Minneapolis, MN

Thanks to my sister, I now know of a great new sandwich and deli place in the Minneapolis warehouse district.  Located at 800 Washington Ave. N. downtown, the new deli offers gourmet sandwiches, soups and salads.

Taking a natural foods approach with locally sourced ingredients to create healthy foods from scratch.  With several specialty cured and smoked meats, delectable bakery items, and an old-fashioned dedication to customer service & satisfaction, Be’Wiched should be on your list of places to go for lunch.

In addition to great eat-in options, there are take-out and catering as well, so spice up that next working lunch meeting!  Or stop by after work for a relaxing bite before heading home.  Be’Wiched is the brainchild of founding chefs Matthew Bickford and Mike Ryan, and you can read more about them here.

Be’Wiched Deli | 800 Washington Ave. N. Minneapolis, MN

612-767-4330 | www.bewicheddeli.com

Bewiched Deli, Minneapolis Deli, Bewiched Sandwiches

Well, according to Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak anyway - and that day will be September 28th, 2007.  Celebrating the launch of the new television network offering a wide range of women’s and men’s college sporting coverage.

Rybak said, “The Big Ten Network provides national exposure to the excellent programs at the University of Minnesota”.

The official announcement will be at the McNamara Alumni Center prior to the Goal Line Club luncheon at 11:50am today, Friday September 28th, 2007.

Via: GopherSports.com - Mayor declares Saturday “Minnesota Big Ten Network Day”

Big Ten Network, Minnesota Gophers

Well it could be.  Hang on to your hat folks, because auditions will be in town on October 9th in Minneapolis.  The show “The Next Food Network Star” will be looking for contestants for next season’s series.

Winners of the show would get their own Food Network series, so if this sound like you make sure to keep 10am to 4pm on Oct. 9th open and head on down to the Chambers Hotel in downtown Minneapolis.  An application, photo, and resume/bio should be brought with to work with the casting crew.  Good luck.

BAM! (heh, I couldn’t help myself)

Via: StarTribune.com - What’s cooking: So you wanna be a Food Network star

Food Network, The Next Food Network Star, Minneapolis

It seems our ‘great’ city is caught in a legal pickle of sorts. Minneapolis instituted a red light camera ticketing program about two years ago without approval from the state legislature. Basically there was not a law on the books for the city to be able to perform this little action.

The bigger problem is that the state Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that this violated state law. Where this becomes a large issue is the money and the individuals license points.

The city raised $2.8 million in fines for these tickets - some 4200 of them at $142 a pop! The city will clear the points for these tickets off your license, but will not (currently) return the collected fines. This failure to return the fines is pending in a lawsuit in front of the district court at this time.

Just in case you at least want those points cleared, you’ll need to fill out this form and submit it for that to happen. How convenient.

Jerks.

Photo credit, Joslyn Layne

Via: thenewspaper.com - Minneapolis, Minnesota Refuses to Refund Illegal Red Light Camera Tickets

Minneapolis Stop Light Camera, Minneapolis Stop Light Tickets

There is some new news circulating about a new steakhouse opening on 7th Street & Hennepin. Sometime in mid-November, David Koch will be opening r. Norman, named for his business partner at Bellanotte

The new multi-level nightclub will feature with r. Norman’s on the first level, a new sushi lounge called Seven will be on the second and a rooftop lounge above that. The rooftop lounge may be the largest in the Minneapolis downtown area.

Sounds like a lot of fun!

Photo credit, dronepop

Via: StarTribune.com - Nightwatch: New nightlife coming to Hennepin

Minneapolis Nightlife, Bellanotte Minneapolis, r. Norman Minneapolis

Hang onto your pocketbook again fellow citizens, more taxes are heading your way.  The city of Minneapolis is capping the current property tax levy at 8% though one board member dissented, wanting more money allotted for park use.

While the city counsel won’t address how to spend the additional tax revenue for 2008, the levy does conform to the counsel’s 2002 policy to raise tax collection by 8% year over year.  The increases are designed to offset cuts in state aid.

Individual homes rather than commercial property generates the bulk of the property taxes in Minneapolis.  Because of the housing values change quickly, the current drop in the housing market in some areas will not show in property taxes until 2009.

Via: Star Tribune.com - Minneapolis City Council caps tax levy at 8%

Minneapolis Taxes, Property Taxes

When was the last time you were at a concert?  Yeah, same here - too long as a matter of fact.  Well, there’s about 9 shows coming to the Twin Cities in the coming months and the range from kids shows to *yeah* aging rockers (I’m admitting to this phase ).

So here’s what’s coming to town:

• Arcade Fire on Sept. 30th
• Maroon 5 on Oct. 1st
• Sugarland on Oct. 13th
• Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) on Oct. 21st
• Van Halen on Oct. 24th (w00t!)
• Rascal Flats on Oct. 27th
• Ozzy Ozborne and Rob Zombie on Oct. 31st
• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on Nov. 2nd (w00t!)
• Keith Urban on Nov. 17th

There is *tons* more information at the link below, including locations and ticket prices.  Have fun kids!  (Hope I can make it to VH!)

