It's no secret, most of us would like to stay in our own home as we age. Yet, sometimes our loved ones just need a little extra help to remain comfortable at home. That's where Always Best Care can help....we are dedicated to exceeding expectations....always.
They say that your golden years are the best years of your life. For most older Americans, that's how it should be - a time to relax, reflect, and live life in a familiar place. After all, senior citizens in the U.S. have worked tirelessly to build a better economy, serve their communities, and raise families.
However, as seniors grow older, completing daily tasks like showering and enjoying activities such as visiting the historic Milwaukee Avenue Historic District gets harder without someone by their side. Unfortunately, many older Americans aren't able to rely on their adult children for help. The reality in today's world is that family members do not have the skills or time to dedicate to caring for their parents. That's where Always Best Care Senior Services comes in.
Our in-home care services are for people who prefer to stay at home as they grow older but need ongoing care that family or friends cannot provide. More and more older adults prefer to live far away from long-term, institutionalized facilities and closer to the place where they feel most comfortable - their home. Home care in Minneapolis, MN is a safe, effective way to give your loved ones the care they need when they need it the most.
Home Care Services
Service AreasSince 1996, Always Best Care has provided non-medical in-home care for seniors to help them maintain a healthy lifestyle as they get older. We are proud to have helped more than 25,000 seniors maintain higher levels of dignity and respect. We focus on providing seniors with the highest level of in-home care available so that they may live happily and independently.
Unlike some senior care companies, we genuinely want to be included in our clients' lives. We believe that personalized care is always the better option over a "one size fits all" approach. To make sure our senior clients receive the best care possible, we pair them with compassionate caregivers who understand their unique needs. That way, they may provide care accordingly without compromising their wellbeing.
The Always Best Care difference lies in life's little moments - where compassionate care and trustworthy experience come together to help seniors live a fruitful, healthy life. Whether you are an aging adult that can't quite keep up with life's daily tasks or the child of a senior who needs regular in-home services, Always Best Care is here to help.
“I am a current client of this provider Always Best Care comes in to help my”
“I am a current client of this provider Always Best Care comes in to help my dad a shower at night. When the guy came out to interview, he was really good and helpful, but it was just hard to find someone to help with dad been a little bit bigger and heavier. They like the person that they had come out a couple of times. The caregiver is good.”
Home is where the heart is. While that saying can sound a tad cliche, it is especially true for many seniors living in America. When given a choice, older adults most often prefer to grow older at home. An AARP study found that three out of four adults over the age of 50 want to stay in their homes and communities as they age.
When you begin to think about why, it makes sense. Home offers a sense of security, comfort, and familiarity.
The truth is, as we age, we begin to rely on others for help. When a family is too busy or lives too far away to fulfill this role, in-home senior care is often the best solution. Home care services allow seniors to enjoy personal independence while also receiving trustworthy assistance from a trained caregiver.
At Always Best Care, we offer a comprehensive range of home care services to help seniors stay healthy while they get the help they need to remain independent. As your senior loved one gets older, giving them the gift of senior care is one of the best ways to show your love, even if you live far away.
To give our senior clients the best care possible, we offer a full spectrum of in-home care services:
If your senior loved one has specific care needs, our personal care services are a great choice to consider. Personal care includes the standard caregiving duties associated with companion care and includes help with tasks such as dressing and grooming. Personal care can also help individuals with chronic conditions like diabetes.
Common personal care services include assistance with:
Sometimes, seniors need helpful reminders to maintain a high quality of life at home. If you or your senior has trouble with everyday tasks like cooking, our home helper services will be very beneficial.
Common home helper care services include assistance with:
Using this kind of care is a fantastic way to make life easier for you or your senior loved one. At Always Best Care, our talented caregivers often fill the role of a companion for seniors. That way, older adults can enjoy their favorite local activities, such as visiting Minnehaha Regional Park with friends while also receiving the care they need daily or weekly.
Common companionship services include:
According to AARP, more than 53 million adults living in the U.S. provide care to someone over 50 years old. Unfortunately, these caregivers experience stress, exhaustion, and even depression. Our respite care services help family caregivers address urgent obligations, spend time with their children, and enjoy nearby activities. Perhaps more importantly, respite care gives family members time to recharge and regroup. Taking personal time to de-stress reduces the risk of caregiver burnout. So, if you've always wanted to eat at the local The Capital Grille or visit Hinkle-Murphy House, don't feel bad. Doing so is great for both you and your loved one.
At the end of the day, our goal is to become a valuable part of your senior's daily routine. That way, we may help give them the highest quality of life possible. We know that staying at home is important for your loved one, and we are here to help make sure that is possible.
