‘Cover Stories’ Archives
Phillips-Related Provisions Passed in 2023 Legislative Session
By CIRIEN SAADEH Governor Tim Walz, holds up the One Minnesota Budget bill following a ceremonial signing event on the steps of the Capitol Wednesday, May 24. Photo by Michele Jokinen As part of the $72 billion One Minnesota budget passed by the legislature, Governor Tim Walz signed into law several budget and policy omnibus bills with provisions pertinent to the Phillips community. Here is a round-up list of some of the budget provisions and what they will mean for the Phillips community. As part of a $2.6 billion infrastructure package signed by the Governor, and authored by Rep. Fue Lee (DFL - District 59A, Minneapolis) and Sen. Sandra L. Pappas (DFL - District 69, Saint Paul), there is support for the Minneapolis American Indian Center, a timeline extension for the $5 million in financial support originally passed in 2019.Also in the infrastructure package is $4 million for the Indigenous People’s Task Force, located in the Phillips community . The specific provision [...]
Victory for the East Phillips Urban Farm
Outstanding Leaders Advance Community Vision for Roof Depot & Hiawatha Expansion By H LYNN ADELSMAN In a flurry of last minute negotiations before the end of the state legislative session, community and city leaders, state legislators, and the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) brokered an agreement that will allow the Urban Farm at the Roof Depot site in East Phillips to move forward. The City has agreed to sell the site for an urban farm, in exchange for $4.5 million from the State to build the needed water distribution facility at another location, plus $2 million from the State as a deposit on the sale of the Roof Depot property. EPNI will need to raise an additional $3.7 million for the property purchase by September 8, 2023. Learn more about plans for the East Phillips Urban Farm in future issues of the alley. A broad coalition of labor, environmental, and Indigenous activists and organizations rallied at the Roof Depot site in East Phillips for the [...]
Meet Your Neighbor: Edric Knight
By LAURA HULSCHER Edric at an APA league tournament in 2022. Photo: James Henry I was tabling for the alley at the Phillips West Fall Festival when I met Edric, a retired financial analyst and resident at Ebenezer Tower Senior Apartments. As we discussed our interests and involvements, what stood out to me most was his gift for connecting people. It was through Edric that I first discovered the Phillips treasure that is the Ebenezer Tower resident community. A short interview can’t begin to cover all his organizing activities there (Sample Night at the Apollo talent show, anyone?), but it gave me the opportunity to learn more about him. Where did you grow up? How did you land in these parts?Edric: I grew up in Springfield Missouri, Queen City of the Ozarks, a few miles from Branson. Jobless and divorced in St. Louis, a high school friend persuaded me to come to Minneapolis in 1990. My first apartment was in Corcoran for a couple of years, then I moved to Powderhorn Park and [...]
