September 14, 1998 - As part of a series of stories following the path of the "Father of Waters,” aka the Mississippi River, Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen has this Mainstreet report on recreational growth on the river and the implications for industries that has traditionally used the water.
September 15, 1998 - The farm crisis is about to enter a new phase as Minnesota farmers begin their corn and soybean harvests....the states largest cash crops. The price of those grains is so low most farmers plan to store the crop until prices improve. Farmers and grain elevators are scrambling to find enough space to hold the crop. Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports: traffic sounds up Along highway 14 in Walnut Grove is an example of how one farmer beat the grain storage problem. On a corner is a turn of the century grain elevator. Along with some steel bins added later, the complex once was
September 15, 1998 - Farm groups met with President Clinton today to urge quick action on what they're calling a crisis in the country's farm economy. Farm income is falling due to low prices as well as losses from drought, storms and plant diseases. Lawmakers want to provide a bail-out but have been unable to agree on how much to spend or how to distribute it. The House did vote today to use the budget surplus for farm aid rather than requiring politically impossible cuts in other government programs. Minnesota Farmers Union President Dave Frederickson flew to Washington today to urge the president and lawmakers to free up more money for loans: Minnesota Farmers Union President Dave Frederickso
September 15, 1998 - In Minnesota Public Radio's Mississippi River series, we've reported on Twin Cities' efforts to re-integrate the riverfront into city planning, and we've looked at efforts to balance commercial and recreational uses of the river. We've also looked at the environmental impact of using the river as an industrial thoroughfare. In this final segment, we'll focus on the geology of the river, and in particular, its waterfalls. The only waterfalls along the 23-hundred miles of the MIssissippi are all clustered in the Twin Cities. Author Richard Arey recently published a limited edition book called Waterfalls of the Mississippi that tells their story. Arey says the biggest falls, River Warren Falls, in what is now downtown St. Paul were once the largest in North America:
September 15, 1998 - As part of a series of stories following the path of the "Father of Waters,” aka the Mississippi River, Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes has this Mainstreet report on the he U.S. Army Corps, which vigorously controls the river in the southeastern part of Minnesota. That has come at a environmental cost…a loss of diversity.
September 16, 1998 - The state patrol arrested two activists this morning in the protest against the rerouting of Highway 55 in Minneapolis. Members of Earth First! and other groups have been camped (out) in the path of the proposed highway expansion for more than a month, but today marked the first arrests. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports. Officers arrested two men who had chained themselves to heavy equipment. The bulldozers were sent there to remove water and gas connections to houses condemned to make way for the highway. Earth First! and other groups including the American Indian Movement, the Indiginous Environmental Network, and the Mendota Dakota have
September 17, 1998 - Norm Coleman says HE's the only candidate for Governor who knows how to lower taxes -- and keep them low. He's been campaigning on that theme for months, but today (THURS) he got specific for the first time about which taxes he plans to cut -- and by how much. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: In the three months since the Republicans endorsed him for Governor, Norm Coleman has hinted he'd emphasize cuts in INCOME taxes over other kinds of tax relief. Now he's put hard numbers to his tax-cut promises, and it appears income tax cuts do indeed take the lion's share: Of the $1.08 Billion dollars in permanent tax relief, 1 Billion is income tax cuts and credits. ((COLEMAN: What we're looking for is something that is clear and is simple, soemthing that cuts across the board for all taxpayers. So we're giving the m9oney back the way it came in, and the simplest way, the most equitable way, so I can tell every Minnesota who's listenin
September 21, 1998 - Pollution that that has killed tens of thousands of fish in a southern Minnesota creek is spreading slowly downstream toward the Minnesota River. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is investigating to see if a pipe leak reported September 14th by a vegetable processor in Montgomery is the main cause of the fish kill. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports. Around 15 miles of Sand Creek-- a tributary that flows north to the Minnesota River--are now contaminated. What DNR officials describe as a "black slug" water has moved downstream from Montgomery and is now a few m
September 28, 1998 - Over the weekend the largest windfarm in the world was dedicated in Southwestern Minnesota, and started feeding electricity into the power grid. However if you want a smaller wind generator just for a house or a farm, you have to look further north. A Duluth company is one of only a half a dozen in the world which manufactures small wind generators intended to power single households. World Power Technologies is finding new markets for it's tower-mounted generators after riding a wild boom and bust cycle in the United States for 20 years.
September 29, 1998 - This summer as many as 150 thousand fish died in four major fish kills in southeast Minnesota. Contamination from area farms was blamed for two of the kills and a spill from a local packing plant for a third. While news of the kills attracted lots of media attention, Department of Natural Resources officials don't even think they're finding all of the kills that take place. They're forming a group of scientists to try to figure out why fish kills occur and how to prevent them.