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| | | The Roof Depot Revival Begins | After more than a decade of advocacy, the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute secured funding to purchase half of the Roof Depot site from the city of Minneapolis to turn it into an urban farm and community hub for the neighborhood. On today's episode of the podcast, we spoke with Priscilla Trinh of the EPNI to talk about what comes next for the project. [🎧 City Cast Twin Cities] | - Happening now: The EPNI is already building growing systems on top of the parking lot of the Roof Depot site, incorporating Indigenous foodways and hügelkultur, a traditional technique of building raised garden beds with logs, twigs, compost, and soil. Using these techniques on the parking lot allows the EPNI to safely grow food without tapping into the polluted soil underneath the lot.
- The plan: The EPNI wants to renovate the half of the Roof Depot building that they own to turn the three acres of indoor space into more farming areas and spaces for local businesses and community gatherings. The city of Minneapolis has deemed the warehouse unsalvageable and plans to deconstruct its half of the building. The EPNI is working with the city to salvage bricks and other building materials from the portion slated for deconstruction and reuse them to renovate the half that will remain standing.
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| What the Cities Are Talking About |
| The cost of neglect: The Minneapolis NAACP is considering legal action against the city of Minneapolis for allowing the Heritage Park housing development to fall into extreme disrepair. The Minneapolis City Council approved $2.5 million earlier this month to make repairs and relocate the approximately 685 residents still living in Heritage Park, but there is no plan yet to relocate all of the residents unless they wish to move. [Star Tribune] | | Hope for hemp: New legislation introduced by Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and Andy Barr (R-Ky.) could save Minnesota's THC beverage industry from a federal ban set to take effect in November. There's no guarantee Congress will pass the bill before then, and local producers don't want to get stuck with inventory they can't legally sell. Some also worry that even a temporary ban could bankrupt local brands and allow large corporations to buy them up for pennies on the dollar. [MSP Magazine] | | | Live from the bike shop: Have you ever seen a rapper perform with a band inside a used bicycle shop? That's exactly what went down when GR3G played at Recovery Bike Shop in Northeast Minneapolis earlier this month, and you can watch the whole set now. This recording is the first installment of our new City Cast Neighborhood Sessions series, where we record local bands playing in local spots in the Twin Cities. Where should we go next, and which band or musician should we feature? Reply to this email and make me a pitch. [🎥 City Cast Twin Cities] | | Old systems, new threats: A coordinated cyberattack targeted more than 30 Minnesota community water systems earlier this week, exposing the cybersecurity risks posed by aging technology at many local utilities. Experts say outdated software and equipment have made water systems increasingly attractive targets for hackers. Fortunately, drinking water was never compromised, and the communities that have publicly disclosed attacks were able to get their systems back up and running. [MinnPost] | | ICE's "weapon of choice": A new study from Physicians for Human Rights and the Human Rights Center at the University of California Berkeley identified 412 incidents of federal law enforcement misusing crowd control weapons nationwide between June 2025 and June 2026. Of those incidents, 94 occurred in Minnesota, primarily in the Twin Cities during Operation Metro Surge. Chemical weapons were the most commonly misused weapon in Minnesota, and Minnesota incidents accounted for half of all chemical weapon misuse nationwide. [Sahan Journal] |
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| | Thursday, July 30 | | | Friday, July 31 | | | |
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Before I go, I want to give a big shout out and thank you to our newest Neighbor, Denny W.! In addition to the satisfaction of knowing that they are supporting local news media, Denny also now gets access to ad-free listening to our podcast, an extra newsletter per week from Sean, and invites to exclusive members-only events. | | You can learn more about the perks of membership and sign up, like Denny, right here. |
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