If you have been on the fence about non-medical home care, there has never been a better time than now to give your senior the care, assistance, and companionship they deserve.
Always Best Care in-home services are for older adults who prefer to stay at home but need ongoing care that friends and family cannot provide. In-home care is a safe, effective way for seniors to age gracefully in a familiar place and live independent, non-institutionalized lives. The benefits of non-medical home care are numerous. Here are just a few reasons to consider senior care services from Always Best Care:
According to AARP, 9 out of 10 seniors prefer to age in place within the comfort of their own home. With in-home care, seniors have a way to stay at home, receive the care they need, and maintain a sense of independence, improving overall wellness.
If you or a member of your family have assumed the role of caregiver for your senior loved one, you know how stressful the job can be. Between caregiver burnout and constant worry, being a family caregiver is hard. In-home care relieves your burden and gives you peace of mind knowing that your older family member is in expert hands.
Unlike nursing homes, where the staff and residents rotate frequently, seniors can foster new friendships and build bonds with their caregiver. Seniors who socialize on a regular basis are often happier, which fosters positivity and leads to increased wellbeing.
No two seniors need the same kind of in-home care assistance. That is why each of our Care Plans is tailored to meet our client's individual needs. We offer plans that cover everything from light housekeeping to more involved duties like transportation to doctor's appointments. Our Care Coordinators will work closely with you to develop a personalized plan to ensure your senior's needs are exceeded.
Always Best Care offers a full array of care options for patients at all levels of health. With our trusted elderly care services, your loved one will receive the level of care necessary for them to enjoy the highest possible quality of life.
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While it's true that some seniors have complicated medical needs that prevent them from staying at home, aging in place is often the best arrangement for seniors and their families. With a trusted caregiver, seniors have the opportunity to live with a sense of dignity and do so as they see fit - something that is unavailable to many older people today.
In-home care makes it possible for millions of seniors to age in place every year. Rather than moving to a strange nursing home, seniors have the chance to stay at home where they feel the happiest and most comfortable.
How much does a senior's home truly mean to them?
A study published by the American Society on Aging found that more than half of seniors say their home's emotional value means more than how much their home is worth in monetary value. It stands to reason, then, that a senior's home is where they want to grow old.
With the help of elderly care in Minneapolis, MN, seniors don't have to age in a sterilized care facility. Instead, they can age gracefully in the place they want to be most: their home. In contrast, seniors who move to a long-term care facility must adapt to new environments, new people, and new systems that the facility implements. At this stage in life, this kind of drastic change can be more harmful than helpful.
Institutional care facilities like nursing homes often put large groups of people together to live in one location. On any given day, dozens of staff members and caregivers run in and out of these facilities. Being around so many new people in a relatively small living environment can be dangerous for a seniors' health and wellbeing. When you consider that thousands of seniors passed away in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, opting for in-home care is often a safer, healthier choice for seniors.
Aging in place has been shown to improve seniors' quality of life, which helps boost physical health and also helps insulate them from viral and bacterial risks found in elderly living facilities.
For many seniors, the ability to live independently with assistance from a caregiver is a priceless option. With in-home care, seniors experience a higher level of independence and freedom - much more so than in other settings like a nursing home. When a senior has the chance to age in place, they get to live life on their own terms, inside the house that they helped make into a home. More independence means more control over their personal lives, too, which leads to increased levels of fulfillment, happiness, and personal gratification. Over time, these positive feelings can manifest into a healthier, longer life.
More independence, a healthier life, and increased comfort are only a few benefits of aging in place. You have to take into consideration the role of cost and convenience. Simply put, it's usually easier and more affordable to help seniors age in place than it is to move them into an institutional care facility. According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, seniors who age in the comfort of their homes can save thousands of dollars per month.
In-home care services from Always Best Care, for instance, are often less expensive than long-term solutions, which can cost upwards of six figures per year. To make matters worse, many residential care facilities are reluctant to accept long-term care insurance and other types of payment assistance.
With Always Best Care's home care services, seniors and their families have a greater level of control over their care plans. In-home care gives seniors the chance to form a bond with a trusted caregiver and also receive unmatched care that is catered to their needs. In long-term care facilities, seniors and their loved ones have much less control over their care plan and have less of a say in who provides their care.
In-home care is a valuable resource that empowers seniors to age in place on their own terms. However, a big concern for many families and their loved ones is how much in-home care costs. If you're worried that in-home care is too expensive, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that it is one of the most affordable senior care arrangements available.
Typically, hiring an Always Best Care in-home caregiver for a few hours a week is more affordable than sending your loved one to a long-term care facility. This is true even for seniors with more complex care needs.
