Welcome Home! The Neighborhood section is where you will find topical
information on living and working in the Nokomis East
neighborhood--and even a little about our good neighbors
in the surrounding areas.
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2010 Minneapolis & Saint Paul Home Tour wants your home!
 The 2010 Minneapolis & Saint Paul Home Tour is looking for homeowners and home improvement professionals who would like to put their homes on the Tour.
Nomination/applications are due Thursday, January 21, 2010, and early submissions are encouraged.
The Tour, in its 23rd year, will be held Saturday and Sunday, April 24 and 25, 2010.
Past participating homeowners have said they “liked the incentive” to get their home improvement projects done in time for the tour, though it is not necessary to have remodeled the whole house. “It was nice to get all the compliments from strangers to reinforce what I’d heard from friends and family,” said one homeowner. “Contractors often help staff the homes, and homeowners ask their families and friends to contribute a few hours,” said Margo Ashmore, Tour coordinator. “A good support network hosting the home makes it fun. Contractors and other vendors may nominate homes they have worked on, and are encouraged to call for more information. Green, energy efficient, and historically-sensitive remodels and expansions get special notice.
Minneapolis Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) manages the tour as a celebration of city living that encourages homeowners to improve existing homes. Many organizations and businesses sponsor the tour.
For more information, call Tour Coordinator Margo Ashmore at 612-673-5103 or email her at link@nrp.org. The application can be downloaded from www.MSPHomeTour.com under “nominate.”
(10/27/09)
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Nokomis Renovation Underway
Hennepin County's Nokomis Community Library (5100 34th Ave. S) is undergoing a substantial renovation. When completed, our very popular library will have an additional 4,300 square feet on the main level, space for classes, programs and community meetings, a larger collection, and new computers. Green features will include geothermal heating and cooling, a rainwater garden, and specialized windows. Nokomis is scheduled to re-open in early 2011.
Roosevelt Library will be open expanded hours during the renovation of the Nokomis Library. Beginning Sept. 16, the library is adding Wednesday hours -- open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Links to the conceptual design and project updates are found on the Nokomis Library's website. (8/19/09)
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Groundbreaking marks the start of a major restoration of
Minnehaha Falls and Glen area.
Updated
November 25, 2008
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Crumbling
WPA-era retaining walls need rebuilding. (MCWD photo)
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The
Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) and the Minneapolis
Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday,
November 21 to mark the start of a major restoration project of the Minnehaha
Falls
and Glen area in Minnehaha Park.
Historic
WPA-era Platteville limestone streambank walls
and other eroded park sections above and below
Minnehaha Falls have literally been falling down over the
years. Recently, the 2005
flooding in the glen below the falls
put these historic structures in danger of
collapse, and has threatened the overall stability
of the stream bank and usability of Minnehaha
Park.
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From the left: MN 39B Rep. Rick Hansen, MN 62A Rep. Jim
Davnie, Col. Jon L. Christensen, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, US Sen. Amy
Klobuchar, MN Sen. Patricia Torres Ray, MCWD Pres. Jim Calkins, MPRB Commissioner
Carol Kummer, MCWD Vice Pres. Pam Blixt. (Minnehaha Creek Watershed
District photo)
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A major
restoration of the area, including the
creek bed and banks near the Minnesota Veterans
Home and the historic Godfrey Mill (1854) site,
is scheduled for winter 2008 through summer
of 2009. The $5.8 million project is led by the
Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) working
in partnership with the
State of Minnesota, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation
Board (MPRB), the Minnesota Veterans Home, and
the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
The
project will require closing parts of the park
to visitors. During construction, visitors will
likely find the bluffs and overlook areas above
the Falls open, but the entire Glen below the
falls closed, at least during the winter.
The groundbreaking featured short speeches by many
of the elected federal, state and local officials
who helped provide support for the restoration
project. Speaking were, US Senator Amy Kloubachar,
MN Senator Patricia Torres Ray, MN Representative
Jim Davnie, Mpls Council Member Sandra Colvin
Roy, and MPRB Commissioner Carol Kummer along
with representatives from the Army Corp of Engineers
and the Watershed District. They all spoke to
a large audience inside
the park's pavilion before moving outdoors to
throw the first ceremonial shovels of dirt.
View
the project web site, including historic
information about the site
For more information about the project, contact  Mike
Wyatt, MCWD Planner, at 952-471-0590 x 204
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City
launches new Graffiti Solutions webpage
Creative
responses to graffiti include murals, landscaping and more.
(2/11/08)
 The
City of Minneapolis is starting a new webpage to
allow neighbors to share creative tips for preventing
graffiti. "Every day I see more and more creativity
from neighbors who are using art and landscaping
to
prevent graffiti," 9th Ward Council Member Gary
Schiff said. I hope this website becomes a tool for
neighbors to submit their own photos and share ideas across
the city.
