Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page B7

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2009 STAR TRIBUNE METRO B7 A new way to get on the bus Marquette and 2nd Avenues in Minneapolis have been redone with a second lane for buses. They'll be able to pass each other for the first time, shaving up to 10 minutes off trips across downtown. Washington Av. 02ndAv. Common I I I 1 (j I 1 cm I I.I I stop 65 routes carrying 26,000 riders each rush hour will use the two streets.

Buses won't stop on every block. Instead, they'll stop on alternating blocks, at locations designated by letters A through depending on the route. Wider sidewalks include trees and public art. Express buses that use Nicollet Mall won't move until March, at which time bikes will be allowed to ride on the mall around the clock. Bike lanes that used to be on Marquette and 2nd aren't being restored, though the righthand general traffic lane on each street is wider than a typical lane and could be used by bicyclists.

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12th St 1 1 ig.1 fi T7 NexTrip sign with real-time arrival information Pushbutton fp x- -x ior audio iransn information SIGNS WITH LIVE UPDATES Lettered signs will let riders know which stop they should wait at, while NexTrip signs use global positioning information to tell exactly when a bus will arrive. These signs should be in place by the end of the year. Note: Bus-stop letters are unrelated to letters that appear at the end of some route numbers, such as 781A. COMMUTE FROM Bl at the airport. And the ability to pass lets buses make stops for passengers only every other block, contributing to faster travel times.

Lori Chance of Mounds View is among those who are pleased that more buses will again be closer to downtown's office core. She'll only have to walk about one block instead of three to get to work. Chance said that "bus drivers have been very communicative" about the plan. One day last week a transit employee wearing a bright safety vest got on her bus and made an announcement to alert riders who hadn't heard. Such ambassadors will be dispatched along Marquette and 2nd Avenues during afternoon rush hours Monday and Tuesday, in part to help riders understand the new lettered bus-stop system, which is a bit complicated.

Chance was among the riders who stopped by the Commuter Connection store in the skyway last week to pick up revised schedules and look over maps showing the alphabet soup of stops. The $32 million project needs to be completed by the end of this month to meet a federal deadline, but riders already have noticed some unfinished business. "My complaint is there's no shelters," said Barry Kitchen from Brooklyn Park, who figured out that he'll be using the stops. Metro Transit spokesman Bob Gibbons said Friday that the roofs for the shelters had been on back order but had arrived, with most to be installed before Monday. He also noted that signs providing real-time bus departure information won't be up and running on 1 TRANSIT AGENQES USING THE NEW LANES Metro Transit, Southwest Transit, Minnesota valley Transit, Plymouth Metrolmk, Maple Grove Transit, Blue Xpress (Scott County).

Route information oi all agencies is available at www.metiotiansit.comMarq2 Bus stops along 2nd and Marquette Avenues S. are being marked with big letters. Arrival times will be displayed by late this month. ship Agreement, a grant program to test new ways of moving commuters. The federal government's contribution is $133 million, with state and local governments paying $55 million.

The double bus-only lanes were actually a local idea, one that was included more than two years ago in a 10-year plan to improve bus access to Minneapolis. The federal money came along shortly after. "It was really wonderful timing," said Arlene McCarthy, the numerous bicyclists have expressed disappointment that the bike-only lanes on Marquette and 2nd disappeared in the makeover. In the spring, the city is planning to put stations from its upcoming bike-sharing program near some of the new lettered stops to give bus riders easy access. The biggest remaining piece of the express bus puzzle won't be in place until later in 2010, when the MnPass lanes and Coach charged with A Twin Cities tennis coach is charged with criminal sexual conduct after a 14-year-old girl taking lessons from him complained that he slapped her buttocks and spoke to her inappropriately, according to charges filed Friday.

Roberto DeFreitas, 47, of St. Paul, was charged with criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree, a felony, in Hennepin County District Court. A Minneapolis police officer in the sex crimes unit Churches experiencing cash-flow "All 2nd Av. buses will stop here Star Tribune shoulder lanes open through the Crosstown work zone. But riders such as Chance are happy that the downtown project is complete.

During the construction, Chance's bus stops "moved a couple of times," she said, and with roads and sidewalks torn up, there was a fair amount to keep track of. Said Chance: "It'll be nice to go on autopilot." Jim Foti 612-673-4491 criminal sexual conduct was contacted by the father of the girl Dec. 3 about possible inappropriate conduct by DeFreitas. The girl is en Robeito DeFreitas rolled in tennis lessons at Fred Wells Tennis and Education Center, also known as the Fort Snelling Tennis and Learning Center in Minneapolis. ABBY SIMONS military conflicts.

PICK-UP! 651-646-1054 612-366-5811 888-366-5811 ll mm Source: Metro Transit Metropolitan Council's director of transportation services. She compared the old single-lane setup to a poky conga line. But, she said, "beginning Monday, we will have a ballet of buses." More buses will be joining the dance in March, when express routes will be moved from Nicollet Mall to Marquette and 2nd. With bus traffic reduced 30 percent, the mall will be reopened to bicycles around the clock, although problems were struggling to stay even. Even when the economy recovers, churches are likely to see enduring changes.

