December 17, 1998 - A new housing development in Minneapolis' Phillips neighborhood will convert several landmark mansions into condominiums. Residents say the project is not gentrification that will push poor people out but instead is the beginning of a long awaited turn-around for the inner city neighborhood. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports. The wrecking ball has taken many of the mansions along Park avenue in the Phillips neighborhood. But a few remain, and Lutheran Social Services spokesman Bill Vanderwall says three near their headquarters building will become condominiums. The units will sell for $90,000 to $145,000. Vanderwalle says the housing and other projects in the works will change the face of the city's poorest neighborhood.
December 21, 1998 - MPR’s Dan Gunderson reports on the lefse industry in Minnesota.
December 21, 1998 - Low crop prices, a decrease in land values and poor export markets are creating a new farm crisis. In the 1980s, farmers experienced several years of the same... and as a result, Congress added a chapter to the bankruptcy code giving farmers more negotiating tools with lenders and more options to stay in business. By April, lawmakers will decide whether or not to keep the Chapter 12 provision alive in the bankruptcy code. In this first of three reports, Mainstreet Radio's Cara Hetland looks at farm bankruptcy provision... and whether Chapter 12 works, or delays the inevitable. OUT COPY:
December 21, 1998 - THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS' BEST-EVER SEASON GOT EVEN BETTER LAST NIGHT (SUN) WITH THEIR FIFTY-TO-TEN THRASHING OF THE JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS. WITH ONLY ONE REGULAR-SEASON GAME REMAINING, THE VIKINGS ARE NOW ASSURED OF FINISHING THE YEAR WITH THE BEST RECORD IN THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE ... AND THAT MEANS THEY WILL ENJOY THE HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE IN THE N-F-C PLAYOFFS. MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO'S WILLIAM WILCOXEN HAS THIS REPORT... --------------------------------------------------------- | D-CART ITEM: 5286 | TIME: 3:15 | OUTCUE: standard. --------------------------------------------------------- THE JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS REALLY ARE A GOOD TEAM -- THE BEST IN THEIR DIVISION, IN FACT. BUT THEY MAY NEED A REMINDER OF THAT AFTER LOSING BY FORTY POINTS TO THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS. THE BLOWOUT VICTORY WAS THE VIKINGS' FOURTEENTH WIN THIS YEAR COMPARED WITH ONLY ONE LOSS. THAT RECORD PUTS THIS YEAR'S VIKINGS IN
December 22, 1998 - Mainstreet Radio's Tom Robertson reports on the people behind the balsam boughs in Minnesota.
December 22, 1998 - In the next couple of months farmers around the region will be asking bankers for money to plant next years crop. Nationally, the Farm Credit System reports more than one billion dollars in bad farm loans this year. In Northwestern Minnesota, some experts say 60 percent of farmers may not qualify for financing next year. That's causing sleepless nights for farmers and lenders. Minnesota Public Radios Dan Gunderson talked to one lender on the front line.
December 22, 1998 - For the past two days, a Worthington grocery store has sold pork for 30 cents a pound to protest the low prices paid to pork farmers. That's about a dollar cheaper per pound than usual. Hog producers are weathering the lowest prices in decades because there is a huge oversupply of pork on the market. Manager of the County Market in Worthington, Scott Anderson, says consumer demand for pork HAS remained high ... but even he was surprised at how many people were willing to brave the cold temperatures to buy drastically reduced pork. Scott Anderson is Manager of the County Market in Worthington. He says the grocery store basically broke even on the pork sale.
December 23, 1998 - In these days of plastic, tinsel and even aluminum christmas trees, many people prefer the smell of a REAL tree. An increasing number of Americans are returning to the tradition of cutting their own Christmas tree... But as Minnesota Public Radio's Hope Deutscher reports this surge in sales comes as many Christmas tree growers are getting out of the business... Driving down the lane through Sherman Mandt's 60-acre tree farm near Perham, Minnesota...Durk and Bobbie Currier and their three children are trying to pick the perfect Christmas tree. Bobbi Currier explains the difficulty:
December 23, 1998 - Some of the region's top economists say the economy is showing several signs of a slow down moving into next year. And some economists say there is a possibility of a recession in the second half of 1999. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports... --------------------------------------------------------- | D-CART ITEM:5884 | TIME: 404s | OUTCUE: soc --------------------------------------------------------- Wells Fargo Bank Chief Economist Sung Won Sohn says weak international markets from Asia to Latin American coupled with softening consumer demand in the United States will slow the US and Minnesota economies next year. Sohn is predicting fewer jobs will be created in Minnesot
December 23, 1998 - The U.S. was once a nation of farmers. But now, we're a country full of people who's families once farmed...so the story of foreclosure, bankruptcy and the letting go of a lifestyle is not uncommon. One South Dakota family experienced all of that a decade ago. Their story is still an open wound filled with anger, defeat, revenge and hope. Mainstreet Radios Cara Hetland reports: Bill was born and raised on a farm in southeastern South Dakota. For 19 years, his live was measured by the weather and the sky as he worked the soil raising corn, soybeans and lifestock. Today it doesn't matter how much rain falls or how dry the land is as Bill goes to work in Sioux Falls..