The webpage www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/graffiti/solutions.asp shows examples such as landscaping, murals and types
of fencing that deter graffiti. Residents are encouraged
to send in photos of their own efforts, and share helpful tips. Graffiti often collects on large flat
blank surfaces, such as buildings, garages and flat fences. Landscaping,
like ivy or other clinging plants helps to reduce the likelihood of graffiti on a surface. Some fences are
less likely to be spray painted such as fences with board gaps, alternating boards or lattices.
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Radon detection kits available
Hennepin County is offering radon detection kits to enable you to test
for the presence of this invisible, odorless and dangerous gas in your
home.
Radon,
a naturally occurring gaseous form of ionizing radiation, has been
ranked by the Surgeon General as the second leading cause of
lung cancer in the United States. The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency lists Hennepin County as a high-potential radon region,
where one in
every three homes is likely to have elevated radon
levels.
Kits
are $9, or two for $17. Please call the Radon Info
Line at 952-351-5225.
(5/01/06)
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 Minnehaha
Creek monitoring. The  USGS now
provides real-time monitoring of the creek's
level and
flow, as measured under
the Highway 55 bridge. Website (12/06/05)
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Rides for Seniors
 Are
you a senior citizen in need of a ride to medical
or dental appointment? If you live east of 35W
and south of 42nd St., the Nokomis
Health Seniors program
has volunteer drivers who are ready and eager
to help seniors get to and from the necessary appointments
they may have.
To
schedule a ride, or for more information about Nokomis
Healthy Seniors, call the help line at (612)729-5499.
Office hours are 8am to 4pm. Voice mail is
available after hours. (6/07/05)
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 Do
you have forgotten kid toys collecting dust in the attic?
Have exercise equipment in the basement that could be
someone else’s treasure? Thinking about fixing
up the garage to watch those Vikings? Try the Twin
Cities Free Market! Residents can log into
a website where they can post their old stuff online
and browse the free items other residents have posted.
There are 300-400 new items listed every week. Some
recent items include a gas grill, landscape rocks, a
pet carrier and a cast-iron sink.
Participating
in the Twin Cities Free Market keeps reusable goods
out of the trash, and helps people avoid buying new,
which is great for the environment and the pocketbook.
In Hennepin County alone, it's estimated that 32 million
pounds of usable clothing and household goods are thrown
away each year - that's enough to fill shopping carts
lined up from Minneapolis to Milwaukee.
In
2003, The Free Market had more than 8,000 listings and
facilitated more than 4,000 exchanges, amounting to
more than 500 tons of materials. The Twin Cities Free
Market is funded in part by Hennepin
County.
Want to give it a try? Just visit: www.twincitiesfreemarket.org/
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Constantina Rios Zavartes and Elias Dominguez Rios showing two of their
signature dishes in the dining room. |
Dominguez
Restaurant
(Updated May 6,
2008)
Entering
their third year, the Dominguez family offers a nice
selection
of traditional Mexican appetizers, entrees, tortas
and
combination plates at their informal restaurant.
The menu features many family recipes and even has
a section titled,
"Especialidades de Mi Pueblo" (Specialties
of My Town) with combinations of regional favorites.
Most
dinners are served with the
traditional
sides of silky refried beans and rice, garnished
with fresh guacamole and
an excellent pico de gallo. Freshly made and
warm tortilla chips
and salsa fresca are served with the meals
(heat lovers should ask for Constantina's signature
avocado-tomatilla salsa verde). A children's menu
includes the standard american fare and some nicely
priced, mild Mexican features.
NENA's
staff favorites are the chicken enchiladas in a tasty,
mild verde sauce (they are not listed on the menu
but
worth asking for ), the traditional mexican-style
beef tacos, the chipotle-sauced fish tacos, and the
chicken Morelos Nachos appetizers.
City
Pages awarded Dominguez for Best Tacos in the Twin
Cities:
"Tacos
aren't a complicated thing, if done in traditional Mexican
style--two corn tortillas, cilantro, onion,
a meat of choice, and a slice of lime are the only
ingredients required--but like a finely mixed
drink, there's something greater than the sum of the
parts in the way Dominguez puts theirs together." Read
the entire review.
A
limited selection of beer and wine
is also available along with natural drinks,
Jarrittos soda, and several hot and cold teas.
The
family completely remodeled the building with
new plaster, tile floors and brightly painted murals
depicting Mexico
City and surround in its pre-civilized state. A downstairs room is available for private parties.
Hours:
Sunday-Thursday, 10am - 9pm
Friday & Saturday, 10am - Midnight
Dominguez
3313 E. 50th Street ( map)
Minneapolis, MN 55417
612-724-8493
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Crime
Update