PRST STD U.S.POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 6391
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THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
September 22-28, 2022
Vol. 89
No. 8
Phone: 612-827-4021
MnDOT to rebuild I-94 through Twin Cities—or not
www.spokesman-recorder.com
Gloves are still on in the Hiawatha Golf Course bout By Al Brown Contributing Writer
S Westbound traffic on I-94
Photo by Henry Pan
ince the MSR’s last story, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) met on Sept. 8 and voted 6-3 to approve its Master Plan to redesign the Hiawatha Golf Course from 18 to 9 holes. But the action still has not deterred its loudest critics in the African American community. In fact, the fight is still on.
“We are in the process of having Hiawatha placed on the National Registry, and the Park Board will no longer be able to make changes because we will be listed on the National Registry as an 18-hole golf course. The Bronze Foundation has already submitted the application to the state,” explained Darwin Dean, president of the Bronze Foundation. “Once the application passes from the state to federal ■ See HIAWATHA on page 5
Some see it as an opportunity to undo the freeway’s harm
By Henry Pan Contributing Writer
neighborhood, where Mae Adams, a retired teacher, grew up. “We had Black-owned doctors and lawyers and they took or decades, Interstate 94 has cleaved neigh- that away from us,” said Adams borhoods in Minne- from the porch of her son’s apolis and St. Paul in house in Rondo. But as the freeway nears the two, bringing with it pollution and destroying vibrant end of its useful life, the Minneand prosperous communities sota Department of Transportation (MnDot) is considering how along the way. One of which is the Rondo to rebuild, if at all, the seven-
F
mile stretch between Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis and Marion Street in St. Paul. Meanwhile, two community organizations, over the span of 13 years, have proposed different ideas about how the freeway should look. One wants to build a cap over the freeway in the Rondo neighborhood. The other wants to completely take it out.
How Rondo got cleaved Planning for a freeway connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul on its current route goes back as early as the 1920s, with the St. Paul city engineer designating St. Anthony Ave. for it, according to MNopedia. The route was approved by the Minnesota Department of ■ See I-94 on page 5
Veteran pro golfer Tom Lehman (l) and Bronze Foundation President Darwin Dean at Hiawatha Golf Course Photo courtesy of Jeff Fabre
Retired judge offers her vision for Hennepin County Attorney By Abdi Mohamed Contributing Writer
Dimick makes her case for Henne- conduct prevent us from saying certain things that would make it appear like pin County Attorney below. we are not being fair or impartial or any indication of impropriety. Martha Holton Dimick served eight MSR: What motivated you to join That really frustrated me. I’ve lived years on the bench as a judge in the this race for the Hennepin County in North Minneapolis for 20 years, Fourth Judicial District after being Attorney’s office? and I’m very invested in this commuappointed by Gov. Mark Dayton in nity. While sitting on the bench, you’re 2012. Now in her first year of retirelucky if you can affect one person at a ment, Dimick hopes to use her freetime. Knowing that Mike Freeman was dom off the bench to continue pushing retiring, I thought that that would be a for reforms in the judicial system. good place for me to be to effect these Dimick is currently in the race for changes, so I made the decision to run. Hennepin County Attorney and will be on the ballot in November against MSR: How did you make decisions as Mary Moriarty, the former head of the a judge while on the bench? Hennepin County Public Defender’s MHD: Being a judge is a very diffiOffice. Dimick received 18% of the cult position to be in, and some people primary vote with Moriarty leading the refer to it as being a referee or calling packed field at 36%. the balls and strikes. What you have to After receiving her law degree from do is, you have to look at both sides of Marquette University, Dimick worked a case…and of course, we have to look in private practice for years before she at the law, and the decisions that we was appointed to serve as the North Martha Holton Dimick make are not that easily done just Minneapolis community prosecutor Courtesy of Martha Holton Dimick based on an overview. by then-Hennepin County Attorney You have to also incorporate some MHD: I was a sitting judge, and I Amy Klobuchar, in 1999. A decade later she was hired as the deputy city decided after George Floyd’s murder, of the entities that we rely on, like the attorney in Minneapolis, where she a bunch of judges, we all wanted to probation department and sentencmanaged dozens of attorneys and staff make a statement to let the commu- ing guidelines. Also, you have to look in the criminal division. A few years lat- nities know how we were feeling or at pre-sentence investigation reports er, Dimick would ascend to the bench where we were at. But we were unable when it comes to sentencing a particuto do that because the rules of judicial lar defendant. and serve as a serious crimes judge.
