[Mpls] This Week in The Minneapolis Observer

[Craig Cox]

T H E M I N N E A P O L I S O B S E R V E R
A Weekly Digest of All Things Minneapolitan
www.mplsobserver.com
Vol. 3, No. 2
August 11, 2003

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THIS WEEK IN THE OBSERVER:
* Revamped NRP Will Get Less Money, More Input
* Bryant Lake Bowl Seeks Community Support in Rent Dispute
* Burlesque Returns to Downtown
* Nightclub Contest Offers Free Breast Implants
* Meeker Island Dam Gets Historic Designation
* Community Garden Celebrates 60 Years of Growing
Plus: Resources for Latino families, remembering George Delmonico, Jesse's political legacy, how to bury your dead, and shaking up the schools in the post-Cheryl Johnson era

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REVAMPED NRP WILL GET LESS MONEY, MORE INPUT
When Mayor R.T. Rybak reveals his 2004 budget Thursday, it will feature sharp cuts in the city's Neighborhood Revitalization Program and a call for citizens to get involved in other ways.

The 12-year-old program, which was designed to pump $20 million a year into city neighborhoods and give residents a real voice in how that money was spent, will receive less than $11 million in 2004, Rybak told Scott Russell in the Southwest Journal (http://www.swjournal.com). Lean financial times have forced the city to reshape NRP, but state aid cuts are not the only reason the city is re-evaluating the program, the mayor said. He argued that it has not done enough to build affordable housing.

Rather than using NRP solely as a financial tool for cleaning up neighborhoods, Rybak wants the program to spark citizen involvement in "larger, citywide spending decisions," he said.

But NRP executive director Bob Miller doubts that issues that don't directly affect residents and their neighborhoods will attract the kind of participation NRP sparked. "There will be policy wonks and there will be residents and advocates who will be happy to do it," he said. "That is because they get paid for it or they have a special interest in it. But it will not be the mom and pop down the street; it is not going to be the normal everyday resident who gets involved in that."

BURLESQUE RETURNS TO DOWNTOWN
Burlesque, which is making a comeback across the country, has returned to Minneapolis with the opening of Le Cirque Rouge de Gus (Gus's Red Circus).

NORTHSIDE ACTIVISTS PUSH FOR TARGET-SUPPORTED TRUST FUND
In the latest attempt to force reparations from Target after the local retail giant closed its West Broadway store, Northside activists have proposed that the company establish a fund to support economic development in the area.

NIGHTCLUB CONTEST OFFERS FREE BREAST IMPLANTS
Having trouble getting the ladies to show up at your bar. How about offering free breast implants?

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The Minneapolis Observer is published 48 times/year by Independent Media, L.L.C. �2003 Independent Media, 4152 Snelling Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55406; www.mplsobserver.com. No part of this publication may be reprinted without the permission of Independent Media. Subscriptions: $12/yr. To unsubscribe, send us an e-mail ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) and we'll get you off the list and refund the unused portion of your subscription.
Editor: Craig Cox
Senior Executive Editor: Sharon Parker
Contributing writers: Chris Dodge, Leo Mezzrow
Equine consultant: Nora Cox
Perspective: Martin Cox
Thanks to: William Radosevich

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