Minneapolis and St. Paul announced 8 pm curfews this afternoon, followed after a while by inner-ring suburbs, and two neighboring counties. Probably many people have yet to hear about them. There are some exemptions apparently, including traveling to and from work
There’s a large protest going on now in Minneapolis, which blocked the 35W freeway for a while, that doesn’t look like it is going to comply with the curfew.
Businesses all over the place have been closing early, many being boarded up. Many volunteers were helping with clean-ups today. The governor appeared for a news conference this morning, announced that he had taken over from Minneapolis Mayor Frey in the middle of the night, and was asked what he intended to do about protestors violating his executive order by meeting in groups greater than ten.
National Guard last night were given limited roles, mainly defending the Capitol and firefighters.
Friday, May 29, 2020
No reason to stop in either case
Both the peaceful protesting and the unpeaceful rioting and looting increased yesterday. Target stores all over the Cities were closed, and Metro Transit bus and train services shut down. Mail service suspended in a few areas.
Last night's madness included the mayor of Minneapolis ordering 3rd precinct police to abandon their building (the precinct headquarters mentioned in previous posts), as rioters broke into it and set it on fire. Some police gear was apparently looted from it. USPS trucks stolen and used to ram things. Other fires were going on in the same area, extending the devastation of Wednesday night (which people had been working on cleaning up throughout the day). Some other parts of the city also saw smashing, looting, and fires.
There was also a large and mostly peaceful protest in downtown Minneapolis of thousands of people, circling around and stopping for a time at the Hennepin County Government Center, where I had a spell of jury duty once. The presence of the county jail right across the street perhaps helped to keep the peace there; police acted to disperse the crowd when it was moving on from there through downtown.
In St. Paul, mostly along University Avenue, there was rioting and a number of fires and according to police over 170 buildings damaged or looted, although some of the rioters broke off and left to go see the 3rd precinct fire when the news reached them. It looked like police continued to protect the SuperTarget.
Looters and arsonists were spreading out a bit: robbing businesses along Grand Avenue in St. Paul, where there are many upscale boutiques, and apparently also setting fires in businesses along Energy Park Drive, which is a somewhat industrial area that isn't central, but just sits there in between other places. Out in the first-ring northern suburb of Roseville, there were break-ins in various places, apparently including a group forcing their way into the Rosedale Mall. Suburban police had warned businesses and malls to prepare for things like this. In the southern suburb of Apple Valley, a courthouse was set on fire.
It is harder to get news of these smaller and much more dispersed events.
The National Guard was finally called in by the governor yesterday, 500 of them, but they were visibly deployed in only a few places, so far as I can tell. The governor has also not been very visible for the past day or so.
The mayor of Minneapolis in a press conference was asked about what President Trump had tweeted about him, and I'm pretty sure that his response to Trump was far more forceful than any of his responses to the rioting have been so far. Trump has mostly stayed away from the topic of the riots, probably for the best, since there are a nontrivial number of people around here who hate him so much that they would go out and start burning things down just to spite him.
Trump's idea in his partially-censored tweet, that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts", is at odds with Minnesota law, which doesn't allow the use of deadly force to defend property, and would require federal intervention, I believe.
Last night's madness included the mayor of Minneapolis ordering 3rd precinct police to abandon their building (the precinct headquarters mentioned in previous posts), as rioters broke into it and set it on fire. Some police gear was apparently looted from it. USPS trucks stolen and used to ram things. Other fires were going on in the same area, extending the devastation of Wednesday night (which people had been working on cleaning up throughout the day). Some other parts of the city also saw smashing, looting, and fires.
There was also a large and mostly peaceful protest in downtown Minneapolis of thousands of people, circling around and stopping for a time at the Hennepin County Government Center, where I had a spell of jury duty once. The presence of the county jail right across the street perhaps helped to keep the peace there; police acted to disperse the crowd when it was moving on from there through downtown.
In St. Paul, mostly along University Avenue, there was rioting and a number of fires and according to police over 170 buildings damaged or looted, although some of the rioters broke off and left to go see the 3rd precinct fire when the news reached them. It looked like police continued to protect the SuperTarget.
Looters and arsonists were spreading out a bit: robbing businesses along Grand Avenue in St. Paul, where there are many upscale boutiques, and apparently also setting fires in businesses along Energy Park Drive, which is a somewhat industrial area that isn't central, but just sits there in between other places. Out in the first-ring northern suburb of Roseville, there were break-ins in various places, apparently including a group forcing their way into the Rosedale Mall. Suburban police had warned businesses and malls to prepare for things like this. In the southern suburb of Apple Valley, a courthouse was set on fire.
