November 4, 1991 - MPR’s Liz Hannon interviews John O’Rourke, mayor of Austin, about the impact storm system on city. While Austin only received about an inch of snow, they also received a couple inches of ice, damaging trees and powerlines. Much of the town was left without power in dropping temperatures.
November 5, 1991 - Midmorning’s Paula Schroeder interviews Patrick Hansen, a National Guard captain, about distribution of generators for rural residents without power after Halloween blizzard hit much of the state.
November 5, 1991 - MPR’s Bill Wareham reports on some reasons behind slow roads. Jim Scheibel, St. Paul mayor, explains issues with plowing certain areas of town. Bob Otto, Minneapolis maintenance engineer, shares challenges of plows getting stuck and winds blowing snow back onto cleared areas.
November 6, 1991 - MPR’s Bill Catlin interviews MNDOT and MTC officials about what went wrong with maintaining roads and bus service in the Twin Cities during and after Halloween blizzard. Topic on communication issues is highlighted.
November 6, 1991 - MPR’s Gary Eichten interviews naturalist about how animals are adapting to to massive snowstorm. The different experiences of small birds, squirrels, pheasants, and deer are detailed. Not surprisingly, hibernators are the big winners.
November 15, 1991 - A Voices from the Heartland essay by writer and poet Laurie Allmann on snow, hunting, and Vietnam.
November 26, 1991 - A commentary that the Twin Cities have become more of an “indoor” city. Reasons behind the thought include the skyway system infrastructure and “snowbird” Minnesotans escaping to the south in the winter months.
January 2, 1992 - MPR’s Paul Schroeder interviews Jim Holtman, of Runestone Power in Douglas County, about damage done to power lines from ice fog. It began as beautiful hoar frost, but moisture in the air changed over to an icy fog. The lines were quickly coated, then snapped, creating power outages.
February 7, 1992 - MPR’s Tom Meersman interviews Christopher Flavin, co-author of Saving the Planet: How to Shape an Environmentally Sustainable Global Economy." Flavin details the measures that humans will need to change in the coming years and decades to avoid global consequences.
February 28, 1992 - On this segment of Voices from the Heartland, an essay about the quality of February winter in Minnesota by Laurie Allmann.