Recent Entries

R.T. RYBAK
R.T. Rybak, innovative Minneapolis Mayor, will speak at the Think Green Sustainability Fair on “LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE NEXT GENERATION.”

Born and raised in Minneapolis, R.T. Rybak Jr graduated from Breck, and Boston College. He began his career as a journalist, working on the Minneapolis Tribune (later Star Tribune and as editor of the Twin Cities Reader. He also acted as Development Director for Minneapolis' Downtown Council and dabbled in the dot.com industry before being elected Mayor of Minneapolis.

As climate change and energy issues begin to take center stage across world politics and policy, the idea of sustainability is constantly brought up and used to describe various policies and initiatives. The World Council on Environment and Development (WCED) eloquently defines sustainable as

"Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs."

The Think Green Sustainability Fair hopes to use this idea to begin the discussion of sustainability in our community.

Think Green is a sustainability fair meant to bring together communities, organizations, companies, institutions, and enthusiastic individuals around the region to start thinking about sustainability in all aspects of our lives. Together, we can build a future, which uses renewable energy sources and reduces carbon emissions, that protects our waters and lands, and that establishes a healthy and good quality of life.

JOIN US THIS SATURDAY FOR SATURDAYS AT SLATTERLY MUSIC & MOVIES IN THE PARK!
Check out the following link for more information: www.rneighbors.org/node/4745

Welcome to the Slatterly Park Neighborhood,

As the president of the Slatterly Park Neighbors-Historic SE Neighborhood Association, I would like to extend a warm welcome to the neighborhood. We are a diverse neighborhood with great assets and great aspirations for developing our neighborhood into a viable key downtown neighborhood. The mission of our neighborhood association is to strengthen ties between neighbors, curtail crime, and beautify our properties in an overall effort to maintain and enhance our property values. We believe by partnering with neighbors to develop these key assets we can succeed at increasing our property values and providing a safe place to call home.

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) are supposed to be better for the environment because they are more energy efficient than comparable incandescent light bulbs. And, although they cost more to buy initially, you usually save money in the long run since they last so much longer. You can even sometimes find rebates to help offset some of the initial cost.

The problem with CFLs is that they contain a small amount of mercury, which means that you should never throw them away with your regular trash. Unfortunately, it's unrealistic to expect the average person to bring dead CFLs to a recycling center and then have to pay to get rid of them. So, what are we to do?

What:
The Eastside Pioneers Neighborhood Association (ESPNA) is sponsoring a community-wide discussion on the root causes of youth violence and gangs. Our keynote speakers will seek to shed some light on this subject as well as provide us with solutions to help youth whose destructive belief system results in negative behavior.
Who:
Wendell Amstutz MA, author of A Handbook on Youth Violence and Gangs and Youth Violence: The Belief-Behavior Connection. Wendell spent 23 years as a youth worker on staff with Campus Life. Besides being a national conference/seminar speaker, he is the founder and Executive Director of the National Counseling Resource Center (NCRC). He was co-founder and first chairman of the Community Youth Violence Intervention Council (CYVIC) in Rochester, Minnesota, a city-sponsored task force, created in the 1990’s, geared toward combating street gangs.

I would like to thank everyone who came out last Saturday to enjoy "Saturdays at Slatterly 1st Annual Bloom Day" on Saturday May 17th. We had a great turn out, and expect this event to be an annual event that will BLOSSOM into many more boulevard gardens in our neighborhood, and enhance the curb appeal and walkability of our neighborhood. A special thanks goes out to the Slatterly Park Neighbors Curb Appeal Committee who made this event possible! Also a special thanks to Viola Nursery who donated free flowers for the kids potting station, and to Doris Amundson who donated plants for our perennial plant sale.

Pangea Day Film Watch a worldwide event – May 10, 2008 from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. at the Rochester Public Library.

Rochester Minn. On Saturday, May 10th, Rochester Public Library will participate in a worldwide event by hosting a Pangea Day Film Watch. Join us from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. in Meeting Room. B (on 2nd floor) as we join thousands from many lands who will be observing what organizers are calling "this first global campfire, harnessing the power of new technologies to bring people together through film."
For more information, visit www.pangeaday.org.

POLICE CHIEF UPDATE ON TWO RECENT SHOOTINGS: Chief Roger Peterson gave the city council a brief update on the two recent shootings in town. Summary is that significant progress has been made on both and, though we are not able to discuss details for fear of compromising the investigations, you should expect to see results shortly. Keep tuned. For those who expressed concern about the shooting in Watson Field due to the close proximity to the condos and apartments well, for what it's worth this area was not a "turf" war nor is it a known gang hangout but was selected as a neutral area to have a scheduled fight. Go figure. Lots of room? Nice grass? Somewhat isolated? ???? Anyway, one of the gangs brought guns and apparently the other didn't so it was a one-sided affair to start with. No one said any of these guys are smart. The second shooting was not related to the first but does appear to have some gang tie in and the cops are on the trail. We have been assured that arrests are imminent and we will prosecute to the full extent of the law ... and we have done so in the past. The mayor is working with several community leaders to see what we might do to address the problem as well.

Many of our schools participate in programs that allow them to turn in box tops, labels or milk caps and receive money or school supplies. We don't suggest you buy these products just to help a school. However, if you're using the products, perhaps you'll consider sending your box tops, labels, milk caps to your local school.

Kemp's Give 'em Five: Collect the specially marked caps or proof-of-purchase symbols from Kemps products, bring them to school, and earn money for the things your school needs. Each stickered milk cap or proof-of-purchase symbol is worth 5¢, which schools can turn into computers, books, art supplies, etc. http://www.kemps.com/