December 11, 2001 - As part of Mainstreet Radio’s “Our Town” project, Stephanie Hemphill reports on debate in Duluth between preservationists and those wanting new buildings. The city's old Armory is the lastest battlefield in that ongoing conflict.
December 12, 2001 - The Iron Range power plant would be the biggest in Minnesota and it would in one of Minnesota's most econimically-struggling areas.
December 13, 2001 - The owner of Minnesota's only big game shooting preserve says the first season is a success. People pay thousands of dollars to shoot elk, bison and other big game on his farm near Detroit Lakes. Big game shooting preserves are illegal in Minnesota. But not on the White Earth Reservation. And Mainstreet Radios Dan Gunderson reports attempts are being made to expand such game reserves across the state.
December 17, 2001 - Minnesota's unusually warm weather this fall has been tough on the state's resorts. Ice fishermen are staying home because most of the state's lakes are still not frozen. Some small lakes in the northern third of the state are ice covered. But on Lake Mille Lacs conditions haven't been right for a freeze. Usually by this time, the lake would be frozen, with icehouses dotting it's surface. As Mainstreet Radio's Tim Post reports, resort owners on the big lake hope for a cold snap soon, so they can salvage what's left of their winter business.
December 17, 2001 - People in the tiny town of Priam in Kandiyohi County have banded together to take on the town's only business. The Minnesota Valley Alfalfa Producers co-op turns hay from 380 area farmers into food pellets for livestock. The plant shrouds homes across the street in a thick, stale cloud of alfalfa dust, and residents have complained for years. The Co-op has been a tough case for the Pollution Control Agency. But Mainstreet Radio's Jeff Horwich reports the plant may be on the verge of cleaning up its act.
December 19, 2001 - After East Grand Forks and Breckinridge were decimated by the floods of 1997, government buyouts moved hundreds of homes and businesses to higher ground. This past spring, floods along the Red, Mississippi, and Minnesota rivers fell just short of 1997 levels. After facing the rushing waters once again, at least one more town has decided enough is enough. The buyout effort in Granite Falls will be smaller, but no less significant for a city so closely tied to its river. Mainstreet Radio's Jeff Horwich reports.
December 20, 2001 - Host intro: Law enforcement officials around the country have been stepping up security measures everywhere since the September 11 attacks. Officials are operating at a heightened sense of alert even in Duluth, more than a thousand miles from the nearest ocean. Duluth-Superior is the busiest port on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes. Port officials say they are thinking a lot more about security. But they say a terrorist attack on the port is unlikely. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill has the next report in our series on border security.
December 21, 2001 - It's looking like Minnesota will get a white Christmas after all. A developing winter storm is on track to bring snow to most of the state by tomorrow evening. Bill Harrison is a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen. He says the storm is centered over the Rockies right now:
December 21, 2001 - Established in the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the United States and British North America created the border.
December 24, 2001 - MPR’s Mark Steil reports that wind turbines are becoming a more popular scene in the country because farmers are harvesting the wind for electricity. Steil interviews numerous individuals about this creative use of farmland.