Readers Write: Kimball Court safety, Cedar Lake, Minneapolis skating rinks, the border

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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After attending the Hamline Midway Coalition community meeting on Nov. 7 to discuss the expansion at Kimball Court on Snelling Avenue, I am not convinced that the city of St. Paul is taking day-to-day public safety seriously enough. I, like St. Paul City Council President Mitra Jalali, am in favor of supportive housing in the Hamline Midway neighborhood. In fact, almost every neighbor I talk to in Hamline Midway is. We understand the high demand of supportive housing for our fellow Minnesotans being ravaged by the opioid epidemic. At this meeting, our community heard a lot about the incredible work (past, present, and future) being done to improve conditions and lives at Kimball Court. I understand that this work is gradual and ongoing. There is no silver bullet.

However, I left the meeting unsure if our immediate safety concerns were a priority for the city. The questions came in many forms: Why isn’t there additional security available for Kimball Court now? What immediate resources are available for concerning activity near (but not on) Kimball Court property? What needs to happen for the city to realize additional resources are needed? The answers felt insufficient: There isn’t enough money right now. Call 911. We are putting a lot of resources into the area already. The resounding message from the community was clear: It isn’t enough. The current state is unsustainable. If providing supportive housing is a priority for the city of St. Paul, then ensuring the resources needed are made available is an obligation. At present, it feels like the Hamline Midway community is being asked to sacrifice our safety as collateral damage to combat homelessness and the opioid epidemic. I would like the city of St. Paul to prioritize both supportive housing and the immediate safety of the Hamline Midway neighborhood.

Megan Kakela, St. Paul

I have read with keen interest the stories on Cedar Lake (“This land is our land. But it sure feels like their land,” Strib Voices, Oct. 25). I walk to or around Cedar Lake most days. I, too, resent the fact that I have to travel several blocks to circumnavigate the lake.

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has seemingly not addressed this privacy issue for decades. Equally troubling is the careless management of public land they do own. I am referring to the Cedar Lake marsh, on the northwest edge of the lake. It is a well-traveled gateway to the lake.

The marsh has been swallowed by invasive hybrid cattails, reed canary grass, motherwort and garlic mustard. Stalks of corn are the latest culprit. The path is crumbling with orange cones warning pedestrians. The overlooking docks are wobbly but no matter — those gorgeous views are gone unless you enjoy some face-to-face encounters with tall, sharp cattails.

Only a small open water area remains. In the past, I have seen seven species of ducks, three species of herons, numerous warblers, songbirds, fox dens, mink, one otter and so many froglets that I had to tread lightly to avoid killing them.

My pleas to the Minneapolis Park Board have been met with “I’ll get back to you.” I just want to know if there is a restoration plan and where is the plan on the priority list.

I have been a strong and consistent supporter of the Park Board with public and private funding. Public access is critical for our enjoyment and for the wildlife species that sorely need these remnant slices of habitat. I agree this breach of public trust needs to be addressed, sooner than later.

Nancy Gibson, St. Louis Park

The writer is the co-chair of the Legislative Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources.

It was with sadness I read about the proposed closure of several Minneapolis skating rinks (“4 rinks are on thin ice in Mpls.,” Nov. 8). As an old time “rink rat,” I feel this move is shortsighted. Windom Park in particular has always been a great resource, a place for a “shinny game” or skating with neighborhood youngsters and older folks. Yes, last year was bleak for ice, but don’t let the outdoor ice continue to disappear.

Scott Jensen, St. Anthony

Thanks to the reader who wrote on the ineffectiveness and expense of our southern border wall (also proven environmentally destructive) which she calls “wall baloney” (“Here’s a much shorter wall that failed,” Readers Write, Oct. 28).

On a 2022 group border tour to the Rio Grande Valley, I stood at the wall. Massive and expertly built —photos do not do it justice — it appears easy to climb. Our group found discarded cartel ID bracelets required by Mexican drug cartels (who control human smugglers) for all crossers as proof of payment, showing people crossed there.

Better than a wall would be enforcement of E-Verify laws already in place requiring employers to electronically verify identity before hiring. From the website: “It is illegal for companies to employ anyone who is not authorized to work in the United States.” And: “Employers who fail to comply ... may be subject to penalties.” I was E-Verified for a temp job here in Minnesota in about two minutes.

Let’s face facts: Citizens of other nations who chose not to work “for a better life” or for democracy in their own countries illegally enter the U.S. for jobs. Without a work visa or green card (the most valuable document in the world, I’m told by an expert) entitling one to live and work permanently in the U.S., they could not get work and would not come.

Donald Trump and all politicians are wrong. We don’t need a wall. E-Verify enforcement would save billions on a wall, the environment would not suffer (animals also need to migrate) and there would be no need for massive deportations (wrong again, Trump) because illegal residents would self-deport, and there would be no “separation of families” drama because children would leave with parents. Less political theater than Trump craves.

Let’s urge Congress (call senators and your U.S. representative) to pass laws requiring strict enforcement of E-Verify. No one born elsewhere has a right to be here, unless they enter legally with documents or qualify for asylum, which requires going to the nearest safe country. With world population now at over 8 billion we cannot take in everyone unhappy in their own country. We also need to protect our workers from those who would work for less just to live here, bringing down wages for our less-advantaged citizens.

Linda Huhn, Minneapolis

Now that the election is over and Donald Trump has won, his followers can gloat that the country has spoken and it’s time for his critics to shut up and accept the fact that their politics have failed to pass the test of the democratic process. They still don’t get it, do they? The main objection of his critics was never his politics. It was — and still is — his character.

I’m still waiting for his loyal faithful to admit that in order to achieve their political aims they were willing to vote for a leader whose lack of compassion, morality, honesty, sense of history and lawful obedience don’t live up to presidential stands set by many who have gone before, regardless of political affiliation, Republican or Democrat. In the past both parties have shown a willingness to banish presidential hopefuls who lacked these presidential traits or spoke often out of cruelty. Why have so many Trump followers chosen to overlook them?

But I want to say to them, “Don’t worry. Those of us who didn’t vote for him won’t be storming the Capitol in January.”

Church leaders and Christians who stand behind Trump should remember their Bible, the part about Barabbas, a notorious prisoner and suspected murderer. Pilate let the crowd decide who should die on the cross at Calvary — Barabbas or Christ — and as one they replied, “Give us Barabbas.”

Ted Field, Mahtomedi