Regulators closed Interbank on Friday, April 27, after years of struggle for the Maple Grove-based thrift. Interbank's four branches in Lakeville, Roseville, Edina and its home base will reopen Monday as branches of Great Southern Bank, which is based in Reed Springs, Mo.

With about $482 million in total assets and $473 million in deposits, Interbank is among the largest financial institutions to fail in Minnesota. Great Southern Bank assumed all the deposits of the failed bank and essentially all the assets, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in a news release.

The closure was not unexpected. Interbank was hit hard by the housing slump and had been losing money for years - nearly $6 million last year. The Office of Thrift Supervision, Interbank's regulator, had warned Interbank two years ago that it needed to raise its capital levels or find a merger partner. Neither happened. At the end of 2011, Interbank's core capital ratio was 1.54 percent, far below the 5 percent regulators asked for.

As a thrift, Interbank was required to have 70 percent of its assets in residential real estate.

"We stuck true to the federal savings bank charter and saw it as our mission to invest in residential," Fred Stelter, the bank's chief executive, told the Pioneer Press in 2009. "Unfortunately, that was the first piece of the economy to start to fall apart. We started to see it as early as January 2006."

Depositors of Interbank can access their money over the

Interbank is the third financial institution to fail in Minnesota this year, and the 20th in the nation. The FDIC estimated that the cost to its Deposit Insurance Fund will be $117.5 million.

Ann Harrington can be reached at 651-228-5556. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/AnnHarringtonMN.

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By Eileen Goltz
Special to The Standard

Maple Glazed Stuffed Turkey Breast

For some reason most people associate the taste of maple syrup with fall and winter foods.  That’s just wrong because maple syrup is harvested in early spring. In parts of Indiana, Michigan and other northeastern America states people are tapping (drilling a small hole in the tree) collecting the sap, boiling it down and producing maple syrup and then turning it into maple sugar, maple fudge, maple candy and lots of other yummy delicious maple treats.

Not all maple syrups are the same. In fact the different grades and colors available all taste slightly different. The earlier in the season you collect and process the sap the lighter in color and flavor the maple syrup will be.  As you get further into the tapping season the syrup becomes darker and the maple syrup ends up with a deeper maple flavor. Maple syrup will stay just fine for months at room temperature if it’s sealed, unopened container. However, once you open the bottle, can or in my perfect trip down memory lane, the Log Cabin, you need to refrigerate it.

Cooking with maple syrup is sort of like cooking with honey. However, because of its complex nature you will need to adjust the recipe to accommodate its unique properties.  Like honey it can be substituted for sugar and tends to cling to the side of any measuring cup you use. I suggest you lightly spray the measuring cup with a non stick spray before you pour it into the measuring cup. In baking, to replace 1 cup of sugar use 3/4 to 1  cup maple syrup and decrease the liquid required in the recipe by 2 to 3 tablespoons  (there’s water in the syrup) and add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (maple syrup is acidic and baking soda helps neutralize it and lets the batter to rise properly. You don’t need to add the baking soda if the recipe includes buttermilk, sour cream or sour milk because these ingredients will do the same thing the baking soda will do.

One last maple syrup note. Maple syrup is expensive but oh so worth the price. A little goes a long way. So please don’t cheap out and buy those faux “maple flavored table syrups” and “pancake syrups” that sit right next to the real honest to goodness maple syrup. They are sugar, water, corn syrup and flavoring. Yeech, not good for you and they taste blah! Splurge a little and buy the real stuff. A little goes a long way and really, who ever heard of syrup made of pancakes or tables.

