April 1, 1998 - Southern Minnesota extension officials say Sunday's tornadoes damaged more than 200 farms. Dairy farmers have been especially hard hit. In Brown County dairy farmers are scrambling to care for their cows, which must be milked twice a day. With barns destroyed and electricity out, some are selling their herds. Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports: Brown County extension director Wayne Schoper says 140 farms were damaged as the tornado cut a 30 mile long path through the southern part of the county. The storm is causing the most immediate hardship for dairy farmers. If cows are not milked regularly their udders' may get infected, possibly ending their milk producing days for good. Schoper says some farmers h
April 1, 1998 - MPR’s Euan Kerr presents yet another April Fools’ Day treat. In a secret location just a few miles over the Minnesota border into Wisconsin. Kerr interviews Milt Whiting, who is an attempting to bring the little known, but possibly illegal, European practice of fish-grooming to the Midwest.
April 1, 1998 - MPR's Bob Kelleher reports from Duluth, where one of the Ojibwe Bands that had staked its fortunes on a casino at Hudson, Wisconsin is now struggling under a new financial crisis. Northern Wisconsin's Red Cliff Band was one of three whose joint application to build a new Casino near Minnesota's border was rejected by Interior Department Secretary Bruce Babbitt, triggering a federal investigation. The Red Cliff Band has declared a state of emergency after discovering a huge shortfall of cash intended to support social programs. Now it is trying to keep services in place.
April 1, 1998 - MPR’s Gretchen Lehmann profiles the historical impact of the “Willmar 8” and how it will be remembered by future generations. Lehmann interviews a member of the “Willmar 8” and two academics.
April 1, 1998 - Today officials from the Minnesota Historical Society will visit Saint Peter to survey tornado damage to the city's historic buildings. Hundreds of homes business and civic buildings were badly damaged Sunday night. Many others were destroyed. Some of those buildings were part of Saint Peter's early history, a town once chosen as the state capital. Minnesota Public Radio's Lynette Nyman reports.
April 2, 1998 - Steven Schier, Carleton College political science professor, and employment lawyer/sexual harassment expert Ellen Sampson, of the Minneapolis law firm Leonard, Street and Deinard, discuss the implications of the Paula Jones lawsuit being thrown out of court. Schier and Sampson also answer listener questions.
April 2, 1998 - A House-Senate conference committee has once again deadlocked over abortion issues. A coalition of non-profit agencies says the impasse jeopardizes state funding for a wide range of health and social services. Minnesota Public Radios Eric Jansen reports from the state capitol: Abortion issues took center stage in more than five hours of debate last night over a health and human services bill. House and Senate conferees are, in theory at least, trying to work out differences between House and Senate versions of the bill that appropriates nearly $60 million dollars for a wide range of health and social service programs.
April 2, 1998 - MPR’s Cara Hetland reports that the tornadoes in Comfrey and St. Peter has brought memories back for the residents of Chandler in southwest Minnesota. A tornado in 1992 wiped out nearly all of the town. They have rebuilt their town and gone one with their lives but the memories and emotions are still strong.
April 2, 1998 - Nicollet is one of four counties included in President Clinton's disaster declaration. Saint Peter residents now have access to federal money to help repair and rebuild after Sunday's tornado. Governor Arne Carlson also sent a team from the state historical society to help calm fears that the twister robbed the city of it's original charm. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes reports.
April 3, 1998 - The National Weather service issued a preliminary report indicating extraordinarily wide and long-running tornados were responsible for the damage in Comfrey, Le Center, and St. Peter on March 29, 1998. The review identified a total of seven seperate tornadoes which hit Brown, Nicollet, Le Sueur, Rice, and Dakota counties. Two, or possibly three, of the tornadoes were especially destructive "multiple vortex" tornadoes.