Powderhorn Lake removed from impaired list
150 free raingardens to be offered in April
BY DICK SAUNDERS
 Southside citizens who enjoy the recreational and cultural pleasures of Powderhorn Lake were pleased to learn that the lake was taken off the state’s pollution-impaired list in late 2009—but don’t look for a swimming beach anytime soon.
Powderhorn Lake is an impaired body of water. Litter, animal waste, lawn chemicals, automobile fluids and other untreated waste is carried by runoff into the lake from city streets through sewer lines. The City of Minneapolis and Minneapolis Parks have used multiple strategies to improve water quality in the lake, but success has been limited and new strategies are being sought.
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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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Transition Town, for when the oil is gone
BY AIMEE MCADAMS
Imagine for a moment Powderhorn neighborhood in the not so distant future; five, ten, maybe 15 years from now. Powderhorn Park is the vibrant center of the community. Part of the park has been transformed into an enormous community garden. Fruit and nut trees abound. Several folks are fishing in the clear, clean lake. The park building hosts community meetings
as well as community theater and art shows. There is a community kitchen
where people preserve food together. Cooking classes are held throughout the year. The park building has a tool library where anyone in Powderhorn can check out a rototiller, a saw, a snowblower or other items that people need (but don’t use often enough to justify everyone having one).
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The birds return to Powderhorn
BY JOHN KARRIGAN
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Ring-billed Gull |
This has nothing to do with birds, but to me it seems important as I write this on March 31. I just saw one of the key figures of the upcoming holiday—the Easter bunny—at Powderhorn Park. He (or she) didn’t have anything to say, but was in the park, alive and well, a large tawny-colored rabbit wearing red shorts (or maybe long pants—it is hard to tell with rabbits). I don’t know what this foretells; I am just reporting what I saw. Maybe the meaning will become clear as time passes.
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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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Another young man murdered
BY ED FELIEN
James King, 20, was shot and killed in the early afternoon of March 17 at Lake Street and Clinton Avenue South, according to a Minneapolis Police Department Criminal Complaint.
Witnesses told officers that prior to the shooting, Brandon Jermaine Lewis, 20, rode his bicycle past King, did a U-turn and rode back to the victim
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Send Me Home Arrives in Minneapolis!
South Minneapolis has produced more than its share of female folk singers
(maybe it’s the water). Last year Southside Pride produced Southside Soul
and included on it a charming song by Jaspar Lepak, “Find me a Cowboy.” Her new CD is available at the Electric Fetus and CDbaby.com.
BY JASPAR LEPAK
Until last fall, I lived on 10th Avenue, just a few blocks from Powderhorn Park. Each day would find me walking circles around the neighborhood with a pen and notebook in hand. I would stop at the park and stare at the water. I would grab a cup of dark roast coffee at the May Day Cafe and if I was hungry, a currant cream scone. During those walks, I spent much time meditating on the songs I was writing, and many of these songs are now available for the first time on my latest folk CD release Send Me Home.
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Dave Bicking thrown off CRA
BY ED FELIEN
 Longtime critic of police brutality Dave Bicking was not re-appointed to the Minneapolis Civilian Review Authority (CRA). The CRA is the only civilian political body that reviews police misconduct. Even though it has been criticized as a mouthpiece for the police, the CRA did issue a report critical of the reappointment of Chief Dolan
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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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Lake street has been reborn
BY ED FELIEN
In the 1950s Lake Street was the Boulevard of Broken Dreams. There were used car lots, bowling alleys and drive-ins up and down Lake Street. It was the favored pastime of high school students to “tool” up and down Lake Street on a Friday night to show off their latest modifications to their“set of wheels.”
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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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Why Obama and Dems seem incapable of taking a firm stand on anything
By Jim Hightower
The Obama-ites seem incapable of firm stands. They excite us by boldly addressing our economic woes. But when it comes time to follow through—it's droopsville.
You know what we need to juice up the performance of our weak economy? Viagra. Yes, America needs a new Viagra, specifically targeted to stiffen backbones—in particular, the limp backbones of Barack Obama's team, as well as the flaccid spines of Democratic congressional leaders. Where's the drug industry when we really need it?
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April 2010 
