MFA finds alternative fuels close to home
By KEVIN COLEMAN of the Tribune’s staff
Earlier this week, officials at MFA Oil learned that local activists had planned a protest against big oil companies and that they had chosen to rally in front of the company’s Big O Tire/Petro-Card 24 outlet off East Broadway near Providence Road.

FUNNY BUSINESS

STREET TALK
Planned subdivision features ‘estate lots’
By KEVIN COLEMAN of the Tribune’s staff
A preliminary plan for the 144-acre Copperstone subdivision at the southeast corner of Scott Boulevard and Vawter School Road has sailed through the Columbia City Council.

GRAND OPENING: NEW BUSINESS IN COLUMBIA
VanMatre Landscape Design

Extremely high PMI can cost one’s home
By THOMAS MUSIL
Q. We purchased a home Jan. 31, 2003, for $174,000. We had sold our home the day before and because of a "lost piece of paper," we had to wait until the next day to close on our new home. We were called by our mortgage broker about two hours before our closing. He informed us that the private mortgage insurance (PMI) on our loan was $664 per month. He told us neither he nor anyone else in his office had ever heard of such a high PMI. We couldn’t afford the payment with that PMI, nor did we qualify for a payment that high.

Book examines success of reality show 'losers'
By CECIL JOHNSON Knight Ridder Newspapers
In the end, Kwame Jackson got fired.