News and Events

City Resources and Updates

Posted on by Sam Taitel, ED

Contents

Trial preparations articles

City leaders provide public safety updates at weekly media briefing

Mayor Jacob Frey and other City leaders held another media briefing March 18 to share public safety updates, including a new law enforcement partnership planned for 38th and Chicago.

Briefing highlights

  • The Minneapolis Police Department is partnering with local and federal law enforcement agencies on a new initiative addressing the rise in gun violence in the 38th and Chicago area. Law enforcement will increase patrols in the neighborhoods and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota will focus on investigating and prosecuting people involved in violent gun crime in the area. 
  • The City’s Office of Violence Prevention has a panel reviewing applications for community patrols to help support community throughout the trial. The City will be selecting community organizations to provide positive outreach and community engagement, support two-way communication between community and the City, provide informal de-escalation, mediation, and conflict resolution if needed, and share information about existing City and community resources and supports. The community patrols are expected to start working later this month.

Reminders 

  • The City has a new web resource with information and updates around the Chauvin trial. It includes information on finding street closures, how to sign up for trial updates from Hennepin County District Court, ways to report suspicious activity and information about mental health and well-being resources for support during traumatic times.
  • The City’s Neighborhood & Community Relations Department has launched weekly online meetings with the city’s neighborhood organizations to share information during the trial. The goal is to create a forum for two-way communication with the city and share information and resources.
  • How to contact the City:
    • Call 311 for non-emergency City information.
    • Call 911 for life safety emergencies requiring police, fire, or EMS.
    • Call the MPD Tips Line – 612-692-TIPS (8477) to report suspicious activity not requiring an immediate response.
    • Businesses and property owners can call 612-673-2499 with questions about business operations during the trial and general information about regulations and resources.
  • Sixth Street South (the street and both sidewalks) is closed between Third and Fourth avenues next to the Hennepin County Government Center. Currently, other streets will remain open. The City will provide updates when other closures are anticipated. 
  • Follow the City of Minneapolis on Facebook and Twitter and sign up for the City Update newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest news and information. Stay tuned to news from Operation Safety Net on Facebook and Twitter.

The City plans to hold regular briefings throughout the trial on Thursdays. They will be streamed live on the City’s Facebook page.

Read this article online.

Translated resources and emergency preparation information

The City of Minneapolis has published translations of several webpages related to the trial of Derek Chauvin and emergency preparedness. Find information linked in these pages:

Ways to stay connected with City news and trial-related developments

There are many ways to stay up to date on City news and trial-related developments.

  • KALY 101.7 FM (Somali) – “Magaaladayda Minneapolis” KALY (Thursdays, 3/25, 4/8 and 4/22 from 2-3 p.m.) Playlist unavailable.
  • WIXK AM1590 (Hmong) – “Kuv Lub Nroog Minneapolis” WIXK (Thursdays from 2-3 p.m.) WIXK playlist.
  • Stay tuned to news from Operation Safety Net

Sign up for updates from the Minnesota Judicial Branch on the State of MN vs. Chauvin case

Everyone is invited to sign up for updates on the State of MN vs. Chauvin case from the Minnesota Judicial Branch webpage.

The webpage includes all public documents filed in the case and other information. This case was filed in Hennepin County District Court May 29, 2020.

Hennepin County Government Center services relocating during Chauvin trial; pandemic service changes continue

Hennepin County remains committed to providing services to residents during the ongoing pandemic and during the trial of Derek Chauvin, who is charged with the killing of George Floyd. Many county services continue to be offered online, by phone and in person by appointment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hennepin County’s role in the trial is to ensure that the Fourth Judicial District Court can conduct business in a safe and effective manner. To do that, it is necessary to restrict access to the Government Center to court-related services and implement additional security measures inside and outside the building

Access to the Government Center will be restricted to the operations of District Court for the duration of the trial. The Government Center Parking Ramp will also be closed to the public. 

Learn more.

Updates about community safety and 38th and Chicago area

City moves forward on new mobile behavioral health crisis teams

The City of Minneapolis is moving forward on a pilot project that will serve as an alternative to police response to support people experiencing a crisis. This pilot project will send an unarmed, highly trained and empathetic team to properly assess their needs and provide appropriate care or support while avoiding unnecessary hospitalization and criminalization. Behavioral health response teams will include behavioral health providers and may include emergency medical technicians or emergency medical services.

The City has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for mobile behavioral health crisis teams with a deadline to send a proposal of March 31.

This pilot project is part of the City’s transforming community safety work. The City’s realignment to provide a holistic community safety response will take place in phases over time with much staff, partner and community participation. It focuses on three main areas: a public-health-oriented response for preventing violence; alternatives to police response for 911 calls; and reforming law enforcement policies, protocols and practices.

