Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Cartels in the Heartland
Authorities fear Mexican drug cartels could be setting up shop in MN. CHICAGO (AP) — Mexican drug cartels that have been expanding their reach in the U.S. in recent years have set up shop in the Upper Midwest, among other regions, law enforcement officials say. Cases involving drug cartel members have been seen in Minnesota, and there has been activity in neighboring Wisconsin. The head of the Sinaloa cartel was recently named Chicago’s Public Enemy No. 1, the same label once given to gangster Al Capone. The Drug Enforcement Administration says about 230 American communities reported some level of cartel presence in 2008, but that number had climbed to more than 1,200 by 2011, the latest year for which statistics are available. “There are very few cases that we are conducting that do not have a link directly to a Mexican drug trafficking organization,” Dan Moren, the assistant special agent in charge of the DEA’s Minneapolis-St. Paul District
Office, said Monday. Moren said every state is affected by the Mexican cartels, which are the primary suppliers of methamphetamine in the U.S. The cartels are also instrumental in the production or trafficking of heroin, marijuana, cocaine and prescription drugs. “A criminal organization is going to make money wherever they can,” he said. “For the purposes of the Mexican organizations, there are no borders.” Jeanne Cooney, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, said that while the Department of Justice hasn’t been keeping statistics specifically on drug cartel prosecutions, her office has seen a dramatic increase in the number of cartel cases it has handled over the last couple of years. “We believe a lot of the activity here in the Midwest is because of I-35,” she said, referring to the Interstate that runs from just north of the U.S.-Mexico border in Loredo, Texas, up through Minnesota.
News
Reporter • Page 5
PEPPERS “One plant will produce more than enough tomatoes for salads and burgers all summer long.” continued from 3 can be said for homegrown peppers. Either plant can be grown easily, and neither takes up lots of room. By following a few simple tips, you’ll be dipping in to your own homemade salsa later this summer. The first thing to do is to find a good growing area. You want to find an area with well-drained soil (which means when it rains, water does not linger on the surface) and an area where the sun will hit it for more than half of the day. Just about any grocery or hardware store begins selling garden vegetables around Memorial Day. Once you have an area picked out to plant your salsa garden, stop and check out a greenhouse. Like I said before, one plant will produce more than enough tomatoes for two people, so no need to buy a bunch of plants. The same goes for jalapenos. One plant will bring around 20-30 jalapenos, so plan accordingly.
Cilantro is a common herb found in most salsas and Mexican dishes. The plant is easy to grow; just plant it in a sunny spot, and once it starts to flower, trim the leaves, chop them up and include them in your salsa. Once you have all of your plants home, turn up the dirt in the area you picked out for your garden and plant your vegetables. Bury the tomato and pepper plants up to the first branches of the plant. By doing this, your plants will have a stronger root, making them more sturdy. After your vegetables are planted, you need to make sure to care for them throughout the summer. Make sure to keep the plants watered and the weeds pulled. In dry periods, tomato and pepper plants need to be watered nearly every other day. Keeping the area weed-free is important too. Weeds rob the vegetable plants of water and nutrients, preventing
your garden from reaching its full potential. It also helps to turn the dirt occasionally. This will allow air and sun to reach the plants’ roots and help them grow. Around mid-July to August, the tomatoes and peppers will begin to ripen and all your work will begin to pay off. There are all kinds of salsa recipes online, look one up and experiment. It’s your salsa, you can make it as mild or hot as you would like. If you live in an apartment, you can still make a salsa garden; just buy pots to put your tomato and pepper plants in. Otherwise, shop at the Mankato’s Farmers Market this summer; all of the salsa ingredients are sold there. Making a salsa garden (or any other garden) is a rewarding experience. It gives you a chance to get outside, move around and get some sun, and you’ll be able to eat some great food. Try it once, and it will give you another reason to look forward to summer.
AA CAMPUS MEETING Weggy's (University Square) Wednesday Nights at 7:30 p.m. Closed meeting focusing on college students interested in recovery
• Top Dollar Paid for Junk Vehicles • Free Pick Up! • Friendly, Reliable Service • Used Parts • Cars, Trucks & Repairables! • Online Parts Search
HOURS: Mon.-Fri., 8-5
507-524-3735
(10 miles south on Hwy. 22)
bandrautotrucksalvage.com
Annual Economics Lecture Series
THE VALUE OF AN AMERICAN COLLEGE EDUCATION: STUDENT ENGAGEMENT, RETENTION, AND SUCCESS With Guest Lecturer Dr. Richard K. Vedder Ostrander Auditorium For more info, contact:
Ihasuan Li
Email: ishuan.li@mnsu.edu
Amanda Greenig Email: amanda.greenig@mnsu.edu
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Tuesday April 9, 2013 6 PM Free and open to the public
The Kappa Chapter of Minnesota of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the International Economics Honor Society, along with the Department of Economics, the Economics Club, and the College Republicans, are proud to host Dr. Richard K. Vedder for a lecture on the topic of the value of a college education. Dr. Vedder is Distinguished Professor of Economics at Ohio University, Director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity and an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Dr. Vedder has written widely on American economic history, authoring such books as Out of Work: Unemployment and Government in Twentieth-Century America and The American Economy in Historical Perspective. He served as a member of Secretary Margaret Spelling's Commission of the Future of Higher Education, and is the author of Going Broke by Degree: Why College Costs Too Much. Dr. Vedder is also the author of numerous scholarly papers for journals in economics and public policy, as well as shorter pieces for the popular press including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, The American Enterprise, CATO Journal and Forbes. He received a BA from Northwestern University and a MA and PhD from the University of Illinois.
$10 Off Any Piercing (MINIMUM OF $50)
$20 Off Any tattoo (MINIMUM OF $100)