Staff Directory 6370761

Susan Du

Reporter | Minneapolis
Phone: 612-673-4028
Recent content from Susan Du
Ash looked for another dog to play with Tuesday, May 23, at Unci Makha Dog Park in St. Paul, in the Highland Bridge development. The Trust for Public

St. Paul, Minneapolis rank second and third nationwide for parks

The Trust for Public Land's annual ParkScore rankings looked at some 500 park systems across the United States.
Protestors interrupted a Minneapolis City Council meeting last fall, calling for a chance to speak against the demolition of the Roof Depot building.

State funding unlocks deal with Mpls. to sell Roof Depot site for urban farm

Legislative support brings a breakthrough for the East Phillips activists who opposed the city's plans to expand its public works campus on the site.
Visitors to the Hennepin County Library’s Southdale branch worked on computers.

Some librarians urging Hennepin County officials to allow them to reverse drug overdoses on-site

County officials are reviewing protocols for all employees to carry and administer naloxone.
Minneapolis reaches $700K settlement with family detained after 2019 police shooting

Minneapolis reaches $700K settlement with family detained after 2019 police shooting

Chiasher Vue's children said they were locked in squad cars and held at City Hall for hours after he was shot and killed by police.
Former Central Gym Park supervisor charged with embezzling Minneapolis Park Board funds

Former Central Gym Park supervisor charged with embezzling Minneapolis Park Board funds

No revenue was reported by the park for several months, despite the gym being rented out for soccer.
A cyclist passed the Lake of the Isles lagoon and canal on Monday.

Park Board to consider killing plan to make Greenway a regional trail

Scrapping the process prematurely would prevent the Midtown Greenway from obtaining regional trail status.
Attendees packed a Minneapolis City Council meeting in December 2018, when the 2040 Comprehensive Plan was approved.

Minneapolis commissions environmental review in final stretch of 2040 Plan lawsuit

With the Supreme Court unwilling to review the city's objections to studying the potential harm of the 2040 Plan, Minneapolis has launched an environmental study.
Council Member Robin Wonsley, Nick Juarez of the University of Minnesota police, Council Member Michael Rainville, Police Chief Brian O’Hara, Inspec

O'Hara: Most causing trouble in Dinkytown were from suburbs

Police responded to 11 incidents last weekend involving the same crowd of young people, who threw rocks, fought and harassed people several nights in a row.
Fireworks burst over downtown St. Paul during the 2008 Taste of Minnesota. The July 4th event will be resurrected in Minneapolis this summer.

Taste of Minnesota will come to Minneapolis this summer

Nicollet Mall news conference Thursday will give details of traditional July 4th event
From the 1950s through the 1990s, Camp Katherine Parsons gave city kids a chance to learn outdoors skills and ethics.

Phyllis Wheatley Community Center wins approval to reopen summer camp in Carver County

Residents of rural Watertown Township worked with the north Minneapolis nonprofit to resurrect the long-dormant Camp Katharine Parsons.
Community members in January commented on plans for transforming North Commons Park facilities in Minneapolis.

Park Board considers scaling back North Commons project as money runs short

Commissioners must decide whether to press forward with a $49 million rebuild of the park or scale back the project as money runs short.
A Smith Foundry Co. plant is seen across the street from Circulo de Amigos Child Care Center in Minneapolis in January.

Minneapolis aiming to ban new heavy industry, reducing neighborhood pollution

But existing operations would be allowed to stay under state law, frustrating some environmental activists.
Residents emerged from their tents at the East Phillips homeless encampment in Minneapolis earlier this month.

Hennepin County aiming to end chronic homelessness by 2025

With the help of an external evaluator, the county will try to achieve "functional zero" — housing more people than become homeless.
East Phillips environmental advocates last summer protested the Minneapolis City Council’s plans for the former Roof Depot warehouse in the neighbor

Minneapolis willing to sell Roof Depot site to East Phillips activists for $16.7 million

A bill tabled in the House seeks $20 million for activists to develop an indoor urban farm on the site.
Shown with her son, Landyn, Angele Enger and her lawyer worked out a settlement that enabled her to keep her home after the St. Paul Public Housing Ag

Minneapolis, St. Paul public housing evictions outpacing pre-pandemic rates

Most eviction filings are for falling behind on rent — some for less than $100.
Public housing tenant challenging MPHA's right to evict without a rental license

Public housing tenant challenging MPHA's right to evict without a rental license

Stacey Marable's children were getting sick in public housing, then they were nearly evicted. She's fighting back.
Minneapolis renters attended a Minneapolis City Council meeting last spring to support adoption of a rent stabilization policy.

