Star Tribune
City of Minneapolis launches new census to better plug in to its music scene
The city of Minneapolis is trying to get plugged into its music economy.
Starting Friday, an online questionnaire dubbed the Minneapolis Music Census will begin asking musicians and music professionals within the city about their backgrounds, where they live, where and how they work, and other information related to their profession.
The census, which is anonymous, can be filled out over the next two weeks at mplsartsandculture.org. It’s being conducted by a company called Sound Music Cities out of Austin, Texas, where city-run music initiatives have helped the town earn its slogan as “the live music capital of the world.”
In Minneapolis, the census work is being spearheaded by the city’s new Arts & Cultural Affairs Department with support from the Minnesota Independent Venue Alliance (MNIVA), Meet Minneapolis, First Avenue, Hennepin Theatre Trust and other organizations within the music community — where the buzz for the data-collecting project is building.
An offshoot of the National Independent Venue Association that successfully lobbied for financial support from Congress during the pandemic, MNIVA brought the idea of the census to the Arts & Cultural Affairs Department last year after hearing of its success in other cities, including Seattle and New Orleans.
“We’re extremely optimistic about this,” said Jack Kolb-Williams, executive director of MNIVA and a longtime Twin Cities music promoter with the nonprofit all-ages organization Catalyst Music.
“It will provide a much more thorough picture of what is happening in our music community, a foundation of data that can be valuable for advocacy and addressing the issues that need to be addressed.”
Sound Music Cities founder Don Pitts, a former music liaison with the city of Austin, said the data his company collected in other cities already has been put into effect at their respective city halls.
Some examples: Sacramento, Calif., added another tier for entertainment licenses making it easier for restaurants and coffee shops to host live music. Chattanooga, Tenn., sparked more collaboration from the local university and Chattanooga Tourism, plus it enlisted a program for journalism students to work for various media outlets spotlighting artists and venues in lieu of full-time music writers in town.
“What we have seen is, there are usually a couple of big-ticket items that get addressed and a lot of smaller tweaks and adjustments from community organizations using the census data,” Pitts said.
Of course, predicting what might happen at Minneapolis City Hall once the data is compiled is more of a guessing game.
The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board has taken some public relations knocks the past couple of years since it ignored a petition to start paying musicians for its Music in the Parks series, and for trying to charge a licensing fee for buskers in parks.
Mayor Jacob Frey issued a statement supporting the census.
“Minneapolis musicians are world-class,” Frey said. “So are our city’s venues, clubs, festivals, radio stations and audiences. We want the world to know about the brilliance of our unique and diverse music scene, and the Minneapolis Music Census will help guide us there.”
The city’s director of the Arts & Cultural Affairs Department, Ben Johnson, believes the census will see real results. He said his department’s very existence — conceived during the pandemic — is evidence the city is getting more serious about boosting the music scene alongside all the other arts sectors.
“The city hasn’t had [an arts] department for 50 years, so it’s playing catch-up,” Johnson said, emphasizing he wants the census to reach all corners of the music scene: “I want to hear from Native musicians, East African musicians and everyone that reflects this city’s rich diversity.”
Some of the ideas Johnson threw out for after the census is completed include: programs promoting access to studios, audio and light technicians, and other mentors for rising musicians; and maybe even a program to support artists going to the annual South by Southwest Conference in Austin.
Johnson also urged non-musician professionals who work in venues, studios, education and other music-related businesses to fill out the online questionnaire. The deadline is April 26.
“This is a great way for us to get to know our music scene and see who really is in it,” he said, “and to find ways to get artists to be seen and developed.”
Minneapolis Music Census
Online: mplsartsandculture.org
Deadline: April 26.
A 19-year-old driver trying to get around slower vehicles collided head-on with an SUV in Wright County and killed one person and injured several others, officials said Thursday.
SUV passenger Janice Evelyn Johnson, 92, of Arden Hills, died Monday at HCMC from injuries she suffered in the collision on Oct. 22 in Monticello Township on County Road 37 near County Road 12, the Sheriff’s Office said in a search warrant affidavit filed in Hennepin County District Court.
The driver and two other people in the SUV survived their injuries, according to the affidavit, which the Sheriff’s Office filed to collect Johnson’s medical records at HCMC as part of its investigation.
According to the affidavit:
Deputies arrived at the crash scene and spoke with the car’s driver, Christian Kabunangu, of Brooklyn Park, who said he was heading west on County Road 37 and found himself behind two vehicles traveling below the speed limit.
“He was late for work, so he decided to pass them,” the affidavit read. Kabunangu said he saw the oncoming SUV and estimated it was about a half-mile down the road.
As he attempted to pass one of the slower vehicles, he explained, the other driver “sped up, preventing him from getting back into the westbound lane,” the filing continued.
