“Fashioning a Future” Runway Show to Raise Funds for Earthquake Victims in Nepal on Sept. 11

Minneapolis retailers Key North Boutique and T Lee Custom Designer Jewelry are collaborating on a fashion show fundraiser to help earthquake victims in Nepal rebuild their lives. Proceeds will be donated to AmeriCares’ Nepal Relief Fund which is providing medical supplies and humanitarian aid for families in crisis.

Last year, T Lee Custom Designer Jewelry raised $4000 for the Shree Saraswoti Kunja primary school in central Nepal. This year, Key North Boutique and T Lee Custom Designer Jewelry are collaborating in the hopes of raising more money for the long-term recovery of the Nepali people.

Savvy style expert Grant Whitaker of Whitaker Style will emcee the runway show, with models wearing fashions from Key North Boutique and jewelry from T Lee Custom Designer Jewelry. Key North will feature exclusive women's clothing and accessory collections from American and International (Paris, London, Brussels, Munich) designers. Key North has created a local marketplace for organic, sustainable, fair-trade fashions that supports global designers, artisans and workers who are paid a fair wage. T Lee Custom Designer Jewelry will debut new one of a kind pieces and also a new collection of fine jewelry woven in 24kt and palladium. All materials used in T Lee designs are ethically sourced and mined.

VIP tickets are available for $100, which includes a reserved seat for the runway show, two $50 gift cards (one each from Key North and T Lee), and food and drink. Food will be donated by Gorhka Palace and beverages will be donated by North Loop Wine & Spirits. General admission tickets are available for $10.

For every $1 donated, AmeriCares provides $20 in aid. Because they deliver donated medicines and medical supplies to a trusted network of locally-based providers, the impact is multiplied many times over to save more lives in Nepal. AmeriCares has been aiding survivors of natural disasters, political conflict and extreme poverty around the world for more than 30 years, saving lives and restoring health and hope.

“Fashioning a Future” is sponsored by The Journal and the Southwest Journal.

WHAT: “Fashioning a Future” fundraiser for Earthquake Victims in Nepal

WHEN: Sept 11, 5-9pm

5-6pm: VIP preview

6-6:30pm: runway show

6:30-6:45pm: Q&A with Grant Whitaker

6:45-9pm: socializing and shopping

WHERE: Boardwalk in front of the Key North Boutique and T Lee Designer Jewelry, 515 and 509 1/2 First Ave NE in Old Town Minneapolis (next door to the Red Stag)

COST: $10 general admission; $100 VIP

TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fashioning-a-future-tickets-17809464588

CONTACT: 612-455-6666 or 612-789-2656

About Key North Boutique

Key North Boutique a specialty shop owned by Katie Greene and Gwen Engelbert in Minneapolis. Featuring exclusive women’s clothing, jewelry, and accessory collections from local and international designers, the fabrics are luxe, the designers are among the finest, and it’s all fair trade and sustainable. Learn more at keynorthboutique.com.

About T Lee Custom Designer Jewelry

Owned by jewelry designer T Lee and managed by Nathaniel Smith, T Lee Designer Jewelry is committed to ethical and sustainable practices in jewelry making. Focusing on custom design for 32 years, T Lee Custom Designer Jewelry is the Twin Cities premier design team, owning the phrase “There’s nothing we can’t customize.” Learn more at tleegold.com.

CenterPoint Energy's 4th Street Project Begins Tuesday, September 8

Crews from Michels Corporation, an authorized CenterPoint contractor, will begin installing natural gas distribution pipe along 4th Street on Tuesday, September 8.

Two crews will be working on the project, with one crew starting near the intersection of 4th Street N. and 2nd Avenue N. and working east and a second crew starting near the intersection of 4th Street S. and Marquette Avenue S. and working west.

Crews from Q3 Corporation, an authorized CenterPoint Energy contractor, will begin relining the roads and setting up lane closures along 4th Street S., from 2nd Avenue N. to Marquette Avenue S. on Tuesday, September 8.

The northern and southern parking lanes along 4th Street S. between 2nd Avenue N. and 1st Avenue N. will be closed.

Three lanes of traffic on 4th Street will remain open during rush hour and reducing to two lanes between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

CenterPoint Energy’s 4th Street project is anticipated to continue for the next seven weeks.

Please note that businesses will be open during construction. For more information, please visit our website. Thank you.​​​​

Minneapolis Idea Exchange (MiX) Brings Creative and Innovative Leaders to Minneapolis to Inspire Ideas that Power Community

Minneapolis Idea Exchange (MiX) Brings Creative and Innovative Leaders to Minneapolis to Inspire Ideas that Power Community

MINNEAPOLIS (September 3, 2015) — The Minneapolis Idea Exchange (MiX), an initiative of the Minneapolis Downtown Council’s Intersections: Downtown 2025 Plan, will host MiX 2015 on September 28, October 1 and October 2. With three days of speakers and events, MiX will partner with the 35^th annual Westminster Town Hall Forum to inspire attendees to think about creativity and community in innovative ways.