Minneapolis city staff report recommends against adoption of rent control

Staff concluded that rent control could slow housing development and cost the city too much to enforce.
A bicyclist felt the air last fall along West River Parkway, just north of Franklin Avenue, in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis Park Board seeking city funding for parkways, stormwater management

City spending on parkway maintenance has been stagnant for 10 years.
!uke (pronounced Luke) Earley stood with a sign near the East Phillips homeless encampment Tuesday in Minneapolis.

As Minneapolis officials discussed homeless camp strategies, camp residents feared closure

Longtime occupants of an East Phillips camp got ready to find a new location Tuesday morning.
Urban Homeworks’ AsaleSol Young and BLUU’s Lena Gardner and her daughter Winnie on the block of N. Logan Avenue where they will begin construction

Plan to build triplexes in north Minneapolis runs into obstacles

North Side developers were forced to scale down plans.
Utility workers on Monday surround a sinkhole that opened up in the middle of the intersection of W. 27th Street and Girard Avenue S.

120-year-old sewer pipe to blame for sinkhole in Uptown Minneapolis

The crater, roughly 10 feet deep and 5 feet wide, on Girard Avenue near 27th Street opened up on Easter Sunday.
Driver hits, kills man in Spring Lake Park

Driver hits, kills man in Spring Lake Park

The driver stopped and cooperated with police.
Man fatally shot in north Minneapolis

Man fatally shot in north Minneapolis

The 34-year-old victim has not yet been identified.
Abortion opponents protested at the Planned Parenthood building in St. Paul in 2016. A Minneapolis ordinance sought to prevent these kinds of protests

Religious group sues Minneapolis to overturn law restricting protests against abortion clinics

Pro-Life Action Ministries of St. Paul says the ordinance infringes on its First Amendment rights.
Twin Cities Recovery Project CEO LaTricia Tate celebrates the grand opening of the Safe Station Project, a year and a half after the death of her part

North Minneapolis' Fire Station 14 launches drop-in center for people struggling with substance abuse

The Safe Station project intends to have a 24/7 open door for anyone struggling with drugs.
A child in a butterfly costume during a children’s pageant produced by Alice Dietz at Lyndale Park in Minneapolis in the early 20th century. The Min

Minneapolis Park Board wants your stories to commemorate 140th birthday

Tuesday was 140 years to the day that Minneapolis voters chose to create a semiautonomous government to protect the city's green space for the public.
Andre Locke, the father of Amir Locke, spoke in February alongside attorney Ben Crump and Karen Wells, Amir’s mother.

Racial justice advocates offer mixed reviews of Minneapolis policing agreement

They were still absorbing the ramifications of the 144-page document and asking: Did it go far enough?
“Coach Bobby” developed football, basketball and baseball teams at North Commons Park.

Robert F. Hill, north Minneapolis youth coach, dies at 77

"Coach Bobby" was a North Commons coach, longtime youth worker and bus driver who committed his life to other people.
The Park Board is seeking a boost in funding to repair Minneapolis’ 55 miles of parkways. This 2013 pothole was on E. Minnehaha Parkway along Lake N

Park Board asks city for $6M annual injection to save Minneapolis parkways

At the current rate of $750,000 a year, the full parkway system will be undrivable in 15 years, according to the Park Board.
A vehicle navigates a battered up, pothole laden stretch of 10th Ave. SE Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minn. Temporarily patching streets is

Temporary street patches costing Mpls. extra $1M in decade's worst pothole winter

Permanent fixes won't be possible until the asphalt plants open later this spring. Residents are urged to call 311 to report problem potholes.
The Park Board is proposing a skate park built by skaters and new play equipment for small children to revitalize an underused pocket park in south Mi

