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Also in this issue: GreenPrint shows environmental progress City attacks home foreclosures Michal Jordan proposed as Civil Rights Director Living in a world-class clean city Minneapolis is Blooming
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Mayor Rybak Launches Illegal Guns Media Campaign As the nation reeled from the tragic shootings in Virginia, I stood with Police Chief Tim Dolan, Chaska Police Chief Scott Knight, American Hunters and Shooters Association President Ray Schoenke to announce a national partnership of mayors, police chiefs and gun owners cracking down on illegal guns used in violent crime with a new media campaign to fight federal policies on illegal guns that prevent police officers from doing their jobs. Check it out at ProtectPolice.org. The reality is that there are simply too many guns in our country, in our state and in our city. Month after month our police officers seize record amounts of illegal guns from our streets and month after month more illegal guns show up in our city. Last year alone, Minneapolis police seized more than 1,200 guns from our streets. This is a national problem that must be addressed at a national level and Congress needs to stop preventing our police from doing their jobs. ProtectPolice.org explains how the Tiahrt Amendment in Congress prevents police officers from doing their jobs by barring police from accessing federal gun trace data from areas outside their city or sharing gun trace data with other cities. Congress also bars the Bureau of Alcohol Firearms Tobacco and Explosives from publishing reports that use gun trace data to analyze nationwide gun trafficking patterns. Mayors from cities big and small, from across the political spectrum, agree it’s time to start finding common ground on real solutions to this problem and get tough on those small minority of gun sellers who repeatedly violate the law and put our cities in harms way. That’s why we created the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition and why were partnering with police chiefs and gun owners to stop the sale of illegal guns. We need tougher gun laws and we will fight for them. Our fight against illegal guns needs to reach beyond the borders of Minneapolis and beyond the borders of partisanship. This country needs to maximize penalties for those who possess, use and traffic in illegal guns, and hold the worst gun dealers accountable for their actions. Do your part today by going to ProtectPolice.org. |
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Minneapolis GreenPrint Shows Environmental Progress Minneapolis Attacks Home Foreclosures Michael Jordan Named to Lead Civil Rights Department |
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Minneapolis is known for its sparking lakes and waterways and beautiful, vibrant parks and neighborhoods. We want to keep it that way. That’s why protecting and enhancing our environment is one of the City’s top priorities. But to succeed, we need the efforts of Minneapolis residents, businesses, and everyone who spends time in our city. To ensure that City government is doing all that it can to protect our environment, Minneapolis City leaders developed a vision and goals for creating a more ecologically sustainable city. 
This week Minnesota Housing Commissioner Tim Marx announced an $11 million loan to help fight the effects of home foreclosures in Minneapolis. The funds will be used to acquire, rehabilitate, and re-sell properties that are in foreclosure or vacant. The Family Housing Fund and the Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation (GMHC) will use $10 million as working capital to buy and renovate homes in North Minneapolis. Another $1 million will help families with a need for greater financial assistance to access homeownership. Along with the City’s 311 foreclosure help line, these resources will enable Minneapolis and its partners to implement plans to get unstable homes back into the hands of long-term, stable home owners and families. 
Published May. 4, 2007