At Always Best Care, we will work closely with you and your family to develop a Care Plan that not only meets your care needs, but your budget requirements, too. Once we discover the level of care that you or your senior need, we develop an in-home care plan that you can afford.
In addition to our flexible care options, families should also consider the following resources to help offset potential home care costs:
When you or your senior loved one needs assistance managing daily tasks at home, finding a qualified caregiver can be challenging. It takes a special kind of person to provide reliable care for your senior loved one. However, a caregiver's role involves more than meal preparation and medication reminders. Many seniors rely on their caregivers for companionship, too.
Our companion care services give seniors the chance to socialize in a safe environment and engage in activities at home. These important efforts boost morale and provide much-needed relief from repetitive daily routines. A one-on-one, engaging conversation can sharpen seniors' minds and give them something in which to be excited.
At Always Best Care, we only hire care providers that we would trust to care for our own loved ones. Our senior caregivers in Minneapolis, MN understand how important it is to listen and communicate with their seniors. A seemingly small interaction, like a short hug goodbye, can make a major difference in a senior's day. Instead of battling against feelings of isolation, seniors begin to look forward to seeing their caregiver each week.
Understanding the nuances of senior care is just one of the reasons why our care providers are so great at their job.
Unlike some senior care companies, our caregivers must undergo extensive training before they work for Always Best Care. In addition, our caregivers receive ongoing training throughout the year. This training ensures that their standard of care matches up to the high standards we've come to expect. During this training, they will brush up on their communication skills, safety awareness, and symptom spotting. That way, your loved one receives the highest level of non-medical home care from day one.
While it's true that many seniors prefer to age at home, sometimes in-home care isn't the best fit. For those seniors and their families, choosing an assisted living facility makes more sense. Unfortunately, finding the optimal care facility is easier said than done in today's day and age. That's when Always Best Care's assisted living referral services begin to make a lot of sense.
Assisted living is a form of housing intended for seniors who require varying degrees of medical and personal attention. Accommodations may include single rooms, apartments, or shared living arrangements. Assisted living communities are typically designed to resemble a home-like environment and are physically constructed to encourage the independence of residents.
At assisted living communities, seniors receive help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, and eating. They may also benefit from coordination of services with outside healthcare providers, and monitoring of resident activities to ensure their health, safety, and well-being. Caregivers who work at assisted living communities can also provide medication administration and personal care services for older adults.
Other services offered within assisted living communities can include some or all of the following:
At Always Best Care, our representatives can match your senior's emotional, physical, and financial needs with viable assisted living communities nearby. Results are based on comparative data, so you can select the best choice for you or your loved one.
Always Best Care works closely with local senior living communities to gain valuable knowledge that we then use to help seniors and their loved ones make informed decisions. This information can include basic care and rent, resident availability, and services provided. Because Always Best Care is compensated by these communities, we provide senior living referral services at no extra cost to you.
Some of the most popular assisted living communities to consider in our area include the following:
For many seniors, moving into a senior living community revolves around how and when they want to make a transition to more involved care. Some seniors are more proactive about transitioning to independent living. Others choose to remain home until their care needs or other requirements are satisfied. Remember - our staff is here to help. Contact our office today to learn more about assisted living communities and how we can find a facility that exceeds your expectations.
The first step in getting quality in-home care starts with a personal consultation with an experienced Always Best Care Care Coordinator. This initial consultation is crucial for our team to learn more about you or your elderly loved one to discover the level of care required. Topics of this consultation typically include:
A discussion of your needs and how our trained caregivers can offer assistance in the most effective way
A draft of your care plan, which includes highly detailed notes and a framework for the care that you or your senior will receive
Discuss payment options and help coordinate billing with your insurance provider
Our caregivers are trained to spot changes that clients exhibit, like mental and physical decline. As your trusted senior care company, we will constantly assess and update your Care Plan to meet any new emotional, intellectual, physical, and emotional needs.
If you have never considered in-home care before, we understand that you and your family may have concerns about your Care Plan and its Care Coordinator. To help give you peace of mind, know that every team member and caregiver must undergo comprehensive training before being assigned to a Care Plan.
At the end of the day, we only hire the best of the best at Always Best Care. Whether you need home care in Minneapolis, MN 24-hours a day or only need a respite for a couple of hours, we are here to serve you.
When you're ready, we encourage you to contact your local Always Best Care representative to set up a Care Consultation. Our Care Coordinators would be happy to meet with you in person to get to know you better, discuss your needs, and help put together a personalized Care Plan specific to your needs.
