March 12, 2001 - Today's big snowstorm was a reminder that it is still winter, despite the few signs of spring we've seen lately. This storm dumped as much as 8 inches of new snow in extreme southern Minnesota, with lesser snowfall amounts throughout the rest of the region. Bill Togstad is a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.
March 13, 2001 - Minnesota's boom and bust taconite industry enjoyed a long healthy period in the 1990's. But by 1998, steel makers began to feel the full of effects of open trade on the global market. The struggle ended for Minnesota's second largest taconite producer in January, when LTV Steel Corporation closed it's Hoyt Lakes mine and taconite pellet plant. Now, as Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports, other producers are fighting to stay open.
March 13, 2001 - Despite exploding consumer demand, the state's Department of Agriculture plans to slash funding to organic and sustainable programs under a budget proposal currently awaiting legislative approval. Under the 2002-2003 budget, money will be redirected to new initiatives designed to attract a broader range of farmers. The state's agriculture commissioner says his department needs to invest money in more market friendly programs, despite numbers from the Organic Trade Association indicating US sales of organic produce has jumped more than 122-percent since 1996. Mainstreet's Erin Galbally reports the first of two stories on the state's shifting marketing philosophy when it comes to agriculture.
March 14, 2001 - Koochiching County officials in northern Minnesota are sponsoring a snowmobile radar run this weekend in Voyageurs National Park, despite warnings from park officials that the event is against federal regulations. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Robertson reports... For the past 18 years, Voyageurs National Park has allowed an International Falls area snowmobile club to conduct a radar run on Lake Kabetogama within park boundaries. Snow sleds would race one at a time across the frozen surface competing for the fastest speeds. But this year, park officials denied the request. That irked the Koochiching County Board enough to prompt them to host their own radar run. Commissioner Wade Pavleck...
March 14, 2001 -
March 20, 2001 - At 7:31 this morning we mark the passing of the vernal equinox, one of two times each year when the amount of daylight and darkness are equal. Though it would be hard to tell by our still snow-covered landscape, the vernal equinox marks the official beginning of spring. I visited the Lowry Nature Center and took a hike through the woods with Interpretive Naturalist Dianne Rowse, to see if we could find any signs of spring. She says LAST year, those signs came early.
March 21, 2001 -
March 22, 2001 - Minnesota River is looking at potential flooding. National Weather Service's Gary McDevitt is interviewed about the situation.
March 26, 2001 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports on the effects low water levels in Lake Superior are having on shipping. Great Lakes freighters will be loading lighter than ever to stay above the bottoms of harbors and rivers between the lakes.
March 26, 2001 - The Department of Natural Resources is predicting an increase in tent caterpillars this spring. The caterpillars munch their way through Minnesota's northern forests, stripping the leaves off trees as they go. Last year, the insects consumed two (M) million acres of forest -- this season's devastation could cover twice that. Mike Albers is a Forest Health Specialist with the DNR. I asked him what causes the invasion: