Buzz

'Tabatha Takes Over' show comes to local salons

Pioneer Press Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Next season, the popular Bravo reality show “Tabatha Takes Over” will visit a couple of local salons, according to the Pioneer Press.

Jungle Red Salon in Minneapolis’s Loring Park area and H Design Salon in Uptown will be featured in separate episodes of the show, which starts on Jan. 10.

“If this year is anything like past seasons, the new episodes likely will be full of shears and jeers as outspoken salon owner Tabatha Coffey swoops in and tells salon owners and their employees how to improve their game,” the story states.

USA Today highlights local start-up culture

USA Today Wednesday, December 07, 2011

A recent Talking Tech column in USA Today highlighted the beneficial climate for tech startups in the Twin Cities.

The newspaper's columnist visited CoCo, the shared workspace with locations in St. Paul and Minneapolis, and talked with entrepreneurs at companies like Mobiata and QONQR.

The article also included comments from a tech analyst based in Minneapolis who noted that the Twin Cities are giving Chicago and other tech areas a good amount of competition. As driving factors, he nodded toward the schools, people, big companies, and history of innovative thinking in the local area.

HCMC recognized for its unique hospital-based food pantry

Kaiser Health News Wednesday, December 07, 2011

A recent article in Kaiser Health News highlighted a distinctive program at the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), in which patients are given food as well as immunizations and prescriptions.

HCMC's pediatric clinic offers a food pantry, one of only a few in the nation that's hospital-based. The pantry, now in its third year of operation, grew out of project that focused on encouraging families to include more fruits and vegetables in their diets.

Kaiser's article also noted that the pantry is able to serve more families by delivering food rather than running the pantry out of a single space at the facility.

Education News features MCAD comic program

Education News Wednesday, December 07, 2011

The web-based Education News, which covers various national and international education topics, recently highlighted the comic degree that’s available through the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

It’s one of only three such programs around the country, the story states, citing information from MPR and the Star Tribune.

Local author Britt Aamodt, who profiled over 20 area artists in a book called, “Superheroes, Strip Artists & Talking Animals: Minnesota’s Contemporary Cartoonists,” is quoted saying that a “recent crop of artists is taking Minnesota’s scene to new heights.”

Aamodt goes on to say that the local comic artists have "really spread their wings,” and, “They can tell any kind of story. And they just don’t have to be about men in tights.”

Sustainable efforts in Minneapolis highlighted in recent report

MinnPost Wednesday, December 07, 2011

In terms of stormwater management, Minneapolis is "doing interesting, innovative projects that warrant recognition," according to a report titled “Rooftop to Rivers II” from the Natural Resources Defense Council, summarized in MinnPost.

The report centers on 14 case studies that demonstrate how U.S. cities are working to reduce the pollution from runoff into lakes and rivers.

Although Minneapolis isn't one of those featured case studies, one part of the report describes the city’s stormwater management practices, including the use of rain gardens, ponds/wetlands, underground filtration, green roofs and more.

And, North Minneapolis’s Heritage Park “illustrates how green infrastructure can be implemented on a large-scale to transform communities,” the report states.

In MinnPost, Ron Meador responds, "The challenges and opportunities [the report] discusses are the same ones shaping the future of water quality and pollution control across our state."

Study notes that Twin Cities shoppers will up their holiday spending

University of St. Thomas Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Researchers at the University of St. Thomas have issued what they call an "optimistic forecast" about the upcoming holiday shopping season.

The 10th annual Holiday Spending Sentiment Survey provides longitudinal data on Twin Cities holiday shopping trends , allowing researchers to see how this season stacks up against the recession-dampened climate of 2008 and 2009.

According to the survey, household spending for holiday gifts is predicted to be 3.4 percent more in the Twin Cities this year, compared to last year. This also marks a large rebound from a few years ago, the researchers noted.

When it comes to women's health, Twin Cities among the best

Self Wednesday, November 30, 2011

In Self magazine’s 2011 list of the country’s ‘Top 100 Healthiest Cities for Women,’ the Twin Cities comes in fourth place.

Self analyzed all kinds of statistics dealing with health and quality of life to arrive at its results.

It states that, “with the help of BestPlaces.net, [we] learned how women across the country are making their neighborhoods leaner, greener, and less stressed out.”

In the Twin Cities, female residents boast “very low rates of heart disease” and “excellent mental health,” a map shows.

The Twin Cities follows Cambridge, Mass., Bethesda, Md. and San Francisco.

Construction magazine predicts health for Twin Cities housing market

Builder Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Home construction magazine Builder released its bi-annual projections about the nation's healthiest housing markets, and predicted that the Twin Cities is due for an upswing.

The report compiles the metrics that drive housing production, such as jobs, price appreciation, population growth, and income growth.