Learn more about this work on the City’s website.

MPD leaders announce partnership with federal law enforcement officials to address violence at 38th and Chicago

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo joined other local and federal law enforcement officials March 17 to announce a new partnership to address a rise in gun violence in the 38th and Chicago area.

Arradondo pledged to restore peace to the area and hold people involved in the violence accountable. Law enforcement will increase patrols in the neighborhoods near 38th and Chicago.

W. Anders Folk, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, said federal authorities will focus on investigating and prosecuting people involved in violent gun crime in the area. 

Watch the press conference.

City leaders present united plan and next steps for 38th and Chicago

The City of Minneapolis is committed to working with the community to reconnect 38th and Chicago after the conclusion of the Derek Chauvin trial. City leadership’s overriding goals will be to support the needs of residents and businesses while honoring the importance of racial healing and reflection in this sacred space.

Prior to reconnection, the City will continue to work toward its long-term commitments advancing racial justice while providing enhanced core City services and engagement opportunities for residents and businesses in the 38th and Chicago area.

Highlights of enhanced City services, access and partnerships include:

  • The City’s Department of Community Planning & Economic Development (CPED) is doubling down on youth employment and training pathway opportunities by working alongside Summit Academy OIC, Project for Pride and Living and other potential partners on culturally specific, dedicated outreach and workforce development programs to help young people at the intersection pursue new career paths, including green workforce and technology sector jobs.
  • Public Works is providing enhanced services including extra solid waste and recycling collection at the George Floyd memorial and installing temporary traffic calming measures.
  • The Minneapolis Police and Fire departments continue to respond to calls for service.
  • The Office of Violence Prevention and Neighborhood & Community Relations staff will work with community stakeholders on developing engagement and outreach activities for residents to promote public safety and healing.

Design options

Public Works has been in close contact with community partners to determine two options for 38th and Chicago that preserve space for the memorial and art while ensuring delivery of critical services for the area, including much needed public transit. Both options provide two-way traffic operations in all directions to improve business and residential access and to provide the opportunity to restore transit service on Chicago Avenue and 38th Street.

The City has sent a survey to area residents and businesses to determine the preferred option.

City’s long-term commitments

The City has pledged more than $10.5 million in funding that is eligible for supporting racial healing in the 38th and Chicago area, and has committed to several important initiatives to advance racial justice, including adopting a truth and reconciliation process with the ultimate objective of implementing specific solutions to specific harms that have created and perpetuate racial disparities.

City funding also includes $150,000 for the Creative City Making program to hire a diverse team of artists and healers to create, implement, and lead community engagement processes to guide the City’s community healing and rebuild with racial equity efforts for areas most impacted by civil unrest.

Read this full story online.

Racial equity and anti-discrimination stories

City’s Just Deeds Project will allow Minneapolis homeowners to discharge racial covenants recorded against properties, reclaim homes as equitable spaces

The City of Minneapolis has launched a new initiative providing Minneapolis homeowners with the opportunity to learn about, acknowledge and discharge racial covenants recorded against their properties. 

Racial covenants were binding documents recorded against a property’s title, which prohibited all future owners of the property from selling it, renting it, or allowing it to be used by people of certain races or ethnicities. Mapping Prejudice, a research project based in the Borchert Map Library at the University of Minnesota, has compiled a map of over 8,000 properties in Minneapolis with racial covenants. 

The enforcement of racial covenants was outlawed by 1968, and racial covenants are no longer legally binding against property owners. Despite this, BIPOC members of our community continue to experience the negative impacts of these covenants.

Through the City’s Just Deeds Project, Minneapolis homeowners can acknowledge and disclaim the racial covenants recorded against their properties by recording a discharge form against their property title.

Learn more about the Just Deeds Project by visiting the City’s website or by emailing JustDeedsProject@minneapolismn.gov.

Read this full article online.

State of Minnesota discrimination helpline

The State of Minnesota has a helpline for people facing discrimination. Discrimination based on someone’s race, ethnicity, religion or other protected class is prohibited.

If you or anyone in your community faces discrimination, please call 1-833-454-0148 or complete this online form to report the incident.

The helpline is staffed 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Translation services are available and information about the helpline is available in 17 different languages on the State of Minnesota website.

COVID-19 news articles

City Council approves hospitality worker right to recall ordinance

The City Council has approved a hospitality worker right to recall ordinance. The ordinance is designed to ensure that certain hospitality industry employers welcome back former employees as more COVID-19 restrictions begin to lift in coming months.

