Climate change, industry, parks, air and water quality are issues that are debated in congress, compete for funding and enpassion many Minnesotans.
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 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. {
July 15, 2003 - People in Ashland, Wisconsin are frustrated about how long it's taking to clean up pollution on their Lake Superior waterfront. The city wants to expand a marina and try to draw more tourists to town. But the shoreline is full of dangerous wastes from an old gas plant. Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports. {
July 21, 2003 - The Minnesota Department of Agriculture predicts a good summer for the state's grains, corn, and soybean growers. State Agricultural Statistician Michael Hunst hunt st says the recent weather has been good for crops.
July 22, 2003 - Golfers fear it, and experts say it can add five strokes to a players game. We're talking about the "yips." As Mainstreet Radio's Rob Schmitz reports, Rochester's Mayo Clinic is trying to find the cause. For many golfers it's an everyday nightmare. You're on the green of the tenth hole and you're shooting for a birdie. All you have to do is sink a simple, two-foot putt. The last thing that goes through your mind is: "Anyone can make this putt." But you don't. You either freeze up and barely hit the ball, or your wrist makes a jerking motion that sends the ball sailing past the hole. You probably should've taken a gimmee, but you've just yipped it. And golfer Alan Ferguson knows exactly how you feel.
July 23, 2003 - A new monitoring program has revealed what may be a chronic problem for Duluth beaches nasty germs. Two beaches were posted yesterday Tuesday for unsafe levels of bacteria in the water. So far, Duluth beaches have been posted seven times this summer. It's not certain where the bacteria is coming from - but a spate of large sewage spills is one possible source. Mainstreet Radio's Bob Kelleher reports
July 28, 2003 - When Voyageurs National Park was created in 1975, there were still thousands of acres of private land within park boundaries. Voyaguers is in far nothern Minnesota nestled along some of the largest border lakes. The federal government immediately began buying up the privately held land. Home and cabin owners were forced to sell. But they were given a choice. Some sold their property outright. Many more purchased 25-year leases so they could stay longer. About 50 of those leases end this year. One of them is held by Norbert and Etta Jean Goulet. The elderly couple has been living alone on a small island on Rainy Lake for 40 years. Mainstreet Radio's Tom Robertson talked to the Goulets as they prepare to leave behind their pioneer island lifestyle.
August 1, 2003 - In most city neighborhoods, much of the rainwater that hits roofs, patios, driveways is shunted to storm sewers. From there, it washes pollution into rivers, lakes, and streams. But in the Fulton neighborhood of Minneapolis, a few hardy gardeners are taking steps to change that. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports.
August 8, 2003 - The people in the cars whizzing over the Twin Cities' Mississippi River bridges this morning may not realize that they're passing over a National Park site. But they are. The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area consists of seventy-two miles of the Father of Waters and a host of parks, trails, and historic sites along the riverbanks in the Twin Cities area. This weekend, the National Park Service celebrates the opening of a visitor center in downtown Saint Paul to help acquaint people with the attractions along the National River. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen reports....
August 8, 2003 - Remember what happened at Alexandria, MN earlier this summer, at Roseau, MN last June, in the Twin Cities in the Spring of 2001, and all over the state in April of 1997, floods. Minnesota is subject to two kinds of flooding, that due to rapid and abundant spring snow melt, and that due to persistent and intense thunderstorm rainfalls.