wetlands protection bill. Believe me, we needed friends, particularly on the Democratic side of the aisle.

And help came. Shortly after the Northwest Airlines takeover, we reached out to Congressman Jim Oberstar because it affected his district and no one in Congress was more versed on transportation issues. He responded and came onboard with full enthusiasm and an endless array of solutions. Never once did he raise a partisan concern. No, he folded up his sleeves, joined the team, and made the ultimate package a bi-partisan effort. What was impressive was his knowledge of the issues as well as the players involved. But at all times, his focus was on keeping the 20,000 plus jobs in Minnesota and preserving Minnesota as a hub. He was the Lou Gehrig of our lineup.

Later, in visiting Washington, I got to know him more as a person. He was a genuine renaissance man. His education and intellectual curiosity was first rate. After graduating from St. Thomas University in St. Paul, he received his M.A. from the College of Europe in Belgium and was fluent in six languages including French. But he was also a type-flight historian. I suspect he had a hard time making a career choice being torn between teaching at a University or serving in Congress. From my experience, I can tell you he did a lot of both.

One day, he took me on a tour of Congress and pointed out where various historical debates occurred, the contents of the debates, and the colorful stories that surrounded those historical moments. I was dazzled by his brilliance and his retention of history.

Jim Oberstar was a superb example of the best in public service. He understood that partisanship and political competition was a means to attaining office but that the end goal was to develop good public policy. To achieve that end, he was willing to reach across the partisan divide. I was honored to be his partner.

This post was written by Gov. Arne Carlson and originally published on the Governor Arne Carlson Blog.

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Members of Minnesota’s Oromo community plan to rally Friday in St. Paul and are calling for a hunger strike to mourn the deaths of student demonstrators gunned down last week by Ethiopian security forces in Addis Ababa.

Oromo students and others in Ethiopia have been protesting since April 26 a plan to develop the capital Addis Ababa, saying the proposal will displace farmers in the city outskirts, erase significant landmarks and dismantle the rich culture and identity of the ethnic Oromo people. Because the Oromia region surrounds Addis Ababa, an expansion of the city will mean a further blow to the region and its people, who have been marginalized for decades, they say.

Addis Ababa city officials argue the plan will develop and improve the city — one of the fastest growing cities in Africa — and its surrounding suburbs.

Thousands of people, mostly university students, took their anger and frustration to the streets of Addis Ababa to express their disapproval of the plan unveiled in April. The ongoing demonstration erupted in violence May 1, the day U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Ethiopia as part of a tour of Africa.

There are conflicting reports about casualties, with government officials saying the death toll has grown to 11 and witnesses counting nearly 50 dead.

Hassen Hussein, an assistant professor at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota and a longtime Oromo community activist, said in an interview Thursday that the regime has killed more than 75 demonstrators and wounded up to 200.

Whatever the case, Nasser Mussa, a Minneapolis Oromo-American activist, noted that the demonstrators have been peaceful and were attempting to exercise freedom of expression and demanding their rights.

“Killing unarmed protesters is unacceptable and should not be tolerated,” Mussa said. “The Ethiopian government says they are democratic, but they have been doing undemocratic things for years, including the killing of innocent people and committing other serious human rights abuses.

“The current situation there is making me feel terrible,” said Mussa of the unfolding political tensions and violence in Ethiopia. “Those killed are like brothers and sisters to me.”

Friday protest at state Capitol

Members of the Oromo community in Minnesota will assemble Friday outside the state Capitol to call attention to the killings and condemn the Ethiopian regime. At the rally, which will run Friday to Sunday, demonstrators plan a hunger strike and a 24-hour vigil.  

Courtesy of Hassen Hussein

Hassen Hussein

“Although experience of oppression at the hands of the Ethiopian government is not new to the Oromo population in the Twin Cities, nothing in my recent memory has moved the community as much as the killings of peaceful protesters these past two weeks throughout the vast Oromia region,” said Hussein.

An estimated 40,000 Oromos live in Minnesota, the largest concentration outside Ethiopia. Hussein, who is organizing the protest, and other demonstrators hope the event will raise awareness.

“The regime is a strong ally of the United States,” Hussein said. “We want the U.S. government to reconsider its policies.”

The United States provided the Ethiopian government more than $135 million for humanitarian aid this year. Hussein and Mussa said that aid isn’t used to assist vulnerable populations. Instead, they said, it’s used for human-rights abuses.

“We need to stop our tax dollars from killing innocent people, our children,” Mussa said. “We need to hold the Ethiopian government accountable for what they’re doing.”   

Human-rights abuses

According to a 2013 report by the U.S. Department of State, the most common human-rights abuses Ethiopian forces commit include suppressing freedom of expression, harassment and intimidating journalists and politicians. The report added:

Courtesy of Nasser Mussa

Nasser Mussa

The East African country has more than 80 ethnic groups, according to the report. It has a federal-government system, with its boundaries generally divided into ethnic groups. Likewise, its political parties largely remain ethnically segregated. Other human rights problems included arbitrary killings; allegations of torture, beating, abuse, and mistreatment of detainees by security forces; reports of harsh and, at times, life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; detention without charge and lengthy pretrial detention; a weak, overburdened judiciary subject to political influence; infringement on citizens’ privacy rights, including illegal searches; restrictions on academic freedom; restrictions on freedom of assembly, association, and movement; alleged interference in religious affairs; limits on citizens’ ability to change their government; violence and societal discrimination against women and abuse of children; trafficking in persons; societal discrimination against persons with disabilities.

The Oromo ethnic group makes up about 40 percent of Ethiopia’s 94 million people, the largest ethnic group in the country.

BBC World News report on the Oromo protests.

St. Paul's Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity will hold a Holocaust Day of Remembrance ceremony Friday; city leaders will honor Sam Rafowitz, a Twin Cities resident who survived the concentration camps.

The noon event in the City Hall basement rooms will include a 30-minute documentary about Rafowitz, who was a teen in Warsaw at the start of World War II, but was then taken to a Nazi concentration camp. He spent the next four years in five different camps.

Rick Kupchella of Bring Me the News interviewed Rafowitz last year.

The city hall event is co-sponsored by World Without Genocide at William Mitchell College of Law, which "promotes education and action to protect innocent people, prevent genocide, prosecute perpetrators, and remember those affected by genocide."

And officials said Friday, May 9 will be declared “Sam Rafowitz Day” in the City of Saint Paul.  

Former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer will be honored next month when the city formally renames the historic downtown Central Library the "George Latimer Central Library."

Latimer, 79, was mayor of St. Paul 1976-1990 and has become a revered elder statesman in the city.

Reached at home this morning, he said, "When (current Mayor) Chris Coleman told me about it, I was kind of embarrassed at first. ... But I'll get over it."

He's always been so good with a quote.

Latimer also said, "I was so moved when he told me that I really was speechless. Coleman said: 'I always wondered what it would take to silence Latimer.'"

A plaque with the library's new name will be unveiled at a June 10 ceremony.

