July 3, 2003 - When the Garrison Dam was built 50 years ago on the Missouri river, it created a lake nearly 200 miles long. Lake Sakakawea became a thriving fishery that attracts anglers from around the country. Visitors to the lake spend millions of dollars each year. But many fear low water will lead to economic ruin for businesses around Sakakawea. Dan Gunderson continues our Mainstreet Radio series, "Water Wars."
July 4, 2003 - The 200th anniversary this year of the Louisiana Purchase is taking a back seat to the Lewis and Clark bicentennial observance. However, the Louisiana Purchase which included part of what would become Minnesota is arguably a bigger deal - literally. In one stroke the size of the country was doubled. And as Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports, behind the transaction lurks a tale of geopolitics and intrigue.
July 4, 2003 - Tropical Storm Bill emerged from the Gulf of Mexico earlier this week, drenching several southeastern Gulf states. It also produced many severe thunderstorms and over 30 tornadoes. This brought the number of tornadoes reported across the nation this year close to 1000, a record setting pace for so early in the summer. The record number of annual tornadoes is 1424 set in 1998.
July 4, 2003 - A group of midwest farmers has filed a class action lawsuit over the sale of their corn-processing plant to the agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland. The lawsuit claims ADM paid the corn plant's CEO and other executives millions of dollars in return for a deal that short-changed farmers. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports.
July 7, 2003 - The debate over the use of natural resources plays out in the national forests and other public lands. A new book by the head of the U.S. Forest Service in the Clinton administration advances that debate with some new ideas. Michael Dombeck has just published "From Conquest to Conservation: Our Public Lands Legacy." Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill spoke with him. {
July 9, 2003 - Supporters of the Springbrook Nature Center in Fridley are coming out in force this week. They're holding meetings and rallys to get the attention of city leaders who have proposed closing the Nature Center. The city says state cuts to local governments put Fridley's budget in tough shape... so they proposed eliminating the 300-thousand dollars spent on the Center every year. Joining us on the line is Malcolm Mitchell.... one of the leaders of the movement to save the Springbrook Nature Center. That is Malcolm Mitchell, one of the leaders of the movement to save the Springbrook Nature Center.
July 11, 2003 - Severe thunderstorms in Nebraska back on June 22nd may have produced a new record size hailstone for the United States. With cloud tops as high as 71,000 feet, massive thunderstorm complexes passed over Hamilton County, Nebraska on that Sunday night. Hail began to fall, producing 10 to 12 inch diameter impact craters in the soil surface. Most of the hailstones broke up on impact, some falling through the roof of several homes. Two of the hailstones from Aurora, NE were collected and preserved for National Weather Service inspection and measurement. One measured 6.5 inches in diameter and 17.3 inches in circumference, while the other measured 7 inches in diameter and 18.75 inches in circumference. The recognized record hailstone size in the United States is from a thunderstorm over Coffeyville, KS on September 3, 1970 that produced a stone 5.7 inches in diameter and 17.5 inches in circumference. Staff from the National Center for Atmospheric Research will soon determine whether or not one of the Aurora, NE hailstones represents a new record.
July 11, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio’s Bob Kelleher reports that Minnesota's premier hiking trail is finally complete - it's taken fifteen years. A missing eight-mile stretch of the Superior Hiking Trail has been cleared through northeast Minnesota forest and the trail now runs, without break, 235 miles from Two Harbors to the Canadian border. The trail features wind swept views of the world's biggest lake, challenging hills, beavers, bears, moose, and mosquitoes.
July 14, 2003 - For lots of young people, summer means time to go to camp. There are different kinds of camps - hockey camp, language camp, Girl Scout camp. An increasingly popular option for talented young instrumentalists is music camp. MPR's Stephanie Hemphill visits Madeline Island out on Lake Superior, where young people from around the Midwest spend four weeks playing classical music.
July 15, 2003 - All over Minnesota this summer, people are bringing old fishing tackle back to the store. Two state agencies are teaming up with conservation groups to offer free lead tackle exchanges. There's growing evidence that lead tackle is poisoning loons and eagles. Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports. {