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

(upbeat music) - "R-Town" the show about Rochester learns about this year's local Jazz Fest and we hear more about a local business expo highlighting minority-owned businesses.

We'll also stop by Bleu Duck to learn some pro tips and tricks in the kitchen.

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

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

(upbeat music) Rochester's Jazz Fest is back this month and we are joined today by two beloved local musicians and headliners of this year's festival.

LaSonya Natividad and John Sievers.

Welcome back to "R-Town", John.

And good to see you LaSonya.

- Thank you.

- Can you tell us a little bit about what the Rochester Jazz Fest is and a little bit about how it got started?

- Yeah, so the Rochester City Jazz Fest started in 2016 and I founded the festival.

I'm a big jazz lover.

Came to town, I thought like maybe there could be some more opportunities for live jazz performances in Rochester.

Not seeing them, I said, "Okay, I'm gonna do something about this."

So I started the Rochester City Jazz Fest.

Initially when it started, it was like a one day festival that would happen annually and we'd have six or seven acts.

And then it grew before the pandemic to where we were having a couple of different things, like maybe we would have a silent movie with a jazz group providing a soundtrack for it, to a several day thing.

And then the pandemic kind of slowed us down quite a bit.

And then since the pandemic, this is the second year now where Thesis Beer Project has kind of been sponsoring the Jazz fest.

And what we'll do is in February, every Wednesday in February, we're having a different jazz act at Thesis Beer Project from six to eight.

- Great.

LaSonya, you're one of the headliners of course, towards the end of the month.

Can you share a little bit about your own musical journey and what you're looking forward to in this year's fest?

- Well, I'm from Louisiana, born and raised, the birthplace of jazz.

So John Sievers here is the reason why, one of the reasons why I'm doing music at all.

He was one of the first performers that I ever worked with here in Rochester way back in the early 2000s.

- We on the stage.

- Right.

- Yes.

At Sontes.

- Exactly.

- Yeah.

- So.

I have been really excited.

I've attended almost every jazz festival there that he has put on and performed at a couple of them as well.

So I'm just excited to be involved again once more.

It's exciting times.

- So what can we look forward to with this year's programming for the festival?

- Well, super excited for LaSonya's group.

They're gonna be the last Wednesday in February, so kind of the culmination of the festival.

And you know, LaSonya's just got a world class group backing her up and I'm always excited to just have like a vocalist be part of the festival.

So far we've had some instrumentalists primarily over the course of the festival.

It's been a wonderful year for the festival.

We've had the Jacob Burkhart Jazz Ensemble.

We've had the D'Sievers and Loud Mouth Brass, which are two groups that I play in.

Then the H3O Jazz Trio.

And then we're going to end things up with the Madison Parrish Ensemble.

- Wonderful.

You have both been really central, I think, to the growth of a lot of the local music in town.

What are some of your hopes for the future of the local jazz scene and just the music scene generally?

- Well, I want to see a jazz club in Rochester where there is a house band that plays every single weekend.

If I had a dream, that's what I would want.

- You'll be in that house band.

- I would love to.

(all laughing) With John.

- Yeah, I mean, I feel like there's always more going on in town than you think.

And there actually, despite me saying that I started the Jazz Fest 'cause there's maybe not as many opportunities for jazz as there could be.

There actually are quite a few opportunities now.

One of the things that I'm like really excited about is my band The D'Sievers does a jazz jam at Forager Brewery every month, usually the last Sunday of the month from 6:30 to 9:30.

And that's the chance for people to like come out and sit in with a band.

LaSonya comes and sings frequently, but it's been a way to like kind of grow the scene.

I know like a lot of people who are coming to town who like jazz go there and meet other people and I've already seen like other groups kind of forming because of that.

So that's one thing that I'm excited about.

I'd love to have a full-time jazz club happen here.

But actually I think that might be in the works.

There might be one coming.

- Keep us posted.

- Yeah.

- Excellent.