Construction of the library, facing Rice Park in downtown, began in 1914, with railroad magnate James J. Hill paying for much of it.

Latimer noted that libraries are very special to him, as they are to many, dating back to his early years in Schenectady, N.Y.

"When I was a little kid in the 1940s, a librarian there was so nice to me. I remember her making me cocoa in the winter when I'd stop in to read on the way home from school," he said.

He's asked the Schenectady library to verify the librarian's name for him, so we can expect to her about her in his speech at the naming ceremony.

Speaking about his initial embarrassment at learning of the library naming honor, Latimer recalled a conversation he had the Rev. Jerome Boxleitner, the Catholic priest who ran the Dorothy Day homeless shelter in St. Paul for decades:

"I talked with him shortly before he died because we wanted to name something after him. He said absolutely not; that you should never name something after someone until they've been dead for 10 years, to be sure you haven't made a mistake.

"I'm glad Chris Coleman and the others aren't taking that advice."

The Minneapolis Charter Commission Wednesday unanimously approved raising the filing fees for the city's mayor's race to $250, up from the current $20.

Pressure has built to raise the fee in recent elections; 2013's single Ranked Choice Voting mayoral ballot featured 35 candidates. Candidates can also petition their way on a ballot if they gather enough signatures, but many simply threw down the $20.

The Charter Commission vote — which includes other city offices — does not make higher fees law; that's up to the City Council and mayor, if all approve unanimously. Charter Commission chair Barry Clegg says he's been told there are "at least" 12 votes on the 13-member council for the change.

The city has not its fees since the 1960s, says Council Member Cam Gordon, writing on the Minneapolis-Issues discussion list. Gordon notes he was the lone vote last December to raise the mayoral fee to $500, but "at this time I am inclined to support" the $250 compromise.

"It would keep Minneapolis' fees lower than St. Paul [$500] and much more in line with what $20 was worth in the '60s ... and more in keeping with the costs of filing for state office," Gordon wrote.

If unanimity fails, the Charter Commission or Council could put the issue on a future city ballot as a charter change. Clegg notes in that event, his body could change the language or the fee structure should it want to.

Other filing fees would be:

• $100 for City Council, up from $20
• $50 for the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board, up from $20
• $20 for the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation, no increase.

A proposal last year would've raised the Council filing fee to $250. The current initiative does not change petition-signature levels, which remain an alternative for cash-strapped candidates, or those who would rather demonstrate public support.

State law sets the petition-signature level for local races at 500, or 5 percent in the last election, whichever is fewer. The 500-signature level would be in force for Minneapolis' 2017 mayoral election.

Gordon doesn't believe the compromise higher fees will make for smaller ballots. "Many people think (incorrectly I think) that raising the fee will have an impact on the number of candidates who file."

Everyone loves tax cuts … .Brian Bakst at the AP says, “Minnesota lawmakers from both parties hailed a deal Thursday to deliver $103 million more in tax relief, including extra refunds and credits for homeowners, renters and farmers. The bill finalized late Wednesday night won't be voted on until next week, leaving room for tinkering as the Legislature works to complete other big items in its annual session. But Gov. Mark Dayton already pledged his signature.”

Today in ACLU battles … . Maya Rao of the Strib reports, “The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota sued Minneapolis in federal court today, claiming that a 'clean zone' approved by the city to restrict certain activities in areas around the Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in July are unconstitutional. The organization is representing James McGuire and Robert Kolstad, who are planning a street festival that month to honor the anniversary of the 1934 Teamsters strikes, when police officers shot 67 protesting truckers and killed two.” The city hasn't rejected that event.

Meanwhile, in digging holes deeper … . Jean Hopfensperger of the Strib writes, “The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will ask the court Thursday for permission to interview family members of an alleged victim of priest sex abuse, and to have him undergo a psychological evaluation by a psychologist of its choosing. The court will also be asked to determine what is ‘good cause’ for releasing the name of priests accused of abusing children but not criminally charged.”

At City Pages, Jesse Marx adds at bit more to the latest Climate Assessment released earlierr this week. “By 2100, you can say goodbye to the moose and the pines of the Boundary Waters, says Paul Bolstad, a professor in the U of M's Department of Forest Resources. ‘It'll look more like central Missouri.’ Bolstad was one of hundreds of academics and researchers to contribute to Tuesday's report.”

Wait until the usual suspects get a load of this … . At MPR, Dan Olson reports, “Sex education is part of the curriculum in every Minnesota high school. But 32 Hennepin County schools are expanding on the effort through the outreach program, known as TOP, which includes frank discussions on the biology of reproduction and also on healthy relationships. Funded by nearly $17 million federal grant over five years, TOP is offered to schools and teachers willing to participate and this year will reach 2,200 students.” If education by superstition, snickering and innuendo was good enough for me, it's good enough for kids today.

Don’t be uncool to bees. In the Strib, Kim Palmer advises gardeners, “ … bee-friendly gardening was named a top national trend for 2014 by the Garden Media Group, and Minnesota, in particular, has become a hive of bee-related activity and advocacy. … Research on neonicotinoids’ impact on bees is currently underway. But in the meantime, several large local players, including retailers Bachman’s and Gertens and wholesale grower Bailey Nurseries, have decided to err on the side of caution and eliminate or sharply reduce their use of neonicotinoids.”

On-line barristers … .Says Maura Lerner’s Strib story, “A Minnesota law school will become the first in the country to allow students to earn their degrees largely from home, with the blessing of the American Bar Association. On Wednesday, William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul plans to announce its new hybrid option: Students will spend only a week or two on campus each semester, and take the rest of their classes online. It’s the first such program at a fully accredited law school.”

You know they’re bad when the cops say, “forget it.”Marino Eccher of the PiPress reports, “Rosemount police will drop a traffic ticket against a driver who said he was cited for swerving to avoid potholes on a rough stretch of road. Allen Moe was pulled over and ticketed May 3 for not staying in his lane on southbound Shannon Parkway between Dearborn Path and 145th Street West. Moe said he moved to avoid numerous potholes in the road while driving to his daughter's dance class. He planned to fight the ticket, which carried a $128 fine, in court.”

Having slaughtered a hundred forests in nearly six months of 24/7 “mock draft” hype, the Strib, PiPress and the nation’s untold other pro football geeks will begin living with their predictions as the NFL actually conducts it’s draft this evening. Some predictions … for the record:

Brian Hall at FoxSportsNorth: “If [GM Rick] Spielman finds the right ‘dance partner’ for No. 8, he'll move down a few spots and accumulate more picks. But if Spielman and the Vikings sit at eight, here are a five options for when they finally get on the clock: Quarterback Blake Bortles, Cornerback Justin Gilbert, Defensive tackle Aaron Donald, Linebacker C.J. Mosley, Quarterback Derek Carr.”

Matt Miller at Bleacher Report: “The Pick: ILB C.J. Mosley, Alabama (trade with Giants). This just feels like a Mike Zimmer pick, doesn't it?”

