the alley Newspaper | News & Views of Phillips Since 1976

PCH: What Did You Just Say?

Written by the alley on 01 August 2023

By MARTI MALTBY

Part of the Peace House Community Journal

Recently, a discussion about bathrooms at Peace House Community took a strange turn. I and several community members were talking about the problem we have with individuals camping out in the bathrooms. We have two bathrooms and we serve about 120 members a day, so we need everyone to get in and out quickly. The discussion migrated to the lack of public bathrooms in general. One of the members said that, in all of downtown Minneapolis, the only bathrooms that homeless individuals can easily access are at the library and the hospital. All the other buildings and stores prevent non-customers from using their facilities. There are undoubtedly a variety of reasons behind this, from prejudice to drug use to the inconvenience of cleaning up after someone tries to take a shower in a sink.
As we discussed the situation, someone said, “Yeah, there are just a few people who ruin it for the rest of us.” She meant that when a few people abuse a privilege, everyone risks losing that privilege. I’m sure we’ve all experienced a similar situation at some point. One kid acts up in class so the whole class has to stay in during recess.… Read the rest “PCH: What Did You Just Say?”

Returning and Searching: Pre-Postlude

Written by the alley on 01 August 2023

By PATRICK CABELLO HANSEL

Searching…Returning…what’s next? Finding? Becoming? Next month’s chapter will be the final one in this second novella. We will—or will we?—find out what happens to our little holy family. Will they find Lupita? Will Agnes save them or betray them one more time? What will happen to their nemesis Brian Fleming and the forces he represents?
A little recap is in order. In the first novella, “Searching” set roughly in 2006, Angel and Luz meet under trying circumstances. An immigration raid, an assault, the uncovering of family secrets. And the mystery of their shared ancestor. Mateo Kelly Hidalgo, who lived in the swale (East Phillips)—a hundred years ago, and who may still haunt the place. Luz and Angel battle evil from the present and the past. They traveled through many parts of Phillips: Maria’s Café, In the Heart of the Beast Theatre, Mercado Central, and ended up underneath the baptismal window at St. Paul’s the morning after La Natividad. There, the mysterious Agnes explained to them the Swedish words they had been seeing: Laten barnen komma til mig. Let the children come to me.
In “Returning”, set roughly in 2011, Luz and Angel are married, with two children: Angel, 4 and Guadalupe 2.… Read the rest “Returning and Searching: Pre-Postlude”