Southside Pride

	Phillips/Powderhorn Nokomis Riverside
June 2007

	Phillips/Powderhorn:
	ICE official says agents shouldn’t have targeted church Pastor Patrick Hansel of St. Paul’s Evangelical Church, at 2742 15th Ave. S., Minneapolis, said a neighbor behind the alley of the church called to tell him that a number of SUVs were grouped in the church lot two weeks ago. Agents for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had chosen the church lot as the staging area for the execution of several warrants related to a criminal investigation into an alleged prostitution scheme. The operation involved 25 illegal immigrants who had allegedly coerced women brought into the country illegally to work as prostitutes at eight brothels in Minnesota, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. "We’ve seen this kind of thing with immigration people before so I wasn’t surprised to see men putting on ICE jackets when I went out to talk to them,” Hansel said. He had just finished teaching a Saturday catechism class. read more Cass action lawsuit settlement rankles City officials After years of hedging on their obligation to protect people from airport noise pollution, lawyers for the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) have now negotiated a backroom deal with the attorneys for the class-action lawsuit. The class-action lawsuit is separate from the lawsuit filed by the cities of Minneapolis, Richfield and Eagan and the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority. Because the deal was drafted without any input from the City of Minneapolis, and we have only recently been provided a summary of the deal, we know very little about it read more Coleman’s bill pits local law enforcement against feds About a dozen demonstrators showed up at the Minnesota office of U.S. Senator Norm Coleman yesterday to protest the most recent U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s (ICE) raid, this one in Austin, Minn., and to oppose Coleman’s proposed amendment to congressional immigration legislation that would nullify the right of local communities to choose whether or not they want to join in the enforcement of federal immigration law. read more Click here for a list of articles for June 2007

	Nokomis:
	Lake Street construction update Construction work is progressing on Lake Street as part of the first complete reconstruction of the major commercial corridor in South Minneapolis in 50 years. read more Turkish speaker presents her research on human trafficking The modern manifestation of slavery, trafficking of humans, is a $1 billion a year industry where Europe meets Asia at the hub of Istanbul, according BY DENNIS GEISINGERto Dr. Ilknur Altuntas, a judge in the Ministry of Justice in Ankara, Turkey, and a 2006–07 International Hubert H. Humphrey fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. read more State senator Torres Ray talks about her first session “The Republicans are very skilled at making messages that resonate but make no sense,” said first-year Minnesota State Senator Patricia Torres Ray, DFL-Minneapolis, during a breakfast interview at a Lake Street grill. Torres Ray represents District 62 which encompasses much of South Minneapolis. read more Click here for a list of articles for June 2007

	Riverside:

		Sha Cage: priestess of the word BY DWIGHT HOBBES Sha Cage, aka Lady Sha: Priestess of the Word, has caught fire. Small surprise. You could see it coming from her earliest days on the Twin Cities stage. And now, the skilled actor and working playwright sustains a steady rise, putting both gifts together as a spoken wordsmith. Heading up the Minnesota Spoken Word Association with her other half, e.g. bailey, she’s behind an umbrella operation that runs the talent agency TruRuts Endeavors, the film company Tru Life Films and Speakeasy Records, releases by Truthmaze, Sister Mimi, Buss One and, naturally, e.g. bailey and Sha Cage. Sha spoke with www.pulsetc.com about her CD debut, Amber People, which drops June 2 and already has garnered national attention. read more Prisoner re-entry legislation not “soft on crime,” Ellison says at town hall forum BY DENNIS GEISINGER Congressman Keith Ellison organized and hosted a town meeting forum at Minneapolis Urban League headquarters in North Minneapolis on May 30 to address the issue of successfully bringing ex-offenders who have served their time back into the community. Ellison was seeking support for his “Second Chance Act” legislation that is designed to “reduce recidivism, increase public safety and help states and locales better address the growing population of prisoners returning to their communities,” with a $191 million investment, according to the congressman. In March, Ellison introduced the bill, which has been cleared to be heard by the full House. read more Our birdman still can’t find the owls—but he predicted that BY JOHN KARRIGAN Well, I was right about something last month. I still do not have any luck finding owls in town. I have not seen the Long-eared Owl or any other owl, since its one-day appearance on May 2. Though I have seen a Cooper’s Hawk on several occasions. Once, late in May, one came by me, quite close, as I was near the south side of the lake. It was a short and unexpected view, but the hawk seemed to be carrying something. I thought I saw where it had landed in the southwest part of the park. I was right, and found the hawk in a medium-sized tree with its prey. (I think it was a House Sparrow.) read more Click here for a list of articles for June 2007