‘Cover Stories’ Archives
The Final Installment: Air Quality and Cumulative Impacts
Part III of a III Part Series By H. LYNN ADELSMAN and ROB HENDRICKSON It’s hard to know exactly which toxins are in our air and how much we inhale. What we do know is some of our neighbors have trouble breathing at certain times of day. We know too many children with asthma and heart problems; elders with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and other lung issues. We know the smells of certain buildings; the heavy air in our parks; the sounds and feelings of our streets.As we look at this article’s map, we can see it isn’t just one thing giving rise to these experiences when you live in the Phillips community. A map highlighting pollution sources in Phillips. This includes an experimental traffic exposure layer based on 2022 Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) from MnDOT with values displayed as percentages of the highest value found in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. Dispersion was modeled using vehicle counts from all roadways and convolution with a [...]
Around Town: Photos
Dr. Antony Stately of the Native American Community Clinic and a young reader checking out the new Little Free Library. Learn more about the Reading Initiative in Ventura Village News on page 8. Photo: Little Free Library Fence Mural on 26th Street and 16th Avenue. Photo: Semilla Center for Healing and the Arts Scenes from Nenookaasi Camp from September 23. Printed with permission. Photo: Mary Ellen Kaluza Scenes from Nenookaasi Camp from September 23. Printed with permission. Photo: Mary Ellen Kaluza Nenookaasi Camp residents, neighbors and other stakeholders gathering for a community meeting on September 12th. With a line running down the hallway, the room filled to overflowing. The meeting was called by Ward 9 Council Member Jason Chavez to open conversations around the lack of appropriate housing and services for our unhoused neighbors on the 2300 block of 13th Avenue South, who had been evicted a few weeks earlier by the State of Minnesota from the Wall of Forgotten [...]
A Letter to the Community
Beloved community, We at the alley are devastated by the loss and violence being experienced in Phillips as of late. There are few words to say that haven’t already been shared a thousand times already, and we are hurting alongside of you.The heaviness of life in Phillips has reared its head often this past year. We grieve for the fentanyl and drug epidemic, our houseless neighbors, our Muslim neighbors in the wake of the mosque vandalizations a few months back, the shootings that have left multiple communities mourning, and those experiencing a constant state of fear because of violence in the neighborhood or at home. These most recent tragedies have reminded us that we haven’t offered enough space in this community newspaper to hold these griefs. It’s hard to remember, or even to see, the ways in which we care for each other in dark moments. It’s sometimes harder still to see why small acts of care would even be worth it.We are a community newspaper, and often don’t [...]
