June 2, 1998 - The March tornadoes in southwestern Minnesota forced many farmers to ask some very tough questions about their future. Rebuilding a farm operation broken apart by a tornado is difficult.... and this year's recovery is complicated by low grain, livestock and milk prices. Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports: The tornado tore a good chunk of the roof off the dairy barn on the Ron and Penny Mohr farm near New Ulm. It also ruined a couple of feed silos, toppling concrete blocks from one into the barn. Ron Mohr says within a few hours of the storm he knew he might have to sell his milk cows: :17 (There was guy came here at ten o'clock at night to help
June 2, 1998 - MPR’s William Wilcoxen visits St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood, where the clean up along the Highland Parkway is taking place after a windstorm downed much of the tree canopy in area. Along with trees, homes and cars were left damaged or destroyed.
June 2, 1998 - Stress is taking a toll on residents of Newport who are still without power. The town of four thousand people is eight miles south of St. Paul on the Mississippi river. About half of Newport's residents are still without power. The Saturday night storm hit the town hard, felling hundreds of old trees and causing extensive property damage. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more. audio . . .ambience Newport has the feel of a village. Modest homes, some only a stones throw from the Mississippi are shaded by state
June 2, 1998 - There are still some seventy-thousand people in the metro area without power after Saturday night's storm. That's down from nearly half a million in the immediate aftermath of the storm, but for those still without power, NSP is now estimating it could be near the end of the week before they're back on line. Gerry Larson is the General Manager of Electric Delivery for NSP: Gerry Larson is with NSP. Three Minneapolis public schools that lost power in the storm will
June 3, 1998 - An MPR special on the environmental implications of the deformed and declining populations of frogs. Ron Heyer, Curator of Amphibians & Reptiles at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and the Chair of the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force, discusses the issue and answers listener questions. Program begins with a report from MPR’s Mary Losure, who interviews various experts in the science community.
June 3, 1998 - Thousands of Twin Cities area residents are still waiting for the lights to come back on after last Saturday's storm. As of this afternoon, Northern States Power reports 41-thousand-200 customers without power. That's down from a total of 434-thousand Saturday night. But the utility says it could be Friday before all service is restored. Utility crews are working non-stop, but some customers are losing patience. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... (Sound of crew) On a stretch of rural road in Afton, utility workers prepare an auger to drill fresh holes in a ditch cluttered with broken tree branches. They'll erect new wooden poles and replace the power line neede
June 3, 1998 - In the years since the first reports about the disappearance of frogs worldwide, many researchers have warned the plight of amphibians may be an early sign of environmental problems that could affect humans. More recent reports of DEFORMED frogs have added to these concerns. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure has the final report in our series on vanishing frogs. Around the world, frogs are disappearing for reasons scientists don't understand. Now, that mystery has a new twist---the DEFORMED frogs first reported in Minnesota in 1995, and later from many other states.
June 3, 1998 - Migrant workers are arriving in southeast Minnesota to work in canning and packing plants. Many come from the Eagle Pass area of Texas, along the Mexican border. They used to travel to the Red River Valley to work on the sugar beet harvest but mechanization and better farm chemicals mean sugar beet farmers don't need as much labor. In the first report in an occasional series on migrants in Minnesota, Minnesota Public Radio's Brent Wolfe introduces us to one migrant family and what they leave behind.
June 3, 1998 - There's change taking place in Saint Peter. Since the tornado hit March 29th, businesses and homes are slowly rebuilding. It seems the storm effected everything and everyone. And for some people reinvention rather than replication from the rubble heals best. In the past few weeks we've been following the recovery through the eyes of two Saint Peter residents. Today Minnesota Public Radio's Lynette Nyman talks again with resident Nancy Jordet. Nancy Jordet has been very busy reconstructing her life. But there's a sense of calm and purpose in her face that was missing those first few days after the storm. She is back at work running her graphic design business, but the common problems of balancing business and family
June 4, 1998 - Vice President Al Gore says the residents of Spencer, South Dakota will receive immediate federal aid to help them recover from Saturday's tornado. Six people were killed by the storm which nearly leveled the town of 300. Gore visited the town yesterday and said he was amazed by the damage. After Gore left, most of the town's residents gathered in a city park for a worship service. Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports: Vice President Gore walked past mounds of rubble which once were homes. The broken pieces of lumber were strewn with clothes, toys, books and other persona items. He stopped often to comfort r