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Anti-ICE Organizing Shifts to Voter Education
When ICE descended on Minnesota for Operation Metro Surge, residents quickly mobilized, forming neighborhood patrols, organizing carpools, and checking in on each other. But the work’s not done. “We’re inviting everyone who cares about the election to go out and talk to their neighbors, sharing voter information with them, supporting them to get registered if they’re not registered, and making a plan to vote,” Ulla Nilsen, a lead organizer at Unidos MN, tells Joey Peters at Sahan Journal.
While the number of ICE agents in our state has dwindled, the threat of federal intimidation remains high with elections coming up in November. Last February, Trump called on Republicans to “take over the voting” in “at least 15 places” while nationally known nobody Steve Bannon called for ICE to “surround the polls come November.”
Unidos MN, which trained around 50,000 observers during OMS, is shifting its work to focus on election support, hosting sessions to help people understand their rights, how to register to vote, and make a plan of action for how they will vote this election, whether via mail-in options or going as a group for safety. “Have your camera at the ready, and if ICE shows up, then you’re ready to observe,” says Nilsen.
Modern Times Is Back (and So Are Its Prices)
For more than six months, Modern Times in south Minneapolis operated on a donation basis in protest of Operation Metro Surge. It was a captivating concept—maybe you saw Post-Modern Times in Food & Wine or the New York Times? But it also caused conflict with neighbors, who say the free-meal model led to people lingering on Modern Times' corner for hours, sometimes overdosing, sometimes fighting, sometimes stealing or leaving feces in their yards. (Maybe you saw that story in the Star Tribune.)
As a result, the bright-green breakfast and lunch spot has been closed for several weeks, and owner Dylan Alverson has been reimagining the model. Modern Times will reopen Wednesday after that sabbatical, and prices will be back on the menu, though the restaurant will continue to serve 25 free meals each day.
Alverson sat down with City Cast Twin Cities to talk about how "the worst business plan ever" also worked, putting Modern Times in the best financial position they've been in for in a long time, as well as the challenges and lessons learned when you serve 30,000 free meals, many of them to people in poverty or with mental illness.
RIP Charles Dillon aka Chaz Millionaire
The name Charles Dillon might not immediately register with you, unless you were one of the friends or family members who called the radio personality “Charlie.” But if you listened to 89.9 KMOJ even semi-regularly, where Dillon first took a shift in 1981 and hosted Jazz Reflections for many years, you knew Chaz Millionaire.
The local DJ’s death was announced on Facebook on Sunday. “Thank you for blessing our airwaves with the beautiful sounds of jazz and for the years of dedication, love, and service you gave to our community and to The People’s Station,” KMOJ general manager Freddie Bell wrote on social media. “Your presence, passion, and contribution will forever be a part of the KMOJ legacy.”
Later in his career, Chaz hosted Flyte 612 on Saturday mornings on KRSM 98.9. Following Dillon’s death, his daughter Marria "Marz" Lovejoy launched a GoFundMe for the Chaz Vision Media Legacy Fund, to “support young people pursuing pathways in music, media, and creative arts.” The fundraiser has already reached $6,000 of its $10,000 goal.
Officials: No, That's Not the Work of a Serial Killer
Perhaps you've seen the panicked TikToks and Reels claiming Minneapolis has a serial killer. That line of thinking has captured local social media after five people were found dead during a six-day stretch last week—which, you have to admit, seems statistically anomalous.
But the sad reality is that many of these deceased struggled with mental health issues, as suicide prevention coordinator David Goehl-Manolis with the National Alliance on Mental Illness Minnesota tells WCCO. Self-harm tends to spike in the late summer, he says, urging anyone who's struggling to call the 24-hour confidential hotline at 988.
"It's important to put the record straight. Every suicide death is a tragedy," Goehl-Manolis says. "It's not helpful for anyone to start to spread rumors and take guesses about the means that was used."
