News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Tuesday December 23rd 2025
Transparent transition of The Alley Newspaper, as you have known it ”¦
1. The Transition Team is meeting every 2 weeks
It is comprised of: Alley Board Members, Sue Hunter Weir and Chair, Cathy Strobel-Ayers; Thor Adam, Ventura Village resident; Sunny Sevigny, Midtown Phillips resident; John Charles Wilson, Alley writer; Peter Molenaar, Alley writer; Lee Leichentritt, Alley reader; Kelly Trius, East Phillips resident; Frances Mendenhatt, Midtown Phillips resident; Susan Gust and Harvey Winje, volunteer staff.
2. The essential work of the Transition Team is to:
- Research and explore possible courses of action to keep The Alley as the Phillips Community publication including online publishing, an upgraded interactive website, other social media platforms, as well as the current print publication
- Generate a plan with timelines, needs, etc. to continue the preferred course forward
- Create a draft outline of the financial needs required
- Identify and outline a community engagement plan
- Explore the business model(s) concepts that can help Alley Communications to sustain The Alley as a publication
3. Transition Team ideas for taking ACTION:
- Promote The Alley at Phillips summer festivals and gatherings
- Survey and talk with people about their views of The Alley at these festivals
- Strategize how to increase income in the short term through small grants, ads, and donations
- Explore ways to grow the leadership opportunities of Alley Communications, especially with cultural communities
4.… Read the rest “Transparent transition of The Alley Newspaper, as you have known it ”¦”
Get Dick Bancroft!
Dick Bancroft, Storyteller, July 21, 1927 ”“ July 16, 2018
COURTESY OF BANCROFT FAMILY
BY LAURA WATERMAN WITTSTOCK
Dick was born in St Paul, MN on July 21, 1927 to parents who were both industrious and creative, and they wanted their son Dick to be the same. He shoveled walks and did many other chores for nickels, following his father”'s admonition of saving half of what he earned. Along the way he learned to care for farm animals and milk cows. But these were chores. Dick had ideas and wanted to express them in images.
As a child, Dick earned a small plastic Kodak camera. He began to take his own pictures. They were no more than two inches square, but they were so cherished, that he had them in his collection at life”'s end. There were pictures of the family, the dog, and the car. But Dick wanted more than that. Above all, he wanted a real camera.
At that time his family subscribed to the magazine “LIFE,” with its brilliant pictures of famous people and the news. Dick spent hours each time the magazine was delivered. The magazine was his doorway to the beauty and atrocities then going on in the world.… Read the rest “Get Dick Bancroft!”
House set ablaze by fireworks
COURTESY OF GABRIEL AND AMY PASS
Two families displaced, and entire house damaged by fire and water
BY TESHA CHRISTENSEN
On Thursday, July 5, 2018, an individual shooting off fireworks in Cedar Field Park set fire to a duplex at 2502 S. 18th Ave. This was the second of two house fires in South Minneapolis that day. Firefighters also believe fireworks are to blame for damaging a home on the 3100 block of Portland Ave. and displacing a family of seven early Thursday morning.
Two families, who have lived in the home along S. 18th Ave. for over five years now, were displaced by the fire. The residents of the upstairs apartment reported hearing two Roman candles hit the second-story porch at the front of the house at about 4:10 pm. When the mother looked outside, the front of the building was on fire, according to house owner, Gabriel Pass, who has lived along S. 18th Ave. for over 40 years. The mother rushed out of the house with her 6-month-old baby and 9-year-old daughter, and they alerted the teenagers home inside the main floor apartment. The families made it out with their two dogs, but two pet birds perished in the flames.… Read the rest “House set ablaze by fireworks”
Keep citizen journalism alive!