As we're wrapping up here, I know I ran into you downtown, postering, old school postering.

Can you tell us a little bit about this year's poster?

- Oh, sure.

Well, I don't know if this will work, but here, this is the wonderful poster and what I really love about this is it's a hand screenprinted poster.

So a local artist who I really admire, Devin, made this and he printed three different colors on it, red, black, and blue.

And actually as part of the way that we're trying to raise funds for the festival, we've been selling these every Wednesday and they're signed and they're numbered.

And I also did hang some up around town, it's such a beautiful piece of art, I was like kind of hesitant even to do that, but.

- Well, thank you both for joining us and thank you for all you're doing in the local music scene.

- Thank you.

- Absolutely.

Thank you for having us.

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

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

We learn about a perfect cat sitting service and we also hear about the upcoming Black Excellence Expo being hosted this year in downtown Rochester.

But ut first we talk to Olmsted County about how to test our homes for radon in this week's "Our Culture" segment.

(pensive music) - The geology in southeast Minnesota makes us more at risk of having larger concentration of radon.

And at least 45% of the homes that get tested in our county are above four picocuries, which is the action limit to strongly recommend mitigation.

It's important for people to check the radon levels in their home because exposure to radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers.

And the only way to know if radon is in your home is to test because it's odorless, it's colorless.

And here in the northern climate, we have a naturally occurring radon in the ground.

If there, obviously there's some cracks in our foundation or maybe along some of the seams of the concrete or even in homes that don't have a basement, it makes its way into our home.

And especially in the wintertime when it's all closed up and it's really tightly insulated, it'll bring it in and it'll stay there because it's all closed up because we're trying to stay warm.

And so it can concentrate in the house.

And so the best thing to do is to test.

And we recommend that people test every two to five years.

I say on average three years, just to see where that radon level is at.

Things can change in our home.

So the house can settle, cracks can appear in the concrete, in the seams around the edge.

The age of the house doesn't matter.

So if it's a new house or an older house, the only difference is that a older house might be more drafty, so there might be more air exchange, which could be helpful.

But our newer homes are wrapped even tighter, insulated even better.

So they can concentrate that radon in there a little more.

And so it doesn't matter the age of the house, but everyone should test.

Generally it is more concentrated in the lower levels.

So my suggestion to people is to test in the lowest lived in level.

What that means is if you spend at least six hours per week in, test there, but if you don't spend much time in the basement or at all, then we just say the lowest lived in level that you spend at least six hours per week in.

We have radon kits available here at our front desk at Public Health.

People can reserve their kit online, pay for that, and then schedule time to pick it up and we have it ready at the front desk.

And then there are instructions inside the kit and people will take that home, they'll read the instructions and then place the kit somewhere in the breathing zone and they'll place it out of the way.

Not in a closet or anything like that, but in the breathing zone and where you spend some time where it won't be disturbed by a pet or not right underneath like a heat vent.

The device should sit open during the testing time for four to seven days.

When it's done, then people will seal the kit back up and complete the paperwork and bring it back to us.

We send a card along with the radon kit and then the person that's placing the kit will put the date and time that it began, the date and time that it ended.

Anything at four picocuries or more is considered an action limit and it's recommended that at time that homeowners consider mitigation.

Usually they're between 600 and 5,000, depending on what's needed.

We do recommend that they do another test just to see what that average is.

Maybe test one, say in January and then in March and just see if there is a difference.

(pensive music) - For more information about this story and other "R-Town" features, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter at KSMQ #RTown or KSMQ.org/RTown.

(upbeat music) - Hi, this is Danielle Teal with "R-Town Spotlight," where we cover happenings, businesses and organizations across Rochester.

I have a really awesome guest with me today.

Sarah Quincey with Cat's Meow Cat sitting.

How are you?

- Good, how are you?

- Good.

I'm so glad to have you on.

So share a little bit about the history and how you started your business.

- So I started about 10 years ago.

I am a cat sitter here in Rochester, Minnesota.

