June 3, 1998 - Migrant workers are arriving in southeast Minnesota to work in canning and packing plants. Many come from the Eagle Pass area of Texas, along the Mexican border. They used to travel to the Red River Valley to work on the sugar beet harvest but mechanization and better farm chemicals mean sugar beet farmers don't need as much labor. In the first report in an occasional series on migrants in Minnesota, Minnesota Public Radio's Brent Wolfe introduces us to one migrant family and what they leave behind.
June 4, 1998 - On the tails of a legal victory in his case against the tobacco industry, State Attorney General Skip Humphrey maintains a good share of support from Minnesota voters for his decision to settle the case before it went to jury. That's according to a new poll released by MPR, the Pioneer Press and KARE-11. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports:
June 5, 1998 - Millions of pounds of toasted oat cererals made by Malt-O-Meal at its Northfield plant are being recalled. The cereal is linked, but not positively identified, as the source of nationwide salmonella poisonings that have put 40 people in the hospital. State officials say over 100 Minnesotans have called the Health Department complaining of poisoning symptoms. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports. People in twelve states have complained they contracted the flu like symptoms of salmonella poisoning - vomiting, diaherra, high fever and severe headache - and one of the links among all of them is one of Malt-O-Meal's toasted oat products. Minnesota Department of Health
June 5, 1998 - St. Paul will kick off the summer party season this Sunday with the annual Grand Old Day. The street festival is the largest one-day festival in the upper midwest and includes a parade, a race, multiple concert stages and all the food booths one could wish for. The event started 25 years ago when some Grand Avenue merchants came up with the idea of hosting a party to bring more people to their stores. Billie Young was a shopkeeper at the time. She's since sold the store and written a book about the street called "Grand Avenue: The Renaissance of an Urban Street." Young says the event had a modest beginning: Billie Young is the author of "Grand Avenue: The Renaissance of an
June 8, 1998 - MPR's Senior Business and Economics Editor Chris Farrell talks about the banking industry's latest merger, Norwest Corporation of Mpls, and Wells Fargo of San Francisco. It's a 34-billion-dollar deal and follows on the heels of the First Bank-US BankCorp takeover. Farrell also answers listener questions.
June 8, 1998 - This spring has been a once in a lifetime experience for Minnesota farmers. The weather has been almost perfect. Crops were planted so early the old rhyme "knee high by the fourth of July" could be a huge understatement. But the good news from the fields is not matched at the market place. In fact U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman will be in Minnesota and North Dakota today (monday 6/8) to talk with farmers about their economic problems. The price farmers receive for their corn, soybeans, and wheat are low and headed lower. American farmers are producing more than this nation or the world can use. The problems come as a historic change in the federal government's role in agriculture is about to take place. Two years ago congress passed landmark legislation known as "freedom to farm." It will end most federal farm support payments after 2002. With the current downturn, farmers wonder if the disappearance of the federal safety net will cause a wave of farm consolidations and bankruptcies during the next decade. In the first of a series of reports on what some are calling the new midwestern farm crisis, Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports on concerns raised by "freedom to farm:"
June 8, 1998 - Minneapolis based Norwest corporation announced today it is merging with San Francisco based Wells Fargo and Company, and moving the headquarters to California. The 34 billion dollar deal creates the nation's 7th largest banking company. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports. In recent months many observers have expected a Minneapolis bank to announce a merger with Wells Fargo, but most speculation focused on Norwest's neighbor, US Bancorp. Norwest officials have been saying they felt no pressure to be part of a big merger, despite a wave of mega-deals this year in the banking and financial services industries. Still more surprising was the decision to put the new company's headquarters in San Francisco. The new Wells
June 9, 1998 - Midday presents a Mainstreet Radio special broadcast on what's being called the "New Midwestern Farm Crisis." The program contains reports on farming issues, including insurance, scab plant disease, government programs, global markets, and Freedom to Farm Act.
June 9, 1998 - This week on Minnesota Public Radio we are looking at what some are calling the new Midwestern Farm Crisis. Despite almost perfect growing conditions many farmers are facing financial hard times because of changing regulation and economic conditions. In today's Mainstreet Radio report Cara Hetland reports local farmers are selling to a global market where outside pressures such as the Asian and Russian financial crisis can have an impact on how they farm. --------------------------------------------------------- | D-CART ITEM:3381 | TIME:6:40 | OUTCUE: "...Minnesota Public Radio." --------------------------------------------------------- Anchor Outro: Tomorrow in the final part of our series, Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Gunderson reports on how U.S. agricultural policy has been designed more to keep food affordable than to keep farmers in business
June 9, 1998 - Norwest bank's proposed merger with Wells Fargo and move to San Francisco has lots of people wondering if the company's charitable giving in our region will decline. Norwest officials say it will not. The bank's Norwest foundation is one of the area's top charitable contributors. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more. When company's move, Jon Pratt says, the eyes and ears of their top executives quite naturally focus on charitable needs in their headquarters city. Pratt is executive director of the Council on Non-Profits, a Twin Cities advocacy group non profit organizations. He says Norwest's merger and move may mean the new company gives fewer dollars to Minnesota causes. audio . . . one of the distinctive features of minn