‘Cover Stories’ Archives
Puppet Fashion Show
By MARY ELLEN KALUZA with ORREN FEN Remember Orren Fen from the June 2022 alley? They were the way cool youth artist featured that month. Orren and I connected recently to talk about a new production they have been working on for the Heart of the Beast Theatre coming up in April. Orren Fen (they/them)Find them on Instagram at @sequined_stardust Where did the idea of a puppet fashion show come from? Orren: About a year ago me and my friend Finley Anderson-Newton went to a fashion show and liked the event, but wished that it had been more energetic and entertaining so we thought about how a fashion show would be if it was centered around puppetry. And thus our vision for “puppet fashion show” was born. What is a puppet fashion show? Orren: It combines the two ideas of fashion and puppetry in a cabaret-style performance. There will be 6 acts by different groups of artists, combining the ideas of fashion and puppetry to tell a story. One of the biggest questions [...]
East Phillips Legislation Fails to Make it Off the House Floor
By CIRIEN SAADEH, The UpTake At a March 8 floor hearing, legislation from the Minnesota House that would have provided $20 million to the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute to build an urban garden and farm at the Roof Depot was discussed - mostly by members of the GOP who objected to the bill at an earlier committee meeting.“We objected to the bill on the fact the neighborhood doesn’t even own the property, but through aggressive activism has kinda hijacked the legislature and tried to intimidate the legislature,” said Rep. Jon Koznick (GOP - District 57A), one of several GOP members speaking against the legislation through a “minority report.” The minority report was authored by GOP minority members from the House Economic Development Finance and Policy committee. Koznick, as well as Rep. Pat Garofalo (GOP - District 58B) and other legislators, also spoke about their concerns with what they said was activist intimidation of legislators and staff. However, [...]
You Cannot Support the Environmental Violence of the Hiawatha Expansion While Claiming You Believe That Everyone Deserves to Be Safe
By ROBIN WONSLEY, Ward 2 Council This article originally appeared in the Star Tribune on March 14th, 2023 and is reprinted with permission. Two weeks ago a majority of the City Council looked a room full of Indigenous East Phillips residents in the eyes and voted to move forward with the Hiawatha Expansion Project at the Roof Depot site. Once again, Minneapolis is forcing East Phillips to bear the brunt of our city’s pollution. The democratic processes that are supposed to protect East Phillips residents have been ignored. East Phillips residents have been telling the Council for eight years that the Hiawatha Expansion project risks further endangering their health. They have shared stories of asthma, heart disease, and premature death from pollution–claims backed by the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians and the Twin Cities Medical Society. In the 2021 public comment period, the City received 1,051 comments opposing the Hiawatha Expansion project and only two in [...]
