- [Narrator] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

(birds chirping) (upbeat music) - "R-Town," the show about Rochester, learns about childcare needs in our community, and we hear from the Rochester branch of the NAACP in the wake of the hate speech incident near Century High School.

We also visit the new HGA Design Acceleration Lab and get the latest from our legislative rundown.

All that and so much more, coming up next on "R-Town," the show about Rochester.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) Coming to you from 125 Live in Rochester, Minnesota, "R-Town."

(upbeat music continues) We are joined today by Julie Ruzek, Executive Director of Cradle to Career, here to talk to us about their childcare insights report and what addressing childcare needs might look like in our community.

Welcome back to "R-Town," Julie.

- Thank you for having me.

- So before we dive into the report, can you just tell us a little bit about why childcare is so important in the community?

- Absolutely.

Childcare touches nearly every sector of service and, well, services within our community.

So as we think about education, as we think about the workforce, there's an element of childcare that is included in each of those sectors.

So when we don't have a healthy childcare system, it's not just our young children that are impacted, but it impacts our workforce, it impacts our education system, and it really, like I said, touches each of these important systems and really is a symptom of what our needs are from the very beginning, of course.

- Can you tell us a little bit about what the Childcare Insights Report is?

And I know that there were two main research questions, so can you share what those were?

- Yeah, absolutely.

So I am still relatively new to Cradle to Career.

I'm celebrating my second year in July.

- Congratulations.

- Thank you so much.

And really part of the work of Cradle to Career is understanding systems and where systems might be failing specific populations and where there are elements of barriers within a system and how we can get people and different community partners to work together to address systemic issues.

And so when I took the job, diving into childcare and understanding our local childcare landscape was really a priority, not just for me, but for the staff and the partners that we work with.

So we took a look at childcare here in our community.

We can find a lot of state and national data right now that talks a little bit about the childcare crisis that we're experiencing.

We didn't have a lot of local or hyper-local information that really was a good description of what we're feeling here in Rochester in regards to childcare.

And I would say even when we talk about the we of what we're feeling in childcare, there are certain communities within our community that are experiencing more barriers and struggles with childcare than others.

- Oh, thank you for sharing that.

I think, you know, as someone who has had to deal with childcare, because I have two small children, I saw the report and I thought it resonated a lot with sort of my own experiences.

- Yeah.

- So having the data to sort of back that up.

- Yeah.

- There was a term there that was used that was called a childcare desert.

- Yes.

- And I'd love you to tell us a little bit about what that means and why the zip code 55904 was a priority in this research.

- Perfect.

Happy to.

And I don't think I answered your previous question just about our research questions.

So what we sought to find out was twofold.

What policies, practices, resources, and then power structures did we need to shift in order to increase access to childcare for families here in our community?

But also the same, what policies, practices, resources, and power structures need to shift in order to address some of the barriers that providers are experiencing, I would say especially in a post-COVID world?

So those were kind of our two main questions that we sought to seek out.

In regards to your second question, you asked me about 55904.

When we take a look at childcare in our community, the feeder system that we see is not the same as what you would normally see for a public school system.

You live in a certain neighborhood, you attend the school within that neighborhood.

In childcare, families have a variety of options of where they want to attend.

So when we were taking a look at where there was and was not available childcare in our community, we use the same quadrants that we do, most of us Rochesterites do for a variety of things.

So we took a look at Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast.

55904 is the Southeast, the majority of the Southeast area code.

What we found is that there, if you take a look at the number of children under five and the number of available childcares in that same quadrant, there was a definite mismatch.

Now, I think it's important to note that across our entire community, families with young children are experiencing a childcare crisis.

We found in Northwest at the time that we pulled the data that there were only nine childcare spots available in Northwest compared to the number of children under five.

So when you share that first with people, they're like, "Wow, that's not a lot of options.

That doesn't give me a lot of choice."

When you look at that same comparison in Southeast, 55904, number of children compared to the number of available childcare spots, the number was negative 1,002.