Mark Craig at the Strib:  “Top need: Quarterback of the future. Trade potential: Down. Trader Rick Spielman can get what he wants outside of the top 10. The pick: Justin Gilbert, CB, Oklahoma State.”

Charley “Shooter” Walters, at the PiPress: “It's unclear whether the Minnesota Vikings will be able to trade down a slot or two with their No. 8 pick in Thursday night's NFL draft. If they are, they still might be able to get the player who makes the most sense for them, linebacker C.J. Mosley from Alabama. If unable to move down, though, no one could blame the Vikings for taking Mosley at No. 8. It's the justifiable and logical pick.”

Chris Thommason, PiPress: “C.J. Mosley, LB, Alabama. If the available quarterbacks make the Vikings skittish about a Christian Ponder repeat, they're also desperate for a linebacker. They also could trade down to get Mosley.”

Chris Burke, Sports Illustrated: "Blake Bortles QB, UCF.”

If the dailies had spent half as much ink explaining Obamacare we might have avoided a lot of hysteria.

Like everybody else who crossed paths with former U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, I was shocked to learn about his death Saturday. He lived life with such tremendous vigor, so it was hard to comprehend that he was suddenly gone.

Liz Fedor

As I reflected upon his many contributions in Congress, I smiled as I recalled how the late congressman recognized that journalists need to play a central role in fostering a well-functioning democracy.

Oberstar knew that journalists are only as good as their information, which is why he called me late one afternoon in January 2008 to confirm that Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines were in serious merger talks.

I was covering the airlines beat for the Star Tribune, and nobody would go "on the record" to acknowledge that talks were under way. Before Oberstar placed that memorable call to me, I had talked to him a few days earlier and asked him to let me know if he came across anything substantive about a Northwest merger deal.

NWA executives had just left

After my phone rang, Oberstar reported in and told me that two top Northwest executives had just left his Washington office after making the case for a merger. Oberstar, as chairman of the House Transportation Committee, was in a pivotal position to raise objections to the merger.

When Oberstar called he did not fall into a Washington practice of asking that he be identified as a "Washington source" or "congressional source."

He was on the record and fine with attribution. He also named the two Northwest executives: Ben Hirst, Northwest's senior vice president of corporate affairs and administration, and Andrea Fischer Newman, Northwest's senior vice president of government affairs.

At the time of that interview, Oberstar said that Hirst and Newman argued "there is little route overlap and not a significant effect on competition." But Oberstar disagreed with that assessment.

Concerned about potential domino effect

The veteran congressman said he worried that a Northwest-Delta merger would create a domino effect and lead to the creation of three U.S. mega-carriers.

Rep. Jim Oberstar

Oberstar was right about the domino effect. We now have three jumbo carriers: Delta, United and American.

Although he vociferously opposed the Delta-Northwest combination, the Justice Department allowed it to proceed.

On the day that Oberstar spilled the beans about the Delta-Northwest merger talks, neither airline was confirming that negotiations were taking place.

Oberstar thought a merger would have negative consequences for consumers, and he wanted consumers to know what was going on.

When the Northwest executives, now in prominent posts for Delta Air Lines, came to his Washington office, Oberstar was thinking about his Minnesota constituents and other U.S. travelers.

He wanted citizens to have a voice in the merger debate. So Oberstar called me because he knew I could deliver the news to his Minnesota constituents.

Liz Fedor is a former Star Tribune airlines reporter. She has also written for MinnPost.

WANT TO ADD YOUR VOICE?

If you're interested in joining the discussion, add your voice to the Comment section below — or consider writing a letter or a longer-form Community Voices commentary. (For more information about Community Voices, email Susan Albright at salbright@minnpost.com.)

Finally … six months of numbing, daily, repetitive, alleged great football mind brain wizardry and I’m thinking no one saw this coming. Stribber Matt Vensel reports, of the Vikings' top draft pick, linebacker Anthony Barr “... General Manager Rick Spielman gave the former Bengals defensive coordinator one of the best pass rushers in this class. He made him wait a few minutes, though. And he also passed on the fans’ favorite, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel.”

Spielman whiffed on a chance later in the first round to trade up and get Manziel, instead swinging a round-ending deal with Seattle to draft Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, the PiPress's Brian Murphy reports. Bleacher Report's Cian Farhey makes an excellent illustrated case for why Bridgewater — whose draft stock fell precipitously — is still a good choice. (Hat tip: Gregg Litman.)

Yeah, you too, ma'am. The AP reports, “Prosecutors have charged the wife of a Minnesota man accused of fatally shooting their neighbor in a dispute over deer feeding. Fifty-year-old Paula Anne Zumberge of New Brighton is charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting attempted second-degree murder.” If it weren’t for the weather, we’d be looking an awful lot like Florida.

We're nearing the legislative end game, but the PiPress's Molly Guthrey takes a step back from the Capitol corridors for a fine profile on a mom fighting for medical pot. Thanks to looser rules in Oregon, her son's seizures were cut dramatically. "[T]o go from an hour of seizures a day to five minutes of seizures a day? To go from hundreds a day to one? That's insane," Angela Garin says.

What kindof quality of life can we have if we can‘t gamble at gas pumps?Says Stribber Baird Helgeson, “Minnesota State Lottery officials are scrambling to craft a last-ditch deal that would stop legislators from slamming shut the lottery’s foray into online ticket sales. Lottery officials have been meeting daily with legislators to broker a compromise that would allow them to continue selling tickets online while prohibiting any new initiatives. … A bipartisan bloc of legislators is upset that lottery officials embarked on the sale of scratch-off lottery tickets online and at gas pumps without their approval.”

The high-tax Minnesota hellhole … wait, what? The PiPress puts up a story saying, “Confidence among Minnesota's manufacturers is at a six-year high despite difficulty finding skilled workers, according to a survey conducted by Enterprise Minnesota. Eighty-four percent of the 400 Minnesota manufacturing executives polled by the State of Manufacturing survey said they were confident about the future of their firms, but 34 percent of respondents also listed the ability to attract and retain qualified workers as a top concern — an increase of 20 points since 2011.”

A “small refund” you say? The AP story on CenterPoint’s rate increase says, “Minnesota regulators have approved a rate hike for CenterPoint Energy but not as much as the natural gas company sought. The permanent rate increase for the Houston-based company's 823,000 Minnesota customers is less than the 4.9 percent interim increase authorized last October. As a result, most customers will see a small refund later this year.”

Let someone else decide … . Rachel Stassen-Berger of the Strib reports,“The Minnesota House on Thursday narrowly decided to name a constitutional amendment, planned for the 2016 ballot, as ‘Remove Lawmakers' Power to Set Their Own Pay.’ The measure, if voters approve it, would give power over determining legislative pay over to a bipartisan council.Giving the amendment the title may make it more attractive to voters.”

It is not called The Mark Andrew Bill but … . Patrick Condon of the Strib writes, “The Minnesota House has voted in favor of a proposal that would require all smartphones and cell-connected tablet computers sold in Minnesota to feature an anti-theft ‘kill switch.’  ... The kill switch function is intended to allow the device's owner to remotely disable it if it's lost or stolen. The legislation also aims to prevent manufacturers and carriers from adding additional fees to customers for access to the technology.”

