Melody Hoffmann

southwestvoices.newsSweet Joon opens in La La location - Southwest VoicesSouth Uptown has it pretty nice—one homemade ice cream shop closes just for another to open in its spot.

Ice cream!

Southwest Voices@southwestvoices.bsky.social

Sweet Joon opens in former La La Homemade Ice Cream spot today.

FYI.

Recent route

If you are feeling uneasy about election time, keep your ears to @mprnews.org. Secretary of State Steve Simon is giving long interviews locally, and nationally. He is sharing openly, honestly, and directly. Worth your time, even if you are feeling ok. A rarity in elected officials comm for sure.

Late stage capitalism: the queue for Matchbox 20's presale in Shakopee, Minnesota.

(Those tickets were too expensive in this economy)

southwestvoices.newsPimento on the Lake closes - Southwest VoicesAfter failing to come up with outstanding rent, Pimento on the Lake vacated the premises this weekend, according to communications from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation system.

I know many people will be interested in this news:

Southwest Voices@southwestvoices.bsky.social

The lakeside restaurant, with a remaining location on Eat Street, is allowed to remove property on the premises through Oct. 30.

Melody Hoffmann reposted

David Brauer

@dbrauer.net

Minneapolis 1-day POP-UP VOTING SITES this week: ➡️ TODAY: Webber Community Center, 4401 Bryant N, 11a-6p Tue: Mpls Institute of Arts, 2400 3rd Ave S, 11a-6p Wed: Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar, 11a-6p Thur: Midtown Global, 920 E. Lake, 11a-6p Fri: Powderhorn Park, 3400 15th Ave S, 11a-6p

God morgon! We are still rocking with close to 11 hours of sunlight. She woke up at 7:34 this morning and is setting at 6:21 p.m. tonight. Daylight Saving Time ends Nov. 1, 2026 where we "fall back" in time.

As an'ol reminder, the more you use AI freely *and* we are forced into using AI, the more data centers we are told we need. There are notes from the Minneapolis Planning Commission.

Started the day thinking it was Wednesday again, now finishing up the @southwestvoices.bsky.social newsletter with a guest editor at an undisclosed location in Kingfield.

John @wedge.live and I are on the Pirates of Caribbean ride at Disney.

Wide shot of us on the ride, taken by a WedgeLive fan we ran into (thanks, fan).

Big night at Granada Theater: Uptown Futures Forum 2.0. The Urban Land Institute presented on its report released in March, a moderated Q&A, and now elected officials are reflecting on the night's content/discussion.

It is very important that people know Radio K @radiok.bsky.social now has a Riot Grrl show on Sunday mornings.

A note given to media at the Southwest High School transformation plan meeting last night.

On Halloween, the sun goes to sleep at 6 p.m. 👻🎃

Melody Hoffmann@phmelody.bsky.social

The sun sets at 6:40 p.m. tonight which seems disastrously early. That's all.

The sun sets at 6:40 p.m. tonight which seems disastrously early. That's all.

Someone honked at me as I was dropping off a cat carrier for friend and I thought they were telling me to get outta their way (we were not parked 100% properly).

...turns out my friend just happened to know the guy in Prince's old band and he was honking at her. My gestures did not relate to that.

Melody Hoffmann reposted

David Brauer

@dbrauer.net

In case you see this: Minnesota’s in-person absentee voting has started (on Sept. 18). It is the functional equivalent of in-person voting (which does indeed start Oct. 16; the only difference is you don’t have to fill out an absentee ballot application on-site).

Carole King@carolekingofficial.bsky.social

The best way to be sure your vote counts is to vote early and in person. www.vote.org

MPD did not show up to today's Budget Committee meeting where the department's 2025 fiscal year budget was on the agenda. The item was moved from a committee meeting last week.

The ELEFA huddle (at the ELEFA community meeting at the Urban League).

So far: ELEFA team introductions, overview of their year 3 and 4 plan re: MPD settlement agreement, overview of community and officer survey. Coming up: tabling and convo with the ELEFA team

It happened to me: My nephews accurately and empathetically described Hurricane Katrina and the Titanic sinking to me.

apnews.comFrom motorcycles to booze, US ban on $1 billion worth of Canadian imports goes into effectU.S.-Canada relations, already tense, are likely to deteriorate further after the United States went ahead early Tuesday with a decision to ban nearly $1 billion worth of Canadian imports, including a...

No one asked for this

BREAKING RAIN NEWS (Sept. 29 before noon)

Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer@ashafferwx.bsky.social

Our next soaker in the Twin Cities is incoming, expect rain within the next hour for much of the region. #mnwx

Breaking hyperlocal news: French Meadow on Lyndale Avenue is closed. A new owner took over earlier this year.

Peter Mason@devomase.bsky.social

Apparently French Meadow is closed for good on Lyndale Damn

I'm at a coffee shop working alongside two other local news outlets. I am jealous of myself.