- Wow.

- So I think when we talk about childcare, we can say there's a childcare need across our community.

Some communities are feeling that even more strongly and Southeast is that neighborhood for us.

- Oh, thank you.

We have a couple seconds here.

Can you just tell us a little bit about how people can find out more about the recommendations that were laid out?

- Absolutely.

We'll be talking about this all over the place, so watch for us in the community.

We've been presenting whenever we can.

But also the report and our recommendations can be found on our website, which is www.C2Cmn.com.

- Wonderful.

Thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you for having me.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) Be sure to stick around.

We have much more coming your way on "R-Town."

Danielle Teal gives us the R Spotlight, and we also speak with the Rochester branch of the NAACP about the recent hate speech incident in our community.

(soft music) - Our biggest and newest thing would be our new black bear.

So last fall, our black bear had passed away and over winter is a hard time to get a new bear 'cause they are sleeping.

So we are patiently waiting and we've been working with Bear Country in South Dakota, Rapid City.

So we were able to get our bear and she just arrived.

She's two years old, so everyone's been happy to come see her and just kind of get to know her.

(soft music) We do not name our animals at the zoo, so it's a good reminder that they're wild animals and not pets to us.

We have had some people kind of give their own names to the animals and that's a great way to make a connection with them 'cause that's why we have the animals.

We're still kind of getting to know her, but she seems a little bit spunky.

She gets bursts of energy, her zoomies.

She'll be running around and then she goes and takes a nap for a while.

But kind of curious.

(soft music) She seems quite comfortable and likes to see the people and it'll be fun to get to know her more.

So if you haven't been here in the last year, the biggest change would be our brand-new nature center.

So we opened in May of 2023, so just about a year ago.

And it's three times the size of our old nature center.

So quite the upgrade.

We have three classrooms for teaching.

We have bigger bathrooms, which sounds funny, but a great attribute to have.

And then a larger exhibit hall with more exhibits as well as our loved animals that we had in our other nature centers.

So that's gonna be your biggest thing.

So our current campground is about 30 sites and the main reason that we're moving is because it's in the floodplain.

So in 2019, we had three floods that we had to totally clean everything, redo our water system.

It affected the electrical.

So it is a big cost for whenever we have a flood.

Plus, it's just not as safe for our campers either.

So we are moving our new campground and we'll have, I believe up to 50 or 60 sites as well as camper cabins.

So a little bit more space.

Spring is a great time because everything is kind of changing and waking up for the year.

So we have birds that are migrating through.

They're singing a lot.

We have great habitat here.

So if you're a birder, come on out to the park.

Depending on the winter, sometimes people like to stay huddled in and this is a good time to just get out, stretch your legs.

The animals are excited about the weather too.

So it's fun to see.

Our most popular top three animals that if you have a short time, but want to see the good animals at the zoo, would be the bear is very popular.

The bison across the road is also very popular and they're usually close up to the fence for certain parts of the day so you can get a good view.

And then it's a toss-up between the otters or the cougar.

They're also very fun to watch.

So if you're a cat person, go for the cougar.

If you like to watch the animals swimming around and moving, the otters are a great one.

Spring is field trip season.

Everybody wants to get those field trips in before the end of the school year.

So we have a lot coming for naturalist-led programs as well as coming just for a zoo visit or to check out the nature center or go for a hike.

So springtime can be a very busy time for us.

And we have lots of kids out here, which is a great thing.

So we can educate them and get them interested in nature.

I think our younger kids, kind of your elementary age, get very excited because it's all new to them.

So it's really fun to see their excitement.

They learn new things and sometimes they share facts with us and you can just see that they're so excited that they had learned this and then get to see it in real life as well.

So if you're wanting to come and especially visit the zoo, coming earlier in the morning is the best time.

So we do a majority of our feedings and the zoo opens at 10 o'clock.

