Star Tribune
St. Louis County OKs $1.4M for upgrades to Damiano Center, a makeshift shelter, while Chum expands
DULUTH – St. Louis County commissioners were unanimous Tuesday in approving $1.4 million of support to the Damiano Center for upgrades so it can be used as a transitional space while Chum undergoes renovations to nearly double its size.
The project will cost more than $2 million and the county’s part comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, the Public Safety Fund and beyond. Commissioner Annie Harala said she’s had conversations with Duluth city councilors who are excited to find ways to partner on the project.
“I see this as a way to make a big shift in downtown,” Harala said during this week’s meeting in Rice Lake. “This is the first of many steps to really be supporting the work of the many people working on this.”
Churches United in Ministry (Chum) has received $10 million from state and federal grants to make upgrades to the downtown space, the city’s sole homeless shelter. The organization must break ground in the next six to eight months and the project is expected to take up to 18 months to complete. Chum’s headquarters will be closed during this time and the Damiano Center — which offers emergency services including free meals, clothing and programming — will become its temporary home.
Chum currently has 80 beds, and some people end up sleeping in chairs or on the floor, its executive director said in 2023. In 2022, there was a 27% increase in shelter guests.
“We have been bursting at the seams for quite a while now,” John Cole, Chum director, said at the time. “This is what it will take to save lives.”
The Damiano’s third floor, where the remodel will be centered, is more than 15,000 square feet.
Commissioner Ashley Grimm called it one of the most exciting projects to come along for the board and said it was a long time in the making.
Star Tribune
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is slowly opening up about her childhood past amid domestic violence
She realized that violence in the home wasn’t normal when she finally left for college and sensed that other kids didn’t grow up that way. “Most people don’t call home to see if I should come home after school, or if I should go to my best friend Lauren’s house,” she said.
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan observed artwork hanging at Cornerstone, an advocacy center for victims of domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual violence. The tour of the Minneapolis facility was led by Colleen Schmitt, director of emergency services. (Renée Jones Schneider)
Flanagan has often connected with Minnesotans by sharing tales about her personal life, such as when she recounts what it was like to grow up with a single mom in St. Louis Park who relied on public assistance. And yet for many years, she said, she didn’t feel comfortable talking openly about her family’s history with domestic abuse.
That changed when she got a nudge from an unlikely source. Flanagan, as she tells it, was in Washington, D.C., in 2009 as part of her work with the progressive training group Wellstone Action. Then-Vice President Joe Biden was receiving an award from the Sheila Wellstone Institute for his advocacy of domestic violence victims. Before the official ceremony, Flanagan felt compelled to share with Biden about the abuse she observed as a child.
“I just start weeping, and the vice president stood up and gave me a hug. I literally cried into his chest,” she recalled. “And he said, ‘If you can tell the vice president that story, I bet you can tell other people that story.’ ”
And so she has, gradually.
The advocates at Cornerstone, including executive director Artika Roller, who has spent more than two decades helping abuse victims, heard Flanagan speak about it at a rally for action among advocates and survivors.
Another closure of I-494 in the south metro will put thousands of motorists on detour this weekend.
The eastbound lanes of the freeway will be shut down between Hwy. 100 and Cedar Avenue/Hwy. 77 and westbound lanes between Cedar Avenue/Hwy. 77 and Interstate 35W from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday, the Minnesota Department of Transportation said.
Some ramps leading to I-494 will start closing at 8 p.m. Friday. Motorists will be directed to use Crosstown Hwy. 62 to get around the closure, the agency said.
American Boulevard, which runs parallel to I-494, will be closed starting Monday through Nov. 11 between Hwy. 100 and France Avenue in Bloomington.
American Blvd. is closed to through traffic in both directions between Hwy 100 and France Ave
The closures are related to construction in which MnDOT is adding an EZ Pass lane on I-494 between I-35W and Hwy. 100, rebuilding the I-35W/I-494 interchange and replacing bridges over I-494 at Portland, Nicollet and 12th avenues.
In the west metro, westbound Hwy. 55 remains closed through Nov. 1 between Hwy. 169 and Interstate 494. Motorists can use I-394 as a detour MnDOT said.
Star Tribune
In northern Minnesota, DFL tries to win back long-held House seat it lost last election
Retired judge, Democrat Mark Munger, challenges Republican Natalie Zeleznikar.
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Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is slowly opening up about her childhood past amid domestic violence
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