Spirit Halloween plans to open stores across Minnesota this season. Here's where to find them. MINNESOTA — Attention, Halloween lovers: Spirit Halloween plans to open 19 stores across Minnesota this season, and we’ve got the list of where they’ll be. Most are expected to open by the end of August.Spirit Halloween's real estate strategy is to "ideally look for temporary three-month leases that include a kick-out clause," the company said on its website."Since Spirit locations open on or ...
MINNESOTA — Attention, Halloween lovers: Spirit Halloween plans to open 19 stores across Minnesota this season, and we’ve got the list of where they’ll be. Most are expected to open by the end of August.
Spirit Halloween's real estate strategy is to "ideally look for temporary three-month leases that include a kick-out clause," the company said on its website.
"Since Spirit locations open on or about September 1 and remain open through November 1, our ideal lease would run from mid July through mid-November," continued the company. "We like to locate our stores in power centers, strip centers, free-standing stores, major downtown retail locations and in major malls surrounded by a national retailer mix. Our aim is to set up in communities that have 1) a population of approximately 35,000+, 2) living within a 3-5 mile radius, and 3) with a car count of at least 25,000 cars per day."
Spirit Halloween said its Minnesota stores will offer a wide range of costumes for all ages, including officially licensed outfits from popular franchises such as Star Wars, Disney Princesses, Terrifier, and Five Nights at Freddy’s.
In addition to costumes, stores feature animatronics, makeup, decorations, and accessories for both indoor and outdoor Halloween displays.
Here are all Spirit Halloween locations coming soon to Minnesota for Halloween 2025:
Apple ValleyOpens AugustFormer Joann Fabrics7614 150th Street West, Apple Valley, MN 55124
BlaineOpens AugustFormer Hobby Lobby111 Northtown Drive Northeast, Blaine, MN 55434
Bloomington – Mall of AmericaComing SoonFormer Forever 21144 East Broadway, E144, Bloomington, MN 55425
Bloomington – SouthtownOpens AugustFormer Party City7989 ½ Southtown Drive, Bloomington, MN 55431
BrainerdOpens AugustFormer Joann Fabrics14136 Baxter Drive, Suite 120, Brainerd, MN 56401
Brooklyn ParkOpens AugustFormer Office Max8085 Brooklyn Boulevard, B, Brooklyn Park, MN 55428
DuluthOpens AugustFormer Joann Fabric5115 Burning Tree Plaza, Duluth, MN 55811
EaganOpens AugustFormer Old Navy1263 Promenade Place, Eagan, MN 55121
Eden PrairieOpens AugustCostumes & Accessories OnlyFormer Children’s Toy Store8251 Flying Cloud Drive, 2208, Eden Prairie, MN 55344
Elk RiverOpens AugustFormer Rue 2119160 Freeport Avenue, Elk River, MN 55330
MankatoOpens AugustFormer Herberger’s1850 Adams Street, C, Mankato, MN 56001
Maple GroveComing SoonFormer Joann Fabric12550 Elm Creek Boulevard North, Maple Grove, MN 55369
MaplewoodComing SoonFormer Sears3001 White Bear Avenue, Maplewood, MN 55109
North BranchOpens AugustFormer Nike38610 14th Avenue, #101, North Branch, MN 55056
RochesterOpens AugustFormer H&M1201 12th St SW, #305, Rochester, MN 55902
Roseville – Harmar MallComing SoonFormer Home Goods2100 Snelling Avenue North, Roseville, MN 55113
Roseville – W. County RoadComing SoonFormer Joann Fabrics1649 W. County Rd, Roseville, MN 55113
St. CloudOpens AugustFormer Joann Fabric3332 W Division St, Saint Cloud, MN 56301
WoodburyComing SoonFormer Joann Fabrics8208 Tamarack Village, Woodbury, MN 55125
The conflict highlights inner-party tensions between the progressive and more centrist flanks.MINNEAPOLIS — Congresswoman Ilhan Omar came out swinging against the MN DFL after the state party decided to overturn the endorsement of progressive mayoral candidate Omar Fateh.The congresswoman called the decision "inexcusable" in a post on X.It is inexcusable to overturn the DFL endorsement from Omar Fateh. A small group, a majority living outside Minneapolis, met p...
The conflict highlights inner-party tensions between the progressive and more centrist flanks.
MINNEAPOLIS — Congresswoman Ilhan Omar came out swinging against the MN DFL after the state party decided to overturn the endorsement of progressive mayoral candidate Omar Fateh.
The congresswoman called the decision "inexcusable" in a post on X.