Dawn of a new age At the heart of the issue is an increased reluctance among people younger than 30 to join congregations. They regularly attend services, but they shop around. "It's not just that they change churches, they'll go from one denomination to another," Rogness said. "The notion of institutional loyalty was not passed to their generation." That means the traditional system of having members make pledges or pay dues might not survive. So, what is the future of church funding? "Anyone who says that they know what model the churches will take 10 years from now is kidding themselves," Johnson said.

Jeff Strickler 612-673-7392 Sharing and Caring Hands, 525 No. 7th Your Meals Beds Medical Showers Help with A Safe the Streets. Your thousands 93 of needs of To the Minnesota Vietnam Veterans Charity Monday, but officials expect to have those functioning by the end of the month. A potential model The bus lanes are part of the same project that brought Mn-PASS lanes to Interstate 35W between downtown Minneapolis and Burnsville and created 2,700 new park-and-ride spaces, mainly in the south metro. The Twin Cities area was one of a handful of metros around the country to be selected for the Urban Partner The shortfalls can be immense, even on a local level.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis calculates that Twin Cities parishes are $7 million behind in paying their annual assessments. The archdiocese isn't putting the squeeze on delinquent parishes, because many of them are barely keeping afloat as it is. But the shortages can't be absorbed indefinitely. The archdiocese is in the process of creating a strategic plan that, when announced next summer, might include closing some parishes.

Many churches have endowment funds, but after the stock market collapse, they are reluctant to drain them further by making withdrawals. It's even worse in the Jewish community, especially on the East Coast, where many synagogues had turned endowment management over to Bernard Madoff. When his Ponzi scheme was revealed, some synagogues watched multimillion-dollar investments turn to dust overnight. Even some ministers whose salaries aren't being reduced are getting walloped by cuts in benefit packages, especially health insurance. According to recent statistics compiled by the National Association of Church Business Administration, only 26 percent of full-time Protestant ministers still have full health coverage.

Churches in growing communities can recruit new members to offset drops in pledges. Those elsewhere can't. Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie opened a second campus in Edina. Messiah United Methodist Church in Plymouth just wrapped up a capital campaign to pay for an addition to the building. Eagle Brook Church, already the state's biggest congregation, has gotten city approval to build a fourth church in Blaine.

At the same time, two United Methodist churches in Minneapolis Asbury and Oakland Ave. merged. A pair of the Proceeds benefit veterans of ANY CONDITION! WE FREE TOWNGia WWW.VETERANSCARDONATIONS.COM first black Episcopal churches in the state, St. Thomas in Minneapolis and St. Philip's in St.

Paul, closed within a month of each other. One of the oldest Catholic churches in St. Paul, the 120-year-old Church of St. Luke, merged with Immaculate Heart of Mary and became the Church of St. Thomas More.

Location is crucial for those who don't have denominational support to fall back on. "We don't have a large national organization along the lines of, say, the ELCA," said Ibrahim Hooper, national spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "Our funding is all localized." A survey by the Albin Institute, a nonprofit research organization that focuses on religious issues, reported that a third of U.S. congregations had increases in donations during the first six months of 2009, a third had a drop and the rest Send your tax-deductable donations to Name Address CityStateZip Check Visa MC Card. CHURCHES FROM Bl The fallout from the pledge pinch already is being felt.

United Methodist bishops volunteered for pay cuts. The Episcopalians, Roman Catholics and Conservative and Reform Jews have had congregations fall behind in their payments, resulting in job cuts. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) dropped a radio program that had been on the air since 1947. "Many people just aren't giving as much as they used to," said Bishop Peter Rogness of the ELCAs St. Paul Synod.

Optimism fades By the time the recession began in December 2007, pledge drives for 2008 had been completed and most church members did their best to honor their pledges, even if it meant cutting elsewhere. "It's personal," said Wendy Johnson, communications director for the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota. "The givers can see what the money is being used for, so they tend to keep giving while they might be cutting back on their donations to other organizations." That protective bubble started to collapse last year. Many people either kept their donations the same a net loss once inflation is figured in or reduced them. "What people are concerned about the most in 2010 is their job," said the Rev.

Sally Dyck, bishop of the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. "They are changing their pledge in case they lose their job." People wanting to make sure they can honor their commitments are "under-pledging," cutting the amounts they are promising, then putting more money in the offering plates when they can. While churches benefit from the larger contributions, their budgets must be based on pledges, not speculation about weekly collections. donations provide: Shelter Food Clothing Glasses Shoes Toys Dental Services Household Goods Emergency Needs Haven for People Living on generosity allows us to help of people each week. your donations go to serve the the poor.

DID YOU Sharing and caring Hands serves over 240,000 meals each year (4,615 per week) to people in need. Our Mary's Place Transitional Shelter houses over 500 people each night (recent count 395 children, 150 adults in it's 92 family apartments) and provided 21 2,500 people days of shelter last year. We paid 19,033 people nights of shelter last year for single men and women at pay for stay shelters and provided 7.1 75 people days of shelter for families in area hotels. We provided eye exams and glasses for over 500 people last year, over 12 of them children referred to us by schools. We gave 14,000 showers last year (about 250 each week) to people with no other access to bathing facilities.

We provided over 2,800 beds to adults and children that would otherwise be sleeping on the floor. We gave out over 375,000 lbs. of food last year to people in need. Mpls, MN 55405 $50 $100 $150 $250 $500 Other.