July 27, 2000 - The Granite Falls tornado highlighted the need for people to have ample warning before severe weather strikes. The national weather serivce provides a warning network for homes or businesses that will automatically turn on radios when severe weather strikes. But not everyone in Minnesota is covered by the service. WCCO meterologist Paul Dougas says the service is centered in big cities, but the coverage gap is about to close. A bill that passed in the last Legislative session provides money to build 13 transmitters to make sure the entire state is covered. George Wilcox is a public affairs officer with the National Oceanic and Atmostpheric Administration or NOAA -- the organization that oversees the National Weather Service. He says NOAH weather radios operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
August 4, 2000 - Jurors in an Iron Range Courtroom heard a tape of Donald Blom confessing to abducting and killing Katie Poirier Thursday. The taped confession which Blom has since recanted, was a long-awaited and painful part of the prosecution's case. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports. { The Virginia courtroom was more crowded than usual, and Katie Poirier's friends and family wiped their eyes and gave each other supportive hugs as they heard Blom's voice describe taking the teenager from the convenience store where she was working alone late at night, driving to his nearby property, and strangling her. The tape was actually dominated by the voice of BCA investigator Paul Wagner, who conducted the interview. Blom said he'd been drinking that night and his memory of what happened hazy. Wagner had to lead him repeatedly through various episodes, trying to corroborate evidence provided by witnesses, or just trying to get Blom to recall exactly what happened.
August 4, 2000 - The prosecution has rested its case in the Donald Blom kidnap and murder trial. Three weeks of testimony culminated with emotional stories from two women who had been kidnapped and assaulted by Blom seventeen years ago. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports. { The Blom jurors heard two women describe how - 17 years ago when they were both in their teens - they picked up Blom who was hitch-hiking near Stillwater. They said he threatened them with a knife, forced them into the woods, and attempted to choke and rape one of them. When a police car stopped to check on the abandoned vehicle, Blom ran off. One of the women recognized him two months later and he pled guilty to the assault and served four years in prison.
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August 7, 2000 - Amy Blom today told a Virginia Courtroom her husband, Donald Blom, was at home with her and their four children the night Katie Poirier disappeared. The wife of the man accused of kidnapping and murdering Poirier in late May last year was the first defense witness to testify at the trial. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports. { Amy Blom said her husband was away two nights the week Katie Poirier disappeared, but she said on the night in question he was in their Richfield home. She told the court she remembered the events of Wednesday, May 26th because the next day she saw a report about the missing convenience store clerk on television. She says it "stuck out in her mind" because the Bloms owned vacation property near Moose Lake. She said Blom telephoned her from work during the day on Wednesday to say he was going to spend some time fishing. He arrived home around 9:30, they watched the 10:00 news, and then went to bed. The next morning Blom said her husband was gone, but she thought he'd gone to work because the coffeepot was on as usual. Security video tape from the convenience store, which is just off I-35 about 100 miles north of the Twin Cities, shows Poirier being abducted at about 11:30 Wednesday night by a man wearing a New York Yankees shirt .
August 9, 2000 - Citizens in Rochester are gearing up for the expected release of a key environmental document regarding the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad's expansion plan. It's the most important event so far in the contentious fight over plans to expand rail lines in Wyoming, South Dakota and southern Minnesota for coal trains. Rochester leaders are bitterly opposed to the plan and have formed a new group dedicated to stop it. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes reports the renewed opposition effort has considerable political might which sparks concerns from many rural residents who aren't included.
August 9, 2000 - When University of Minnesota Meteorologist and Climatologist Mark Seeley isn't in our studios talking about the weather, he's off doing research. And in the course of that research he's discovered that Minnesota has become more humid over the last half century. Seeley says he discovered the trend by examining hourly reports of the dew point. University of Minnesota Meteorologist and Climatologist Mark Seeley.
August 10, 2000 - Donald Blom took the stand in his own defense and told the jury he was at home in bed when Katie Poirier was abducted and killed late on the night of May 26, 1999. His nearly four hours on the stand Wednesday provided another dramatic day in the fourth week of testimony in his kidnapping and murder trial. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports. { Last week the Virginia courtoom heard a tape of Donald Blom confessing to kidnapping and killing Katie Poirier: a confession he later recanted. Many people, including Katie Poirier's family, have asked why someone would confess to a crime they had not committed. Wednesday, Donald Blom gave his explanation. He said he had recently turned fifty, was suffering from various health problems, and had two small girls to worry about. He said he had "been through this" years ago - referring to earlier convictions for sex offenses - and had been hoping never to have to go through it again. Blom talked about sitting in his Carlton County jail cell, hearing from his wife Amy about things taken away from the family home in Richfield for evidence - "truckloads of things," he said, including the children's school clothes. His wife was afraid to go out of the house, someone threw a firebomb at the house, and she was getting threatening phone calls. Meanwhile, Blom said he was confined to a small cell without a window 23 hours a day much of the time. His voice breaking, he said the last straw was when someone from the FBI told him his wife could be implicated in the crime; she could be charged with transporting Poirier's body to Wisconsin in the trunk of the family car, making it a federal offense subject to the death penalty. He said he felt authorities were deliberately trying to "make him crack." He told defense attorney Rodney Brodin his confession was what he thought investigators wanted to hear.
August 17, 2000 - Donald Blom will be sentenced today for kidnapping and murdering Katie Poirier. He now faces a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The sentencing comes just one day after a jury found him guilty. Minnesota Stephanie Hemphill reports on events at the courthouse in Virginia Wednesday. The St Louis County courtroom was packed, and the tension evident after five weeks of difficult and emotional testimony. Judge Gary Pagliacetti sternly warned against any outbursts regardless of the verdict. But when the crowd heard the word "guilty," a collective gasp of relief and satisfaction broke out. Defense attorney Rodney Brodin asked for a poll of the jury, and as each juror was called by name, they said yes, that is my verdict. Throughout Donald Blom was still, his hands clasped on the table in front of him, no emotion on his face. Katie Poirier's mother, Pam Poirier, sobbed silently and curled against her son Patrick. Outside, there were tears, grins and hugs, and people applauded as the Poirier family walked out of the courthouse for the last time.
August 17, 2000 - Donald Blom has received the maximum possible sentence in Minnesota - life in prison without parole - for kidnapping and murdering Katie Poirier. Today's sentencing hearing in Carlton was another dramatic episode in a case that has left many people feeling relieved but still angry. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports. { The Poirier family asked that sentencing take place on Monday so they could have more time to prepare their victim impact statements. But in court, both of Katie's parents and her brother talked about how her murder has affected their lives. Steve Poirer, Katie's father, said to Donald Blom, "I don't know what God has coming for you but hopefully he'll allow Katie to put some boards on your fire."