News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Wednesday December 17th 2025
Hobbes in the House: Decent job on ”˜Roaches”™
By DWIGHT HOBBES
What is a more repulsive household nuisance than the cockroach? On top of which, these nasty insects infest everywhere, into everything and are hell to get rid of.Â
Samuel J. Kapelac”™s suspenser “Roaches” (Xlibris Corporation) takes things a fresh-crawling step further. Â
Imagine this scuttling, hard-to-kill pest as something much more serious than an annoyance. As a threat to human life. A creature whose venomous bite kills. Within a few hours. Wielded by a deranged misanthrope with an imagined axe to grind, hell-bent on homicide.  Â
The author relates, “Once in the confines of the basement he unlatched a cage that contained the deadly ”˜spracata cucaracha”™. With a pair of long forceps he picked up from a nearby counter, he placed two of the cockroaches into the small case and snapped it shut. He muttered some nonsense under his breath and proceeded upstairs. To most people John Harper appeared to be a stable man. He was an educated, neat, congenial, well-dressed man. A pillar of stability. On the inside he was a mad man.” Indeed, a 24-karat candidate for the funny farm.
Admirably ambitious, Roaches marks a viable if ultimately serviceable debut by this Minneapolis businessman trying his hand at writing.… Read the rest “Hobbes in the House: Decent job on ”˜Roaches”™”
Peace House community: Nobody wants to feel like they”™re nobody
Photos by Mike Hazard
By Mike Hazard
David A. De Lampert Jr. has peace on his mind.
“I do a lot to make sure in my soul I don”™t let nobody steal my peace.”
“We are so hard on each other. Nitpicking, always looking for what”™s wrong and put someone down. People don”™t know how to forgive.”
“When they come here, I come here (to the Peace House), I want to see that smile, for just one moment. The roughest cat in the world sitting down there, to see him smile, or her, I want to see that peace on them. Because I know when we go back out there, we go into a jungle, into a world, something where none of us really knows what”™s up the road.”
Maybe you”™ve seen David out and about? He”™s been living on the streets of Minneapolis for over 30 years. A veteran, he survives on disability checks and through gratuities people offer him. He spends his days inviting people to sign his coat with a permanent marker. When they sign, they will often give him a dollar or two “to help me keep going.”
“Personally, I feel this is the richest thing you got going for yourself, is your name,” David says.… Read the rest “Peace House community: Nobody wants to feel like they”™re nobody”
Events August 2019
Photos submittedÂ
Mark your calendar for Monday, Aug. 19. St. Paul”™s Church (19th and Portland) is hosting a parking lot event for the community from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m., featuring: lunch and dinner meals, live music featuring The Rotators, kids activities and games, face painting, and prayer station. There will be free shoes from Good in the ”˜Hood shoe bus. Join in on the community clean-up to pick up trash in a three-block area. For more information, call the church office at 612-874-0133.Â
Old is new again
Visible Mending with Maddy Bartsch will be offered on Saturday, Aug. 3, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. at the American Swedish Institute. Old is new in this class, where you will learn how your stitches can add design elements to (or extend the life of) well-loved garments. Bring a piece of clothing and learn the techniques of visible mending from Maddy Bartsch of Three Rivers Fibershed. Open to students age 13+. $45 ASI members / $55 non-members, plus an additional $10 materials fee.
Diabetic group
Your Turn is a free diabetic support group meeting every Thursday Morning at 10 a.m. at Waite House in the Phillips Community Center building, 24th St.… Read the rest “Events August 2019”
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