News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Tuesday December 23rd 2025
Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetary
By Sue Hunter Weir
186th in a Series
Annie Erwin: She Loved Not Wisely
Annie Erwin is one of the more intriguing stories in the cemetery although it”™s hard to judge how much of it is true. The source of much of the information about her was an unnamed man who claimed to have been told about Annie by her former lover. This unnamed man, in turn, shared that story with the press. His third-hand account was picked up by the Chicago Tribune on October 21, 1866, two weeks after Annie died.
annual opening (weather permitting) around April 15th. The
marker in the forefront of the photo belongs to Magnus Norquist (1822-
1901) and his wife Kiasa (1822-1910).
PHOTO BY: TIM MCCALL
According to Annie”™s lover she was born in England where her family had become members of the Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Annie appeared to be losing faith in her religion so her family sent her to the United States with another Mormon family which was headed to Salt Lake City. Annie reportedly told her lover that when she reached Utah she was “compelled to marry a hoary-headed old saint, who had already seven wives.”… Read the rest “Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetary”
Letter to the Editor
How the Militant Right Are Destroying Our Nation and the Anarchist Left Are Destroying Our City
My hope and prayer is that our nation is learning some lessons from forty years of unfettered Republicanism that ended up creating unfettered Capitalism. This year it culminated in what we witnessed in Texas, where from the time of the George W. Bush governorship to the present, the Republican Texas state lawmakers put their trust in the “hidden hand of the market” to provide their citizen”™s utilities, just one of the many human disasters caused by far-right Republican policies, leading to the unfettered Capitalism that will destroy our nation.
For several years Donald Trump with the help of news networks like Fox has continued to perpetuate an alternative reality to his base that has strengthened and sustained a militant far-right constituency. The nation looked on in horror as this far-right, militant, terrorist movement reached its pinnacle with the storming of the Capital in a violent attempt to over-throw our government and kill legislators. It is dangerous and if not vigorously checked, will destroy our nation.
In so many categories our city and state have been rated at the top due to the foresight of those who have governed through the years and the progressive policies they put forth.… Read the rest “Letter to the Editor”
Democracy and the Wizard of Oz
RAISE YOUR VOICE
By PETER MOLENAAR
A few blocks east of Cedar on Riverside Avenue is the People’s Center where, at age 70, I received the Moderna Vaccine. Given that my father died of COVID-19 at age 99, I look forward to voting in seven more presidential elections. Right?
Looking back, at age 20, I was actually fit enough to assist in voter registration in Carthage, Mississippi. Mrs. Hudson was our guardian while the three of us faced down a comparable gathering of hostile young men. Subsequently, for fear of a lynch mob, we wisely deflected a deployment of flirtatious southern belles.
Then, at age 32, I would tour the Soviet Union in the midst of electoral activity. To facilitate the voting process, everyone there had the day off with pay! Fast forward to this country… major sections of the working class remain captivated by Trumpism, and are imprisoned by racist thinking.
Do you remember the Wizard of Oz and the associated cast of characters?
From behind a curtain, strings were (and are) pulled on behalf of big business. To cast divisions among the masses, the Wizard busied himself with sound effects and flashing lights. Observant intellectuals like Marx and Lenin pondered the inner workings of this ”˜bourgeois-democracy”™.… Read the rest “Democracy and the Wizard of Oz”
Keep citizen journalism alive!