MAPLE PECAN CHICKEN STRIPS

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into strips

1 egg

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground pepper

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 tablespoon olive oil

In a bowl combine the pecans, flour, salt and pepper.  In a bowl combine the egg and maple syrup and whisk to combine. Dip the chicken strips into the egg/ maple syrup mixture then roll the strips into the nut mixture. Heat a large skillet and add the oil and butter. Cook the coated chicken strips 8 to 10 minutes or until the strips are golden and the center is done.  Serves 6

MAPLE GLAZED STUFFED TURKEY BREAST

1 boned turkey breast (3 to 4 lbs)

2 cups pears, chopped

1/4 cup of dried cranberries or cherries

2 tablespoons pine nuts

1/4 cup bread or cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons chopped green onions

1 egg, beaten

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Maple Glaze

2 tablespoon butter or margarine

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup orange juice

Preheat oven to 400. Cut the turkey breast in half lengthwise without separating the two pieces (butterflied). In a bowl combine the pears, cranberries, pine nuts, green onions, bread crumbs, salt and pepper and egg, mix and set aside. In a small saucepan combine the butter, maple syrup and orange juice. Bring the maple mixture to a boil then immediately reduce them mixture to a simmer. Cook the glaze for about 5 minutes and then remove it from the heat. Stuff the turkey breast and place it, seam side down to hold the stuffing in on a meat rack in a roasting pan. Spoon about 2/3’s of the glaze over the top of the stuffed breast. Roast for 30 minutes. Remove the turkey from oven and pour the rest of glaze over the breast and roast an additional 25  to 35 minutes or until the stuffing is hot and the turkey is cooked.  Serves 6 to 7

Submitted by Jenni Martoki Seattle WA.

MAPLE WALNUT APPLE BREAD

2 cups flour

3/4 maple syrup

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla

 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup grated apples

1/2 cup coarsely chopped apples

3/4 cup chopped walnuts, divided

Cinnamon/ sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9×5 loaf pan. In a larger bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Mix to combine and then set aside. In a small bowl combine the sour cream, milk, maple syrup, eggs, melted butter and vanilla. Whisk to combine and then add the milk mixture into the flour mixture.  Add the grated and chopped apples and half of the walnuts. Mix to combine but don’t over mix. Spoon the batter into prepared pan and sprinkle the top with the cinnamon, sugar, remaining walnuts. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until top is golden and a tooth pick poked into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool on a cooling rack in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes then turn the loaf out on a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature. Makes one loaf.

Submitted by Carla McRudey Marion IN.

MAPLE CORN MUFFINS 

1 1/3 cups flour

2/3 cup cornmeal

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup frozen or canned corn drained

2 tablespoons maple syrup for glaze 

Preheat oven to 350. Using a non stick spray grease a 12 muffin cup pan and set it aside. In a bowl combine the flour, corn meal, baking powder and salt. In another bowl combine the eggs, milk, maple syrup, corn and melted butter. Mix to combine. Combine the egg mixture with the flour mixture and mix just to combine. Do not over mix. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake about 15 minutes. Brush the tops of the muffins with the remaining 2 tablespoons maple syrup. Bake an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Cool slightly and then remove. Makes 12.

MAPLE VINAIGRETTE

4 oz. rice wine vinegar

2 oz. Balsamic vinegar (yes you have to use Balsamic for this recipe)

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 1/3 cup olive oil

In a blender or the bowl of a food processor combine the rice wine, balsamic vinegar, garlic, parsley, salt and maple syrup. Process to combine. Add the oil and process to combine. Add more maple syrup to adjust the taste as needed for sweetness. Makes approx 2 cups.

Modified from southerncooking.com

At a special meeting held on April 26, 2012, the board of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority voted formally to release for public review a five-year service and funding draft plan – part of a possible transition to expanded governance and service throughout Washtenaw County. The draft plan incorporates the advice of a financial task force that signed off on recommendations at its Feb. 29 meeting. [.pdf of draft five-year plan]

The plan will undergo a period of public review lasting 30-days.

The five-year program includes: (1) countywide demand-responsive services and feeder services; (2) express bus services and local transit hubs services; (3) local community connectors and local community circulators; (4) park-and-ride intercept lots; and (5) urban bus network enhancements. For Ann Arbor, the program includes increased bus frequencies on key corridors, increased operating hours, and more services at weekends. The total hours of operation in the Ann Arbor district are expected to increase by 33% on weekdays and over 100% on Saturdays and Sundays.

