Last night, a staff member at Coffee House Press told me that the proprietors of Nate’s Clothing downtown (27 N 4th St) closed the sale of their building yesterday. The Star Tribune ran a story in March on the impending ownership change, saying it would be sold to Uppal Enterprises, which plans to install a nightlife establishment or restaurant.

Coffee House, which currently roosts on the fourth floor, will mostly likely be moving to Northeast, possibly in the vicinity of the old Grain Belt Brewery. CHP is a non-profit press that has put out some award-winning books. If you’re not familiar with them they have various events going on around the Cities in the coming weeks.

Local artist Scott Seekins also has a studio on the fourth floor of the building, so he is being displaced as well. He will have a longer trek to complete his “performance art” rounds through the downtown skyway everyday if he has to move to a different neighborhood. (If you’re familiar with Seekins, you know that he always wears either a white suit or a black suit, depending on the season. I saw him at the Mayday parade last weekend in snowy garb, and as my friend said, “That means spring.”)

So, that’s a three-for-one hit to the rootsy side of downtown: the mom ‘n’ pop clothes business, a non-profit book publishing press, and a local artist all leaving the Warehouse District. God knows we could use another Aqua.

• twin_cities: ISO grassy metro parks for a guinea pig festival! “The grass has to be chemical free as dozens of hungry guinea pigs will be snacking on and simultaneously fertilizing it.” OMG SO KYOOT!
• MPR: College of St. Catherine to become a university. “The new name hasn’t been determined, but will include ‘St. Catherine’s’ and ‘university.’”
• Minneapolis Issues Forum: Do Idaho’s bike safety statutes make more sense?
• MinnPost: How we’re doing so far. Joel Kramer reports in on the first six months of MinnPost. “MinnPost.com has more than 100,000 absolute monthly unique visitors, as measured by Google Analytics. This makes us the most-visited local-news website in Minnesota that is not driving traffic to itself from a legacy medium, like TV, radio or print.”
• Minnesota Monitor: Congress studies wrong city for RNC disaster preparedness. “The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee found that Minneapolis’ Hennepin County Medical Center did not have sufficient capacity to handle a terrorist attack. The committee completely overlooked St. Paul’s Regions Hospital, which would be the first responder in the unlikely event of a terrorist attack on the RNC.”
• Southwest Journal: Neighborhood organizations are adjusting their fundraising strategies in preparation for the loss of NRP funding. They mention Bryn Mawr Neighborhood Association; Elliot Park Neighborhood, Inc.; and East Harriet Farmstead Neighborhood Association.
• City of Minneapolis: Sustainability Initiatives
• City of St Paul: Sustainable Saint Paul
• The Deets: Ed looks at recent reports on the link between local food environments (i.e., stores/restaurants in your neighborhood) and obesity and diabetes. Ed’s theory: “The distance you drive to buy groceries effects how you shop.”

I decree it to be Spring!

Yo Spring, Happy Saturday.  ( <— seesmic video. )

Sure, I don’t have any actual power to decree a season, but that’s never stopped me in the past.

So, despite the recent weather’s attempt to bring us down, spring has triumphed. It’s time for the migrations to begin.

That’s right, I’m talking about the return of garage salers.  

We drove to the coffee shop this morning and there are garage sale signs popping up faster than tulips. I’ll bet you’ve seen them too. I’ll bet you may have even stopped.

Come on people, don’t be shy, it’s a guilty pleasure we all share. Let’s talk garage sale.

• Downtown Journal - Three arrested in Downtown BASE jumping attempt. BASE jumping is illegal in Minneapolis. And most cities.
• Behind the Mortgage - Condo for sale in doomed development includes Adult Entertainment room, complete with mirrors, couches, and poles. BTM is offering a bounty for photos.
• Metro Independent Business Association - The MetroIBA members featured in City Pages’ 2008 Best of the Twin Cities.
• MPR - Rural Renewable Energy Alliance donating solar home heating systems to low-income families.
• St Paul Issues Forum - On 24-hour health clubs. The city is trying to close them down because they don’t keep a CPR-trained staff person onsite round-the-clock. This is supposedly overly restrictive and a remnant of sex-club crackdowns from the ’80s.
• 76th Street - “Does Richfield have too much senior housing but not enough affordable senior housing?” If you even have to ask…
• Longfellow Nokomis Real Estate Guide - Foreclosures in their neighborhood. There are LOTS.
• Northstar Commuter Rail - Construction begins on Coon Rapids station.
• District del Sol - This weekend’s Cinco de Mayo activities in St Paul. (pdf) The lowrider car show is Friday from 4-9 on Wabasha.

Has the rain gotten you down?

There seems to be something about this weather that is making the air equal parts glum and humidity. 

Still, on my drive home tonight I found myself thinking of sunsets.