At MPR, Regina McCombs invites readers to check out images from the April 26 “One Day in the Twin Cirties” photo project. “The project asks 10 questions for the future of the region as part of a "city-wide, participatory media-creation event." When all the material is gathered, there will be an interactive geo-tagged archive and a TV series on the future of the American city.”

Also in artfulness,MPR’s Marianne Combs notes the schedule of music and movies hosted by the Walker this summer. Of particular note: Monday, August 18; Music: The Handsome Family; Movie: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” Be sure to stock up on plenty of precious bodily fluids.

Also freshly scheduled … . Says Reed Fischer at City Pages, “The Black Keys have just unveiled extensive plans for a 2014 world tour that stretches for most of the rest of this year. The dates are in support of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney's forthcoming eighth album, Turn Blue. … The Black Keys will hit Minneapolis on October 24 with a return to Target Center.” The boys can rock … .

Courtesy of Metro Transit/Drew Kerr

Projects must take place in and benefit at least one of six St. Paul neighborhoods along the Green Line: Downtown St. Paul, Frogtown/Thomas-Dale, Hamline Midway, St. Anthony Park, Summit-University or Union Park.

With Green Line light rail trains scheduled to begin running next month between downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis, the Knight Foundation wants to fund a few good projects (or more) that will enhance life in St. Paul neighborhoods along the corridor.

The St. Paul-based Knight's "Green Line Challenge" is a contest open to ideas from nonprofits, individuals and businesses. They'll put $1.5 million into the projects over the next three years.

And they're not sure exactly how many, or what kinds of projects will be funded.

"We don't want to limit the possibilities," said Polly Talen, Knight's program director. "They could be things that spur economic activity, that bring people together in or across neighborhoods, that make a neighborhood more distinctive or make St. Paul more distinctive."

Expect to fund 15 t0 30 projects this year

There won't be just one winner of this contest: They hope to fund many projects, ranging in size from as small as $1,000 to those as large as $75,000. The exact number of grants will depend on what types of projects are proposed, but they anticipate funding 15 to 30 projects in 2014.

Organizers are excited about opening the contest to the public — crowdsourcing it, in a way.

"Those who live, work, play and visit St. Paul can come up with great ideas," Talen said. "They're limited only by their imagination and capacity to implement."

Must benefit Green Line St. Paul neighborhood(s)

There is one requirement: The project must take place in and benefit at least one of six St. Paul neighborhoods along the Green Line: Downtown St. Paul, Frogtown/Thomas-Dale, Hamline Midway, St. Anthony Park, Summit-University or Union Park.

The contest was announced Thursday night at the annual Great River Gathering, which celebrates positive changes in St. Paul and the Mississippi River.

Applications for contest projects can be made online and will be accepted from June 24 to July 24.

Knight has long been involved in development along the light rail line as a co-founder of the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative.

A tulip, a gallery at the Textile Center, and now Macalester’s studio art building all have something in common: Joan Mondale’s name. The studio art building reopened in January after an extensive renovation and expansion. In April, the college’s board of trustees unanimously approved naming it the Joan Adams Mondale Hall of Studio Art. Joan graduated from Macalester in 1952 with a degree in history; her father served as chaplain there, and her future husband graduated two years ahead of her. In a statement issued in April, Walter Mondale said, “This decision perfectly fits [Joan’s] years at Macalester, what Macalester meant to her, the role of her family and the years she spent on the Macalester Board and the other ways she remained deeply involved in the life of Macalester College.” The former vice president attended the official naming ceremony on Monday and spoke briefly to the crowd.

Dubbed “Joan of Art” for her lifelong support of the arts, Joan Mondale passed away in February at the age of 83. In 2004, the Textile Center named its largest exhibition space the Joan Mondale Gallery. During Walter Mondale’s vice presidency, the Dutch tulip breeder J.F. van der Berg named a tulip after Joan, and bulbs were planted at the vice president’s residence in 1980.

The St. Paul Central Library will be renamed the George Latimer Central Library in honor of the former mayor and St. Paul icon, Mayor Chris Coleman’s office announced Thursday. “George continues to reflect Saint Paul’s unique spirit,” Coleman said. It is only fitting that one of our most beautiful and historic buildings, committed to the education and enrichment of our residents, bear his name.” A new plaque will be unveiled at an event at the library on June 10, 5:30-6:30 p.m.

First “Cold Mountain” was a book by then-unknown author Charles Frazier. It topped the New York Times best-seller list for 61 weeks and won the National Book Award. Next it was a film starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renée Zellweger; nominated for seven Oscars and eight Golden Globes, it won one of each. Let’s hope the winning streak continues, because “Cold Mountain” is about to become an opera. Minnesota Opera has announced that it will co-commission a new opera version of the Civil War tale with the Santa Fe Opera and Opera Philadelphia. Pulitzer Prize and Grammy winner Jennifer Higdon will write the music; she has already partnered with librettist Gene Scheer. Santa Fe Opera will perform the world premiere in August 2015. “Cold Mountain” is part of Minnesota Opera’s New Works Initiative, which also commissioned “The Manchurian Candidate” (due March 2015) and “The Shining” (May 2016). We’ll see “Cold Mountain” here in 2018.

Penumbra’s 2014-5 season, announced earlier this week, shows the clear influence of the theatre’s new co-artistic director, Sarah Bellamy. The season is titled “Womensong.” Every play but the holiday show, “Black Nativity” (Dec. 12-22), illuminates the struggles of women; all were written by women. Beginning Oct. 16:“On the Way to Timbuktu,” a one-woman show written and performed by Petronia Paley. Nov. 6-16: “HappyFlowerNail,” a look at how gentrification affects a multicultural neighborhood and the women who hold it together, written and performed by Radha Blank. Opens Feb. 5, 2015: “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark,” a play about being black in Hollywood in the 1930s, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Notage. April 23-May 17: “Detroit ’67” by Dominique Morisseau, winner of the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama. Continuing Penumbra’s strong commitment to education, each play will be accompanied by post-play discussions, “Bookends” events that explore the script and the production, “Let’s Talk Theatre” social gatherings, study guides and showings of films related to the plays. If you want, you can truly immerse yourself in one or more.

At this year’s James Beard Awards, held in New York City, a Minnesotan did not win Best Chef Midwest. Although the Bachelor Farmer’s Paul Berglund, Salty Tart’s Michelle Gayer, and Heartland’s Lenny Russo were all up for the honor, it went to Justin Aprahamian of Milwaukee’s Sanford. In the Broadcast and New Media category, “This American Life” beat out “The Splendid Table.” But Minnesotans brought home two awards: Mirra Fine and Daniel Klein for their video webcast, “The Perennial Plate,” and Amy Thielen for her cookbook “The New Midwestern Table: 200 Heartland Recipes,” which will now sport a handsome James Beard Award sticker and make its way to many Christmas lists.