Tiny Minneapolis park space that was long neglected to get skate park makeover

The "28th Street Tot Lot" in the Whittier neighborhood will enter the next phase of its life as a draw for skateboarders.
Marvin Haynes stands outside his cell Thursday at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater in Bayport. The 35-year-old Haynes has been incarcera

Innocence Project takes up case of man convicted in Mpls. flower shop killing

The 35-year-old Marvin Haynes was sentenced to life in prison as a teenager for the murder of Randy Sherer.
Robert Lilligren, president of the Native American Community Development Institute and a former City Council member, spoke against the Public Works fa

District court issues 11th-hour temporary injunction on Roof Depot demolition

The city of Minneapolis has been embroiled in a decade-long fight with environmental activists over plans to demolish a former warehouse to make way for a Public Works facility in the East Phillips neighborhood.
Kendrah Maki, left of center, and Darius Porter, relaxed out of reach of the winter storm at Catholic Charities’ St. Paul Opportunity Center’s tem

Twin Cities' unsheltered people batten down for snow, seek refuge in new warming hubs

St. Paul's new network of warming centers linked by shuttle transportation is being used heavily this snowy winter.
Protesters gathered at the Roof Depot site in the East Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis on Tuesday night to oppose its planned demolition.

Activists occupy Minneapolis' Roof Depot site to stay demolition, but police move in

East Phillips neighborhood activists said direct action was a last resort in their opposition to the city's plans to build a new Public Works facility.
Roosevelt High School student Greta Prem, 16, took batting practice with 612 Fastpitch at MSA Sports Academy in Bloomington. Generations of city girls

Parents of Minneapolis girls softball players prompt Title IX investigation

Complaint says lack of proper facilities undermines Minneapolis girls' statistics and their prospects for college athletic scholarships.
A new homeless encampment has been set up in Minneapolis at 3246 S. Nicollet Av., the site of a vacant grocery store.

New homeless camp growing at planned Minneapolis affordable housing site

The owner of the former Casablanca Foods grocery store are asking for help housing an estimated 25 people staying in the icy parking lot.
Embrace North subscriber Jacob Booden exits a sauna before soaking in an ice bath Wednesday in Minneapolis.

City closing unlicensed Linden Hills sauna; owners fight law labeling them sexually oriented

Embrace North operated under the radar for a year and a half with some 900 members.
Ten-year-old Amere, left and holding the controller, played a video games with friends at the new Spark’d Studios at Harrison Recreation Center Thur

Minneapolis Park Board ramps up construction of tech labs in neighborhood parks

Latest Spark'd Studios was unveiled Thursday at Harrison Rec Center. Four more are in the works.
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board plan would reduce the number of holes at the Hiawatha Golf Club by half after major reconstruction.

State preservation office nominates Hiawatha Golf Course for National Register

Noted for its history among Black golfers, Minneapolis course slated for major reconstruction.
Shelley Buck, president of Friends of the Falls and a member of the Dakota Nation, shown Thursday on the Stone Arch Bridge overlooking the Mississippi

Downtown Minneapolis riverfront land may soon return to tribal ownership

Friends of the Falls' new Native-majority board unveiled designs for a "land-back" project at Dakota sacred site.
A long vacant apartment building at 628 E. Franklin Ave. was under construction in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

Decades-vacant Minneapolis apartment building finally being rehabbed

HOPE Community and City of Lakes Community Land Trust are renovating a neighborhood eyesore into affordable condos.
A housing access coordinator for the social services organization the Housing Guy talked to a resident of a homeless encampment in south Minneapolis o

Workers trying to find out how many are homeless in Hennepin County

There is a nationwide effort to capture the number of homeless Americans on the night of Jan. 25.
A curious gray squirrel stopped momentarily from foraging for food in Loring Park in 2011.

Did a famed parks leader import gray squirrels to Minneapolis — and have the red ones killed?

Gray squirrels were once a rare breed mostly found in forests. Now they are abundant in the city's parks.
A tent catches fire as volunteers, workers and residents take down and clean up a homeless encampment Wednesday in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood in

MnDOT closes Cedar-Riverside homeless encampment in Mpls.