It is inexcusable to overturn the DFL endorsement from Omar Fateh. A small group, a majority living outside Minneapolis, met privately to overturn the will of Minneapolis delegates who volunteered, organized, and participated in a months-long DFL process. Unacceptable. https://t.co/YGHHAKivw3
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 22, 2025
Omar also joined more than a dozen state and city officials by cosigning a letter condemning the decision.
“We strongly condemn the DFL’s Constitution, Bylaws & Rules Committee’s (CBRC) decision to revoke the DFL endorsement from Omar Fateh. Last month, thousands of caucus-goers and delegates across Minneapolis gathered to participate in the Minneapolis DFL Convention. Now, a month later, a small group of DFL board members, a majority living outside Minneapolis, met privately to overturn the will of Minneapolis delegates who volunteered, organized, and participated in a months-long DFL process. It is inexcusable to overturn the results weeks after the convention because board members did not like the outcome. Not only does this decision set an extremely dangerous precedent, it will undermine the DFL endorsing process going forward and fails to center the will of delegates," read the message in part.
The state DFL overruled the Minneapolis DFL's endorsement of Fateh on Thursday evening.
The state's party chair, Richard Carlbom, said the committee found "substantial failures" in the Minneapolis DFL Convention.
“After a thoughtful and transparent review of the challenges, the Constitution, Bylaws & Rules Committee found substantial failures in the Minneapolis Convention’s voting process on July 19th, including an acknowledgement that a mayoral candidate was errantly eliminated from contention. As a result, the Constitution, Bylaws & Rules Committee has vacated the mayoral endorsement," said Carlbom in a statement.
Scientists are in the middle of inspecting — for the first time in decades — an unseen but critical piece of infrastructure holding up St. Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis.But as that project nears completion, the federal government and the state of Minnesota have exchanged the first volley of disavowals, each saying a neglected “cutoff wall” beneath the falls isn’t theirs — and neither is the cost for any repairs that might arise from the inspection.That 150-year-old wall has literally ...
Scientists are in the middle of inspecting — for the first time in decades — an unseen but critical piece of infrastructure holding up St. Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis.
But as that project nears completion, the federal government and the state of Minnesota have exchanged the first volley of disavowals, each saying a neglected “cutoff wall” beneath the falls isn’t theirs — and neither is the cost for any repairs that might arise from the inspection.
That 150-year-old wall has literally kept St. Anthony Falls from disintegrating. Were it to fail, the resulting flood would be disastrous.
This summer the Army Corps of Engineers released a draft disposition study for the Upper St. Anthony Lock and Dam, which the feds have been trying to unload ever since the lock closed to barge traffic a decade ago as part of an effort to stop the spread of invasive carp. (No one’s taken up the Corps’ offer to assume responsibility for a whole lock and dam.)
But buried in that study was a declaration about the cutoff wall that has been rankling Minnesotan environmental organizations and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR):
“USACE constructed a cutoff wall in the channel [of the Upper Mississippi River] between 1874 and 1876 to stabilize the Upper St. Anthony waterfalls,” according to the federal study. “The channel remains the property of the State of Minnesota; therefore, any maintenance of the cutoff wall is subject to state appropriations.”
Colleen O’Connor Toberman, land use and planning program director of Friends of the Mississippi River, said she was taken aback by the Corps’ assertion that the wall was Minnesota’s headache just because they built it in state waters.
“Wait, where’s your proof? You can’t just say that in a sentence and assume everyone’s gonna let that go by,” O’Connor Toberman said.
The DNR’s official response conveyed the state’s surprise, before “unequivocally” denying ownership of the wall.
“USACE cannot legally construct a navigational project and then unilaterally decide that the State has ongoing responsibility for that project,” wrote DNR Assistant Commissioner Jess Richards.
He argued it wasn’t until 1925 that Minnesota created state agencies to actively engage in regulating public waters, so the state couldn’t have authorized the cutoff wall except by special legislation. And there’s no evidence of that, Richards wrote.
This “orphaned” piece of infrastructure, as legislators have been calling the cutoff wall, was built by the Army Corps of Engineers around 1875 as part of emergency efforts to stop the total collapse of the only waterfall on the Mississippi River. The cutoff wall is made of concrete. It’s over 1,800 feet long and ranges about 4 to 6½ feet thick. It starts under the riverbed and extends down into the highly erodible sandstone about 40 feet, just upstream from the crest of the falls above the Stone Arch Bridge.
In the 19th century, the milling industry central to Minneapolis’ creation story nearly destroyed St. Anthony Falls. Private power companies blasted myriad tunnels into the falls’ limestone banks to harness its hydropower for milling, and the botched construction of one of those tunnels triggered sudden and rapid erosion. The wall was a dramatic intervention built to stabilize the waterfall.
