Vol. 89
Inside this Edition...
Check out MSR’s weekly Summer Guide on page 9
THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
June 1 - 7, 2023
PRST STD U.S.POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 6391
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One Minnesota’s Transformative budget By Charles Hallman Staff Contributor he nearly $72 billion budget passed by the Minnesota Legislature and signed into law by Governor Tim Walz last week has been both hailed as historic and lamented by opponents. The DFL majority in both houses addressed longstanding issues such as paid family and medical leave, gun safety measures, voting rights and democracy protections, based on a $17.5 billion surplus that enabled Democrats to expand state programs. Republicans criticized the record spending and argued that they were left out of the legislative process, noting that many bills were passed with only DFL support. “The legislative session was the best for workers, families and children in Minnesota’s history,” said ISAIAH, a multifaith, multiracial, statewide non-partisan community or-
ganizing coalition, in a press release. “The transformative “The legislative policies and resources we won are the culmination of over a session was the best decade of organizing thoufor workers, families sands of regular Minnesotans to make more possible.” and children in Some of the key highlights of the One Minnesota Budget: Minnesota’s history.” •Provides the largest tax cut in state history that includes a one-time tax rebate of $260 for single filers with an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $75,000 or less; $520 for joint filers with an AGI of $150,000 or less; an additional $260 per child up to three dependents for families meeting the AGI filing thresholds; and a child tax credit up to $1,750 per child for lower income families. • Allocates $400 million for programs targeted to Minnesota’s youngest learners, including a $40 million increase Governor Walz signing the $72 billion state budget Photo courtesy of the Governor’s Office to Head Start. • Funds the North Star Prom- with a family income less than the next four years for long- nursing homes, and workforce term care, substance use and retention in the long-term ise Program, which provides $80,000. • Invests $2.9 billion over addiction, and funding for care facilities. free college tuition for students
• Provides $1.3 billion for improvements to state roads and bridges, including the necessary matching dollars for the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. • Provides funding to help more families access affordable child care; funds programs to address homelessness and food insecurity in Minnesota; and provides greater stability for Minnesotans living in poverty. • Sets aside state money to pay the difference between federal funds for Title I-eligible students and what is needed to provide free meals to all students, starting in the next school year. • Provides a record $1 billion to address Minnesota’s housing needs. • Provides a $3.5 billion public safety budget with $880 million in new funding and new gun control restrictions. • Provides more than $1 billion in new funding over the ■ See BUDGET on page 6
Roof Depot secures win from legislature By H. Jiahong Pan Contributing Writer upporters of the East Phillips Urban Farm and the city of Minneapolis will get some serious funding from the Minnesota Legislature that will allow the urban farm to roll out their vision and the city to expand their water yard plan at another location. The legislature will allocate $6.5 million to the City of Minneapolis to abandon plans to expand their water yard at the Roof Depot site, and instead develop it elsewhere. The legislature also allocated an additional $5.7 million to the city if East Phillips organizers can raise an additional $3.7 million needed to buy the land from the city by Labor Day weekend. The funding will allow the city to replenish $16.7 million in funds that it expended to plan an expansion of its existing water yard site in East Phil-
Roof Depot site
Photos by H. Jiahong Pan
lips, which is roughly bounded by Longfellow and Hiawatha Avenues and 26th and 28th Streets. The city began planning for a new, consolidated facility for its water operations in the early 1990s, identifying and securing the Roof Depot site for expansion in 2016. However, in 2014, East Phillips neighbors convened and developed a vision for the site, which would include afford-
able housing and communitybased business incubators. In addition, they opposed the city’s expansion plans because they worried that demolishing a building sitting atop toxic arsenic waste, which could be dispersed, and replacing it with a facility to accommodate increased truck traffic would increase pollution and exacerbate the already poor health outcomes that residents face.
Dean Dovolis, president of East Phillips Neighborhood Initiative (EPNI), thanked the Minneapolis delegation to the state legislature for securing the funding needed to secure the Roof Depot site. “This is a win for both the community and for Minneapolis,” said Dovolis in a statement. “We deeply appreciate the Minneapolis delegation’s assistance in reaching this historical deal to invest in a visionary model for public health and economic development.” In a statement, Mayor Jacob Frey lauded the development. “The City’s goal since the start of this process has been to build a facility that allows us to continue to provide clean water to the people of Minneapolis,” said Mayor Frey in a press release. “This agreement would move us closer to that goal, address community wishes, and avoid double charging Minneapolis property taxpayers. East Phillips currently has a
legal case pending at the Min- the case on hold until the purnesota Supreme Court alleg- chase process is completed. Meanwhile, earlier in May the ing the city did not conduct a
Rendering of the planned East Phillips Urban Farm Photo courtesy of Facebook proper environmental review when evaluating expansion of its water yard. East Phillips plans to ask the court to put
planning commission voted to continue an item to rezone and approve two conditional-use ■ See ROOF DEPOT on page 6
Call of the Wild
Hunting for edible mushrooms is not just a White man’s hobby By Cole Miska Contributing Writer oraging for wild food such as morel mushrooms or wild mulberries is often thought of as mostly a White hobby. But Tony Cineus of south Minneapolis wants to change that. Cineus, 27, forages for many types of mushrooms, from the gourmet chanterelle, to the highly sought-after morel, to pyscho-active “magic mushrooms” that Cineus credits with introducing him to mycology—the study of fungal biology. As a teenager in Florida, Cineus was able to find wild
mushrooms with psilocybin “I realized I had depression, I’d really like to emphasize ize your problems, and that’s his perspective on what he (the psycho-active component I had anxiety, and it helped with psilocybin mushrooms: where it all starts.” was putting into his body, of magic mushrooms) in cow me deal with it and it helped It’s not going to fix your Psychedelic mushrooms saying he now thinks about pastures, and sometimes even me adapt. That’s one thing problems. It helps you real- also made Cineus change the impact that unhealthy around his neighborhood. foods would have on his life. “I was young and into His new health-conscious partying. I thought I was attitude led him into foragreally cool,” Cineus said. ing for natural foods, and he His friends cultivated both encourages others to do the gourmet and psychedelic same. mushrooms and taught him “Black people have been about how to grow fungi. foraging forever,” Cineus Cineus credits psychedelic said “Way before there were mushrooms with not only supermarkets, everyone was introducing him to mushforaging. Foraging was taken way more seriously.” room hunting, but with helpBeing of Haitian ancestry, ing him improve his mental Cineus found mushrooms to health and realize what was be a way to reconnect with really important in life. his heritage. He remembers “[Psychedelic mushrooms] a dish native to Haiti that his helped me discover a lot Tony Cineus photographs a yellow morel (Morchella esculenta). Photo by Cole Miska about myself,” Cineus said. ■ See MUSHROOMS on page 6