Occupants estimate there were roughly 200 people living at the Minneapolis tent city when it was closed Wednesday morning.
A HavenBrook property on 36th Avenue and Humboldt Avenue North

Minneapolis imposes lengthy conditions on troubled corporate landlord

Hedge fund-owned Front Yard Residential, managed locally by HavenBrook Homes, must submit to additional regulations to keep its rental licenses.
Danielle Joerger, shelter supervisor, stepped inside Shrek’s kennel to give him some love and attention at Minneapolis Animal Care and Control on We

Minneapolis animal shelter overwhelmed with abandoned pets

The city pound has three staff members taking care of about 100 animals, seven days a week.
Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board Superintendent Al Bangoura talked Tuesday with community members about North Commons Park renovation plans.

North Commons Park would get largest Minneapolis rec center in renovation

Park Board staff presented four concepts of increasing scope and budget in a first look at the largest neighborhood park project in Minneapolis history.
An 8-year-old points to bullet holes over her bed. She shares the room with her 11-year-old sister at the Five15 on the Park apartment complex Wednesd

Cedar-Riverside apartment residents besieged by break-ins

Property management says they are struggling to get ahead of the nightly intrusions.
Mase Jackson, who has lived in a tent in the shadow of downtown for three weeks, said people were using buckets to go to the bathroom until the city i

Residents of Mpls. homeless camp find agencies shifting responsibility

Even though city sidewalks and boulevards encompass the MnDOT property, city staffers put off supplying toilets because they wanted the state to assume the expense, a local legislator said.
East Phillips environmental activists including Sandy Spieler, left, and Liz Pedersen, right, protested the demolition of the Roof Depot warehouse in

Lawsuits heat up as Roof Depot demolition nears in Minneapolis

The city plans to tear down a disputed East Phillips warehouse early next year to make way for a Public Works facility, a plan opposed by neighborhood activists.
New restaurant the Painted Turtle plans to offer “classic Minnesota lakeside fare” at Lake Nokomis in 2023.

New vendors chosen for Lake Nokomis, Bde Maka Ska concessions

The Painted Turtle will offer beach fare at Nokomis. Lola on the Lake and Pimento Kitchen will serve the rebuilt Bde Maka Ska pavilion.
Buba Jaiteh, a Minneapolis resident affected by a water main freeze and break in the city, picked up bottled water distributed by the city at Farview

Boil water advisory lifted for north Minneapolis homes affected by water main break

About 80 households, a public housing building and businesses were affected.
Leah Schaefer of St. Paul and boyfriend Jason Benedict of St. Louis Park watched a broadcast of the U.S.-Netherlands soccer match on Saturday, at Utep

Minnesota fans cheer on U.S. in World Cup knockout-round game

Dutch fans — though outnumbered — had the final laugh.
Mayor Jacob Frey spoke at the news conference on establishing a new plan for reducing criminal activity in the city that was announced in September.

Gun violence in Minneapolis declines for second month

From Oct. 25 to Nov. 21, the city reported a 44% drop in gun-related calls for service compared withthe same period last year.
Cyclists and pedestrians traversed Bde Maka Ska in 2020.

Minneapolis Park Board advances 2023 budget of $142 million

The spending plan aims to boost youth services and security for downtown Minneapolis parks.
The Beltrami Neighborhood Council hosted a meeting at HeadFlyer Brewing in October 2022 about merging with three other northeast Minneapolis neighborh

Minneapolis neighborhood groups consider mergers to cope with diminishing city funds

For decades, a network of neighborhood organizations linked residents to the power of City Hall.
William L. Marcy sought to suppress abolitionism, according to University of Minnesota historian Aaron Hall.

Marcy-Holmes neighborhood group seeks to rename park named for slavery advocate

19th-century statesman William Marcy's contemporaries called him a "doughface," a northerner with southern principles on slavery.
After seven months of negotiations, park workers have accepted the Minneapolis Park Board’s contract and avoided a strike. Park employees Shawn Abra

Minneapolis park workers accept contract, avert strike

In October, workers gave notice to strike over unresolved labor issues with the Park Board.
As a result of a settlement, Minneapolis will now have to publish the time and location of its public bargaining sessions with the Police Officers Fed

Minneapolis settles police contract negotiation lawsuit

The city will now have to provide the public notice of and access to contract negotiations with the Minneapolis Police Federation.
Kids and families of Camp Katharine Parsons swam in Oak Lake.