Hotel and event center employers covered by the ordinance must give priority to their laid-off employees when hiring. The ordinance applies to hotels with more than 50 guest rooms and event centers with at least 50,000 rentable square feet or 2,000 fixed seats located within Minneapolis. It applies to employees who worked for at least six months between March 13, 2019, and March 13, 2020, at a covered hotel or event center, and who were laid off after March 13, 2020, due to an economic, non-disciplinary reason.

Ensuring that hospitality employers give priority to their former employees will help reduce the devastating impact the pandemic has had on these employees and their families and aid in the city’s economic recovery. The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a blow to the hospitality industry as travel, tourism and events have been put on hold. Read this article online.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: An image “vaccine updates” is attached to use with the following story.]

Free COVID-19 tests detect the virus even as variants

The City of Minneapolis is offering free COVID-19 saliva tests. Testing is encouraged and available to everyone, whether or not you have symptoms. It’s one of the best ways to stop the spread of COVID-19 and help prevent exposing your loved ones to the virus along with wearing masks correctly, keeping 6 feet from anyone you don’t live with and hand-washing.

Do not eat, drink or use tobacco products for 30 minutes before taking a COVID-19 saliva test.

Free COVID-19 tests 

Do not eat, drink or use tobacco products for 30 minutes before taking a COVID-19 saliva test.

Minneapolis Public Schools Davis Center, 1250 West Broadway
11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, March 20

Columbia Manor Golf Course, 3300 Central Ave. NE
4-7 p.m. Thursdays, March 25 and April 1, 8 and 15

Phyllis Wheatley Community Center, 1301 10th Ave. N.
10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, March 27

You can expect to get your test results in about 24 hours.

More free COVID-19 saliva tests

Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 Second Ave. S.
10 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekends
Visit the State’s COVID-19 testing webpage to register. 

Native American Community Clinic, 1213 E. Franklin Ave.
2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays
Appointments required: Call 612-872-8086 to schedule an appointment.

Southside Community Health Services, 324 E. 35th St.
2-3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays
Appointments required: Call 612-821-3548 to schedule an appointment.
You can expect to get your test results in about two-three business days.
Same day testing can be done for health care workers, first responders and essential workers.

Brooklyn Park Starlight Center
11 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekends.
Visit the State’s COVID-19 testing webpage to register. 

Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport
7 a.m.-7 p.m. seven days a week.
Visit the State’s COVID-19 testing webpage to register. 

At home
The State is also offering free at-home saliva tests. Any person in Minnesota can order a saliva test kit from the COVID-19 Test at Home program.

Find a current list of free COVID-19 tests on the City website.

If you can’t attend one of these testing events, you can use this directory to find a testing location near you.

Read this article online.

Gov. Walz expands vaccine eligibility as State reaches goal of 70% of seniors vaccinated

Gov. Tim Walz announced March 9 that Minnesota is expanding vaccine eligibility as the State reaches its goal of vaccinating 70% of Minnesotans 65 years of age and older. The announcement came several weeks ahead of schedule after the State moved quickly to use more vaccine from the federal government.

As a result, the State expanded eligibility to the next two phases of Minnesotans at once as of March 10. Providers have been directed to prioritize people in the first of these phases, which includes Minnesotans with specific underlying health conditions, food processing plant workers, and Minnesotans with rare conditions or disabilities that put them at higher risk of severe illness. Providers then have the flexibility to provide available appointments to other eligible Minnesotans.

More than 1.8 million Minnesotans became eligible to receive a vaccine:

  • Minnesotans with specific underlying health conditions: sickle cell disease; Down syndrome; those in cancer treatment or immunocompromised from organ transplants, oxygen-dependent chronic lung and heart conditions (COPD and CHF).
  • Targeted essential workers: food processing plant workers.
  • Minnesotans with rare conditions or disabilities that put them at higher risk of severe illness.
  • Minnesotans age 45 years and older with one or more underlying medical conditions identified by the CDC.
  • Minnesotans age 16 years and older with two or more underlying medical conditions.
  • Minnesotans age 50 years and older in multi-generational housing.
  • Essential frontline workers in agriculture, airport, child care (those not previously eligible), correctional settings, first response, food production, food retail, food service, judicial system, manufacturing, public health, public transit and the U.S. Postal Service.

Sign up

All Minnesotans who have not received a vaccine should sign up for the COVID-19 Vaccine Connector to get regular updates on vaccine availability and eligibility. In some cases, health care providers or employers will have more information for patients or employees on vaccine availability.

What should you expect when getting your COVID-19 vaccine? Watch this video from public health experts.

Learn more about the State’s vaccine distribution plan.

Sam Taitel, ED