Via: TwinCities.com - 9 really large arena shows

Twin Cities Concerts, Twin Cities Entertainment

Wednesday, Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak sat in front of congress and recommended “temporarily” raising the federal gas tax.  Suggesting that this ”temporary” tax hike should be used to repair 6,175 bridges that have been found to be structurally deficient.

WTF!?

Here’s my question.  Why were they allowed to become structurally deficient?  What were the federal and state gas taxes and transportation budgets used on?  Obviously not bridge maintenance to the level required.

So here it comes again, we all get to pay extra because our governmental agencies are incapable of providing the basic necessities of modern transportation.  Go figure.  So, on top of rising fuel costs that are highly manipulated by the futures market, we get to anticipate ANOTHER tax increase that simply shouldn’t have to take on.

Ok, end of rant now.

Via: St. Cloud Times - Minneapolis mayor tells Congress he supports Oberstar?s gas tax plan

Sorry, the past several days have gotten the better of me.  I hadn’t gotten a chance to update the blog here - and I didn’t even loose track of time at the fair.  We’ll be back shortly with more!

So have you been out to the fair yet?  Well thousands have and it’s, as always, a grand time at the great Minnesota get-together.  Here’s a recap of some of the action.

TwinCities.com has a daily blog focus solely on the fair.  Check out John Brewer’s daily commentary here.

Kare11 has an article, by John Croman, strictly about the scents of the fair.  Mainly the fair food - mostly the deep-fried delights that we expect - brings the most nostalgic memories (and odors) of the fair home with us!

WCCO talks about our continuing fascination with foods on a stick.  In their article Good Question: What’s Not Fit For A Stick? Ben Tracy explores the world of State Fair food on a stick.

Resources:

• Minnesota State Fair Web Site
• TwinCities.com State Fair Blog
• KARE11
• WCCO

[tags]Minnesota State Fair, State Fair Foods[/rags]

Hey, I hadn’t heard about this previously - Coca-Cola and Caribou Coffee have partnered on a new “ready-to-drink” beverage.  Of course, Minneapolis and Atlanta are among the first markets to get the beverage as they roll the product out nationwide.

Packaged in a unique aluminum bottle, the new drink will come in regular, espresso and vanilla flavors.  Hmm, it’ll be interesting to try this new beverage out.  One wonders if it will be similar to other national refrigerated coffee drinks.

Via: Atlanta Business Chronicle - Coke/Caribou coffee drink out soon

Coca-Cola, Coke, Caribou Coffee

It’s been awhile since I was able to spend a few hours reading and sipping coffee.  I’m doing that today over at the Starbucks in Plymouth for another hour or so.

While I’m a coffee nut and really enjoy the independents with their better quality and specialty roasts, I also just like the predictability of McCoffee (Starbucks) and their WiFi.  I can actually get work done there!

I should have posted earlier and invited anyone to join me there - something I’ll think about in the future.  Later!

Coffee Shop, Mobile Web Worker, Starbucks

Ah, the wonders of modern technology.  You can now by tickets for the St. Paul Saints with your cell mobile phone.  Not only can you buy them from your phone, but also use your phone as a ticket itself.  Sure there is a lot of wiz-bang gadgetry behind it all, but it can really make for a more convenient experience.

You can still purchase tickets at the door, you can still buy tickets off the web (with the option to send the ticket to your mobile phone).  However, now you can purchase tickets whenever you think about it, even when on the road.  How cool is that.

The whole system is run for the Saints by Veritec using their TicketCode system.  The ticket itself is a “2D” barcode that is scanned at the door, validated by the TicketCode system.

It also just so happens that our Saints are the first organization to allow fans to purchase and use tickets via mobile phone.  One more interesting feature of this technology, the Saints talk about being able to forward the ticket to another mobile phone if you were not able to make it, or to give the ticket as a gift to another person.  Neat stuff.

Via: Our Sports Central - Saints Go High Tech with Cell Phone Tickets

St. Paul Saints, Mobile Phone Tickets

A new music event called “McNally Smith Minnesota Music Festival” will be held in St. Paul on Sept. 21st & 22nd.  An offshoot of the Summit Big Brew, the event is sponsored by Summit Brewery, City Pages, and McNally Smith (a St. Paul music school).

Among those performing at the festival will be Soul Asylum, Golden Smog, Quietdrive, Brother Ali, Romantica, The Hopefuls, The Honeydogs, Martin Zellar, and more.

Tickets for the event are $20/day, $30 for 2 days.

Via: Star Tribune - A new St. Paul music fest Soul Asylum, Brother Ali among local talent booked for the Harriet Island event

Photo credit: McNally Smith (via flickr)

Minnesota Music Festival, McNally Smith

This fall, Minneapolis (and Hennepin County) will open the first cable-stay bridge in Minnesota for pedestrian traffic over Hiawatha Ave.

This 2,200 foot bridge will carry an estimated 2,500 walkers, joggers and bikers over the busy street each day.

Part of the Mid-town Greenway, officials and planners are hoping the bridge becomes a popular part of this 6 mile bicycle trail that links the Mississippi River and the Uptown Chain of Lakes area.

It should be noted that cable-stayed bridge designs have been used for decades in Europe and are one of many safe and dependable designs for bridge support.

Hiawatha Pedestrian Bridge, Mid-town Greenway