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Random Alley News
By LINDSEY FENNER Emergency Rental Assistance Now Available The state of Minnesota has rolled out more emergency rental assistance at https://www.renthelpmn.org/. The program opened up for applicants on April 20, and will initially assist renters who owe back rent. The second phase will open up the program to all who qualify. Eligible Minnesota renters can receive help with rent and utility bills dated on or after March 13, 2020. If you qualify, you could receive up to 15 months total assistance. Visit the website to complete a checklist to see if you will be eligible or call 211 with questions. Community Cleanup on Saturdays: Southside Harm Reduction Services will be organizing community cleanups, Saturdays at 12PM. Meet at the corner of Bloomington and 27th St. Training and safety gear will be provided. Questions? Email: volunteer@southsideharmreduction.org Based in South Minneapolis, Southside Harm Reduction Services works within a harm reduction framework to promote [...]
The Best of Times, the Worst of Times
TIPS FROM A COVID-19 CASE INVESTIGATOR By LINDSEY FENNER As I am writing this in late April, I have just gotten my first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. After doing pandemic response work for almost a year, it was an incredibly emotional moment for me, as I know it has been for many people. My tears of joy were matched by the broad grin of the man getting vaccinated across from me, his elation clear through his mask. But my joy in getting vac- cinated has been tempered by the cold reality of rising COVID cases in Minnesota. At work, we watched the numbers slowly inch up in the month of March, and then saw them pick up speed in April. We don”™t know when this latest surge in Minnesota will peak. I desperately hope that by May, the worst will truly be behind us, but right now, as I write this, we just don”™t know. Why have cases been rising again? Perhaps the biggest reason is the growing dominance of the variant strain B117. B117, the variant [...]
Past, Present, Theater
On Stage involves local students in a closer look at Nina Simone”™s work around racialized violence By JESSIE MERRIAM Don't tell meI tell youMe and my people just about due I”™ve been there so I knowThey keep on saying “Go slow!” But that”™s just the trouble ---Nina Simone “Mississippi Goddam” 1963 On Stage's flyer for Nina Simone: Four Women virtual discussions “When we listen to Simone sing ”˜Mississippi Goddam”™--it could”™ve been written yesterday. Somebody needs to write a ”˜Minnesota Goddam”™ right now,” Twin Cities actress Thomasina Petrus declared to the group, gathered on the morning of April 1 to explore the play Nina Simone: Four Women and Simone”™s reverberating legacy. This gathering was arranged by On Stage: Creating a Community Dialogue Around Live Theater, a Twin Cities nonprofit that brings the [...]