So, presiding over cases isn’t really That really disappointed me a simple situation… That’s something because there were judges around the that I don’t think a lot of people under- country that were making statements stand. about this very tragic event, and here we are in Minnesota where it hapMSR: You’ve shared that part of why pened in Minneapolis and we couldn’t you entered this race was because even make a statement regarding how of how the judicial standards limited it affected us as judges on the bench. your expression in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. What MSR: What sort of freedom comes happened then and what were your from being off of the bench? frustrations? MHD: One of my main priorities MHD: All we did was approach is criminal justice reform, but crimithe director of the board on judicial nal justice reform is going to entail standards and get his opinion on how coordinating with all of our justice we should approach the situation. He partners—with probation, with psych gave us very specific guidelines, and services, with the county commissionwith those guidelines, we went to ers, the judges, lawyers, prosecutors, the Supreme Court justices to get the and defense attorneys. I don’t have all the answers, but I know all my justice partners have some valuable input that I know we can use to move forward.
I’d love to see more community policing.
MSR: What are some of the pitfalls in the legal system that you saw during your time as a judge? MHD: A lot of the things that pop up in my head is that leniency is oftentimes not dealt with equally, and that’s permission of the chief Supreme Court something we have to make sure we justice, and we were unable to get her are doing equitably for everyone. You approval. ■ See DIMICK on page 5
Groundbreaking launches phase one of North High makeover By Cole Miska Contributing Writer A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Friday, Sept. 16 at Minneapolis’ North High School for a Career and Technical Education (CTE) center. The event was attended by about 100 community members including the design team for the expansion, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and North High alumni. North High and Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) staff, including school board director Sharon El-Amin and interim Superintendent Rochelle Cox, also attended the ceremony. “We’re so excited about the potential that [the center] brings and that we’ll really be exploring careers and the educational fields for our students as they make their choices
about where they want to go in the future,” Cox said. The ceremonial groundbreaking was done by three groups using golden shovels. The first groundbreaking was led by Cox, Frey, and North High Assistant Principal Steve White, with subsequent groundbreakings from employees of LSE Architects (the design team for the CTE center) and a group of North High alumni. The CTE center will offer courses allowing students to get trade certificates and post-secondary education level courses that will give them college credits towards a two-year or four-year degree. Classes at the center will be available to all MPS students and will include engineering, robotics, drones, computer science, and media arts.
North High School alumni Some teachers will be moved from other MPS schools to the new CTE center when it opens, causing uneasiness among some teachers. Kaytie Kamphoff, a teacher at Patrick Henry High School, expressed concern for the
Photo by Cole Miska future of “Herobotics,” Henry High’s robotics team. Kamphoff said three teachers would be moving from Henry to the CTE center when it opens. “I am personally not super excited about losing three of our best Henry High School
teachers, two of which are Black CTE teachers, and one is our robotics coach,” Kamphoff said. “Plus, we will be losing our beloved Henry News Hour [due to its advisor transferring to North High], which is in its third season.” The CTE center is expected to open in August 2023, and its completion will be phase one of a three-phase plan to renovate North High that is expected to go through 2025 with a total cost of $56 million. “Almost every internal wall is getting touched,” White said regarding the renovation. “Whole renovation. Every ceiling tile, every floor covering, everything.” Amaris Altoro, a current freshman at North High, said she is excited that the renovations will be complete for her senior year. “[The completed
concept] looks like a college campus,” Altoro said. “It’s a really great school, and I think it deserves the renovation and a really great exterior.” Sam Ero-Phillips, an LSE Architects employee and North High alumnus who graduated in 2001, worked on the CTE center and renovation. Ero-Phillips said his children will be the third generation to take classes at North High, and that it meant a lot to him that they will know he worked on the school. “I’ve worked on so many schools, but to work on my former school—I spent four years here going to school— I’m happy that we’re making it happen,” Ero-Phillips said. Cole Miska welcomes reader responses to cmiska@ spokesman-recorder.com.