Minneapolis kids launch community newspaper to keep neighbors informed

Since May 2020, the Ewing South Post has been keeping residents of one Minneapolis neighborhood connected and updated on all the latest happenings in their corner of the city.

The newspaper was started by three siblings — 11-year-old twins Cris and Gabriella Olson and 9-year-old Lucia Olson. Since their inaugural issue, the Ewing South Post staff has published 15 more editions, with each one delivered to the 29 houses on their block. Gabriella serves as editor-in-chief, and told the Star Tribune they began putting together the newspaper — which features everything from profiles of neighbors to new business announcements to comics — because at the beginning of quarantine, "it was a lonely time then, and we wanted a way to help people feel more connected."

Lucia, the paper's copy editor, said the siblings thought it was important to print the newspaper, rather than put it up online, "because it's nice to have something you can hold and actually touch." Gabriella, Lucia, and Cris — the business and circulation manager — aren't the only newspaper contributors, as their neighbors also submit original artwork, poetry, and recipes. Having the Ewing South Post was "a gift to me during COVID lockdown," avid reader Nanc Malone told the Star Tribune. "I was alone, but the newspaper helped me learn about neighbors and find out more about them."

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