News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Tuesday December 16th 2025
October Random alley News ’22
By Lindsey Fenner
Tawfiq Islamic Center Vandalized: The mosque at 2400 Minnehaha Avenue in the Seward neighborhood was vandalized and burglarized on Sunday, September 4, with an estimated more than $50,000 in damages and stolen donations. Later that week, a mosque in St. Cloud was also vandalized, the fifth incident at a mosque in Minnesota this year. A solidarity event for the Tawfiq Islamic Center was held on September 10 and a GoFundMe has been created to support the mosque: https://gofund.me/6147cc9f. The Minnesota Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) is calling on the FBI to investigate, with concerns that the incidents are potentially hate crimes. The Tawfiq Islamic Center opened in 2014 and primarily serves the Oromo Muslim community.
Housing Project Get More City Funding, Visit from HUD Leader: Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge stopped by 628 E Franklin on a visit to the Twin Cities at the end of August. The long vacant building is being redeveloped into affordable housing by the City of Lakes Community Land Trust in partnership with Hope Community. The project recently received an additional $750,000 in grant funding from the city as construction costs have increased.
Leonard Peltier’s Walk to Justice Begins in Minneapolis: Organized by AIM Grand Governing Council, the spiritual walk began with a rally at Cedar Field on August 31 and will reach Washington, D.C.… Read the rest “October Random alley News ’22”
Peace House Community Journal: A Special Thank You
By MARTI MALTBY
From last November until mid-August, a homeless encampment occupied the vacant lots behind Peace House Community. Over the months various people came and went from the camp, bringing with them tents, bicycles, generators, and a host of other items. Many others stopped by during the day and the night, sometimes to say hi to friends or to drop off supplies, and sometimes for less socially acceptable behaviors.
The camp presented various challenges for PHC. We do our best to serve homeless individuals, among others, and we want to reduce the stigma that goes with being homeless. However, we recognize that homelessness and criminal activity sometimes go together. The homeless are often the victims of the crimes, while at other times they are the ones breaking the laws. In the case of this encampment, every property on our block suffered vandalism, theft, threats, and in one case arson. Often our missing items turned up in the encampment. But many of the problems stemmed not from the residents, but from predators coming to the camp to take advantage of those living there.
Like everyone else on our block, we were relieved when the encampment was cleared and the owners of the lots were able to put up a fence.… Read the rest “Peace House Community Journal: A Special Thank You”
Movie Corner: Beast
★1/2 (one and a half stars)
Universal Pictures 2022
Adventure/ Drama/Horror
By HOWARD MCQUITTER II
A pedestrian thriller about a demon lion, (CGI – computer-generated imagery), turned bad by the poachers. The lion becomes a danger to everyone who encounters it. All this takes place in South Africa where the lion strikes terror among the villagers.
After his ex-wife dies, Doctor Nate Daniels (Idris Alba), an American, takes his two daughters, thirteen-year-old Norah (Leah Sava Jeffries) and eighteen-year-old Meredith (Iyana Halley), on a hunting expedition to the village where his ex-wife was raised. It is Nate’s chance to see his old friend, wildlife biologist Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley).
The next day, Nate and his two daughters go on a safari with Martin. They are shocked to see a village destroyed, along with bodies and injured villagers lying around. The daughters, who believe their dad had abandoned their sick mother, become upset because they feared he would abandon them. Dad, however, reasons he can restore their trust in him if he can protect his daughters from the rogue lion.
However, Nate fighting the lion barehanded is not only inconceivable but is tomfoolery. Idris Alba (Beasts of No Nation [2015], Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom [2013], Thor [2011], American Gangster [2007], 28 Weeks Later [2007], Sometimes in April [2005]) usually is a sure thing on the big screen, but here he is uncharacteristically insipid and unremarkable.… Read the rest “Movie Corner: Beast”
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