As the Honda drew near, he swerved to the left, but the SUV did the same and they collided.
Star Tribune
University of Minnesota researchers find that native plants can beat invasive buckthorn on their own turf.
If the invasive buckthorn that is strangling the life out of Minnesota’s forest floor has a weakness, it is right now, in the shortening daylight of the late fall.
With a little help and planning, certain native plants have the best chance of beating buckthorn back and helping to eradicate it from the woods, according to new research from the University of Minnesota.
The sprawling bush has been one of the most formidable invasive species to take root in Minnesota since it was brought from Europe in the mid-1800s. It was prized as an ornamental privacy hedge. All the attributes that make buckthorn good at that job — dense thick leaves that stay late into the fall, toughness and resilience to damage and pruning, unappealing taste to wildlife and herbivores — have allowed it to thrive in the wild.
It grows fast and thick, out-competing the vast majority of native plants and shrubs for sunlight and then starving them under its shade. It creates damaging feedback loops, providing ideal habitat and calcium-rich food for invasive earthworms, which in turn kill off and uproot native plants. That leaves even less competition for buckthorn to take root, said Mike Schuster, a researcher for the university’s Department of Forest Resources.
When it takes over a natural area, buckthorn creates a “green desert,” Schuster said. “All that’s left is just a perpetual hedge, with little biodiversity.”
Since the 1990s, when the spread became impossible to ignore, Minnesota foresters, park managers and cities have spent millions of dollars a year trying to beat it back. They’ve used chainsaws and trimmers, poisons and herbicides, and even goats for hire. The buckthorn almost always grows back within a few years.
It’s been so pervasive that a conventional wisdom formed that buckthorn seeds could survive dormant in the soil for up to six years. That thought has led to a sort of fatalism: even if the plant were entirely removed from a property there would be a looming threat that it would sprout back, Schuster said.
But there is nothing special about buckthorn seeds. They only survive for a year or two.
Eden Prairie Eagles (6-3) at Maple Grove Crimson (9-0), 7 p.m.
Jim says: Maple Grove faithful are understandably jittery about getting Eden Prairie this early in the playoffs, but they should trust their eyes. The Crimson are loaded, with quality playmakers at every turn, like safety/receiver Dylan Vokal. Eden Prairie is built for games like this, but while the Eagles will keep things tight for awhile, Maple Grove will pull away in the second half, leading to a seismic sigh-of-relief from northwest metro. The pick: Maple Grove 35, Eden Prairie 21
David says: Eden Prairie’s time, however decorated an success-filled, is done and over. Provided the Crimson are able to take it. Maple Grove is capable of success as long as players don’t make the moment too big. Former coach Matt Lombardi cracked the code. What about his replacement, Adam Spurrell? The pick: Maple Grove 21, Eden Prairie 14
Edina Hornets (7-2) at Eagan Wildcats (5-3), 7 p.m.
Jim says: On paper, this leans toward an Edina victory. The Hornets have top-end talent on offense (QB Mason West, WR Meyer Swinney), an under-appreciated defense and a season-opening 35-14 victory over Eagan. But the Wildcats are resilient and don’t back down from anyone. Quarterback Brooklyn Evans is adept at running the Wildcats option offense and will keep them in the game. The pick: Edina 28, Eagan 15
David says: Tempting as it is to pick against Edina and revel in another office cake party, let’s go with the Hornets in this one. Expect an improved Eagan team to keep Edina within reach, however. The pick: Edina 21, Eagan 20
Alexandria Cardinals (7-2) at Moorhead Spuds (9-0), 7 p.m.
Jim says: Alexandria came oh-so-close to beating Moorhead on Oct. 11, falling 36-34 when a game-winning field goal went wide-left. While the Cardinals hoped for this rematch, Moorhead has the look of a team on a mission. Outside of the head-to-head matchup, Moorhead dominated every other opponent with a series of 30-point plus victories. No one mashes the Spuds. The pick: Moorhead 44, Alexandria 34
David says: The Game of the Year, Part II. Only thing to make this more juicy would be an upset. Is Alexandria up to that task? I don’t have the courage to go out on that limb in this space. The pick: Moorhead 42, Alexandria 24
Andover Huskies (7-2) at Elk River Elks (8-1), 7 p.m.
Jim says: Another highly anticipated rematch. Andover handed mistake-prone Elk River it’s only loss, 47-31, on Sept. 20. With three lost fumbles, Elks’ coach Steve Hamilton called it the worst game they’ve played in five years. You can bet they’re itching to prove they’re better than they showed that night. The pick: Elk River 49, Andover 37
David says: Bet the over when these two teams clash. Andover’s quarterback Joseph Mapson is a much more polished and proven signal caller that he was in late September. The Pick: Andover 49, Elk River 48.
