January 24, 2001 - Heating bills are not the only place Minnesotans will feel this winter's soaring natural gas prices. Expensive natural gas means expensive fertilizer -- and an uncertain spring for the regions' farmers. Minnesota Public Radio's Jeff Horwich has this Mainstreet report (There's not much farming to be done in January, so John Wojtanowicz brings his mammoth potato picker in for a tune-up. Before the picker sees any action this spring, his 1200 acres of potatos will need hundreds of pounds of nitrogren. The same goes for his 2000 acres of corn and kidney beans, hungry for anhydrous ammonia and urea -- two popular fertilizers made by mixing raw nitrogen with natural gas.
January 25, 2001 - A team of migrant workers pulled well-formed apples from trees at the Pepin Heights Orchard. They are also working on getting rid of the pests.
January 25, 2001 - MPR’s Annie Feidt reports on The Midwest Food Alliance, a new local organization that is hoping to convince Minnesotans to pay closer attention to the source of their food. The alliance supports and promotes the products of local farmers who practice environmentally sound, sustainable agriculture. The organization hopes consumers will search out its brightly colored stickers on produce and meats, the way some look for the organic label.
January 29, 2001 - America is facing an energy crisis. In Minnesota energy experts say the state needs 5 new power plants. The crisis is making some folk look west to the Dakotas which could produce more wind power than it needs. But as Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Reha reports the next problem is getting that energy to where its needed.
January 29, 2001 - The loss of jobs on Minnesota's Iron Range doesn't just affect mining towns, such as Hibbing and Chisholm. In Duluth, the huge ships passing under the aerial bridge are already carrying less iron ore. In fact, last year the port moved more coal than iron ore for the first time since the Great Depression. Last year, ore shipments from the Duluth-Superior port hit their lowest level since the 1980s, when the Iron Range economy took a nose dive and the mines laid off thousands of workers. The mining slump in the '80s hit Duluth hard, too. Businesses closed. People lost jobs. This time, economists are predicting Duluth will withstand the blow somewhat better. But they say the city WILL suffer. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Julin reports.
January 31, 2001 - The North Shore of Lake Superior is one of Minnesota's favorite playgrounds. Just beyond the Lester River northeast of Duluth, it's a drive into wilderness. Small homes on large lots and a few motels dot the rugged rock shoreline, and the generous expanse of the Lake gives a feeling of solitude. But that may change dramatically in the next few years as a planned sewer line is laid down from Duluth to Knife River or even as far as Two Harbors. Advocates say the sewer line is needed because most of the individual septic tanks along the shore are failing, allowing raw effluent to drain into the ground water and the lake. But a sewer would allow more development, which critics say could irrevocably change the character of the North Shore, and actually bring MORE pollution to the area. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill has the second in a series of reports about development along the North Shore.
February 1, 2001 - Small towns all across Minnesota are trying to attract businesses to provide jobs for workers. In Cook County on the North Shore of Lake Superior, businesses are thriving but there aren't enough places for the workers to live. It's a problem that plagues many resort areas, and people in Cook County are coming up with some innovative solutions. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill has the third in a series of reports about growth along the North Shore of Lake Superior.
February 15, 2001 - After skiing and parasailing across Anarctica for more than 90 days, explorers Ann Bancroft and Liv Arneson will test a different skill... waiting. The pair have decided to cut their expedition short by having a plane pick them up on the Ross Ice Shelf, instead of continuing another 470 miles on to McMurdo station. The plane rescue is not cheap-- it adds about 200-thousand dollars to the trip's expenses. Charlie Hartwell is president of yourexpedition.com, the Minneapolis company supporting the trip. He says with the anarctic winter closing in, continuing on would have been a risk:
February 15, 2001 - Controversy about where to lay the track for the DM&E Railroad: through Rochester, Minnesota or through farmland?
February 16, 2001 -