It is harder to get news of these smaller and much more dispersed events.
The National Guard was finally called in by the governor yesterday, 500 of them, but they were visibly deployed in only a few places, so far as I can tell. The governor has also not been very visible for the past day or so.
The mayor of Minneapolis in a press conference was asked about what President Trump had tweeted about him, and I'm pretty sure that his response to Trump was far more forceful than any of his responses to the rioting have been so far. Trump has mostly stayed away from the topic of the riots, probably for the best, since there are a nontrivial number of people around here who hate him so much that they would go out and start burning things down just to spite him.
Trump's idea in his partially-censored tweet, that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts", is at odds with Minnesota law, which doesn't allow the use of deadly force to defend property, and would require federal intervention, I believe.
Thursday, May 28, 2020
And into St. Paul
We also lived in the St. Paul Midway area for a while. Today: Looting along University Avenue; police protecting SuperTarget. This guy also has his reporting from last night’s rioting in Minneapolis, if you scroll down a bit.
Further update
List of damaged buildings with some photos and videos, across the affected neighborhoods. The library did get damaged.
There were reports of shots fired near Target in the early morning hours, along with some looting still going on even now. Several other cars were burned, possibly at an auto repair place. City street sweepers were out clearing broken glass from the streets.
There were reports of shots fired near Target in the early morning hours, along with some looting still going on even now. Several other cars were burned, possibly at an auto repair place. City street sweepers were out clearing broken glass from the streets.
Minneapolis has a new food desert
At one point, we lived in the neighborhood where people have been protesting the death of George Floyd. The protests have spawned riots, which are still ongoing [into the early hours of May 28]. Note: the times in the article are given in Eastern Time, while Minneapolis is on Central Time.
The area around the police precinct headquarters where businesses are now being looted and burned was where we did most of our shopping when we lived there; the Target, Autozone, and Cub Foods grocery store were very familiar sights to us.
Undoubtedly many of the protesters and rioters are coming in from other areas. Minnesota’s gradual easing out of the shutdown, with very high numbers of people currently unemployed, is probably a factor. The relations between the Minneapolis police and various subpopulations (not all of them racial minorities) have been poor for many years.
Update: The mainstream news reports so far tend to understate the extent of the damage, but from following various Twitter links, a more complete picture can be put together. Autozone, Wendy's, an affordable housing complex under construction, and someone's car went up in flames. A large number of smaller fires were set here and there. Windows and police cars were smashed up at the precinct headquarters. Target was practically cleaned out, and trashed throughout. Cub Foods was also trashed, but only partially cleaned out. Graffiti everywhere. Stores and charter school spaces in the strip mall adjacent to Target were smashed and looted. Window smashing and looting extended for many blocks along Lake Street, apparently mostly to the east, but also to the west a bit. Three banks and two auto parts stores besides Autozone, two or three liquor stores, and an Aldi's were smashed and looted, plus nearly all of the small businesses in between. Basically only the businesses that were actively guarded escaped major damage, and even then not always, as apparently a pawn shop owner shot and killed a looter but ended up with the shop looted anyway. No reports of damage to the public library.
Cars were coming and going through almost all of this area the whole time, as far as I can tell, including right in front of Target, which facilitated the looting. Police presence was concentrated around the precinct headquarters and the Autozone fire, and was only extended further a couple of times by lines of cops pushing the protesters back, such as when the police were trying to make room for the fire trucks to get in. Most protesters followed the mayor's directive to wear masks and practice social distancing.
At various times, police were firing rubber bullets and flash grenades and tear gas, which sent people into Target to get milk to pour into others' eyes. Rioters were shooting off illegal fireworks, not necessarily upwards.
Some other smashing and looting happened in other areas of Minneapolis.
Protests are starting up again today at the precinct headquarters, with smoldering ruins right across the street.
———————
Update (6/5/29): Star Tribune article.
The area around the police precinct headquarters where businesses are now being looted and burned was where we did most of our shopping when we lived there; the Target, Autozone, and Cub Foods grocery store were very familiar sights to us.
Undoubtedly many of the protesters and rioters are coming in from other areas. Minnesota’s gradual easing out of the shutdown, with very high numbers of people currently unemployed, is probably a factor. The relations between the Minneapolis police and various subpopulations (not all of them racial minorities) have been poor for many years.