Photo by Andrea Canter

The Jazz Central All-Stars: (left to right) Tanner Taylor, Zack Lozier, Graydon Peterson, Mac Santiago, Dave Graf, Doug Haining

The Twin Cities Jazz Festival is taking part of its show on the road. Starting Friday, May 16, it’s sending the six-member Jazz Central All-Stars – pianist Tanner Taylor, saxophonist Doug Haining, trombonist Dave Graf, trumpeter Zack Lozier, bassist Graydon Peterson and drummer Mac Santiago – on a tour of greater Minnesota that includes live jazz performances at the Paramount Theatre in Austin (May 16), the Historic Palace Theater in Luverne (May 31), the Hollywood Theater in Montevideo (June 7), the Eagle’s Healing Nest in Sauk Centre (June 14), St. James Memorial Park in St. James (July 17), and Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault (Sept. 25). Founded by Taylor and Santiago, Jazz Central is a nonprofit performance/educational space in northeast Minneapolis with live jazz five nights a week. Legacy funds and the NEA are supporting the tour; Jefferson Lines is providing the transportation. This year’s Twin Cities Jazz Festival takes place June 26-28.

Minnesota Citizens for the Arts reports that Minnesotans “increasingly love the Legacy Amendment.” The Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, which funnels tens of millions of dollars each year into arts, arts education, arts access and preservation statewide, passed in November 2008 with 51% of the vote. In a recent poll by the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, 71% of responders said they now favor the amendment. Meanwhile, according to the Minnesota State Arts Board, attendance at arts events has increased by 21% since the amendment was passed.

Violist Stefan Hersh hadn’t played with the Minnesota Orchestra for 19 years when he returned as a substitute for last weekend’s “Echoes of History” concerts at Northrop. In a post for Norman Lebrecht’s Slipped Disc blog, Hersh wrote, “When I was a member of the Minnesota Orchestra some 20 years ago, I felt I was playing in the best orchestra I had ever been a part of. Last week I played in an even better group.”

Here’s one way to lure the public to an exhibit of early 20th-century medical books and artifacts: name it “Downton Abbey: Behind the Scenes of Health and Illness.” Co-curators Lois Hendrickson and Emily Hagens are both fans of the show; the labels used to describe the exhibit weave in characters’ names and events from the popular series, along with a few quotations. According to one visitor, the exhibit includes “a lot of pokers and tweezers.” And according to the U, more than 1,000 people have stopped by to see it. At the Wangensteen Historical Library at the University of Minnesota, through May 16. FMI.

An editorial in the Star Tribune on Thursdaycalled on the Minnesota Legislature to save the Bell Museum on the University’s campus: “The Bell’s 75-year-old facility has been treated as a near-orphan in recent years, excluded from university funding requests and denied state funding via gubernatorial vetoes and legislative parsimony.” It’s not even on U of M President Eric Kaler’s list of top six funding requests – because, as the editorial pointed out and a lot of people don’t know, it’s not a university facility. Created by the state, it’s a responsibility of the state, and as the writer noted, “The Legislature has demonstrated considerable creativity in adding buildings to the Capitol complex … The Bell is a state facility, every bit as much as a new state Senate office building will be. Surely, legislators … can be as creative with Bell financing as they have been with their own office needs.” On display at the Bell through June 8: “Audubon and the Art of Birds,” a rare chance to view a large selection of Audubon’s hand-colored engravings, now restored. FMI.

Our picks for the weekend

Friday at the American Swedish Institute: Cocktails at the Castle: Swedish House Party. Celebrate Europe Day at an event with so much going on it makes us dizzy to write about it. A dance party featuring DJ Jake Rudh. Live local music. Crafty goings-on with the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. European street food by FIKA, specialty cocktails and beer. A chance to tour the galleries, see a new exhibit before it officially opens, watch “Papercut!” come to life thanks to Minnesota Dance Theater, learn German drinking games, play ping-pong and see film shorts curated by the Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul. Sorry, no elephant rides. 7-11 p.m., 21+. FMI and tickets ($15).

Friday at the Film Society’s St. Anthony Main Theatre: “Godzilla: The Japanese Original.” Stomp! Stomp! Roar! The 60th anniversary restoration of the 1954 sci-fi masterpiece features the director’s original cut including 40 extra minutes of scenes chopped from the original US release. Not dubbed, but presented in Japanese with revised English subtitles. Here’s the teaser trailer. FMI and tickets ($8.50-$5). Through May 15.

Saturday in Minneapolis and St. Paul: Twin Cities Bungalow Home Tour. Especially in the age of teardowns, it’s refreshing to see these smaller, well-built homes and how their owners have made them livable for the 21st century. Start at the first house, 4231 Blaisdell Ave. S., where you’ll pick up a map with the addresses of the other five. Last year, some 500 people took the tour. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. $5, free for club members. FMI.

Saturday at Gamut Gallery: Opening reception for “If These Walls Could Talk.” Photographer Cameren Torgerud explores early and mid-century American ruins, some since demolished. His use of HDR imaging captures details that would otherwise be lost and makes each image almost tactile; you want to touch the decaying velvet chair backs, peeling wallpaper and crumbling plaster. It feels a bit dangerous, kind of creepy, profoundly sad and deeply peaceful, all at the same time. 7-11 p.m., 1006 Marquette Ave. S. in Minneapolis. Through May 31.

Saturday at Hamline United Methodist Church: “Let My People Go! A Spiritual Journey Along the Underground Railroad.” Presented by the Oratorio Society, Donald McCullough’s concert-length oratorio weaves African-American spirituals into a historically-based story about how slaves used hidden messages in their music to pass along instructions about the Underground Railroad. Narrated by T. Mychael Rambo and Aimee K. Bryant, sung by Elisabeth Stevens, Yolanda Williams, Tesfa Wondemagegnehu and G. Philip Shoultz. 7:30 p.m. FMI and tickets ($10-$30). 

Photo by Ingrid Werthmann

Toni Pierce-Sands and Uri Sands

Saturday at the Ordway: TU Dance. The 10th anniversary concert by the celebrated St. Paul dance company includes the Ordway-commissioned world premiere of “Hikari,” choreographed by Uri Sands in collaboration with master wood block print artist Hiroki Morinoue; Alvin Ailey’s duet “Twin Cities”; the Minnesota premiere of Uri Sands’ “One,” commissioned by Dance St. Louis to honor the legacy of Henrietta Lacks, whose story was told in the New York Times bestseller “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”; and “Lady,” an early work by Toni Pierce-Sands inspired by the couple’s travels in South Africa. 7:30 p.m. FMI and tickets ($23-$53). Come early for a pre-show presentation in the lobby (6:30 p.m.), stay after for a party.

Monday at the Rarig Center: Wendy Lehr’s “My Life in the Theater: I Always Said Yes!” The beloved Twin Cities actor, director, teacher and recipient of the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award will talk about her life in what is certain to be a smart, illuminating, warm and witty program. Presented by the Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Reception with hearty hors d’oeuvres, soft drinks and cash bar at 6 p.m., program at 7:30. FMI and tickets ($5-$25, free for U of M students).

