Digitization made possible by the State of Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, approved by voters in 2008.
November 21, 2000 - Duluth's Great Lakes Aquarium, open since August, has lost its education director and two board members in a controversy involving a major funder. The flap started with a newspaper opinion piece by the education director opposing a power line proposed by Aquarium backer Minnesota Power. The controversy is heating up, just as public hearings on the line get underway in Wisconsin. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports. Andrew Slade had been with the Great Lakes Aquarium for eight years during its planning and development. He designed and ran its educational programs. He's also a guest columnist on environmental issues in the Duluth News-Tribune. His September column criticized the proposed powerline, saying the environment would be better off if consumers reduced their electricity use, and power companies would develop solar and wind energy.
November 21, 2000 - It looks like a good winter for people who want to look at snowy owls, but a tough year for the owls themselves. Unusually large numbers of northern owl are showing up in Minnesota this fall. The birds aren't finding enough to eat in their home range, so they're moving south, in what's called an owl "irruption." Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Julin reports.
November 21, 2000 - After months of consideration, a committee looking into alternatives for a privately financed Minnesota Twins ballpark has come up with a funding proposal. While the group, called New Ballpark Inc., says Twins owner Carl Pohlad has to contribute heavily to a new stadium, members of the committee say developers and investment groups could conceivably come up with 140 million dollars to build the park. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
November 22, 2000 - After a decade marred by civil war, an elected government has returned to Somalia. A newly formed three year transitional government came together in October. Some Somalis here in Minnesota are watching the situation closely - especially a family in Owatonna who are related to the country's newly appointed Prime Minister. Minnesota Public Radio's Erin Galbally has this report.
November 22, 2000 - Northwest Airlines told a federal judge in Minneapolis this afternoon the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association is defying a court order banning work slow downs. Northwest says siginificantly higher than normal maintenance related delays continue to force it to delay and cancel numerous flights. Leaders of the mechanics union say the rank and file is adhereing fully to labor laws and the court order. A federal judge has set a hearing for next week to determine whether the union is violating the court order. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports...
November 22, 2000 - MPR’s Patty Marsicano reports on the University of Minnesota's Women's Athletic Department, as it turns 25, and shares how the department has grown since its start in 1975. Marsicano interviews a variety of student athletes, as well as the women’s athletic director at U of M.
November 22, 2000 - The process of hand counting hundreds of thosands of ballots in three Florida counties has been described as excruciatingly dull. But that hasn't stopped hundreds of counters and observers from showing up for work. Minnesotan Brian McClung jumped at the chance to be a Republican observer in Broward, County Florida. He was recruited last weekend at a Young Republicans conference in Austin, Texas. We reached him outside of the Broward county emergency operations center, where the hand count had just wrapped up:
November 22, 2000 - MPR's Amy Radil reports on financial struggles within the Independence Party of Minnesota. A campaign season that brought the Independence Party many candidates but no winners has also left the organization broke. Party officials say a combination of legal expenses, website maintenance costs and campaign costs have the party facing a deficit of about $20,000. Party leaders call the debt "miniscule" and say it's the price they pay for not accepting special interest money.
November 22, 2000 - Some critics of the government-operated Carnivore surveillance system is snooping into too many innocent lives. Sony is demonstrating humanoid robots. Librarians realize that the internet is going to change the role of librarianship.
November 22, 2000 - Representatives at a climate conference at the Hague this week are trying to agree on how to cut down on pollutants that are believed to cause global warming. One of the main pollutants is carbon dioxide. The United States supports what its calls a flexible plan. In part, that means forests that absorb carbon would count toward meeting reduction targets. There has even been talk of paying farmers here in the United States to plant trees rather than crops. The European Union rejected the United States' plan yesterday. John Pastor is a biology professor and part of the University of Minnesota's Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth. He's on the line now. John Pastor is a biology professor at the University of Minnesota-Duluth