Bicycle registration is not a license.  There are no hidden fees, no renewals with cost.  This is simply to register the serial number of your bike(s).  Serial number information is essential to increase your chances of recovery.  It’s easy and it’s free and just takes a few minutes.  There’s one of three ways to register:

• Call 3-1-1
• Online : minneapolismn.gov/bicycles/ga/WCMS1P-135608
• 311 app: free download at google play, app store or minneapolismn.gov/311

Beginning June 6^th, Corcoran Park will change to their summer hours, which are Monday through Thursday, 1-7pm and Friday from 1-6pm. These hours will continue all summer and end on August 26^th. The Park has many fantastic programs for children, youth, and some for all ages, including Kindertots Preschool, Summer Soccer Fundamentals, Outdoor Field Games, Naturalist Round Up, Beginner Drum Lessons, Beginner or Intermediate Guitar Lessons, Bojutsu Japanese Martial Arts, and the Family Zumba Exercise Dance Class. For more information on times, cost (some are Free!), and description of the activity, go to https://apm.activecommunities.com/minneapolisparks/Home or call 612-370-4919.

What does fried dough, a mobile diner car, and Lake Street have in common?…you guessed it, Hi-Lo Diner, the newest addition to great eats on Lake Street.  But this is not your everyday restaurant; this place had a history, long before it was dropped into the old Taco Bell space on Lake Street.  So, how does an old diner named Venus, from Gibsonia Pennsylvania, end up in Minneapolis?  Well, Mike Smith and James Brown of Brownsmith and Forage dreamt up the idea of a traditional neighborhood diner coming to Minneapolis after getting sick of staring at the vacant lot across the street from them on the corner of Lake and 41^st Ave.  They teamed up with Jeremy Woerner and Pat McDonough from Blue Door Pub, and set out to make an approachable, family friendly, traditional diner experience in south Minneapolis.  Hi-Lo Diner rounds out the unique dining experience with executive chef Heidi Marsh curating scratch traditional diner food, a yummy list of unique cocktails via Dan Oskey of Tattersall Distillery, and “HI-TOPS”, which are made-to-order fried dough with filling and toppings, both sweet and savory.

Imagine the summer breeze as you bike on the Greenway towards the new home of the Midtown Farmers Market at Lake and Hiawatha.  But instead of smoke stacks and an open asphalt pit, you pass LEED certified affordable housing that is seamlessly integrated with the Greenway with an ample green space where families play outdoors. As you ascend the Sabo Bridge you pass a bike shop and an indoor urban agriculture food hub that provides green jobs for our neighborhood youth.  This East Phillips Urban Farm, which offers year –round food growing opportunities, is one of Minneapolis’ most forward looking developments. Neighbors come together to teach nutrition and cooking classes or launch small businesses selling jams, sauerkraut, or cold press coffee that they prepare in the commercial kitchen.  A community Solar Garden stretches out over the roof of the Urban Farm and on top of the LEED certified Minneapolis Water Yard.

This is the vision that the Phillips community has developed for itself and that I, as Minneapolis Ninth Ward City Council Member and leading co-author of the Green Zones resolution, have advanced with and for our communities.

A study was recently done regarding possible ways to increase safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and motor vehicles at the highly-traveled Hiawatha-Lake street intersection.  According to the Streets.MN summary (link listed below), the intersection sees an average of 2,520 pedestrians, 3,910 people accessing train or bus, 675 bicyclists, and more than 33,800 cars per day.

The City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County commissioned the study, done by engineers who envisioned various different options for improvement, both small and larger-scale, that would cost varying amounts to realize.

Frances Copenhaven has been Corcoran's Youth Reporter for several years, a frequent contributor on a broad range of topics: gardening, schools, little libraries, and energy efficiency. It has been a pleasure, an honor, and a great deal of joy reading and printing Frances’ work. The Newspaper Committee is grateful for her contributions and community commitment. We wish her well in her future endeavors!

With Frances moving on from her role as Youth Reporter, we now present a new Youth Reporter Duo to the Corcoran News! Parker Anne Adams, Age 13, 8^th Grade, Lifetime Corcoran Resident and Ellie Marie Adams, Age 12, 7^th Grade, Lifetime Corcoran Resident.  Parker will alternate months with her sister Ellie. 

They live in the southern part of Corcoran. We are excited to have them write for us and look forward to working with them!

For my final column for the Corcoran News I have decided to provide an update on a story I first wrote about two years ago. Back then the Minnesota Legislature was in the process of passing The Safe and Supportive Schools Act. The House of Representatives had already passed the bill in 2013, but the Senate version stalled and was not voted on before the end of that session. In March of 2014, kids from my school joined hundreds of other kids from the Twin Cities for a rally at the Capitol. About a month later the Senate bill passed and the House accepted the changes in the Senate’s version of the bill. Governor Mark Dayton made it official on April 9, 2014 when he signed it into law. Prior to this Minnesota had one of the weakest anti-bullying laws in the country. Now it has one of the strongest.

Maybe the Universe, Creator or God had me write this article just for you, whoever you are:  I have had a large scar on my head since I was 19 years old.  I don’t hide it nor am I ashamed of my past nor wish to shut the door on it.  I humorously call it my "Bacardi's 151 Scar".  I also have other scars on my face from when I had acne in my youth.  I generally pay these scars no mind, hardly even notice them and actually try to love them when I think of it. It’s mind over matter.  If I don’t mind, it don’t matter.

Corcoran Neighborhood Crime Map Mid-February to Mid-March 2016

This month's crime map covers Mid-March 2016 to Mid-April. All statistics are sourced from the Minneapolis Police Department, 3^rd precinct from our sector's Crime Prevention Specialist Karen Notsch ([email protected]).

(source: MPD, Karen Notsch, [email protected], 612/673-2856)

Howdy, neighbors! I’m honored to introduce myself as the new Assistant Manager of the Midtown Farmers Market. My interests in food systems work are fueled by personal connections to food and farming and I am thrilled to share those passions with others through work with the Market. I was born and raised in a farming community in Southwestern Minnesota, where both of my sets of grandparents ran small dairy farms. I grew up chasing kittens through the milking parlors, playing hide-and-go-seek with cousins in the cornfields, and cooking and sharing homegrown meals with family and neighbors after long days of hard work.