Climate change, industry, parks, air and water quality are issues that are debated in congress, compete for funding and enpassion many Minnesotans.
March 12, 2001 - Today's big snowstorm was a reminder that it is still winter, despite the few signs of spring we've seen lately. This storm dumped as much as 8 inches of new snow in extreme southern Minnesota, with lesser snowfall amounts throughout the rest of the region. Bill Togstad is a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.
March 13, 2001 - Minnesota's boom and bust taconite industry enjoyed a long healthy period in the 1990's. But by 1998, steel makers began to feel the full of effects of open trade on the global market. The struggle ended for Minnesota's second largest taconite producer in January, when LTV Steel Corporation closed it's Hoyt Lakes mine and taconite pellet plant. Now, as Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports, other producers are fighting to stay open.
March 14, 2001 -
March 20, 2001 - At 7:31 this morning we mark the passing of the vernal equinox, one of two times each year when the amount of daylight and darkness are equal. Though it would be hard to tell by our still snow-covered landscape, the vernal equinox marks the official beginning of spring. I visited the Lowry Nature Center and took a hike through the woods with Interpretive Naturalist Dianne Rowse, to see if we could find any signs of spring. She says LAST year, those signs came early.
March 21, 2001 -
March 22, 2001 - Minnesota River is looking at potential flooding. National Weather Service's Gary McDevitt is interviewed about the situation.
March 26, 2001 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports on the effects low water levels in Lake Superior are having on shipping. Great Lakes freighters will be loading lighter than ever to stay above the bottoms of harbors and rivers between the lakes.
March 27, 2001 - Mark Broderson and a few other ice climbers built their own ice waterfall. It is 42-feet high and three telephone poles are supporting the structure. They are also able to control the safety of the ice structure.
March 30, 2001 - A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, ON THIS DATE, IT WAS 73 DEGREES. THE ICE WAS GONE OFF OF LAKE WACONIA, AND LAKES CALHOUN AND HARRIET IN MINNEAPOLIS. TODAY, THERE'S STILL ABOUT EIGHT INCHES OF SNOW ON THE GROUND, AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN CHANHASSEN....UP TO TWO FEET STILL REMAINS AT THE TIP OF THE ARROWHEAD, AROUND GRAND MARAIS. JUST HOW LONG WILL THE SNOW HANG ON? MARK SEELY CAN'T ANSWER THAT QUESTION THIS MORNING, HE'S IN GREAT BRITAIN. STILL STATESIDE IS PAUL DOUGLAS, CHEIF METEORGIST WITH WCCO TV.
April 2, 2001 - Duluth's restaurant smoking ban - now three months old - is generating more controversy than ever. A few restaurants are openly defying the ordinance. Supporters of the ban say it just needs more time. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports. {Duluth's restaurant smoking ban has been complicated and confusing from the time it was first proposed. And oddly enough, both supporters and detractors agree on what's causing the biggest problem - the exemptions built into the law. Bars and bowling alleys are exempt. Restaurants that show a 15% loss of business can also get an exemption. To complicate matters further, after 8:00 at night, restaurants that are also bars CAN allow smoking.