Monday and Tuesday at the Nautilus Music Theater: Rough Cuts. The monthly series features samples from professional-quality musical theater productions in the works, plus free cookies and milk. This month’s offering is “Twisted Apples: Stories from Winesburg, Ohio” by Jim Payne (libretto) and Robert Elhai (music), based on the novel by Sherwood Anderson about small-town life at the turn of the last century. The setting is intimate and informal, and the tickets are $5 or pay-as-able. 7:30 p.m. Monday in the new Nautilus Studio on the first floor of the Northern Warehouse, 308 Prince Street #190 in St. Paul’s Lowertown; Tuesday in the Music Building on the campus of Augsburg College, 22^nd Ave. at Riverside in Minneapolis. 7:30 p.m. Email for reservations or call 651-298-9913. 

The 2014 wildfire season is off to a thankfully slow start in much of the American West — excepting California, where the very notion of a fire season has become a thing of past, since there's now a good chance of something burning somewhere every day of the year.

That's one measure of the new normal in American wildland fire, and here's another:

As of Tuesday, when Sally Jewell surveyed the situation around San Diego, the state firefighting agency Cal Fire had already battled 1,244 fires since New Year's Day, which is more than three times the average rate from 2009 through 2013. There were more than 400 just in January, versus a handful in the first month of last year.

And, as the Interior secretary noted, "it's not going to get better over the course of this year," because drought is the driver of the new patterns, and climate change is a driver of drought.

California stores much of its surface water in the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which was less than one-fifth of normal at the beginning of the month. Its forests, canyons and brushy slopes store fire-retarding moisture in leafy green growth that has especially been slow to form this year.

Jewell's visit fell during a Wildfire Awareness Week proclaimed by Gov. Jerry Brown, who has promised to spend whatever it takes to save lives and property from fire. Jewell pledged full support from the federal budget as well. Both spoke of the importance of persuading individuals and communities to do everything possible to prevent wildfires.

But an interesting new study — and apparently the very first on this question — suggests that a key national program for fireproofing communities has little if any impact on the costs of protecting them once fire breaks out.

We all pay the price for firefighting

Those costs are ballooning: Federal outlays have more than tripled in the last 10 years, and are already projected to run a half-billion dollars over budget for 2014. This should matter as much to Minnesotans as to Californians, because when it comes to  wildland fire, we all pay the price.

As with tobacco use, the public costs are driven upward by private lifestyle choices. And those choices are still being tolerated — even enabled — by governments and insurance companies that know better.

Besides climate, two other principal factors are driving the national pattern of worsening wildfire: build-up of fire fuels thanks to a century of excessive fire suppression, and expansion of residential development — especially second homes — at the forest's fringe, in the so-called "wildland-urban interface" (WUI).

There is general agreement that "fuels reduction" in the WUI through selective logging, brush removal and controlled burns is essential to reducing wildfire risk. But it is expensive work, which limits its usefulness to highly localized efforts.

A much tougher problem is expansion of homes into the WUI, because zoning and land-use policies are in the hands of local governments who profit from the new development but bear a tiny fraction of firefighting costs. Insurance companies further encourage unwise settlement by underwriting homes in high-risk zones.

For nearly 20 years now, federal and state agencies have promoted the industry-sponsored Firewise program as a way of reducing firefighting costs by raising the fire resistance of the dwellings and other structures they are obligated to protect.

Participation can be minimal

Homeowners who participate can get advice, and sometimes financial support, in making their places less vulnerable to fire (and, not incidentally, less hazardous to firefighters). Communities, too, can get help for preventive efforts, and these can be surprisingly minimal:

Each Firewise-designated community must complete a series of actions before receiving Firewise accreditation. First, they must get a written wildfire risk assessment from their state forestry agency or fire department. Communities are then required to form a board or committee and generate an action plan based on their risk assessment.  Next, they must organize and hold a public education “Firewise Day” event. 

The final step requires an investment of at least $2 per person in annual Firewise actions [that's not a typo; the requirement is two bucks per person per year]. Once these steps are completed, communities are eligible to apply for the designation through their state Firewise liaison.

Examples of Firewise actions include safe placement of structures relative to ridges and slopes, using fire-resistant landscaping in various zones around homes, improving construction and maintenance of roofs and gutters, and establishing neighborhood communication and evacuation protocols.

That description is from a study by Headwaters Economics of Bozeman, Montana, which asked the perfectly reasonable question of what the firefighting agencies — and the taxpayers who support them — realize in return for such investments, in the form of lowered firefighting costs. And the answer may well be: Nothing.

It should be noted that Headwaters Economics, of whose work I've written before, is devoted to protecting undeveloped land in the West. But it has a reputation for solid research, and this paper struck me as based on sound methods and fair analysis; it is being submitted for publication in the peer-reviewed Journal of Society and Natural Resources.

Its researchers looked at firefighting outlays in 111 Western wildfires that burned between 2007 and 2011, and for which good data on costs and conditions were available. It divided these into two groups:

• 25 fires that approached within six miles of a Firewise-designated community.
• 86 fires that burned in areas more than six miles from a Firewise community.

Several factors were found to influence the outlays required to fight these fires — like fire size and duration, type of terrain, and availability of access roads — but Firewise designation was not among them. Neither was the level of Firewise participation, which varies a lot from community to community.

This is not to say that the program is worthless; Headwaters Economics acknowledges that Firewise practices have been shown to raise the fire-survival rate of structures.

However, it is not possible to infer from these studies how homeowner actions may translate into changes in fire suppression efforts, including changes to firefighter safety and to suppression costs.  What is missing is quantitative information about the impacts of community-level wildfire preparedness, which incorporates neighborhood communication and evacuation protocols in addition to home-site action, on wildfire management outcomes....

This topic has been identified as a research need by policymakers and wildfire practitioners who want to learn more about the cost trade-offs of wildfire mitigation, including Firewise, versus suppression.

Bottom line:

The lack of evidence that Firewise reduces suppression costs suggests that policymakers attempting to address rising suppression costs are better served focusing on other solutions, including increasing suppression funding and managing future development in high-risk areas.

Here's betting we'll see a lot more effort devoted to finding more money for fire suppression than to shrinking the need for it, by reducing the availability of wild land for second homes — or by telling their builders they can no longer buy insurance for dumb decisions.

Frank Stucki very much wants you to understand why he fears that a seemingly small change in state law will endanger the charter school he founded by making the terms of its lease unpalatable. But first you need to know something about the school and its special relationship to its space.

And you need to know that Stucki started the school in part to give back after having done very, very well in the real estate industry. Well enough that he dreams of opening several more schools around the metro area to fill the same niche as the 10-year-old Paladin Academy.

Nine out of 10 of the school’s 275 high schoolers meet the legal definition of “highly mobile,” meaning they do not have stable housing; 109 are flat-out homeless.

