MN VOICES | Francisco Segovia makes his mark in El Salvador and MN
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“Don’t just sit down and keep the seat warm. Do something.” That was what a high school teacher told Francisco Segovia, director of the Waite House Community Center in South Minneapolis. The phrase has stuck with Segovia throughout his experiences teaching in El Salvador, adjusting to life in the United States, and in his role as a community organizer in Minnesota.Francisco Segovia taught elementary school in El Salvador and was attending university there when a civil war broke out that lasted 12 years and cost 75,000 to 80,000 lives. Segovia fled the country and came to Minnesota where he learned English and went to college (again). At Normandale Community College. Continue Reading
Lunch with a journalist: Julio Ojeda-Zapata
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Check out the first 10 minutes of Julio Ojeda-Zapata’s chat with TC Daily Planet readers. What is Twitter? What’s the next big social networking tool? And what’s life like at the Pioneer Press these days? Pioneer Press tech columnist Julio Ojeda-Zapata was the featured guest at the TC Daily Planet’s “Lunch with A Journalist” series on April 22. Continue Reading
Chickens in the city
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Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched, or so some Minneapolis urban chicken farmers caution. Urban chicken farming is an alternative to buying eggs from industrial chicken farms, but if you can’t put the time and money into for your urban chicks think twice about trying it. VIDEO after the jump! Continue Reading
Chickens in the city
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Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched, or so some Minneapolis urban chicken farmers caution. Urban chicken farming is an alternative to buying chickens and eggs from industrial chicken farms, but if you can’t put the time and money into for your urban chicks think twice about trying it. Continue Reading
Bucking up and facing the fear of flying
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While I’ve always liked the idea of adventure, the practice of it has not come naturally to me. I am terrified of scenarios where my body could make a splatting sound when hitting the ground. That’s why I was shaking on my way to check out the Let’s Go Flying Program at Thunderbird Aviation flight school. On my way out to Eden Prairie’s Flying Cloud airport I missed two exits and gripped my steering wheel in anticipation of the flight. Thunderbird Aviation is one of 3,500 flight schools participating in the Let’s Go Flying program, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s (AOPA) effort to get more young people flying airplanes. Continue Reading
Journalist Abdi Aynte on covering the Somali community
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Abdi Aynte, discusses the nuances and the intricacies of covering the Somali community in Minnesota and elsewhere. From clan rivalry to regional and class differences, the Somali community is diverse, though it can sometimes be perceived as homogeneous from the outside. Abdi helps sort through fact and fiction, perception, and media myths and truths. Abdi Aynte is a Washington correspondent for the BBC World Service, where he covers topics ranging from the elections and the economy, to the so-called ‘missing Somali men.’ Prior to that, Abdi was a senior fellow at the Center for Independent media, writer for the Minnesota Monitor (now Minnesota Independent), and was also the former board chair of the Twin Cities Media Alliance. Born in Somalia and raised in Egypt, Abdi has a BA in Professional Writing and Political Science, and is finishing his MA in Government at Johns Hopkins University. Continue Reading