Over time, the cutoff wall fell into obscurity. The Corps claims it was never inventoried as government property, and no known maintenance has been done since it was built. This makes it unique among the other structures that keep St. Anthony Falls in place — including the dam spillway — which is regularly inspected.
The cutoff wall helps maintain the Minneapolis water supply. If it failed, river levels could drop too low for the city to take in water, said Rep. Sydney Jordan, DFL-Minneapolis, who carried a bill, approved in 2023, to allocate $750,000 to the University of Minnesota to study the condition of the wall.
Minneapolis provides water to over a dozen cities — including hospitals and an international airport. It maintains a three-day drinking water reserve, said city spokesperson Allen Henry.
“The idea that it is an orphan project, everyone’s going to say it’s not mine, so we’re just going to ignore it, leaves our state at a tremendous risk,” Rep. Ginny Klevorn, DFL-Plymouth, said in a 2023 committee hearing.
Republicans ultimately supported the study as well, but were concerned funding the inspection might make the state appear to be assuming responsibility for any repairs that may come from it.
“We can’t do this on our own if we don’t actually understand who owns it,” said Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia, at the time. “We could assess the problem, but if we’re not, on our own, able to fix the problem, then I just feel like the state shouldn’t have to pay. ... If no other outside force acts on it, we’re going to have to come back and say well, we have to do it because we paid for the study.”
If St. Anthony Falls failed, it would be a downtown Minneapolis catastrophe on par with Mankato’s Rapidan Dam failure, University of Minnesota hydraulic engineer Jeff Marr told legislators this spring. Marr, of the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, is leading the cutoff wall inspection.
Last year, the inspection team started researching historical records on the wall and launched a geophysical investigation, using a ground penetrating radar device to survey the wall without physically seeing it. However, spring flooding kept water levels so high that the team had to pause their work and request a one-year extension from the legislature.
Field work has not resumed this summer, confirmed Bridget Mendel, spokesperson for the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory.
“They continue to have meetings with the project team and continue to plan for future steps, but there hasn’t been any physical work happening out there,” Mendel said. “It’s slow going. ... Since we have that extension, I think they’re working it into their schedule.”
The scientists plan to eventually build a scale model of St. Anthony Falls to simulate what would happen if critical infrastructure at the site failed. Their findings would inform Hennepin County Emergency Management’s creation of a risk assessment.
“Which roads, bridges, pipelines, water intakes and other infrastructure would be impacted by cutting erosion upstream?” Eric Waage, directorof emergency management for Hennepin County, asked of the potential consequences should the falls fail. “We need a detailed map of what is left of the limestone caprock and what kinds of damage it has sustained since the industrial era.”
The summer clouds over Cedar Lake in Minneapolis looked like they could go either way. A pair of kayakers getting ready to launch smiled at the mist in the air and decided to chance the rain. Nearby, a fisherman leaned against a tree and cast. Behind him, an old yellow Lab pulled its owner down a walking path that circled the lake. A steady stream of joggers followed, and cyclists, who shouted “on your left,” with the backdrop of the Minneapolis skyline.The most visited slice of nature in Minnesota isn’t in a state o...
The summer clouds over Cedar Lake in Minneapolis looked like they could go either way. A pair of kayakers getting ready to launch smiled at the mist in the air and decided to chance the rain. Nearby, a fisherman leaned against a tree and cast. Behind him, an old yellow Lab pulled its owner down a walking path that circled the lake. A steady stream of joggers followed, and cyclists, who shouted “on your left,” with the backdrop of the Minneapolis skyline.
The most visited slice of nature in Minnesota isn’t in a state or national park. It’s not an old-growth forest or patch of surviving prairie. It’s the chain of four lakes that starts with Cedar and ends with Lake Harriet in the heart of Minneapolis.
Until about 30 years ago, the Chain of Lakes seemed like it would be lost, to be slowly strangled by all the pollution and runoff of the metropolis that grew up around it. A forward-thinking project that started then — the largest of its kind at the time in U.S. history — reversed decades of environmental degradation. The benefits of that work continue today.
“Those investments occurred at a great time to make sure these lakes didn’t reach a tipping point,” said Michael Hayman, the director of project planning for the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. “And they’ve been very stable ever since.”
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources started issuing grades and scores to about 3,000 lakes in 2023. The grades, for the first time, give residents and local governments an easy to way to look up the condition of their lake and compare it to others without needing to scour through reams of pollution data. A searchable database of every lake with a grade was built by the DNR’s Watershed Health Assessment Framework program.