Phyllis Wheatley Community Center to revive decades-old summer nature camp for city kids

The north Minneapolis community center wants to reactivate a long-dormant camp in Carver County by its 100-year anniversary in 2024.
Tracy Phillips, left, and Jake Wylie were forced to move out of Great River Landing to a rooming house in downtown Minneapolis that lacks the same ame

Two dozen formerly incarcerated men were moved out of transitional housing — and no one said why

Authorities allege criminal activity at Great River Landing, but the displaced men say they weren't given any specifics.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey signed an executive order naming City Coordinator Heather Johnston to city operations officer.

Frey issues executive order appointing Heather Johnston as first interim city operations officer

The executive position was created under the mayor's new government structure to oversee more than a dozen city departments and divisions.
Sara Schmitz looks around her campsite Friday, Oct. 21, 2022 in St. Paul, Minn. Schmitz is experiencing homelessness but has a housing voucher and mov

In Minneapolis and St. Paul, two homeless encampment strategies

One city is fighting with activists; the other is de-escalating tensions.
Minneapolis Park Board employees planted and watered trees along 26th Avenue near Emerson Avenue in north Minneapolis in 2018.

Minneapolis park workers give 10-day strike notice

The union says they're understaffed and overworked.
The Minneapolis City skyline, including City Hall, as seen from the back of the U.S. District Court.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey vetoes City Council's encampment staff directions

The mayor asked the council to resubmit its request with different wording.
The city of Minneapolis is planning to purchase the former Speedway gas station, now known as the “People’s Way,” and redevelop it into somethin

City of Minneapolis plans to buy George Floyd Square gas station

The Speedway, redubbed the "People's Way," has been the site of ongoing protests against police killings since Floyd's murder.
Minneapolis police taped off several blocks surrounding the Near North homeless encampment Oct. 6, as an estimated 30 people were evicted from tents a

Mpls. attorneys: Council can't pause homeless camp action

Council members proposed a raft of changes to the city's response to homeless encampments.
Avivo Vice President of Ending Homelessness Emily Bastian embraced Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022 in Minneapolis. Avivo Villa

Avivo Village celebrates moving 100 people from the streets to permanent housing

The first-in-Minneapolis tiny home shelter opened in 2020 in response to feedback from people who would rather live in tents than use traditional congregant shelter.
In 2018, a Planning Commission meeting attracted a crowd with signs for and against the 2040 Plan.

Minneapolis asks Appeals Court to reverse ruling that halted its 2040 Plan

Case raises question about whether development plan can be challenged under the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act.
While a Minneapolis City Council committee received a presentation on a joint city-county “strategy to respond to homelessness,” people recently p

Minneapolis outlines encampment strategy as protesters set up outside City Hall

Some of the people staying in tents in front of City Hall were recently pushed out of an encampment on the North Side.
Lee Frelich, director of the Center for Forest Ecology at the University of Minnesota, inspected a doomed green ash in Loring Park.

Loring Park's centenarian bur oaks are dying

Many old trees in Minneapolis parks are showing signs of stress after two summers of drought.
Free Bikes 4 Kidz Founder Terry Esau shows off the more than 9,000 used bicycles collected. Source: Free Bikes 4 Kidz

Allina hospitals and clinics collecting 'Free Bikes 4 Kidz' on Saturday

The Minnesota-based nonprofit collects, repairs and distributes gently used bikes as far as Ukraine.
Minneapolis Police taped off several blocks surrounding the Near North homeless encampment Thursday, October 6, 2022 as an estimated 30 people were ev

Minneapolis evicts more homeless encampments

The camp at 205 Girard Av. N. was located on city land and had been home to about 30 people.
Cars on Interstate 94 during early morning rush hour outside of downtown St. Paul.

Public pressing MnDOT to think outside the box in Interstate 94 review

Two nontraditional ideas lead discussion around MnDOT's Rethinking I-94 project.