And I do a few other outlying towns, but mostly in Rochester.

And I go to people's homes and watch their cats, maybe water their plants, check their mail, things like that.

- [Danielle] And you have a very good knack for winning the hearts of cats.

You've been recognized, you know, in the community for how well you do it.

Share a little bit more about that recognition and what that entails.

- Well, I've won "The Wagazine's" Best Rochester Pet Sitter three years in a row.

- That's a big deal.

- Yes.

And I've been known as the Cat Whisperer.

I have a way of being with cats who don't typically like people and sometimes I win them over.

- So you you gotta see if you can win over Skol, my cat.

I know we've talked about that before.

Share a little bit more about, you know, the service and what it looks like because it's actually way more complex than people realize.

'Cause you have to do a whole planning process.

- Yes, I have to plan a route around Rochester.

I have to plan my schedule around work.

I have another job.

Around snowstorms, around construction.

Holidays are a nightmare because, you know, you have a lot of stops since I'm going to their houses, I can have upwards of 40 stops a day sometimes on holidays.

And so it's a lot of working behind the scenes to get everything done.

- So you have a planner and then you have how many keys, usually?

- It's a big, big ring.

(Danielle laughs) And now I've added in garage door openers.

I have codes in my head.

It's a lot of access.

- What I really enjoy about Sarah is that she does, you know, share videos of these adventures and shares her planning process and kind of her technique.

You know, when you think about pets, pets are one of the most important parts of a family.

Why does this matter so much to you that you provide a service that is exceptional?

- Well, my cats are like my kids and so I imagine that everyone else's pets are like their kids too.

And I always tell people I love them like they're my own.

When they get sick, I worry.

When I have to leave them, I get sad.

When they pass away or move away, I, you know, mourn them just like the owner.

So I know how important they are to people and they're that important to me as well.

- Do you have a funny story about one of your cat sitting?

- Ugh, I had one once, my best story is, well I've set off many alarms and had to deal with the cops many times.

- (laughs) Wait, the cops?

- Yes.

They have come, they pretty much, I'm like, "My wallet's in the car, let me get my ID."

I've had pipes break.

I always say I have a holiday crisis as well.

Every holiday there's some type of crisis.

(laughs) - Well, at least you are there to help.

Where can people find out more information about you?

- On Facebook, Twitter or Facebook, TikTok and my email is catsmeowcatsitting@ and that's all one word.

- Awesome.

Thank you so much for being on the show.

- Yeah, 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."

The beginning of every session tends to be a legislative potpourri of ideas that come out.

Some will become law, some will become fodder for good and interesting conversations.

One thing that needed to be done was a fix to 2023 legislation that affects Minnesota taxpayers.

If a fix was not done, it would've cost Minnesota taxpayers $350 million this year.

The fix for that has already passed the house nearly unanimously and now moves on to the Senate.

It's important that this be in place in time for Minnesotans filing their 2023 tax returns.

In addition, there was a bill and I had no idea this was a thing, but apparently you can sell human remains in shops in Minnesota.

That's never been prohibited.

So now HF 3490 seeks a prohibition on the selling of human remains.

I don't think this will be controversial, but we will wait and see if that goes anywhere as well.

Some other possible topics that may be of interest to folks here in Rochester is the Minnesota Nurses Association Heal and Greed agenda, which would seek to limit CEO compensation at nonprofits.

They don't explicitly say Mayo Clinic, but I believe the intent is certainly there.

There's legislation to potentially further protect the boundary waters from sulfide mining.

There's clearly a lot of discussion going on with student resource officer reform.

The language last year led to a lot of conflict between law enforcement agencies, local governments, and the legislature.

There is an attempt to clarify what student resource officers can and cannot do.

And finally there is a proposed bill that will set aside a portion of social media earnings from kids whose parents are running their account in a trust for the eventual benefit of the kids.

This has been Michael Wojcik with your "R-Town Legislative Rundown."