The letter grade, from A+ to F — based on a 0 to 100 score — denotes the health of a lake and how far it has fallen from what a lake of its size, depth and region should be. A lake’s score is based on how polluted it is, whether fish and native plants survive, and the development on its shoreline and watershed.
There are 11,842 lakes in Minnesota, many of which are too remote or small to have been consistently studied. Biologists scored every lake that has enough data, which tended to be the biggest and most popular. Lake Superior, Lake of the Woods and other border lakes were omitted.
The handful of Minnesota lakes that received the best grades, and overall scores in the high 90s, are still almost natural, with very little pollution or marks of human intrusion.
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The four lakes in the Minneapolis chain — Cedar, Lake of the Isles, Bde Maka Ska and Harriet — were all given C’s. In some parts of the state, more wooded and natural than Minneapolis, a C could be cause for alarm. For a series of lakes that collect all the stormwater from tens of thousands of homes and businesses, and hundreds of miles of some of the busiest roads in the state, the scores are remarkable. They highlight a sharp turnaround from when the chain was at a crisis point.
By the 1990s, the lakes were in bad condition and getting worse. The marshes, woods and prairies that once surrounded the chain had long been drained away and paved. Native plants were dying off, likely because sunlight wasn’t penetrating the murky water, said Rachael Crabb, the water resources supervisor for the Minneapolis Park Board. Water clarity was declining. Algae blooms were frequent.
Citizens urged the city to take action, writing in the Star Tribune that Brownie Lake, which flows into Cedar, was “indeed on its deathbed — less a living environment than a chemical sink.” On Cedar Lake, citizens complained of “turbidity, ammonia smells, fish kills and swimmer’s itch.”
Unless major changes were made, experts warned, the water would continue to get worse and the lakes would end up on the state’s infamous impaired waters list. In a matter of years, the chain could be overrun by nutrients and bacteria to the point where it would be unsafe to swim. Large numbers of fish and other aquatic life would die off.
The main culprit, as it often is in fresh water, was phosphorus.
In fresh water, certain bacteria and algae usually have an abundance of everything they need to thrive, bloom and take over a lake, except for phosphorus.
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With every wetland drained and home, parking lot and street built, Minnesotans were shooting more and more phosphorus into the Chain of Lakes. Algae and cyanobacteria were taking full advantage.
A Minnesota Pollution Control Agency report found that Cedar Lake, the first in the chain, had nearly three times the phosphorus it had before development. Along with that phosphorus, a toxic stew of pet waste, fertilizers, pesticides, chemicals and oils was piped directly into the lakes from lawns and streets through stormwater systems.
While the lakes are inside Minneapolis city boundaries, much of the land that drains into the lakes is outside the city’s jurisdiction.
It was immediately clear that Minneapolis would not be able to fix the problem alone. Spurred on by citizens, the city formed a Clean Water Partnership with several agencies and organizations including the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, St. Louis Park, Edina and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District.
They divided up the $12.4 million cost of the restoration project and started work in 1995. First, they found the key areas where much of the pollution was entering the chain, which happened to be on parkland already publicly owned.
They restored Cedar Meadows, an old marsh on the western end of Cedar Lake that was covered up and filled in with dredge spoils in 1918. A walking bridge crosses the marsh now, where thriving cattails and native plants soak up hundreds of pounds of phosphorus a year before it can enter the lake.
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In St. Louis Park, the partners dredged out phosphorus-laden silt from the bottom of Twin Lakes, a small lake upstream of the chain. They also dug out a small pond just upstream of Twin Lakes, to help settle out nutrients and pollution.
On Bde Maka Ska, the group excavated three ponds that function as a wetland near the southwest shore. The ponds allow the nutrient- and chemical-laden water entering the lake to settle, leaving toxins and phosphorus behind while cleaner water passed through.
The city also increased its street sweeping program and started a public education campaign to cut down on the pesticides, grass trimmings and fallen leaves washing into the lakes. As grass and leaves decompose in water, they feed bacteria and algae that remove oxygen, suffocating fish. Grit chambers were added to stormwater pipes to create choke points that slow down the incoming water, allowing the nutrients and trash to settle into a black sludge. The sludge is eventually vacuumed away and taken to a landfill.
Once the incoming tide of pollutants was dealt with, the partnership went about getting rid of the excess phosphorus that had built up in the lakes over the decades. They did it by spraying alum over the water. Alum binds to dissolved phosphorus as it sinks, taking the nutrient out of the water column and planting it firmly on the bottom of the lake, where algae and bacteria cannot feed off it.
The results were rapid.