Yesterday Cameraphone10000 captured this sunset from our yard. 

Where is your favorite place in the Twin Cities to watch a sunset?

I’ve always loved the sunsets at Lake Hiawatha Park.

I love how ex-UnitedHealth CEO William McGuire can’t even build a park without pulling some shady shit.

Trash Lady chimes in again on the Minneapolis Public Issues Forum to tell you everything you need to know about what to do with your plastic garbage bags. The next time I go to Ikea I’m totally buying one of those giant blue bags and then stashing it in my car.

Minneapolis City Councilmember Robert Lilligren says the reopening of Nicollet at Lake Street is a question of when, not if.

The natives are getting restless over municipal wi-fi.

About.com’s Minneapolis/St. Paul site appears to have a new guide (i.e., person who writes it). Anybody have any idea who Clara James is? Looks like a redesign in the last few months, too (it’s now web 2.0-ish). I had noticed as of the end of last year it hadn’t been updated in about a month. If you want to placeblog for pay, that was an opportunity, but I have to say that writing for About.com carries little to no street cred with me (and I hate myself a little bit for using the word “placeblog”). Just sayin’.

It seems the “Right on Lake Street” exhibit created by Macalester students in conjunction with the Minnesota Historical Society has moved from the Minnesota History Center and is now at the Midtown Global Market!

I wish I had known. I wouldn’t have spent the $10 to see it at the History Center. It was cramped together in a room that was kind of hard to find.

The exhibit itself is pretty cool. Lots of paper-mache and cardboard and paint and stuff. It’s a history/art project. I bet it views a helluva lot better at the MGM. And, you know, you’re actually right there on Lake Street. There’s an interactive exhibit online as well, but the real thing is much cooler.

So pop over to the MGM to see it. And to eat.

• MN Daily on Minneapolis and St Paul PD’s citizen academies. “Business, civic and religious leaders have priority when it comes to selecting class participants, but all people are open to apply.”
• Free tasting tonight at Common Roots. Fair-trade coffee and wine paired with local cheese and desserts from their bakery. 5:30-7:30.
• 10,000 Takes - The Pioneer Press Redesign: Your Thoughts? “If you’re younger than 30 you may skip the rest of this post and return to perusing TwinCities.com or StarTribune.com.” “It looks like something that a high school newspaper in Arkansas would use.”
• Uptown Mpls Blog - Photos of the new Victoria’s Secret in Uptown. I don’t know how I feel about all that neon pink.
• Mill City Museum - “Pat Siebenaler, Production Manger of Franklin Street Bakery will present 30-minute artisan bread baking demonstrations and tasting. Learn tips and tricks of the trade, including the ins and outs of commercial bread production.” Saturday (3/22) at 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm. $10 for adults, discounts for students and seniors.
• In Gopher sports news, men’s hockey forward suffers skull fracture in playoff game, women’s basketball makes the NCAA tournament (if they win in the first round, they will not get past UConn in the second round).
• Minnov8 - Newly launched site focusing on technology innovation in the State of Minnesota.
• Least Dangerous Game status update Wanna sponsor LDG?
• MN Daily - “So you want to build a music and arts community? First, contact your system administrator.” (via east-lake)
• DNR’s calendar of maple syrup events. (via doodledee)
• Wellness Center coming to MSP this fall. “The 5,000-square-foot center will offer spa and beauty services, such as hair cuts and manicures. It also will feature a walk-in health clinic and a full-service pharmacy.” I think it’s pitiful that people spend enough time in the airport to use some of these services.

Southwest Journal reports that the City of Minneapolis now has a public art listing on its website. The city’s page points only to art commissioned by the Department of Planning and Economic Development. You can search by region — North, East, Downtown, South, Southwest — and it sends you to a PDF map.

We already mentioned Start Seeing Art which, despite weird site navigation, has a Google maps mashup going on.

It’s cool that the city even has this information on its website. If you click around from there, there are other resources listed as well. But for better information (pictures), and for other places in the TC metro besides Minneapolis, definitely go to Start Seeing Art.

In 55408, there are roughly 260 square blocks, portions of eight neighborhoods and addresses that range from the tony mansions of Lake of the Isles to the taquerias of East Lake Street.

Arts non-profit Springboard for the Arts provides services for artists and says more artists contact them from this zip code than anywhere else.

Intermedia Arts has been showcasing artists from 55408 every year since it opened at 28th and Lyndale. This year’s “Minneapolis 55408″ exhibition runs March 13-May 10. There’s a free opening reception (suggested $5 donation at the door) and community forum from 7-11:30pm on Friday, March 14. There will also be food from Bryant Lake Bowl and Karaoke with DJ Mike Hoyt.

I miss my old ‘hood. *sniff*