Nationally-recognized creators and advocates for empowered communities will build on the momentum created at MiX 2014. MiX 2015 will feature:

• Pete Docter: Minnesota native
• Tavis Smiley: author, publisher, social justice advocate
• Dan Buettner: Minnesota native, founder of Blue Zones, an organization helping Americans live longer, healthier, and happier lives

“We’re thrilled to have three dynamic speakers discussing topics of significance at this year’s MiX event,” said Tim Hart-Andersen and Mary Shaffer, co-chairs of the 2025 Plan MiX Committee. “Minneapolis has been highly-ranked at the national level on many lifestyle indicators ranging from innovation to overall vitality, and we want to continue to see that expand and support a thriving world-class downtown.”

MiX is the venue that makes it possible for ideas to come together from national inspiration to local talent and a community of doers. During MiX 2015, attendees will be inspired to tap into their creativity, learn from communities of justice and take a cue from the world’s healthiest people. In addition to thought-provoking speakers, MiX will transform the corner of Nicollet Mall and 12^th Street to create an outdoor experience complete with music, good eats, local drinks, interactive activities and social events. The events are free and open to the public.

MiX Speaker Schedule

Pete Docter

Monday, September 28, 7:00 PM

Inside the Creative Community: The Power and Process of Animated Film

Pete Docter is a film director, animator, and screenwriter at Pixar Animation Studios. He contributed to the story and characters of Toy Story, Pixar’s first full-length animated feature film, and served as the supervising animator for the film. He wrote story treatments for Toy Story 2 and Wall-E and directed Monsters, Inc., Up, and his latest release, Inside Out. He has been nominated for six Academy Awards and won Best Animated Feature Film for Up. Born and raised in Bloomington, Minn., he graduated from the California Institute of the Arts where he received a Student Academy Award. In 1990, he was hired as Pixar’s third animator and began work the day after his college graduation. Website: pixartalk.com/pixarians/pete-docter/

Tavis Smiley

Thursday, October 1, 7:00 PM         

No One Left Out: Creating Communities of Justice

Tavis Smiley is an author, publisher, social justice advocate, and host and managing editor of the late-night PBS television talk show, Tavis Smiley, and the public radio program, The Tavis Smiley Show. He has written or edited 18 books, including The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto, co-authored with Cornel West; My Journey with Maya, a memoir of his friendship with Maya Angelou; Death of a King, an account of the final year in the life Dr. Martin Luther King; and Covenant with Black America, a collection of essays addressing economic and social disparities. He is the founder of a nonprofit foundation committed to empowering young people and to alleviating poverty across all sectors of society. Website: pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/

Dan Buettner

Friday, October 2, Noon

A Blue Zones City: Living Like the World’s Healthiest People

Dan Buettner is the founder of Blue Zones, an organization committed to helping Americans live longer, healthier lives. He teamed with National Geographic and the world’s best longevity researchers to identify lifestyle choices in specific parts of the globe where people live measurably longer lives. Their research has been published in his bestselling book The Blue Zones: Nine Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest and his recent book, Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World’s Healthiest People. In 2009, he brought his nine principles for longevity to the town of Albert Lea, Minn., where participants in his program added an estimated 2.9 years to their average lifespan. Website: bluezones.com

All keynote events will be hosted at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1200 S. Marquette Avenue in Minneapolis. Additional activities that are free and open to the public will happen near 12^th Street and Nicollet Mall on Monday, September 28, Thursday, October 1 and Friday, October 2.

About the Minneapolis Downtown Council:

Founded in 1955, and one of the oldest central business associations in the nation, the Minneapolis Downtown Council (MDC) is a membership-based entity that works to create an extraordinary downtown. The MDC’s collaborative developments of Intersections: Downtown 2025 Plan was designed to help downtown businesses, community leaders and citizens build on downtown assets and implement future goals. For more information, please visit http://www.downtownmpls.com/.

About the 2025 Plan: 

The Downtown 2025 Plan is a vehicle to help leaders and citizens build on Downtown’s assets and guide its development in ways that reflect the community’s aspirations for a Downtown Minneapolis that is thriving, livable, green, connected and welcoming in the decades ahead. This includes initiatives to double downtown’s residential population, transform Nicollet Mall into a must-see destination, implement a Gateway area and other green elements throughout downtown, create a compelling and walkable environment around the clock, lead the nation in transportation options, end street homelessness, forge connections with the University of Minnesota and more. The 2025 Plan is a Minneapolis Downtown Council initiative established in 2010.

About the Minneapolis Idea eXchange:

MiX is a community-powered event that encourages discourse on the topics impacting our city and celebrates the nationally recognized ingenuity and talent rooted in Minneapolis. The Minneapolis Idea eXchange is an initiative of the Minneapolis Downtown Council and supported through community leaders, or MiX Luminaries including Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges.  For more information, visit http://www.minneapolisideaexchange.com/ or follow along @MiXMpls on Facebook and Twitter.

Day Block Brewing to Host PorktoberFest Block Party on Sunday, September 6

On Sunday September 6th, Day Block Brewing will host PorktoberFest, an end-of-summer block party, from 11am - 10pm. The all-day event will emphasize local food - namely pork selections - as well as several vegetarian options. Enjoy craft beer and a full schedule of live music beginning at 2:00pm. This event will be held in the shared Day Block Brewing/Grumpy’s Bar lot located on the South side of the Day Block Building. Limited free parking will also be available.

Tickets: $10 (includes a $5 food and beverage voucher)

Live Music featuring:
• Hustle Rose
• The Lone Crows
• Moon Grass Trio
• Fairfax, AK
• Frankie Teardrop
• Basement Brew