So if you come right at 10, the animals are a little bit more active 'cause they're looking for us or they've recently been fed, and in the summertime, they can get a little lazy in the afternoons 'cause it gets warm, so who can blame 'em?

So if you want to see them out and about and more active, the morning time is gonna be your best time.

And that's also a great time in the summer for us to get out too.

It's a little cooler, so if you want to go for a hike, that's a good time.

- [Nicole] For more information about this story and other "R-Town " features, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter @KSMQ, #RTown, or ksmq.org/rtown.

(upbeat music) - Hi, this is Danielle Teal with R-Town Spotlight, where we cover happenings, organizations, businesses in Rochester that you might find interesting.

And today I have two guests, Ruth and Kirby Bakken.

Welcome.

- Hi.

- And you're speaking on behalf of Once & Future Classics.

Can you share a little bit more about the theater company?

- Well, it was started in 2018, roughly.

Our first play was "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream."

And we've been involved with the theater ever since then.

- Ever since then.

And Ruth, what kind of things do you do with the theater?

- What do we do?

Well, usually we do musical comedies and I sing and often play a queen.

(laughs) - Often play a queen.

And let's dive into that a little bit right now.

There is a play that is going to open in a week.

Can you share more about that?

- "Three Musketeers," a musical comedy, and in there I play Rochefort, the evil henchman, to, what's the guy's name?

- [Ruth] Richelieu.

- Richelieu, who's the evil cardinal.

And Ruth is playing the Queen of England, Queen Mary.

- And do you find that being an evil character is easy for you, Kirby?

(laughs) Or is it acting?

- Typecast.

- Typecast.

- It's kind of a new character for me to be able to play the bad guy.

So that's kind of fun.

- Yes, it is a lot of fun, right?

And Ruth, what are your thoughts about playing the queen and just the cast and how it comes together right before opening?

- The cast is really fun.

A lot of really crazy people, fun people, I should say.

(Danielle laughs) (Ruth laughs) Yeah, and yeah, it's fun playing the queen because I don't have to walk around a lot.

People come to me, so.

- Oh, that must easily come naturally for you as well.

(Ruth and Kirby laugh) And again, this is a community theater, so when there are plays that are created or, you know, used, like "The Beauty and the Beast" is a good example, "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" was written by the director, Aaron Rocklin, which is phenomenal.

Jamie Wilson is the music director.

What brings the community out?

Because there is excellent attendance.

- That's a good question.

We think we're really funny.

- [Danielle] I think so too.

- We think we're a good time, a good value for the ticket price.

The theater sounds good.

It looks good.

And we're very proud of what we put on.

- Yeah.

And the theater is located at Peace Church.

Can you share the kind of the vicinity and when is this play gonna open for "Three Musketeers?"

- Yeah, it's Peace United Church of Christ.

It's basically just east of Silver Lake Shopping Center.

The address is gonna be on the website.

And the play opened, it's a Thursday, which is a little odd for us.

- Right.

- Normally it's a Friday, Saturday, but it's a Thursday in a week, that Saturday, and then the following two weekends and then there's one matinee.

So that's all on the website.

- Perfect.

And where can folks find out more details and get tickets?

- OnceAndFutureClassics.org.

- Okay.

- Facebook, you can find us on Facebook or call the church phone number.

- All right.

So we'll be fencing and doing all the fun things at the play.

- Yeah, 15 songs and five fencing combats.

That'll be quite entertaining and funny.

- I'm excited.

Thank you so much for being here.

- [Kirby] Thank you.

- This is Danielle Teal with R-Town Spotlight.

(upbeat music) - Hello once again.

This is Michael Wojcik with your R-Town Legislative Rundown.

I learned an important lesson this week.

I stopped out to the House Transportation Committee to see Chair Frank Hornstein's final committee meeting as chair of that committee.

He's retiring.

And I didn't stick around to the very end of the meeting and that's a shame because it turns out they had cake and I missed out on cake.

So while I did learn about what's in the House Transportation Bill, I did not necessarily get any cake.

So lesson learned.

