November 1, 2000 - The three leading candidates for the U-S Senate in Minnesota divide sharply over some environmental issues; but sound remarkably similar on others. There are clear divisions on what to do about oil exploration and global warming But the differences get cloudy over logging, mining, and motorized recreation. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports: { {script}
November 1, 2000 - Tomorrow (Thursday) on the North Shore, state biologists will be looking for insect larvae in the Beaver River. Last week a broken pipline at Northshore Mining in Silver Bay spilled tons of taconite tailings into the river. Researchers say the spill will likely suffocate the tiny creatures on the river bottom, and cut into the food supply for the river's fish in coming years. The spill is reviving memories of past concerns about tailings pollution. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Julin starts our two part report.
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November 3, 2000 - The presidential candidates are racking up thousands of frequent flier miles, and the Gore campaign was back in Minnesota yesterday. Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman made two stops in northeastern Minnesota just one day after George W Bush held a rally in Duluth. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Julin has more.
November 7, 2000 - Minnesota's first significant winter storm is underway. Greg Gust is the lead forcaster with the National Weather Service in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He says the storm is just starting to pick up steam over western Minnesota and eastern North Dakota.
November 9, 2000 - A solution to the odor problem at a Saint Paul ethanol plant may still be months away... but city officials say new steps on the legal and environmental fronts represent progress toward taming the smell coming from Gopher State Ethanol. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen reports. Saint Paul Mayor Norm Coleman and city council member Chris Coleman, whose district includes the ethanol plant, announced two new developments in the ongoing saga of the stink. The city and Gopher State Ethanol have entered into an agreement with a non-profit environmental group that will conduct a thorough study of the odor, its causes, and possible long and short-term solutions. In addition, the city council asked the city attorney for a report on what legal leverage Saint Paul may have in its effort to reduce the odor. Chris Coleman, unrelated to the mayor, says the environmental group is the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy or M-C-E-A, which has worked on industrial odor issues at Koch Refinery and Andersen Windows. He says the legal opinion from the city attorney is due on November twenty-second...
November 10, 2000 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill profiles Frank Kutka and his farm near Mahtowa, about an hour south of Duluth. Kutka is experimenting with corn from all over the world to create a variety that will grow up north. His work is attracting attention around the country, and experts are hoping it may result in new crops that will help marginal farms.
November 20, 2000 - Some owners of gas stations and convenience stores around the state are getting nervous as Wal-marts and Sam's Club stores begin selling gas at discount prices. Nationwide, nearly 2,000 discount stores and supermarkets sell gas, but so far Minnesota has seen only skirmishes in this latest assault in the gas wars. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports.
November 21, 2000 - University of Minnesota astronomy professor Rebecca Humphreys has an added incentive to study the solar system these days -- keeping track of her namesake. A former student of Humphreys named astroid number 1-oh-1-7-2 after her last week. Asteroid Humphreys is three to eight miles in diameter and orbits the sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. I asked her what it was like to get the news: