By LISA HOBBS Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard It?s never too early to learn bike safety, as these Learning House students participate in a recent bike-a-thon. Spoony Sizemore, center, leads the way around the course. The group is the perfect age for this Saturday?s Small Fry Tri sponsored by McMinnville Parks and Recreation. It?s…

James Clark photo Few things beat a day at the city pool ? especially when that day at the pool includes bananas. Britney Williamson, left, and Savannah Sweat show they?re ready to swim and to snack.

For the next three editions, the Southern Standard is going bananas with yellow sections. To kick off the official start of summer June 21, the newspaper is having its annual Banana Day celebration this Friday, June 23 from 2 to 4 p.m. What that means to ice cream lovers is free banana splits. What that…

Do you know your banana facts? This information may not seem significant, but it could mean the difference between winning and losing a game of Trivial Pursuit. And wouldn?t you just hate to lose a trivia game because of a banana? Here?s the truth about our little, yellow friends: ? There are over 500 different…

James Clark photo When playing baseball in the hot summer weather, always make sure to drink plenty of fluids. Bananas are a great idea too. Rich in potassium, many athletes eat bananas to help with cramping. Hunter Mullican, left, and Ryan Jennings show their bananas on the ball field.

How to Purchase and Store Bananas Purchasing: Yellow bananas are available year round. Other varieties may also be available in large supermarkets, but ethnic markets are the place to shop for the exotics. Hispanic, Philippine, and Thai markets offer more diversity. There you can find red bananas, burro bananas, plantains, and occasionally Lady Fingers. Select…

Chuck Shepherd The student lockers at Kealing Middle School in Austin, Texas, haven’t been used in 10 years (for disciplinary reasons) and probably won’t be again, but they will still be “refurbished” (and some new ones added) at a $60,000 expense to taxpayers, according to school renovation plans in a recently passed local budget. ?…

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) The mother of a girl missing for 10 years and located in South Carolina this week said Friday she was experiencing mixed emotions about reuniting with her daughter. “I’m just being very guarded and optimistic,” Helen Braun, 51, told The Associated Press by phone from the Philadelphia airport, where she awaited a…

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Five people ranging in age from 16 to 19 were killed in a street shooting early Saturday, the most violent crime reported in this slowly repopulating city since Hurricane Katrina hit last August. All were believed to have been gunned down in a volley of bullets on a street in the Central…

ATLANTA (AP) CAMPBELL Former Mayor Bill Campbell’s 2 1/2-year prison sentence for tax evasion was a fitting punishment for a politician who tried to downplay his crimes and sought leniency due to his public service, the judge who issued the sentence said in a court filing. In defending the sentence he imposed, U.S. District Judge…