April 15, 1998 - A special Mainstreet Radio report from East Grand Forks, a year after the severe spring 1997 flood. MPR’s Laura McCallum interviews current and former residents of Lincoln Drive about their experience in the aftermath of disaster. Some have rebuilt; others have moved away.
April 16, 1998 - The first FEMA trailer was delivered Wednesday to a rural homestead in southern minnesota. Around one hundred trailers are expected to become homes for tornado victims while they rebuild. Many of the trailers were temporary housing for people displaced by the Red River Floods. Minnesota Public Radio's Lynette Nyman reports. The trailer sitting behind the two-story farm house of Rita and Tom Anderson looks almost new. It was cleaned up before being towed from Grand Forks. 16:46 sfx entering the trailer
April 20, 1998 - Hundreds of students and faculty members at St. Olaf College are putting pressure on administrators to fully explain recently-announced cuts in academic programs and sports. A group of faculty at the four-year liberal arts college in Northfield says the changes will ensure St. Olaf's long-term success. But some students say they feel betrayed. Minnesota Public Radio's Todd Moe visited the campus and filed this report... St. Olaf Colleges' expenses are growing faster than it's revenues. The private school's tuition is 21-thousand dollars a year while it spends more than 30-thousand dollars annually per student. To reduce costs, a Dean's Council, composed of seven long-time
April 22, 1998 - Formerly-secret tobacco company documents that have started trickling out in Minnesota's trial are now flooding onto the internet. A congressional committee today posted nearly 39-thousand internal documents on its web site, two weeks after tobacco companies were forced to turn them over to attorneys for the state and Blue Cross Blue Shield. It's a move that has upset both the judge, and attorneys for the state in the Minnesota trial. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports... Tobacco companies went all the way to the U-S Supreme Court to keep the documents secret, claiming attorney-client privilege, and are still seeking a protective order from the judge in Minnesota's tobacco tria
April 23, 1998 - The Marvin Windows and Doors company got what it wanted from the state legislature yesterday (WED). The Minnesota House voted 99-to-30 to change the wording of a state law to help Marvin win a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against one of its suppliers. The Senate passed the same law change on Monday, and the Governor has already promised to sign it. But the Marvin Windows bill did NOT sail through the legislature without opposition. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: Marvin Windows employees were all smiles as they lined up outside the House to thank Speaker Phil Carruthers for coming through for their employer. Carruthers assured company president Susan Marvin that he and the Legislature acted for the good of the whole state:
April 27, 1998 - More than a year after floodwaters swept through hundreds of homes in the Red River Valley... some people have yet to begin rebuilding. A combination of construction complications and fear of another flood are stalling repairs. Minnesota Public Radio's Hope Deutscher reports... (nat. of raking leaves...) As Gene Schutt rakes up the dead leaves lying scattered in his garden in Ada, he's getting excited about his new lawnmower...
April 28, 1998 - Mental health experts say talking is the best way to recover emotionally from a disaster. And that's the advice the people of Comfrey and St. Peter are getting as they rebuild following last month's tornadoes. Talking about loss and suffering is especially important for children. Minnesota Public Radio's Cara Hetland reports. 12-year old Paul Honnerman was not home when the March 29th tornado heavily damaged his family's northern Nobles County farm. He and his 7 year old sister Jill were staying five miles away at their uncle's. Paul was outside flying his kite before the storms moved through. : (and right at the time the tornado was hitting at our place
April 28, 1998 - The Department of Natural Resources and other agencies predicted a severe fire season in northeast Minnesota, and over the weekend they were proved right. Fire fighters finished "mop-up," or putting out remaining embers, on wildfires near the towns of Cotton and Grand Marais late Monday. And the continued dry weather is keeping the DNR and the Forest Service on alert for more. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports from Duluth. Almost 1,500 wildfires have already been reported in Minnesota this year, with 37,000 acres of wilderness burned. Normally fire season does not even begin until late April; this year it started in mid-March. Jean Bergerson with the Interagency Fire Center in Grand Rapids says lack of moisture is the culprit. Bergerson: We went into winter with very little p
April 29, 1998 - The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is embroiled in a controversy that is sweeping museums across the country. Last night on ABC's "Nightline" program, a French family claimed one of the M.I.A.'s paintings was stolen by the Nazis' during World War II, and belongs to them. The Institute has launched its own investigation into the history of the painting, and believes it may have uncovered evidence that conflicts with the family's claim. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts has more.
May 5, 1998 - Health officials in the Red River Valley are reporting a dramatic increase in deaths, miscarriages and other illnesses. Some are blaming last years flooding... but researcher say it will take months of study to know for sure... or even the extent of the problems. Minnesota Public Radio's Hope Deutscher reports... Victoria Rinerson (Rye-ner-son) sings with about a dozen other residents gathering at a morning worship service at the Sunnyside Nursing Hom