Update: The mainstream news reports so far tend to understate the extent of the damage, but from following various Twitter links, a more complete picture can be put together. Autozone, Wendy's, an affordable housing complex under construction, and someone's car went up in flames. A large number of smaller fires were set here and there. Windows and police cars were smashed up at the precinct headquarters. Target was practically cleaned out, and trashed throughout. Cub Foods was also trashed, but only partially cleaned out. Graffiti everywhere. Stores and charter school spaces in the strip mall adjacent to Target were smashed and looted. Window smashing and looting extended for many blocks along Lake Street, apparently mostly to the east, but also to the west a bit. Three banks and two auto parts stores besides Autozone, two or three liquor stores, and an Aldi's were smashed and looted, plus nearly all of the small businesses in between. Basically only the businesses that were actively guarded escaped major damage, and even then not always, as apparently a pawn shop owner shot and killed a looter but ended up with the shop looted anyway. No reports of damage to the public library.
Cars were coming and going through almost all of this area the whole time, as far as I can tell, including right in front of Target, which facilitated the looting. Police presence was concentrated around the precinct headquarters and the Autozone fire, and was only extended further a couple of times by lines of cops pushing the protesters back, such as when the police were trying to make room for the fire trucks to get in. Most protesters followed the mayor's directive to wear masks and practice social distancing.
At various times, police were firing rubber bullets and flash grenades and tear gas, which sent people into Target to get milk to pour into others' eyes. Rioters were shooting off illegal fireworks, not necessarily upwards.
Some other smashing and looting happened in other areas of Minneapolis.
Protests are starting up again today at the precinct headquarters, with smoldering ruins right across the street.
———————
Update (6/5/29): Star Tribune article.
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Finished the bowl, and a few other things
I decided to use puff paint to cover the gap between the lining strip and the upper inside of the bowl. The gap proved to be a little too big to bridge with paint alone, though, so I found a piece of twine, stuffed it in, and then painted over that. Now the bowl is finished, and in use. With the paint colors that I used, it looks very Eighties.
I also made a new seat for a kid's chair. It's an old school chair, with a metal frame and a plastic seat and back, where the seat had broken. I mangled the rest of the seat off, and then the chair sat for a couple years waiting for the right piece of scrap plywood to come along. I cut the plywood to shape using our scroll saw, found bolts in our hardware hoard, and drilled holes in the plywood for them.
Then I noticed that the bolts were slightly too large for the holes in the metal frame, so I had to drill them out a bit larger. The pointy end of a file will work as a deburring tool (for taking off the little rough bits of metal around the edges) in a pinch.
Out in a flower bed and some planters, I am trying to grow flax this year, from grocery store flax seeds. The idea is from a short article in Farm Show magazine about a Canadian lady who got into growing flax that way.
The magazine looks very interesting, full of very creative homegrown inventions for farm and garden, although I think the single issue of it that I saw was a special edition that gathered these from a number of previous issues. I may try a subscription at some point.
I was growing to try to sprout some of the seeds first, to see if they were growable, but didn't get to that before the time I wanted to plant them, so I just planted away, and will see what comes up.
I also made a new seat for a kid's chair. It's an old school chair, with a metal frame and a plastic seat and back, where the seat had broken. I mangled the rest of the seat off, and then the chair sat for a couple years waiting for the right piece of scrap plywood to come along. I cut the plywood to shape using our scroll saw, found bolts in our hardware hoard, and drilled holes in the plywood for them.
Then I noticed that the bolts were slightly too large for the holes in the metal frame, so I had to drill them out a bit larger. The pointy end of a file will work as a deburring tool (for taking off the little rough bits of metal around the edges) in a pinch.
Out in a flower bed and some planters, I am trying to grow flax this year, from grocery store flax seeds. The idea is from a short article in Farm Show magazine about a Canadian lady who got into growing flax that way.
The magazine looks very interesting, full of very creative homegrown inventions for farm and garden, although I think the single issue of it that I saw was a special edition that gathered these from a number of previous issues. I may try a subscription at some point.
I was growing to try to sprout some of the seeds first, to see if they were growable, but didn't get to that before the time I wanted to plant them, so I just planted away, and will see what comes up.
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Doing what I can
Our yard has a number of nice features, but many of the landscaping elements are deteriorating badly. I was sitting outside for a while yesterday, just looking at all the things that I couldn’t do anything about.
The solution for not being able to do something is to find something that can be done, and then do it, so I started picking up some twigs and leaves that were within reach of my lawn chair.
Right away, I found an agate in the landscaping rocks. That is not so unusual in Minnesota, where some gravel deposits have lots of them, but in this case the timing was right on the mark.
The solution for not being able to do something is to find something that can be done, and then do it, so I started picking up some twigs and leaves that were within reach of my lawn chair.
Right away, I found an agate in the landscaping rocks. That is not so unusual in Minnesota, where some gravel deposits have lots of them, but in this case the timing was right on the mark.
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