Post in Downtown Journal and Southwest Journal stories

Feb 11 16:55 UTC

Excerpts from the Feb. 4-17 Downtown Journal are below. Visit www.dtjournal.com
for the full stories and more downtown coverage. Check out the multimedia
section for slideshows and videos.

On the beat
By Michelle Bruch

The East Bank's longtime beat cop is easy to spot — he drives the oldest police
vehicle in the 2nd Precinct, a lumbering 1997 van with a strip of emergency
lights on top.
"When business people see me go by, they know it's me," said Elliot Wong, a
beat officer for the past six years.
Officers can cycle through dozens of jobs in the Minneapolis Police Department,
and beat cop work has none of the action-packed glamour of a 911 responder. But
Wong — who insists that everyone call him Elliot — enjoys the recognition he
gains from walking the beat, and he drives the van for that very reason. Even
the transient population knows who Elliot is.

City legislators layout agenda for '08 session
By Brady Gervais

In late January, the Downtown Journal invited state legislators representing
districts in Downtown and Southwest to discuss the upcoming legislative
session, which commences Feb. 12 at noon. We asked them a spectrum of questions
— about their priorities in 2008, the bonding bill, infrastructure and
education, among other things. Following are excerpts of the roundtable
discussion.

Here are a couple excerpts from the Feb. 11-24 Southwest Journal. The Southwest
Journal is online at www.swjournal.com and also features a multimedia section
with videos and slideshows.

City drafting development guide that outlines plan for Minneapolis of 2030
By Brady Gervais

You may not have 100 percent control over what you’ll look like in 20 years.
But you can have some say in how you want Minneapolis to look like decades from
now.
After eight years, the city is updating its Comprehensive Plan, which is
supposed to act as a policy guide for future planning, zoning and development
decisions, according to spokespersons for the city.

Mayor Rybak chairing state campaign committee for Obama
By Brady Gervais

Mayor R.T. Rybak was on the Barack Obama bandwagon before it even started
moving. Now he chairs — on a volunteer basis — a campaign committee for the
presidential candidate.
Days before his political hero was scheduled to make an appearance at the
Target Center, the mayor talked to the Southwest Journal about his support for
the Illinois senator and how he plans to spend Super Tuesday.

Thanks,

Jake Weyer
Assistant Editor/Reporter
Southwest Journal
612-436-4367
<email obscured>