News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Tuesday April 23rd 2024
The Never-Ending Tragedy
Peace House Community – A Place to Belong
By MARTI MALTBY
I”™m writing this on February 5, during the first really cold spell we have had this winter. Yesterday was not a shining moment in my career of serving the homeless. One of our community members who has serious physical handicaps mentioned in passing that he needed to get his tent and belongings from another part of town because his life was in danger. I commute to work by bike so I wasn”™t able to help him, but his comment about being in danger didn”™t register with me and I didn”™t look for other resources for him. When I arrived at work this morning a garbage hauler was standing over a collapsed tent in the vacant lot behind the Peace House Community building. As I rode past I recognized the wheelchair sitting next to the tent and realized that the community member was probably in the tent. Worse, because the temperature had dropped below zero during the night, I knew there was a real chance that he had frozen to death during the night. Fortunately he was alive, although he was understandably traumatized by his situation. I brought him into the PHC building and immediately started making phone calls to ensure he would not have to spend any more nights outside when the low temperatures (and most of the highs) are forecast to be below zero for the next week and a half.… Read the rest “The Never-Ending Tragedy”
Library News
By CARZ NELSON
We live in changing times. For updated information on Hennepin County Library services during the Coronavirus Pandemic, visit www.hclib.org. All information is accurate as of March 16, 2021.
LIBRARY UPDATES: HENNEPIN COUNTY LIBRARY QUITS CHARGING FINES
The library has gone fine free. Patrons will no longer be charged for overdue material, but they will continue to be responsible for the replacement cost of unreturned or lost items. An item is considered unreturned 41 days after its due date.
To kick off the new policy, the county extended amnesty to residents with outstanding fines. On March 10, all Hennepin County Library cards were reset to a $0 balance.
LABOR PROGRAMS LED BY UMN”™S LABOR EDUCATION SERVICEÂ
We got a hot tip that HCLib is sponsoring programs that will be led by the University of Minnesota”™s Labor Education Service. Registration information for these events will be made available on the library website.
Thursday April 29th at 6:00 PM- Know Your Rights in the Workplace- Learn about your rights whether or not you”™re represented by a union. Learn about legislations and organizations that protect workers”™ rights.
Thursday May 6th at 6:30 PM-Celebrating May Day: Workers of the Twin Cities Labor Movement- Workers from Tattersall Distilling, Ausburg University, and the Awood Center talk about recent organizing campaigns in their workplaces. … Read the rest “Library News”
Better Days Are Coming
METRO TRANSIT
By JOHN CHARLES WILSON
There are two big pieces of news this month. One isn”™t transit-specific but will have a major impact in the next few months on transit, and that is we seem to be turning the corner on the coronavirus pandemic. Masks may soon become historical relics, as forgotten as they were after the 1918 flu. In addition, our transit service will probably return to normal soon, though “normal” may not be the same as what it was before. Ironically, for many of us it may be even better. The suburban commuter market tanked during the pandemic due to many office jobs being done from home instead. Quite a few companies may find the work-at-home model to be cheaper as they won”™t have to rent, buy, or maintain as much office space. In addition, some companies are pulling out of downtown Minneapolis due to uncertainty about the safety of doing business there. Personally, I find that sad, but the implications for transit are actually good. That is because there will be less need for rush-hour-only bus routes that run empty to and from the garage and only carry passengers one way, usually from the suburbs to downtown in the morning and back to the suburbs in the evening.… Read the rest “Better Days Are Coming”
Keep citizen journalism alive!
