News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Sunday December 21st 2025
Free Leonard Peltier After 48 years and City to Demolish Roof Depot After 9 Year Community Opposition
By STEVE SANDBERG & H. LYNN ADELSMAN
On February 6th there were two rallies at Hennepin County Government Center and City Hall. First to demand Leonard Peltier’s release from 48 years in a maximum security prison. Then followed a protest regarding the city’s plan to demolish the Roof Depot building so the city can build its Hiawatha Expansion with hundreds of employees, city vehicles and diesel trucks creating more traffic related air pollution (TRAP).
Nicole Perez, Little Earth resident, noted that there are 221 units at Little Earth with over 2000 people living there, many who are children and elders with asthma.… Read the rest “Free Leonard Peltier After 48 years and City to Demolish Roof Depot After 9 Year Community Opposition”
With New President Shelley Buck, Friends of the Falls Now Native-Led with Native-American Majority Board
By AMANDA WIGEN, Friends of the Falls
Friends of the Falls, a non-profit working to transform the site adjacent to the Upper Lock on Minneapolis’ central Mississippi riverfront, made headlines on February 3 when it announced that retiring president Mark Andrew would be succeeded by Shelley Buck. Shelley is currently serving her sixth term on Prairie Island Tribal Council and serves as a board member of the Minnesota Wild Foundation, Great River Passage Conservancy, and Lower Phalen Creek Project. She has been a part of the project since late 2020 as a valued member of The Falls Initiative’s Native Partnership Council.
Under Shelley’s leadership, the organization is now Native-led and has a majority Native American board of directors.“Owámniyomni (St. Anthony Falls) and Wita Wanagi (Spirit Island) were desecrated like so many of our sacred sites. For Friends of the Falls to name a Bdewákaŋtuŋwaŋ (Mdewákaŋtoŋ) Dakota – and in particular a Dakota wíŋyaŋ (woman) – as its next leader, is not a symbolic gesture. It puts Dakota voices rightfully in the lead. The River is our relative; we follow her lead,” said Buck.… Read the rest “With New President Shelley Buck, Friends of the Falls Now Native-Led with Native-American Majority Board”
The Grease Presser: Rediscovering Forgotten Trades of the Southtown Yards
IMAGE 2 Contemporary aerial view marking the location of the old roundhouse between Hiawatha and Minnehaha Avenues, just south of East 26th Street. Photo Credit: Google Earth
IMAGE 3 Patent diagram showing Oscar Zerk’s ingenious method of injecting grease into internal moving parts.
By JOHN ANDERSEN
A century ago, South Minneapolis was home to thousands of skilled tradespeople.
Right next to our neighborhood was the largest roundhouse of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul, and Pacific Railroad, more commonly known as The Milwaukee Road. The roundhouse had forty-six stalls and was completed before 1900. In the center was a ninety foot electrically operated turntable. Immediately adjacent were the workshops.
Altogether, the maintenance complex was referred to as the Southtown Yards. It was located in the area that today is bounded by Hiawatha, East Lake, 26th Avenue South, and East 26th Street.
A People’s History of the Seward Neighborhood (2018), includes a description of the yards with the interesting fact that some 1,500 mechanics were employed there.… Read the rest “The Grease Presser: Rediscovering Forgotten Trades of the Southtown Yards”
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