Emerald ash invasion
By KAREN ZUMACH
So the day has come. Thepest that has destroyed millions of trees in Michigan and Ohio since its discovery in 2002 is here in the Twin Cities. The emerald ash borer, an exotic, iridescent beetle, was imported (inadvertently) from Asia, where it is a native beetle. The beetle, as destructive as it is beautiful, attacks and kills only ash trees (Fraxinus spp) by laying its eggs just beneath the bark where the larvae feed on the food and nutrients created by the tree’s leaves, essentially starving the tree. The emerald ash borer can kill a tree in as little as three to five years, and is very difficult to detect.
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MTS brings pride to the Southside
By Ed Felien
 Minnesota Transitions Charter School came from behind to win the State 1A Boys Basketball Championship on Saturday, March 27. Trailing Sebeka by two points at the end of the first half, they dominated play on offense and defense in the second half to win 61 to 52. Three of their major players played with injuries: Kevin Noreen, Rodney Owens and Kyle Noreen, but they were all three named All Tournament Players.
All members of the team are expected to graduate on time. MTS graduates 90 percent of all their sports players on time.
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A statement from McMahon’s Pub on the tragic fire
On Friday morning, the 2nd of April, we lost a friend. Ryan. The Gervais family lost five of their loved ones. Many people were left without a home. Our thoughts and best wishes are with them and all their families—everyone touched by this tragedy. Due to the damage on the upper floor of the building, the whole building will have to be demolished. That means the pub will be taken down as well.
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U.S. Senate puts monkey on FAA’s back
Airport plan heads to Met Council
BY JIM SPENSLEY
AND DICK SAUNDERS
In the middle of a rising public debate over the $2.4-billion long-term construction plan at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), the U. S. Senate is about to vote on whether to approve a bill that would stipulate the initial installation dates for the FAA’s proposed next-generation air traffic control system.
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New airport highway signs
BY ED FELIEN
“Where’s my plane?”
Have you ever driven to the airport and just as you’re almost there you begin to wonder, “Which airport? Lindbergh or Humphrey?” Twenty- to thirty-thousand people every year go to the wrong airport, according to Metropolitan Airports Commission estimates.
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Understanding Gaza, Sderot and Najd
BY ED FELIEN
Two months ago Southside Pride published a report by David Tilsen about his
trip to Cairo and his attempt to participate in a peace march through Gaza to commemorate the horror of the Israeli attack on Gaza the year before in which
1,400 Palestinians were killed. Last month we published an article by the
Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) outlining important facts about
the sraeli/Palestinian conflict from the Israeli perspective. JCRC says
over 10,000rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza since 2001.
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Homeowners in mortgage distress (and first-time buyers) can find advantages in short sales
BY STEPHANIE FOX
Home owners facing mortgage problems that have not been able to complete a loan modification program might consider a short sale. For many, it’s a way out of a difficult situation with as little financial damage as possible. For buyers, purchasing a house in short sale can be a golden opportunity for home ownership.
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Demonstration
 No more dollars for the Afghanistan War!
Bring the troops home now!
There will be a demonstration at the offices of Senator Franken and Senator Klobuchar to end the funding and stop the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
On or around April 15, the House of Representatives and the Senate will vote on the $33 billion supplemental bill for the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This represents a clear escalation of the war. Money needed to withdraw troops could be taken from the $708 billion defense budget proposed by Obama for 2011 (which is more than the combined defense budgets of all other countries in the world).
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The neighborhood that wouldn’t die
BY ED FELIEN
It was an act of faith when Joe and Sue Senkyr bought the Colonial Inn almost 40 years ago, in 1971, and began Pepitos. The neighborhood was showing signs of decay and deterioration. But their energy and faith in the neighborhood was soon echoed by other businesses that also believed in the corner.
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South Minneapolis youth to lead community peace-building effort on April 24
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum of Guatemala to visit South Minneapolis
A peace-building initiative led by youth in South Minneapolis is getting the support of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum of Guatemala. Menchú Tum will be in the Twin Cities for nonprofit youthrive’s PeaceJam conference for youth on April 24 and 25 at the University of Minnesota in partnership with the University YMCA.
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Out of the mouths of babes
By Tony Bouza
About three years ago Erica and I decided to take our 10-year-old grandchild on a train trip up and down the West Coast. We invited his 12-year-old cousin for companionship.
Tony loved buses, subways and all forms of public transport, having spent his life surveying Santa Monica from the back of an SUV. Now we booked a room that slept four (two upper singles and a lower double).
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She lives in a car
BY TRISH STACHELSKI
The table is set for lunch. I sit down to share food and time with my family. Parked on the street just a few blocks away a woman makes her home in a van with covered windows. She moves the van every 48 hours to comply with the Minneapolis city ordinance for parked vehicles on residential streets. When she starts the engine, it sounds like a jet plane getting ready to take off. Some neighbors want to bring her food, others report her as suspicious. Police investigate and find her not home.
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April 2010 