Minneapolis and St. Paul topped the list of 20 healthy housing areas, and Builder noted that home prices in the metro, which dropped in the first half of 2011, are expected to rise eight percent next year, the highest rate among the 100 largest housing markets.

Other major housing factors are expected growth in employment and a rebound in building permits.

Zagat picks its top Twin Cities restaurants

Zagat Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Restaurant guide Zagat released its annual list of the Twin Cities' best eateries, and many of last year's top restaurants earned high marks again.

La Belle Vie topped the list, with 112 Eatery coming in second. Also notable were Vincent, Restaurant Alma, Bar La Grassa, and Meritage, which all made last year's list as well.

Newcomers in the rankings were Heidi's, In Season, Masu Sushi, and Victory 44.

The annual, national Zagat guide blends the opinions and habits of more than 153,000 diners from around the country, and integrates those with over 1,500 reviews.

Local student photo featured on BBC site

BBC Wednesday, November 16, 2011

A photo from Jen Ritt, who is a student at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, is featured in a gallery of fireworks images from the BBC.

Ritt’s dramatic picture shows a figure poised with a sparkler atop a boat. The sparkler illuminates the otherwise dimly-lit lake.

The BBC photo gallery, which exhibits photos weekly according to a theme, presents images from England, Scotland, France, Spain, and other places around the world.

Rybak, Minneapolis lauded by GOOD magazine

GOOD magazine Wednesday, November 16, 2011

A recent article in the national magazine GOOD features Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.

The story by local writer Jeff Severns Guntzel, is titled, “The Partisans Will Never Find Us Here: Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and the Art of Getting Shit Done.”

It talks about the city’s recent accolades for everything from biking to literacy.

“For a city that lives in the imaginations of Americans as a culturally isolated outpost of extreme and permanent cold, they are small but significant triumphs—and evidence that something is going right in Minneapolis,” Guntzel writes.

Civic achievements are reflected in “a buzzing park, a painter turning a street corner utility box into art, block after block of thriving independent businesses, a festival for every obsession and persuasion, [and] its growing, engaged immigrant communities. Minneapolis is all of these things. It is not a utopia, not by any stretch. It’s just a city that works,” he says.

In many ways, the success can be credited to the efforts of the Mayor, who’s been in office for a decade, Guntzel says.

Lead411 recognizes five fast-growing metro tech companies

Lead411 Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Technology site Lead411 has released its annual survey of the top 200 tech companies in the nation, and five Minnesota companies made the list.

Ranked sixth on the list is Minneapolis-based Code 42 Software, a development company that produces onsite, offsite, and cloud backup applications for consumers and enterprises.

The other four companies are iBuyOfficeSupply.com, MSpace, The Nerdery, and CaringBridge.

The Tech 200 is based on revenue percentage growth from 2008 to 2010, and companies had to be privately-held U.S. businesses that earned more than $1 million in the past year.

TIME reports on Minnesota nutrition study

TIME Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Recently, TIME highlighted research done at the University of Minnesota that showed that people may not read nutrition labels as often as they say they do.

In the study, participants were asked to use a computer-based shopping program that presented products and nutritional info, and which also contained an eye-tracking device to record what they viewed on the screen. One finding was that although about a third of participants said they "almost always" looked at calorie content, only about nine percent actually look at that info on a food's label.

TIME noted that the findings add to the evidence that the bewildering array of food labels currently found on grocery store foods isn't doing consumers any good.

Brain Pickings features Studio on Fire in Minneapolis

Brain Pickings Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Brain Pickings, a well known news and culture aggregator, has a post about the local Studio on Fire, a design and letterpress shop.

Blogger Maria Popova calls Studio On Fire a "Minneapolis-based design studio, workshop, and printer crafting some of the most heart-stopping letterpress and screenprint gems I've ever seen."

She talks about a new volume titled "Studio on Fire: Iron Beasts Make Great Beauty," that shows off the studio's posters, flyers, wedding invitations, business cards, book covers, and wallpaper.

Popova describes it as "An absolute treat from cover to gloriously letterpressed cover, Studio on Fire: Iron Beasts Make Great Beauty...makes it hard to resist the urge to get up and make something beautiful and papery with your own two hands."

Star Tribune: 'Young, educated flock to the Twin Cities'

StarTribune Wednesday, November 09, 2011

A recent Star Tribune story states that the Twin Cities is luring young professionals by offering plenty of opportunity at an affordable living rate.

Census numbers show that "the Twin Cities area is maintaining its position as a top magnet for young professionals," it states.

Minneapolis resident Ryan Cox, 27, who decided to pursue a tech career locally, is quoted saying that "when you look at what [my salary] would get you in San Francisco in comparison to Minneapolis? It was a no-brainer."

Lacey Dunham, 29, who moved to the area from Washington, D.C., this summer, adds,"It just came down to Minneapolis having a really good reputation for all the things that were important to us."