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (bright music) - Hi, this is Danielle Teal.

I'm at Bleu Duck Kitchen with Jen Lester and we're gonna talk about Sunday School.

Jen, tell us a little bit more about that.

- So our Sunday schools, we offer them once a month on the third Sunday of every month from two to four.

When coming up with this idea, we thought that Sunday schools would just kind of play on something fun to do with school, but for adults.

- [Danielle] Which we need.

We need that again.

- Yes, absolutely.

Classes range all over with different topics.

So fish cookery, oyster 101, sauces, vinaigrettes, marinades, grilling, Riedel glassware, dumpling making classes, tamale making classes, tiki classes.

So we kind of just take a variety of different items that are easy to do at home, but you don't quite know how to do them on your own.

So a little guidance is nice.

And then same with cocktails too, like how to make simple syrups, just kind of fun things like that.

Wine training, those types of things.

So just more educational, anything that you wanna see.

(upbeat music) We get people all the time like, "You should do knife skills or you should, "We wanna know how to make a vinegarette" or "We wanna know how to do this."

So we kind of take that and kind of run with it.

So we do the timeframe from two to four, just so if people who have children can get a sitter real quick, it's nothing in the evening, doesn't interfere with sports usually.

And they sell out pretty darn fast, so.

- [Danielle] Very cool.

Now, where can folks find out more information about these classes and other happenings here?

- Yes, so our website, which is www.BleuDuckKitchen.com, or they can go onto to any one of our social media platforms to invite tickets through that route.

- Very cool.

And it's B-L-E-U.

- Correct.

- All right, thank you so much.

- You're welcome.

Thank you.

- This is Danielle Teal with "R-Town Walkabout."

(upbeat music) - It is Black History Month and many events and programs are being hosted throughout the community.

Today we're joined by Tawanda Burks, who is a business leader and entrepreneur spearheading the second annual Black Excellence Expo.

Welcome to "R-Town", or welcome back to "R-Town", Tawanda.

- Thank you for having me.

- So can you tell us a little bit about how the Black Excellence Expo got started and why?

- Yeah, it started, actually last year was the first one, with the NAACP who wanted to do a Black Excellence Expo here in the community for our black entrepreneurs.

So we kind of talked about it, planned it out, and had as many black business owners as we can get in the community, and we are here at the second year.

- That's wonderful.

And this year's expo is gonna look a little different I hear from last year.

Can you tell us a little bit about what people can expect and who can attend?

- Yeah, I would say the biggest difference is the location.

This year we're gonna be downtown in Discovery Square Two, which is a lot larger to have, and then we have a lot of more entrepreneurs that are coming out, not just black entrepreneurs, but minorities as well.

- That's fantastic.

I know you've been involved with a lot of different partners and collaborators and helping to organize all of this.

Can you tell us a little bit about who those partners are that are working with you on this?

- Sure.

NAACP is the main organizer of the event, and then also partnership with the Black Entrepreneurship Team, which I am a part of, and the Minority Owned Business Network, which I own and operate.

- [Nicole] Can you tell us a little bit about that?

- Yeah, so the Minority Owned Business Network, I created that a couple years ago.

Basically to provide resource education and networking opportunities for minority entrepreneurs in the community that had struggled a little bit, finding a space and places to congregate and network and be together and share experiences.

- [Nicole] Excellent.

You've been a real champion for the local black and minority owned businesses and entrepreneurs.

What is your vision for what that's going to look like in the future?

- Yeah, you know, the vision, it changes every day, but I think at the end of the day, the goal is to have minority and black entrepreneurs have access to resources that other entrepreneurs and small business owners have.

A lot of times we struggle with gaining that access and education.

So my vision is for everyone to have access to the same resources that are available and opportunities.

- I'd love to talk a little bit more about that in terms of just what are some of those unique challenges that you see?

I mean, Rochester, it's a specific type of community, specific type of city.

It's growing in a certain direction.