I am a better person for it.

Now, going on in the Transportation Bill, and just to back up a second, the way that this works is typically you'll take a bunch of bills, put 'em together, like an omnibus committee bill, in this case, the Omnibus Transportation Bill, a similar process is being done in the Senate.

The two bills will then be compared to each other in a conference committee and a compromise will be arrived at and that compromise will go back for both the House and the Senate to vote for it if it is to become a law.

Well, the House Transportation Bill had a few different things that were interesting in it, one of which was transit buses are going to be required to become zero emission after some period of time.

And with the zero emission standards for those, that largely means electrification.

Buses are actually one of the easiest vehicles to electrify because of the nature of how much time you have to charge 'em versus how much time that they're running.

Additionally, some language was brought up so that home testing will replace ignition interlocks for people who are convicted of DUIs for substances other than alcohol, like marijuana, for example.

There's also some language to separate what is an e-bike from other things like mopeds and motorcycles.

And that sometimes is being stretched by manufacturers.

And finally, you'd think this would already be in law, but it actually isn't, that people learning to drive are going to be taught their responsibilities around vulnerable road users.

That includes people using mobility devices, bikes, walking.

So that's a little bit of what's going on in the Transportation Committee.

Look forward to catching you next time.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) - Hi, this is Danielle Teal with R-Town Walkabout.

We are in downtown Rochester at HGA, the Design Acceleration Lab.

- That's correct.

- Quite a mouthful.

- Yeah, it is.

- But a lot happening here.

Now, Hal, can you share a little bit more about what occurs in this facility?

- Sure.

Yeah.

We've had it open for probably a little over a month.

And the idea being it's a design innovation acceleration lab showcasing our firm-wide design talents and what we do with our clients.

We use all kinds of methods of communicating our designs, like virtual reality, which is behind us.

So our clients come in and put the goggles on.

They can physically walk through a space before we build it.

In the space, we have vendor partners, so you'll see that in a minute.

Schmidt Goodman is one of the larger vendor partners and the other, a company called DIRTT is in here with us and a few others, basically people in the building industry.

Right now it's set up to be a healthcare environment and it's designed to be flexible so we can move around, change it.

We're gonna do design curettes in here with our clients, which basically is ideation of designs with them.

So they can come in here and we can hold meetings and use the various design tools we have, sketch on the walls and sketch together with them and then kind of work with them to create the best design for their needs.

- Can you give us an example of some clients that you have and some work that you're doing?

- Well, we do a lot of work for Mayo Clinic, a lot of work for Olmsted Medical Center.

They come in here and will experience their projects and work with them within the space.

We'll do design curettes and virtual reality here with them.

We do a lot of work for West Bank and West Bank not only here, but other locations.

But we do government work, we do healthcare work, we do hospitality.

We do a lot of variety of things, so.

- Thank you so much.

That was such an awesome tour.

- You're welcome.

- This is Danielle Teal with R-Town Walkabout.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - On the weekend of April 13th, a racist anti-Black slur was found in large letters across the length of the East Circle Drive Bridge near Century High School.

In the wake of this incident, community members gathered at a town hall, and here to tell us more about the community response is President of the Rochester branch of the NAACP, Wale Elegbede.

Welcome back to R-Town, Wale.

I am sorry to have you here under these awful circumstances.

- Yeah, I am sorry to be here.

It's a tough circumstance.

It's one that, you know, we always talk about this is not who we are, but it did happen.

And so this gives us a glimpse of some of what we are.

And, you know, from an NAACP perspective, it was extremely, not just of the NAACP and our entire Black community, was important that it had to be a strong response to this.

From us, it's really more about accountability.

When you have such a, and we see, you know, incidents like this where we don't respond, but what was really disturbing about this was the brazenness.

You know, over the bridge you have little kids, you have mothers, you have business owners, and to not be able to respond or not respond as a society, that sends a larger message.

And so it was extremely important for us to be very forceful that we need some accountability.

