Star Tribune
Minneapolis Parks Foundation launches $20 million Transforming North Commons Park campaign
Hoping to break ground on the Minneapolis park system’s biggest-ever construction project in a neighborhood park by 2025, the Minneapolis Parks Foundation is officially launching a long-anticipated capital campaign to raise $20 million in private donations for a massive redesign of North Commons Park in north Minneapolis.
The campaign is already more than halfway to its goal after a single charity (which asked not to be identified) donated $10 million — the largest single gift ever given to the Parks Foundation, the Park Board’s primary philanthropic partner.
“That was really a wonderful thing that happened,” said Jennifer Downham, chief development officer of the Parks Foundation. “[The donors] saw this as a real way to make a huge, long-lasting impact because you know, parks are free and open 365 days a year.”
Downham said the gift is particularly appreciated because the cost of the project has gone up significantly.
North Commons Park, located at 1801 James Ave. N., sits between North High School and the West Broadway business corridor. It is best known for its towering water park, heavily-used basketball gym redone just before the pandemic as a Final Four community tribute project, and old oak grove that spans the southern half of the park, providing a retreat from the city. Its loved and worn recreation center is now 52 years old.
Nearly a decade ago, community advocates re-envisioned North Commons as a regional sports hub where youth tournaments could be hosted and suburban teams invited to north Minneapolis, rather than the other way around, as it typically happens. Extensive debates over the scope of change, fears of gentrification and the ballooning cost of construction ensued. A project initially budgeted for $20 million grew to $35 million before park commissioners last fall finally settled on a concept. Plans call for doubling the size of the recreation center and adding three new gyms, a fitness center, concessions, a dedicated senior room and a fully rebuilt water park with two slides.
The Park Board has ranked this project as its No. 1 state bonding request multiple years in row, highlighting its ability to help combat youth violence and strengthen community connections. It’s one of few free activity centers in an area that has struggled with low public school enrollment and perpetual business vacancies.
The agency has amassed about $12 million in public funding from state and federal sources as well as its own coffers, but was snubbed by the legislature last year. It is asking the state for $12 million more this year.
“Funding for a transformational project like the North Commons Park effort takes significant leadership from both private philanthropists as well as public officials,” said Parks Superintendent Al Bangoura. “We are working with our elected officials as well as the Minneapolis Parks Foundation to raise the capital and programming dollars needed for this amazing public resource.”
All donations collected by the Parks Foundation prior to the launch of its capital campaign total $11.9 million, leaving $8.1 million to go. Donors can contribute at www.mplsparksfoundation.org/Initiative/north-commons/
Star Tribune
Sentencing set for Monday morning for a Minnesota man who was drunk and speeding when he hit a woman’s SUV and killed her.
A man with a history of driving drunk received a four-year term Monday for being intoxicated and speeding when he hit a woman’s SUV on a southern Minnesota highway and killed her.
John R. Deleo, 54, of Lake Crystal, Minn., was sentenced in Brown County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash on Aug. 17, 2023, in New Ulm at Hwy. 68 and S. 15th Street that killed 82-year-old Sharon A. Portner, of New Ulm.
With credit for the two days he was in jail after his arrest, Deleo is expected to serve the first 2⅔ years years of his term in prison and the balance on supervised release.
A week ahead of sentencing, defense attorney James Kuettner asked the court to spare his client prison and put him on probation for up to five years.
Kuettner pointed out in his filing that Deleo stayed at the crash scene and attempted “to aid Portner, and he left [her] side only when directed to by law enforcement.”
The attorney also noted that Deleo has been sober since the crash, and therefore, at a particularly low risk for reoffending.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police arrived to find the two damaged vehicles near 15th and S. Broadway streets. Emergency responders took Portner to New Ulm Medical Center, where she died that day.
ROCHESTER – The defense for Shane Roper, the former state trooper charged for his role in a crash that killed Owatonna teenager Olivia Flores, has asked the court to dismiss eight of the nine charges against him.
In a motion filed Oct. 24, Roper’s attorneys said the state has “failed to meet its burden of offering direct evidence tending to demonstrate that [Roper’s] actions, or negligence, were the proximate cause of death or bodily harm.”
Roper, 32, faces nine criminal charges related to the May 18 crash, including felony charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide. Both charges carry maximum sentences of 10 years in jail.
The only charge the defense did not ask to have dismissed is a misdemeanor for careless driving, which carries a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail.
Among the other requests made to the court, Roper’s defense asked for a change of venue outside of Olmsted County, citing the extensive media coverage of the case. The defense said “jury pools have surely been tainted and a fair trial cannot be had” in the county.
Roper’s attorney, Eric Nelson of Halberg Criminal Defense, also argued that any evidence related to Roper’s prior speeding or traffic incidents should be precluded as evidence in the case.
In the five years leading up to the crash, Roper had been disciplined by the State Patrol on four separate occasions for careless or reckless driving, including a February 2019 crash that injured another officer.
District Judge Christa Daily has not responded to the motions. Roper is scheduled to be back in court Nov. 21 for a pretrial settlement conference.
Star Tribune
Who is comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who insulted Puerto Rico at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally?
NEW YORK — Of the nearly 30 speakers who recently warmed up the crowd for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe got the most attention for racist remarks.
”I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” he said, later including lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jewish and Black people.
The comments have led to condemnation from Democrats and Puerto Rican celebrities, with Ricky Martin sharing a clip of Hinchcliffe’s set, captioned: “This is what they think of us.”
The Trump campaign took the rare step of distancing itself from Hinchcliffe. ”This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
Here’s what to know about Hinchcliffe, his comedic styling and the response to his Madision Square Garden comments.
Hinchcliffe, raised in Youngstown, Ohio, is a stand-up comedian who specializes in the roast style, in which comedians take the podium to needle a celebrity victim with personal and often tasteless jokes. He has written and appeared on eight Comedy Central Roasts, including ones for Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady.
Even fellow comedians aren’t immune. At the Snoop Dogg roast, Hichcliffe made a joke referencing comedian Luenell, who is Black, being on the Underground Railroad. Of the honoree, he said: ”Snoop, you look like the California Raisin that got hooked on heroin.”
