March 14, 2002 - Byron Paulson is a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen. He says the most persistent band of heavy snow right now is located just north of the Twin Cities:
March 14, 2002 - The Minnesota Zoo is celebrating a major breakthrough in a decade-long attempt to artificially inseminate a clouded leopard. Researchers don't know if the procedure they performed earlier this week will result in leopard cubs, but they are happy to have even completed it. Clouded leopards are extremely hard to breed. The males tend to have low sperm counts and the females have erratic heat cycles. So a few months ago, researchers decided to use a norplant implant to shut down the reproductive system of a seven-year-old clouded leopard female, named Kuala. They then started her system back up by using hormonal injections to stimulate ovulation. That finally occured earlier this week and tropics zoologist Beth Jo Schoeberl (SHOW-burl) says researchers immediately sedated the cat and made a surgical incision directly in her uterus to inseminate her.
March 14, 2002 - A winter storm across the southern Minnesota is creating dangerous driving conditions, closing schools and cancelling flights. The storm is expected to drop 8 to 14-inches of snow on the Twin Cities, and nearly two feet on parts of central and west central Minnesota. Mainstreet Radio's Tim Post reports.
March 15, 2002 - Happy St Patrick's Day (this Sunday)...the windiest holiday on the calendar.. On this date in 1897, Detroit Lakes in Becker County reported a morning low of -43 degrees F, but by the next afternoon (March 16) the temperature was 45 degrees F, a rise of 88 degrees F in one and a half days! Typical March in Minnesota! The United Kingdom Meteorological Office was recently nominated for a technology innovation award. They have worked with the
March 15, 2002 - WELL, THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NAILED THIS STORM...FORECASTING THE PATH AND INTENSITY PRETTY WELL. TONY Zalesky is a forecaster in Channhassen
March 15, 2002 - As weather observers get out and do some measuring there are some new snowfall totals to pass along and these could be updated later this morning. The golden shovel award is shared this morning by folks in St.Cloud and Willmar. Both cities report 17 and a half inches of snow. Jeff Horwich is at Minnesota Public Radio Station, KNSR in Collegeville, just outside of St. Cloud. He says the storm was very intense at times.
March 15, 2002 - Iron Range Steelworkers are pushing Congress to help the Steel industry provide promised health and pension benefits. This week a U.S. Senate Committee heard the latest plea from steel companies for a bailout of what's called legacy costs - the costs of providing health insurance to a retired work force. Thousands of older Northeast Minnesotans are losing those benefits in the aftermath of LTV Steel's bankruptcy. Thousands more wonder if they might be next. Mainstreet Radio's Bob Kelleher reports:
March 15, 2002 - DRIVING WON'T BE EASY TODAY. MNDOT SAYS ROAD CONDITIONS IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA ARE HAZARDOUS DUE TO ALL THE SNOW THAT HAS FALLEN....UP TO 18 INCHES IN SOME AREAS. IN PLACES LIKE TRAVERSE, STEVENS, SWIFT AND POPE COUNTIES....TRAVEL CONDITIONS ARE DIFFICULT DUE TO PACKED SNOW AND DRIFTS....AND AROUND ROCEHSTER..IT'S THE ICY GLAZE AND SLUSH ON ROADS THAT HAS MNDOT WARNING DRIVERS TO BE CAREFUL.
March 20, 2002 - One popular prediction before the release of the redistricting plan was the political powerhouse of Northern Minnesota would lose a lot of clout. With population shifts, political leaders were expecting the plan to eliminate some northern seats in the state legislature. But Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports the new lines turned out to be less traumatic for northern politicians than many expected:
March 21, 2002 - Even though spring has officially arrived - these recent temperatures and windchills are more typical of mid-winter. After a very mild January and February, March may be recorded as the coldest month of the year. Assistant State Climatologist Pete Boulay says the noticable drop in temperatures is statistically significant.