We don't know who did this.

We don't know if it's students.

We don't know if it's community members.

We don't know the race.

It doesn't matter.

But, you know, sending that kind of a message to our community demanded some response from an accountability, but then also following up with a response of love.

So that is sort of what we are looking to do.

We have several initiatives, the Not in R-Town, because we don't want a situation where kids feel unsafe in Rochester.

We don't want a situation where racism is the norm.

And we certainly don't want a place where hatred takes place in people's homes.

And so that's really what the Not in R-Town Campaign is all about.

- Oh, thank you for sharing that.

You mentioned sort of being able to hold accountability and love.

- [Wale] For sure.

- And let's focus a little bit on that accountability.

Yesterday there was that town hall in Century High School.

That word came up quite a bit.

- [Wale] Yeah.

- From the perspective of the NAACP, what does that accountability look like?

- Yeah, so one of the initial statements that we made, that I made was, you know, we want to prosecute whoever that person or persons are.

And obviously we'll let the legal folks figure it out.

From my perspective, this is a hate crime and not just a hate crime targeted towards an individual, but towards the entire community, because if it was in someone's house or something like that, that could be targeted towards an individual.

But this was targeted towards our community.

And so for us it's really, there has to be some legal action and consequence, more so that, you know what, in Rochester, this is not how we are.

You know, if somebody shoots somebody, there are consequences for that.

You know, even if you have an accident, there are consequences for that.

And so there has to be a consequence for something like this.

Again, I think it's a multi-phase approach.

Yes, there is that legal accountability.

If we find whoever the person or persons are, that's just one part.

But then also, how do we change our mindset?

You know, there has to be the education.

There has to be, you know, listen to our community members.

Several years ago, someone actually committed suicide on that bridge, right?

And so, so this is really intense stuff.

I mean, and even in that bridge, a new business owner, just Shell's Kitchen, you know, just established there.

And so in the town hall yesterday, you heard about people's spheres.

And in terms of my response just as a Black person and a father, my response initially was, well, I want to go to the bridge, you know, and did this really happen?

And so it is traumatizing for any person of color in Rochester.

There is a historical significance in terms of what this is, but it's not even about the word.

It's the larger message is, if we can have this on here, where are you safe?

And that is something that we will not accept.

- Oh, thank you for sharing that.

I can hear it in your voice.

We heard it in the town hall.

There's a lot of pain, there's a lot of anger, there's a lot of trauma.

That trauma is historical.

It's also contemporary.

Why is it so important right in this moment to center Black Voices and the youth voices as well?

- Yeah.

So look, in terms of centering Black voices here, and you heard a lot of hurt in the town hall, you know?

There're folks that want to collaborate.

There are others that I'm not interested in collaborating right now, I'm just too hurt.

There's a traumatic experience, you know, and with our students, I mean, you'll hear a lot of stuff with students.

They go through a lot of stuff, you know, in terms of pain.

And so it's important to really make sure that we actually listen to people that are being impacted.

You know, our words matter.

And these are just more than words, you know?

I think it's gonna be important for our community to really make sure that as we are going into an election season, not in our town.

We are gonna have Rochester be a place of love.

We are not gonna have people come and divide us.

We are not gonna have racism.

We're not gonna have discrimination.

It's very important to do that.

But we've seen signals like this, and I shared this yesterday, and it's not just even in Rochester.

Black and African Americans in this country have been discriminated upon.

You know, when you think about things from a microaggression, one in every five Black person has experienced this stuff.

It's probably more.

And so what we are seeing now that just happened in Rochester is we are not isolated.

These things do happen in Rochester.

And the next step is how do we move forward?

- Wale, thank you so much for your leadership and for your time with us today.

- [Wale] Thank you.

- And thank you for joining us today.

For more content produced right here in Rochester, please be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter at hashtag #RTown.

I'm Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara, host of "R-Town," the show about Rochester.

We'll see you next week.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) - [Narrator] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

(birds chirping)