Some couch-surf. Some sleep in cars, some in bus stations. Often they spend the night in small groups, for safety. Poverty — a given — is usually the least of their worries. To teens forced to support themselves, a diploma is a life raft.

Yet many have people in their lives pressuring them to make other choices. So it’s important that Paladin not be outwardly recognizable as a school. It’s located in a corner of Northtown Mall in Blaine. There’s an unobtrusive front door, located in a staging area next to a dumpster, but students may enter from the mall’s interior so it looks like they’re going to Best Buy or some other store.

Learning lab, lockers, laundry

Inside there are spaces for learning, including a large, open “learning lab” where a 10-to-1 student-staff ratio allows for individualized help making up what’s sometimes lost years of instruction.

And there are also showers and laundry facilities and a wall of lockers large enough for secure storage. There’s a student-run “convenience store,” a cabinet stocked with Cup O Noodles and other foods that can be consumed wherever a young person lands for the night.

There are lots of couches and armchairs and area rugs, making spaces warm and intimate. It’s illegal for students to sleep here and against the rules to stay when the mall is closed, but in every other sense it’s home.

“We have kids who are one credit away from graduating” next month, Stucki said earlier this week. “We are one of the first consistent things in their lives.”

Courtesy of Paladin Academy

Paladin students play a game of chess.

All of this comes at a price. In addition to security features that make instantaneous lockdown possible, there are complications stemming from the fact that the space is wholly enclosed within a mall. The dishwasher that abuts the student commissary, for instance, cost $20,000 to vent.

Because the space is completely windowless, there are special sunlight-mimicking lights in the central learning lab. They are powered by solar cells on the roof. Students are in the process of building green baffles containing plants that will grow under the lights into a sound-absorbing canopy.

All told, two years ago the school’s landlord agreed to put some $900,000 into expanding and customizing the space for Paladin, which pays about $460,000 a year in rent. After signing a new 10-year lease, the school invested another $300,000 from its reserve fund.

Lease aid offset rental costs

This is where the story gets complicated. For a complex set of reasons, Minnesota requires charter schools to lease their spaces, albeit in many cases from a corporation or other legal entity established for the sole purpose of owning or constructing the building.

State “lease aid” dollars pegged to enrollment offset the cost of renting. Because of this the state Department of Education reviews schools’ leases every year.

The number varies according to the actual student body, but Paladin gets about $400,000 a year in reimbursement. That’s the equivalent of nine teacher salaries — money the school could not make up elsewhere.

Many charters rent from school districts or other owners of shuttered schools. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis leases more than a dozen former parochial schools to charters.

But in the commercial realm, charter schools are not prized tenants. They require costly renovations and their fluctuating reimbursement means frequent adjustments to leases’ rent clauses. And they can be closed for a host of reasons.

Two court cases involving closures

In 2012 and 2013, two cases involving charter closures made their way through Hennepin County District Court. Both involved the schools’ leases, albeit tangentially.

In one [PDF], a judge found a number of irregularities in the relationship between the Hmong American Mutual Assistance Association that bought a dilapidated building, the Hmong charter school it started and leased the property to, and a consultant who set up and oversaw the arrangement.

In the other [PDF], a charter sued its authorizer — the organization that approves its existence and is responsible for overseeing the program’s quality. Among the complaints the underperforming school raised in the unsuccessful suit: Its authorizer allowed it to ink a new 10-year lease eight months before ordering its closure.

Here the story gets even more complicated. The state Department of Education (MDE) interpreted the decision in the case of the Hmong school as a call for an extra layer of protection in charters’ lease arrangements, according to Kevin McHenry, the MDE assistant commissioner who oversees chartering.

'Escape clauses' now required

In response to MDE’s concerns, the 2013 Legislature passed a law requiring charters to negotiate “escape clauses” in their leases beginning in 2014. The provisions must say that if a charter ceases to operate, its lease becomes void.

Attorney John Cairns was among those who protested. One of the architects of Minnesota’s 1991 charter school law, Cairns negotiates charter contracts. He shared the Minnesota Association of Charter Schools’ concern that the word “escape” could make landlords reluctant to enter into the leases.

Beyond that, however, Cairns saw nothing in either decision directing or advising MDE to do anything, never mind that the department wasn’t a party to either suit. He read one of the decisions simply as a last-ditch effort by a failed school to stave off closure and the other as a matter of a conflict of interest between a school and its landlord.

In a series of meetings around the state, MDE assured charter operators it was willing to entertain requests for different language that would assuage their concerns about the escape clause, said McHenry. Before this year’s legislative session, the department and the MACS, the larger of two local charter groups, negotiated a change to the law calling the provision a “closure clause.”

That change was approved by the state House of Representatives last month and included in the conference committee report sent to both legislative chambers. This means its passage is all but certain.

“We want to make sure lease aid and other tax dollars are going for educational purposes,” said McHenry. “Having this protection in place, it’s following what the court said we should do.”

He is frustrated that Cairns and some of the landlords affected haven’t proposed an alternative. But for his part, Cairns has been steadfast that it is the clause itself that’s unacceptable — and unnecessary.

When a charter closes, its financial affairs are settled in exactly the same way as any concern that goes out of business. If there is any money left over, it is distributed to the school’s creditors.

If a closure nullifies the school’s lease, that means the landlord can’t join the other creditors seeking a share of what’s left, Cairns argued. Which makes the schools even less attractive as tenants.

'It's going to raise eyebrows'

He has company. “This is not the kind of provision that landlords are used to seeing in their leases,” said Craig Kepler, a real estate attorney who also works with charter schools. “It’s going to raise eyebrows.”

Leases typically spell out the terms by which a tenant must vacate the premises, the condition in which the property must be returned and other tenant responsibilities, he added: “This essentially excuses tenants from those obligations.”

Adding to their frustrations, while the law applies only to new contracts, because of wrinkles in the way charter lease aid is calculated by the state it is likely to end up affecting every existing lease in the state. Most charter leases are structured so that the rent adjusts along with the size of the student body, which determines the amount of state aid.

These adjustments, reviewed by MDE each year as a part of the aid process, essentially renders the contracts new. Which means that when Paladin applies for its lease aid this year, it will have to go to its landlord and ask for a closure clause.

(The same landlord, it’s worth noting, that agreed to wait more than two years on its rent checks until the state’s budget-balancing shift in school funding was repaid.)

Courtesy of Paladin Academy

Making Paladin's space habitable by its unique students required significant renovations.

It’s hard to imagine that the mall’s owners, having invested heavily in making the school’s space habitable by its unique students, will say no. But it’s also less likely that a commercial landlord would say yes to such a request in the future, said Stucki, who has hopes of opening similar programs in other parts of the metro area.

No alternative for charters

Nor do charters have an alternative, added Paladin Executive Director Leisa Irwin. “We don’t have the ability to raise a levy or to build our own building,” she said.

Even if they formed a second organization to act as landlord, they would have to borrow, said Stucki.