What are some of those challenges that the entrepreneurs face here?

- Yeah, of course we always hear that funding is a challenge for everyone, but a lot of times that's not the main case for a lot of entrepreneurs, it's actually having access to opportunities.

That's a challenge.

A lot of them don't know that resources are available or what even jobs or contracts are available, you know, from government entities to working with other organizations.

They just are not aware that those opportunities exist.

And so with the Minority Owned Business Network, my goal is to have the entrepreneur and the organizations in the same room being able to share that resource with each other.

- Right.

So that is really an important point, there isn't a lack of resources, it's just the connection to those resources.

- Exactly.

- Being the main problem.

- Exactly.

- In terms of the expo, what are some of the businesses that you're particularly excited about or that, you know, people can expect to see if they're going to the expo?

- Yeah.

Well, I'm excited to see everybody, as many business owners as possible that we have in the community there.

So I don't want to single handed, you know, pick anyone out, but we'll have our business owners from the food and beverage industry, retail, consultation services, just a wide spectrum of businesses there.

- We had recently, Daniel Johnson came on to talk a little bit about his role as a black entrepreneur in the entertainment industry and the sense that I think, I think the new sense is really that there are black and minority entrepreneurs and business owners in almost every space.

Are there some ways that community can continue to stay connected and know who those minority and black owned businesses are and support them?

- Yeah, I would say to the community, don't be afraid to walk through the doors of some of these businesses that they pass by.

You know, a lot of times I'm out in the community myself stopping in a new retail store that just opened up just to learn more about who they are and just being able to spread the word about, you know, that that organization exists.

I think that's how it really starts.

Just not being afraid to walk through the door to understand who they are, what do they do, what products or services that they have.

- You yourself have walked that path as an entrepreneur and as a business owner, what tips do you have for folks that are just starting out looking for those resources?

What advice do you have for them?

- Don't be afraid to ask.

Just tell people what those visions, what your goal or what you're trying to achieve, and don't be afraid to ask others for help if needed.

I think that a lot of times people want to do things themselves and wear many, many hats and it's a struggle doing that.

And nothing is wrong with that if you have the ability and the resources to do that, but a lot of people don't, and it's okay to ask for help.

You know, that's why we have the organizations that support entrepreneurs and small business owners to help them on their journey.

So I would say don't be afraid to come through those doors and get the help that we have.

- That's excellent.

There's a lot of wisdom there about asking for help.

I know that there's been a lot of buzz about the Black Entrepreneurship Day at the capital.

Can you tell us a little bit about that and yeah, what your involvement might be there?

- Yeah, so I'm looking forward to that and that's actually Friday the 16th.

So I'm looking forward to as many black business owners throughout the state to head up to the capital just to share concerns and hear real stories.

I think there's this perception that if you're a black entrepreneur, we all kind of suffer the same thing, which can be true to a certain extent, but we all have individual struggles that are still not being addressed.

You know, from childcare issues, funding issues, regulation issues, application issues, you know, all of these barriers that exist for black entrepreneurs.

And I think it's time that they take a, you know, really listen, really listen to the challenges and how they can help us address these issues so that we can be as sustainable as any other business in the community.

- That's great.

As we're wrapping up here, can you tell us a little bit about how people can learn more about the Black Excellence Expo and also about the Black Business Network as well?

- Yes.

I would say go to the Rochester branch NAACP website to get registered for that and get more information.

But otherwise we'll be at the Bio Business Two, not Bio Business two, I'm sorry, Discovery Square Two location on the 24th.

- And that'll be from noon to 4:00 PM?

- Correct.

- At Discovery two?

- Yes.

- Well, thank you so much for joining us, Tawanda, and we look forward to catching up with you again.

- Absolutely.

Thank you.

- And thank you for joining us today.

I hope you learned as much as I did about all that's going on in our city and the people making it happen.

For more wonderful content produced right here in Rochester, please be sure to join us 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) (upbeat music continues) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the Citizens of Minnesota.