November 23, 2001 - In elections around the state earlier this month, a record number of school districts asked voters to approve extra money for school programs. Most of those levy referendums passed. In Cook County in northeastern Minnesota, voters defeated a $300,000 referendum. But some residents aren't giving up. They're not challenging the referendum, but they're still trying to raise money. They've organized a fund drive. They're inviting people to contribute any amount, and they've raised about thirteen thousand dollars in just a couple of weeks. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports.
November 23, 2001 -
November 26, 2001 - Six whooping cranes are nearing the end of their migration from Wisconsin's Neceda Wildlife Refuge to a refuge in central Florida. The U-S Fish and Wildlife service is leading the endangered birds by ultralight aircraft. The service hopes to re-establish a traditional migration path the species forgot as its numbers dwindled. Chuck Underwood is a public affairs officer with the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service. He says the crane personalities have significantly slowed the migration:
November 26, 2001 - A snowstorm closed schools and slowed travel today in Minnesota and neighboring states. Up to 8 inches of snow has fallen in southwest Minnesota and winds are gusting over 30 miles an hour. Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports:
November 26, 2001 - The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging states to adopt new quarantine laws to prepare for bioterrorism. Legal experts say if there were an outbreak of smallpox or some other highly contagious disease, the legal authority to act would fall to states, NOT the federal government. The CDC has floated a model state law calling for strict quarantines and compulsory vaccinations. So far, at least seven states including Minnesota are considering measures based on the CDC model. Minnesota's proposed legislation would give state health authorities powers greater than any they've used in the past, even during historic outbreaks of smallpox. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports.
November 26, 2001 - A major winter storm could dump record amounts of snow over much of the state. It has already forced many schools in southern and central Minnesota to close early. And Twin Cities Airport officials have had to cancel more than 70 incoming and outbound flights. Seth Binau (BEE-now) is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen. He says the storm is concentrated on the central third of the state:
November 26, 2001 - At the end of the year, South Dakota's oldest and largest gold mine closes. For 125 years Homestake Gold Mine has defined the Black Hills town of Lead (LEED). A group of scientists say the mine can still have a bright future. As a premiere research facility. Plans for the Homestake National Underground Science Laboratory are tied up in legal and legislative wrangling. But scientists who already work in a portion of the gold mine say it'll be the biggest thing for science and the Midwest since the discovery of gold. Mainstreet Radio's Cara Hetland reports:
November 26, 2001 - James McQuirter is a forecaster with the National Weather Service. That's James McQuirter, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.
November 27, 2001 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports that while the snowfall in Duluth from storm is not immense, the wind hitting Lake Superior is, creating damage…and spectacle.
November 27, 2001 - Mainstreet Radio’s Tim Post spent the morning with his neighbors, shoveling more than a foot of heavy, wet snow. A powerful winter storm buried central and western Minnesota with as much as 30 inches of snow. The heaviest band of snow stretched from Willmar to St. Cloud.