‘Cover Stories’ Archives
Karen Clark: July 23, 1945 – June 30, 2026
Determined. Fierce. Driven. Passionate. Kind. Trailblazer. Giant. Mentor. Karen Joy Clark, in a spontaneous joyous moment in the success of the Phillips Community’s Roof Depot project. Over decades, Karen provided consistent, steady, fierce, yet compassionate, leadership on behalf of the Phillips Community as a legislator and a community leader----childhood lead poisoning prevention legislation, preventing a HN Cty Garbage Transfer Station built near Little Earth, designation by the EPA of the Arsenic Triangle as a Superfund site, Cumulative Health Impact Analysis to protect residents and more. Photo by Jacquelyn Zita, Karen’s beloved wife, key supporter, and partner in serving the community and seeking justice. By CATHY STROBEL-AYERS These are just a few of the words that come to mind as I remember Karen Clark. And even those words don’t seem like enough to capture her tireless drive to make a better world for communities that had to fight for a place at the [...]
A New Chapter at Abbott Northwestern Hospital: Built with the Community, for the Community
By WHITNEY JOHNSON, Vice President, Hospital Operations, Allina Health Allina Health’s new Richard M. Schulze Surgical and Critical Care Center at Abbott Northwestern Hospital will welcome its first patients Aug. 29. PHOTO: Erika Richardson Care teams at Allina Health’s new Richard M. Schulze Surgical and Critical Care Center will welcome their first patients on August 29. This 620,000-square-foot facility is the centerpiece of the Abbott Northwestern Hospital campus revitalization project, which also included upgrades to 10th Avenue, an energy-efficient Central Utility Plant (CUP) and the Purple Ramp. None of this would be possible without the support of the Phillips community and the generous donors of the Allina Health Foundation.“We’ve been here for more than 140 years, and this is the next step in providing healthcare to this community and being a good neighbor to this community for another century,” said Tony LaCroix-Dalluhn, vice president, Facilities [...]
POETRY: Kiziah’s Story
for Mom PART I/II By SHELIA BLAND We gave up a relativeTo the status quoNot voluntarily, of course --When you say “we” what do you mean, exactly? Well, I wasn’t there.No one was there really.We aren’t guilty in that sense. --Then what are we talking about? We are not guiltyNone the less, we are all responsible --All responsible? Yes, all responsible. --But no one can give testimony, becauseno one was there… We cannot give testimony, no.But we must bear witness… It was sometimeOne timeAnytime.In any case, it was a past event.Yesterday—Last year—Last century…. Yet, I can assure youIt happened. We were rule followersWe got alongWe got ahead This was trueYesterday—Last year—Last century. We were not of the one percentBarely of the ninety-nine percent—More like the zero percent.This was trueYesterday—Last year—Last century. We were the servantsWe were the sharecroppersWe were the enslaved We were the prep [...]