By 2003, the water was clearer in all four lakes. Native plants received sunlight again. Cedar Lake’s phosphorus numbers were back to near-natural levels. Bde Maka Ska, Harriet and Lake of the Isles were close.
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Many restoration projects are successes if they can stop 10 or 20 pounds of phosphorus from entering a lake. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the work in the 1990s has been stopping 600 pounds from entering the chain every year since.
The lakes have needed periodic work since the project finished. The Watershed District has spent about $500,000 regularly dredging the ponds and wetlands that were installed. It also spends about $35,000 a year maintaining vegetation along the shores. The Park Board has received a little more than $8 million from the state’s Outdoor Heritage Fund since 2010 to install paths and fishing docks and to stabilize the chain’s shorelines.
The Park Board also chips in about $450,000 a year to help the city maintain, design and improve its stormwater infrastructure and street sweeping program to keep nutrients and trash out of Minneapolis lakes.
The lakes still have their problems. Beaches close periodically because of E. coli or blue-green algae outbreaks. Sodium from road salt has been threatening urban lakes in Minnesota for the past 20 years. The chain remains in a watershed that has been almost entirely developed and paved.
That development, and the high stormwater flow that results, puts stress on fish and habitat that is difficult to reverse, Crabb said.
The C’s that the chain received reflect their relatively high water-quality scores and low scores for aquatic life metrics. The water quality alone of Bde Maka Ska would have earned the lake a B. But its biology score was a D+.
“Our parkland area is so small compared to undeveloped land around outstate lakes,” Crabb said. “All Minneapolis lakes score lower on biodiversity and species richness and habitat quality portions of the metric. That’s not unexpected for lakes within 15 minutes of a major cities’ downtown and habitats that receive large stormwater inputs.”
As winters get warmer, the lakes have less ice coverage, which has lengthened the growing season for bacteria and plants. Blue-green algae blooms, which often look like bright-green pea soup and can kill dogs, are increasing, at least partly due to the longer growing season, Crabb said.
But on a Saturday morning in July, none of those problems was evident as the rain held off and the sun peeked out over Bde Maka Ska. The paths were busy with dozens of joggers, while picnic benches were filled under the shade of old oak trees. Four sailboats slowly circled the deep waters. Under a fishing pier, small bluegill lazily swam in the shallow, clear water.
A pair of spiny softshell turtles crawled from the water onto the sand of one of the beaches. A man trying to take a picture scared them, and they sprinted back into the water faster than one might think a turtle could. The man left, and one of the turtles watching from the water crawled back out to the beach and rested in the sun, as though it decided that while the lake may be a little crowded, all in all, everything was OK.
I ended up at this show at the last minute on the recommendation of my friend Brett who is a huge Shinedown fan. We’ were at a Country music festival The weekend before shooting photos. So we listened to a lot of their catalogue, and I found them to be very intriguing. In all honesty I’ve seen them three other times but when you’re at festivals and you’re photographing these bands, lots of times you only get to see three songs and then you have to get back and edit for the live feed of all the social...
Before I get to Shinedown let’s talk about Bush. They’ve been around for a very long time and they’re almost to the point where they’re going to become a legacy act soon. They have quite a body of work and a lot of fans that love them. The band is great, and Gavin has a wonderful voice, but I’ve never really bought into the whole thing period my issue has always been so many of their songs are just depressing. I didn’t feel uplifted by the performance. It’s not that it was bad, but Gavin spent all the time out front and rarely did you see the other three members move beyond the first mainstage. It’s a lot of work to entertain a crowd of that size so that he could probably abuse some help from his band members. Personally, I would not have chosen them for an opening act for this tour I would have chosen Buckcherry.
Onto the headliner Shinedown. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that I feel they are the best rock band touring right now in the United States. Not only are they solid from top to bottom. Their songs are so infectious, along with great melody and hooks. They played nonstop for two hours and kept the fans on their feet the whole show!
They seem to understand not only how to entertain a crowd but also the extras that you need to add to a live show. They have the best pyro of any band I’ve seen this year. All of that adds so much to the performance. It punches you right in the face from the very first song with Dance Kid Dance all the way through to the very last song, Second Chance.
I was so impressed with what I saw that I’m going to go out of my way to see them again on this tour, I’m also going to go out and purchase all their records. If you’re already a Shinedown fan I don’t have to sell you on anything because you know all of this. But if you’re someone who’s not very familiar with their music and only know a few of their hits, it’s worth your time to look into it. If you are someone who loves rock shows and enjoy watching a band take over an arena, Shinedown is a must see. They are one of the few bands that even if you don’t know much about them, you will be transported for 2 hours into the rock n roll circus!
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