March 24, 1999 - The National Transportation Safety Board has begun its investigation into the crash of Cirrus Design's SR 20. The accident came as Cirrus was poised to begin customer deliveries of the aircraft, and the Duluth-based company was moving toward full-scale production. Now, Cirrus and federal authorities will be intensely scrutinizing the design and production process of the company's flagship airplane, with investors and customers looking on.
March 24, 1999 - The United States Supreme Court today ended one of Minnesota's most contentious disputes by ruling in favor of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe's right to spearfish and gillnet on the state's premier walleye lake, Lake Mille Lacs. By a vote of 5-to-4, the High Court ruled the Band has retained the right to hunt and fish, free from state regulation on 13-million acres of land it sold to the government more than 160 years ago. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports on this landmark decision.
March 25, 1999 - The Minnesota House has voted 94 to 37 for a hunting and trapping season for the gray wolf once the animal comes off the endangered species list. Members approved the bill at the urging of Northern Minnesota legislators who said wolves in their districts are coming into increasing conflict with people. Minnesota wolves are expected to be removed from federal protection sometime in the year 2000.
March 25, 1999 - You may not know his name, but you probably know his work. Ralph Rapson has put his mark on the Twin Cities as only an architect can -- in the buildings many of us see and live with nearly every day... the Guthrie Theater, the Cedar West highrise apartments, and many houses for people of modest and not so modest means. Perhaps most importantly -- he was head of the University of Minnesota school of architecture for 30 years --- educating the architects of the future. And now opening this weekend the first major retrospective on Rapson career along with a new book on his life and work.
March 25, 1999 - Northern States Power Company today announced plans to merge with Denver-based New Century Energies. The deal would create a company with more than six and a half BILLION dollars in revenue and customers in 12 states and several foreign countries. Finalization of the merger will require the approval of numerous state and federal regulators.
March 25, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports that Mille Lacs Ojibwe leaders called for cooperation and friendship after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of treaty rights. The decision affirmed an 1837 agreement allowing eight tribes to fish and hunt without state regulation in east-central Minnesota.
March 25, 1999 - It will be a year ago Monday when a tornado cut a nearly 70 mile long path of destruction through southern Minnesota. The storm practically destroyed the town of Comfrey, and the destructive winds hit hundreds of farms, knocking down houses, barns and silos. The economic hardship caused by the storm arrived just as agriculture was sinking into a financial crisis. The worst farm damage was in Brown County, where the physical and emotional rebuilding continues today.
March 25, 1999 - In the first of a series of reports, Mainstreet Radio's Brent Wolfe reports on the re-building of the trailer park in Le Center, after a devastating tornado a year ago.
March 26, 1999 - Supporters of a hunting and trapping season for Minnesota wolves suffered a setback today, as a wolf management plan that would NOT allow a season for at least five years cleared a senate committee.
March 26, 1999 - In Superior, Wisconsin, a hardware fanatics Aladdins cave is on the auction block... and drawing visitors from around the country. Berger Hardware Store opened in 1915 and closed 70 years later, crammed to the ceiling with stock that often dates back to the 1920's and 30's. The store was known to locals as the one place that stocked everything, even if it was decades out of date.