Students from the Ryogoku Soccer Academy were guests of The Northeast News last Wednesday and got to interact with News Publisher Michael Bushnell on some local issues of note in the Historic Northeast community. Bushnell gave a brief history of how the Northeast community evolved in the late 1800’s, becoming the city’s first suburb. Also covered were various current topics such as trash and crime that continue to be issues in today’s world. The roughly hour-long discussion wrapped up with a short lesson in civics engagement when discussing the condition of the 9th and Van Brunt soccer fields, how and why the fields are in the deplorable condition they’re in and how the students can lobby city government in an attempt to restore the $3-million in maintenance funding to make the necessary repairs to the fields. x ABBY HOOVER