“We couldn’t go to the bond market and present them with that kind of lease,” he added. “What’s the bank gonna say? I can void the contract at any time because the state forced me to put in this escape clause?”

Contract headaches notwithstanding, Stucki is determined to make it work out.

“This is a passion for me,” he said. “We’re inspired every day by the resilience of these kids.”

As Beverly Lonsbury embarked on her Ph.D. studies at St. Paul's Luther Seminary, her clinical pastoral education supervisor presented several options on where to do a chaplaincy internship: a transitional housing facility; an emergency shelter; a homeless shelter — or a wet house.

“Anything but the wet house,” she said at the time.

Which is of course exactly where she ended up, and exactly where she has spent her Wednesdays for the past five years.

Wet houses (there are five in Minnesota) provide food, shelter, clothing and medical and sometimes spiritual care for late-stage, chronic alcoholics. Residents are typically men ages 40 to 65 who have made multiple trips to detox centers, have been homeless for extended periods, and have attempted multiple treatment programs. They’re allowed to drink on the premises in a designated spot.

Whereas some view this “harm reduction” model as a form of capitulation, others see it as a cost-saving, humane alternative to living (or dying) on the streets.

“God certainly has a sense of humor,” she remembers thinking when her supervisor persuaded her to answer the call. “But if that’s where I’m needed, then that’s where I’ll go.”

Her hesitation and anxiety, she said, had less to do with concerns about the residents and how they might behave and much more to do with a central question: “Can I possibly make a difference?”

Lonsbury — who asked that the wet house where she volunteers not be named out of respect for the residents’ privacy — prefers to stay out of the politics, and focus on her ministry.

“It’s safe, compassionate care,” she said. “Everyone deserves care, everyone deserves to have basic needs met. For the families of addicts, it’s safety for their loved ones: They know where they are, they know they’re going to have a meal, they know they’re not going to be on the streets or homeless, they know they’re not going to be driving.”

By the coffee

As she volunteered over the years, Lonsbury began to apply everything that she was absorbing in scholarship, including practical theology (in everyday life), interpersonal neurobiology (the way relationships shape the brain), family and community systems theory, nonviolent communication, and spirituality complexity and anxiety's effects in post-modernity.

At least some part of her day was spent “sitting by the coffee,” in the common area where residents tended to gather. At first she requested that they be sober for their interactions with her. But then no one showed up — except for one man, who was not sober. He had to drink, he explained, to keep from shaking. Startled into awareness, Lonsbury adjusted her expectations, requesting only that the men be “relatively sober.”

The men told her stories, often gut-wrenching, some of which she captured in her dissertation field notes (names have been changed and Lonsbury’s punctuation and bracketed additions are verbatim):

3-27-09 [Lenny is a] Vietnam vet has flashbacks and nightmares was an airborne fighter not a Green Beret brought in the new troops, picked up the dead 300 hundred in unit only 49 came back [he’s] tortured by memories and was married five times they were afraid of [his] nightmares and battle scars [he] drank when [he remembered]. [It] helps to talk spiritual [he] knew the medicine man [he’s] on antidepressants.

The men had lost their “buffers” and were very authentic, she said, and did not hesitate to ask the tough questions again and again:

I’ve done some terrible things; does God really forgive me?
Could God really love someone like me?
I’m scared; do you think I will be condemned forever?
Being an alcoholic is a curse; where is God in this?
I don’t want to die alone; will you be there with me when I die?

Sometimes Lonsbury would be called upon to put her nonviolent communications and system theory skills to work. The trick in defusing a potentially violent situation, she discovered, was to make eye contact with the person who was least agitated:

12-31-12 Dirk, Matthew, and Jason were sitting by the coffee with me — all three of them were intoxicated. Dirk and Matthew were laughing [and sharing stories] but Jason was swearing and telling Matthew that he was ready to kick him with his boot. Dirk and Matthew looked at me and told Jason to stop but Jason continued swearing [and threatening]. Although I felt some anxiety, I remained calm with a small smile on my face. I made eye contact with Matthew and he remained calm [and moved away from Jacob so he would not be kicked].

The men were sometimes funny:

12-7-11 [Mick showed me his notes about me that read] you’re caring, compassionate, helped a drunken mouthwash drinker stop drinking mouthwash and stopped me from being a violent person — and I like your good hair days.

And Lonsbury herself did not lack a sense of humor:

4-16-09 Nick came over, sat down, started mumbling — got louder and louder [I couldn’t understand him], he started pounding his fist for a minute and was very dramatic. All of a sudden he looked at me with a big smile and said thank you for confession Rev Bev [I was stunned and didn’t know what to say so I replied] you’re welcome — go in peace.

As to whether or not she was able to “make a difference,” the answer becomes clear:

1-23-12 I am so glad he is back and safe! [Perry] told me when he was out on the streets [last month] he had been in the hospital five times — hypothermia — the flu — detox — blacked out twice once in a motel room the police found him. He told me more about his family — physical, sexual and spiritual abuse. He told me he was abused by his Methodist minister but he has survived. I felt sad and took a few minutes to mourn the trauma Perry and others have survived. I asked Perry to look at me as I told him I care — and that I am sad about all the pain he has experienced. I saw the tears in his eyes as we made eye contact. I am relieved he has his housing back.

Blowing bubbles

As she worked, Lonsbury became aware of the need for self-care to prevent burnout. The work takes an emotional toll.

“Every once in a while all the suffering around addiction and the illness of addiction really can get to me,” she said. “And I have to ... feel those waves. I sob when I need to, and then I find ways to have some fun to release all the pain around the addiction and the suffering I see — in families, and in the men. They wonder what they’re doing there, in a late-stage wet house. There’s a lot of pain and embarrassment and shame around that.

“They wonder what the heck they’re doing there.”

MinnPost photo by Sarah T. Williams

"The Rev. Bev," as she's known at the wet house, blows bubbles every now and then — to remember to breathe, to relieve anxiety and to add an element of play to life.

Lonsbury found that her anxiety was highest as she made her way to the wet house. To quell that, she recast her anxieties into “unpredictable adventures.”

It helped, she said, and now she feels less anxiety on her way in, and a “deep sense of contentment” on her way home.

“I come home feeling satisfied, knowing that I made a difference in somebody’s life and that they made a difference in mine. They’ve shaped who I am, too,” she said. “I have such deep respect for these men. Many are veterans, and they have served us. Can’t we serve them? Isn’t it our responsibility to serve them, no matter what?”

Lonsbury has adopted other, more quirky and amusing coping skills. “I blow bubbles. I read children’s books. I have a playful need, a need for fun,” she said.

Lonsbury has her own business and teaches at Luther Seminary, preaching what she practices, coaching her students on “listening closely, listening deeply, listening with the heart.”

In these post-doctoral times, Lonsbury still volunteers at the wet house, where she has earned the nickname "Rev. Bev," though she's not ordained in any specific denomination. She remains heart-sore about alcoholism's ravages and attuned as ever to her purpose there. 

“My hope is that [the men] will die with greater peace and reassurance that, no matter what, they are loved.”