News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Thursday December 18th 2025
Monthly Update: Phillips Community Oral History Project
By PHILLIPS COMMUNITY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT PARTNERS
Welcome back to the Phillips Community Oral History Project monthly update! This Column is an important part of the Project’s outreach to the Phillips Community. Its purpose is to share key progress milestones and to remain accountable to the people of Phillips.
The Oral History Project is continuing to gather histories from Phillips residents through scheduled interviews and pop-up events. In October, we hosted one pop-up interview event at Ebenezer Tower, and also visited the Phillips Clean Sweep to interview attendees and volunteers. We will continue to schedule interviews and plan pop-ups; if you’re unable to attend one but wish to be interviewed, please reach out to us at the email at the end of this update.
Below are a couple of highlights from the interviews thus far. We’re still in the process of archiving and transcribing these records, so what follows is just a sample of what will become more easily accessible as the Project progresses.
One of our first interviews conducted was with Rico Morales, long-term Phillips resident and organizer with communities facing housing instability.… Read the rest “Monthly Update: Phillips Community Oral History Project”
Good Boy
from the series Movie Corner…
4 out of 5 Stars
Horror
By HOWARD MCQUITTER II
Good Boy is a film that is difficult to pull off. To its credit it creates enough dread and creepy scenarios for one to be drawn into its dark corners and sometimes unexplained behavior and unexplained illness of the dog’s master. It is the dog, Indy, who’s the main character in this horror movie that mostly takes place in an abandoned house.
Todd inherited the house from his grandfather, and he brings a trusty Golden Retriever with him. Dogs are blessed with a sense of smell 10,000 to 100,000 times greater than humans. Dogs have up to 300 million olfactory receptors compared to humans’ 6 million.
Good Boy is director Ben Leonberg’s debut feature film as well as the owner of Indy. A dog’s love is like no other for it is without judgment or condemnation.
It’s Indy who sees and hears the dark menacing figure lurking around the house. Only Indy can see and feel it. Kudos to the cinematographer, Wade Grebnoel, who gets many close-ups of Indy’s face exhibiting curiosity, concern, and anxiety. Grebnoel continues to get great shots when Indy is under the bed.… Read the rest “Good Boy”
Keep citizen journalism alive!
Reflections of Phillips
Thoughts on the enduring value of being involved and supporting your community.
By DIANA PATINO-CRUZ
My name is Diana Patino-Cruz and I come from a Hispanic household. I currently live in Coon Rapids, but lived in Minneapolis for many years.
I work for Tri-Valley Opportunity Council Inc., which offers Head Start, child, and family programs for agricultural workers in rural Minnesota and North Dakota. I really appreciate my job because it gives me the opportunity to work with families I can relate to. I work with migrant workers who have many different stories. Some travel every year and work in different fields. Others come from their home places to a new country in hope of finding a better opportunity. I love giving back to my community which needs help and support.
I lived a block away from Waite House in the Phillips Neighborhood. We visited Waite House often and it was always important to me and my family. We would go to the food shelf, and this helped us financially. Our children attended the summer programs offered at Waite House. This was important in a Community where delinquency is known to be high. Keeping young people off the street and doing something effective was a way to benefit their future.… Read the rest “Reflections of Phillips”