By way of illustration of the five-year service programs for other districts in the county, the west district (including Chelsea and Manchester) would see new weekday and Saturday curb-to-curb services (from home to their final destination), as well as new “feeder services” that would get residents from their homes to a transit connection.

Like the task force recommendations, the AATA’s April 26 draft service and funding program stops short of recommending a new tax as the way to fund additional services: ”This is not a recommendation that a millage be pursued as a funding source, but is intended to illustrate the level of funding that would be needed.” However, the draft program does identify the needed countywide tax rate to cover the $32.9 million gap in revenues and costs for expanded service as 0.5 mill. One mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value.

Funding for the service program in the draft plan would also depend in part on fare increases for specific services, as well as a possible fare structure based on concentric zones, centered on Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. The next zone out would include Dexter and Saline. And the third zone would include the rest of Washtenaw County as well as parts of Wayne County, where the AATA already offers service to Detroit Metro Airport. Within zones, travel would be less expensive than across zones. Also included in the draft report are different ticket types, including family fares, and a 7-day weekly pass that would be more economical than a 30-day pass – to appeal to lower-income workers.

The report includes a number of appendices, including demographic projections for each of the county’s districts, as well as a breakdown of how the “transit dependency index” is computed, which was one of many factors in decisions about what services to include in the draft five-year program. Decisions about the elements to include in the draft five-year program also incorporated the results of a public outreach effort the AATA has made over the last year and a half.

Publication of a final funding and service plan is a required step in a framework that could lead to the formation of a new transit authority, tentatively being called the Washtenaw Area Transportation Authority. The new authority would have broader representation, funding and coverage area than the AATA. The so-called “four-party agreement” framework under which the transition could take place has been ratified by only one of the four parties – Ann Arbor. The Ann Arbor city council voted 7-4 at its March 5, 2012 meeting to ratify the agreement.

As a party to the agreement and the initiator of the process, the AATA is expected to ratify it in the near future. The city council of the city of Ypsilanti is expected to take up the issue after the May 8 election, when Ypsilanti voters will make a decision on a city income tax and a bond issuance to cover debts associated with the Water Street property. Washtenaw County is the fourth party to the agreement.

The final five-year service and funding plan will be issued by the AATA after public review and discussion with the unincorporated board of the new transit authority (the U196 board), which has been meeting since fall 2011.

A series of district advisory committee meetings will start on May 1, through May 17. The Ann Arbor district meeting will take place on May 14 at 7 p.m. at the Mallets Creek branch of the Ann Arbor District Library.

This brief was filed from the AATA headquarters at 2700 S. Industrial Highway, where the board held its special meeting. A more detailed report will follow.

Tucker Morrell threw four shutout innings for the Elks before the Crimson got to him in the fifth and sixth. (Photo by Erik Jacobson)

A first-inning single was Elk River’s lone hit as the Elks lost to No. 3 ranked Maple Grove 5-0 on Thursday — their fourth straight loss, and second straight by shutout.

Crimson lefthander Tyler Field gave up just the single by Sam Krick although he had some control problems with five walks and two hit batters. He struck  out seven.

The Elks had some runners on base but were unable to execute a bunt play three times,  noted coach Ryan Holmgren.

“We got great pitching from Tucker Morrell and made some highlight-reel plays in the field, but we did not execute very well on offense,” said Holmgren.

Morrell threw four shutout innings, facing just one batter over minimum, before Maple Grove scored twice on the fifth on two hits and an error.

The Crimson (6-1) broke it open in the sixth with three straight two-out, two-strike hits:: a  single by Shay Torgerson, two-run triple by Tyle Ruprecht, and double by Isaac Collins.

Morrell gave up seven hits, walked one batter and hit one, while striking out two.

The Elks, who lost 5-0 t0 Andover on Wednesday,  dropped to 5-4 in the NWSC and 5-5 overall. They will play at Blaine on Monday.

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