We have a guest editor for the Monday newsletter. His name is "Our You Finished With Your Yogurt Yet?"

Daniel said he spelled "Are" wrong but he misspells one word wrong per sentence, typically, so he isn't going to fix it.

mynorthnews.orgNorth News interns ask the tough questions about youth gun violence — North NewsBy Melody Hoffmann , Reporter and Youth Program Leader For the August edition of North News , we asked our interns to spend their summer reporting on how gun violence affects North Minneapolis.&n...

This summer, we challenged our interns to report on gun violence in North Minneapolis. They did that while also developing an interest in City Council and law enforcement's use of drones. You can support North News by reading these articles and the others posted on mynorthnews.org

North News@mynorthnews.bsky.social

North News interns reported on how gun violence impacts North Minneapolis this summer. Read about how the interns approached the project and reporting from two of our interns on how guns gets passed around and how the mainstream media reports on gun violence.

23 Sept

A long overdue sunrise/sunset forecast: The sun will wake up TOMORROW (Thursday) at 7:01 a.m. and will set at 7:06 p.m, gracing us with roughly 12 hours of sunlight. NOTE: We are losing a few minutes of sunlight a day right now, so be grateful for what you have//bring your lights.

21 Sept

On this day in 2021, a student mentioned this song, so we had an online dance party (it was pandemic times) and it really set the tone for the last semester that I taught.

premiumFreights (seasonal)@premiumfrye.bsky.social

#neverForget

southwestvoices.newsMPS suggests to close Kenny, Lake Harriet Lower, Field elementary schools in school transformation plan - Southwest VoicesMinneapolis Public Schools senior leadership presented its "school transformation" plan on Sept. 15 to the school board and a large audience of MPS parents and press.

17 Sept

A breakdown of the options for the Southwest and Washburn High School pathways. #hyperlocaljournalism #educationnews

Southwest Voices@southwestvoices.bsky.social

More details on how MPS' school transformation plan impacts Southwest Minneapolis schools

17 Sept

It's cool everyone, I saved the US Postal Service with this purchase.

Full house at the MPS school board work session to discussion the district's school transformation plan.

View full thread

16 Sept

UPDATE: while a lot of the schools suggested to close are underutilized, I talked to some parents at schools in South/Southwest with plans to close. They said their schools have had increased enrollment and measures of excellence that seem counterintuitive to a closure

southwestvoices.newsMPS proposes school closures to optimize buildings - Southwest VoicesMinneapolis Public Schools parents filled the John B. Davis Center meeting room Tuesday night as the school board listened to an opaque presentation from district administration on suggested school cl...

16 Sept

Article:

16 Sept

As the different options were presented last night, parents, school board members, and the press slowly got a picture of what schools were being suggested to close.

Southwest Voices@southwestvoices.bsky.social

MPS leadership announced school closure options last night that puts Kenny, Lake Harriet Lower, and Field elementary schools at risk of closing.

Full house at the MPS school board work session to discussion the district's school transformation plan.

View full thread

Plan claims schools being underutilized will shift from nine to two.

The crowd is getting vocally reactive, starting with this slide and moving into the district's plan for engagement

Full house at the MPS school board work session to discussion the district's school transformation plan.

View full thread

FAIR High School is among a few high schools being suggested to close

There is A LOT of info being presented tonight. Every section of the district is seeing suggestions to close elementary schools. The schools chosen are those underutilized from a recent district-wide building analysis.

Full house at the MPS school board work session to discussion the district's school transformation plan.

mpschools.orgSchool Transformation - Minneapolis Public School DistrictSchool Transformation - Minneapolis Public School District

School transformation options: www.mpschools.org/about-mps/sc...

meetings.boardbook.orgPublic Meeting Agenda: September 15, 2026 at 5:00 PM - Work Session Meeting - BoardBook Premier

The board is presenting on magnet schools first. Full presentation is here: meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agend...

@madisonmcvan.bsky.social

14 Sept

Nice work, Minneapolis

Melody Hoffmann reposted

madi mcvan

11 Sept

the alex pretty memorial was vandalized today when someone poured motor oil all over it, per @nicoleneri.bsky.social, but volunteers are cleaning it up and expect it to be back in good shape soon.

minnesotareformer.comCaretakers clean Alex Pretti memorial site after vandalism • Minnesota ReformerEarly Friday morning, caretakers arrived at Alex Pretti’s memorial, finding it doused in two gallons of synthetic motor oil. Motor oil is not flammable, and much of the memorial remains unharmed. Volu...

Melody Hoffmann reposted

EHB on BET

@ehbforbet.bsky.social

9 Sept

🚨🚨🚨 Important Event Alert 🚨🚨🚨 TOMORROW (Wed.) the BET will take public comment on the Mayor's proposed budget. This is your opportunity to speak on funding for parks, police, or anything else. 5:05pm in the Public Service Center. Come and be heard! Details: lims.minneapolismn.gov/Board/Agenda...

lims.minneapolismn.govlims.minneapolismn.gov