Star Tribune
Cup Foods owners sue Minneapolis over lost business at George Floyd Square
The owners of Cup Foods and several other businesses near George Floyd Square are suing the city of Minneapolis, alleging that concrete barricades and the lawlessness that flourished within them cut their income and crushed their property values.
The lawsuit accuses Mayor Jacob Frey and other city officials of essentially abandoning the businesses and offering little more than lip service and weak financial help following the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in front of Cup Foods, now known as Unity Foods.
The lawsuit underscores lingering acrimony over the city’s response to unrest that followed Floyd’s murder; more than three years later, proposed changes to the area around 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, from infrastructure to some form of permanent memorial, are still years off.
The plaintiffs in the suit are Cup Foods Inc.; Menthol Tobacco LLC, which operates inside the corner store; Southside Electronics Inc., which also operates in the store; NMA Investments Inc., which operates out of the same address; and 3759 Chicago Ave. LLC, which owns businesses near the intersection.
The convenience store changed owners earlier this year; the plaintiffs are the longtime owners from before Floyd was killed until the recent sale, their attorney said.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Hennepin County, seeks around $1.5 million in damages from its allegation that the city and Frey were negligent and violated the city’s nuisance ordinance and charter.
Because the city itself erected the barricades, which hampered access to the businesses, and because it knew of rampant crime but failed to police it accordingly — those losses are on the city, the lawsuit reasons.
Casper Hill, a city spokesman, said Tuesday that the city was aware of the suit “but has no comment at this time.”
The city’s approach to the intersection, which organically became a hub for racial justice demonstrations and a much-visited destination, has varied since Floyd’s murder in May 2020. The suit alleges the city allowed a “No Go Zone” for police officers in the area immediately around the intersection, allowing crime to thrive.
The city removed a number of concrete barriers in June 2021, but Michael Healey, an attorney representing the businesses, said the financial losses continued through this year.
“Instead of helping Plaintiffs achieve racial equity and economic prosperity, the City consciously decided to allow concrete barricades to surround Cup Foods for over one year, which economically devastated a minority-owned business in a minority-dominant neighborhood,” the suit states. “The City actively hindered Plaintiffs’ economic success and jeopardized the safety within and surrounding Plaintiffs’ businesses.”
The city offered $50,000 forgivable loans to businesses in the area. In 2021, Cup Foods took one such loan, “but that amount is not nearly enough to compensate Cup Foods for the economic turmoil,” the suit states.
The suit claims the value of the properties plummeted from $2 million before Floyd’s murder to less than $200,000 last year.
Healey said the city was served with the complaint a year ago, a move that typically offers the parties a chance to settle before going to court. No settlement was reached.
Two people from Minnetonka were killed late Friday afternoon when their GMC Suburban ran a stop sign and was struck by a GMC Yukon headed north on Hwy. 169 west of Palisade, Minn.
According to the State Patrol, Marlo Dean Baldwin, 92, and Elizabeth Jane Baldwin, 61, were dead at the scene. The driver of the Suburban, a 61-year-old Minnetonka man, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The Suburban, pulling a trailer, was headed east on Grove Street/County Rd. 3 at about 5:15 p.m. when it failed to stop at Hwy. 169 and was struck by the northbound Yukon. The Yukon then struck two westbound vehicles stopped at the intersection.
Four people from Zimmerman, Minn., in the Yukon, including the driver, were taken to HCMC with life-threatening injuries, while two passengers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Three girls in the Yukon ranged in age from 11 to 15.
The drivers of the two vehicles struck by the Yukon were not injured, the State Patrol said. Road conditions were dry at the time of the accident, and alcohol was not believed to have been a factor. All involved in the accident were wearing a seat belt except for Elizabeth Baldwin.
Hill City police and the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.
Amid the cacophony and chaos of the pregame preparation before a recent Minnetonka High School football game, an exceptional group of six girls is gathered together among the school’s deep and talented cheerleading and dance teams.
The cheerleaders, a national championship-winning program of 40 girls, dot the track around the football field. As the clock ticks down to kickoff and their night of choreographed routines begins, the six girls, proudly wearing Minnetonka blue T-shirts emblazoned with “Skippers Nation” and shaking shiny pom-poms, swirl around the track, bristling with excited energy.
Their circumstances are no different from any of the other cheerleaders with one notable exception: The girls on this team have special needs.
They’re members of the Minnetonka Sparklers, a squad of cheerleaders made up solely of girls with special needs.
A football game at Minnetonka High School is an elaborate production. The Skippers’ recent homecoming victory over Shakopee brought an announced crowd of 8,145. And that is just paying attendees; it doesn’t include school staffers, coaches, dance team, marching band, concession workers, media members and others going about their business attached to the game.
The Sparklers program, now in its 12th season, was the brainchild of Marcy Adams, a former Minnetonka cheerleader who initiated the program in her senior year of high school. Adams has been coach of the team since its inception, staying on through her tenure as a cheerleader at the University of Minnesota.
She started the program after experiencing the Unified Sports program at Minnetonka. The unified sports movement at high schools brings together student-athletes with cognitive or physical disabilities and athletes with no disabilities to foster relationships, understanding and compassion through athletics. Many Minnesota schools offer unified sports.
“I grew up in a household that valued students with special needs and valued inclusion,” Adams said. “I saw a need to give to those students. At Minnetonka, we have a strong Unified program, and this was a great opportunity to build relationships and offer mentorship opportunities.”
Elite runners are in a league of their own.
To get a sense of how far ahead elite runners are compared to the rest of us, the Minnesota Star Tribune took a look at how their times compare to the average marathon participant.
The 2022 Twin Cities Marathon men’s winner was Japanese competitor Yuya Yoshida, who ran the marathon in a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 28 seconds, for an average speed of 11.96 mph. He averaged 5 minutes and 2 seconds per mile.
That’s more than twice the speed of the average competitor across both the men’s and women’s categories, of 5.89 mph, according to race results site Mtec. The average participant finished in 4 hours, 26 minutes and 56 seconds. That comes out to an average time of 10 minutes and 11 seconds per mile.
And taking it to the most extreme, the fastest-ever marathon runner, Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya, finished the 2023 Chicago Marathon in 2 hours and 35 seconds, for an average pace of about 13 mph. Kiptum averaged 4 minutes and 36 seconds per mile.
Here is a graphic showing these differences in average marathon speed.
