August 23, 1999 - About 700 Farmers gathered at the Carver County Fairgrounds in Waconia this weekend for "Rural Crisis Accountability Day". The rally gave agriculture and labor officials - along with politicians and clergy - a chance to air potential solutions for the current crisis in agriculture.
August 23, 1999 - A coalition of affordable housing advocates in Minneapolis says some city council members are not dealing effectively with the shortage of affordable housing. Today the council president and other council members to withdraw a proposed affordable housing plan they call inadequate.
August 24, 1999 - Anglers on Mille Lacs Lake are seeing the best walleye catch in at least seven years. Half a million pounds of walleye have been taken from the lake this summer; another 200-thousand pounds caught and released. While thats great for resorters and tourists, it also means the so-called safe harvest level for Mille Lacs has already been exceeded, with the popular fall fishing season still to come.
August 24, 1999 - Last summer, some Minnesotans found themselves waiting up to three months to schedule a drivers license road test. Now, Governor Jesse Ventura and officials from the Department of Public Safety say the wait is over. Ventura says it's all part of a new focus on customer service.
August 24, 1999 - Several recent public disturbances have the Minneapolis City Council reconsidering special late-night closing times for some downtown bars. Councilmember Joe Biernat is asking the council to look at whether two early morning brawls might not have happened if bars were forced to shut down a few hours earlier. With a "late night license" downtown bars can stay open until three am as long as they stop serving alcohol at one. Biernat sponsored the late night license a few years ago, but says the program didn't work out as he hoped.
August 24, 1999 -
August 25, 1999 - Police have made arrests in the Jessica Swanson case. The cannon falls girl was three years old when she disappeared in 1995. Police held a news conference in Red Wing today to announce their progress in the case.
August 25, 1999 - The anti-depression drug Prozac may be an effective treatment for Anorexia Nervosa. Researchers say studies have shown the drug seems to help patients resist a relapse by boosting their abnormally low mood which is a side-effect of starvation. The University of Minnesota is participating in one of several national studies on Prozac. Principal investigator Dr. Scott Crow, says while it is too early to report any findings from the U-of-M study, he expects to discover similar results in his patients.
August 25, 1999 - Discussions about y2k are everywhere. The talk ranges from big fears like airplanes falling from the sky, to the inevitable irritations we're bound to experience if the power goes out or there are fewer choices at the grocery story for a few days. But for some people, there's something else to worry about; pre-engraved cemetery markers. As Minnesota Public Radio's Marisa Helms reports, people who already purchased and engraved their headstones --thinking they'd die before the roll over to 2000, may have a consumer headache in their future.
August 25, 1999 - The US Forest Service will be able to side-step some regulations, to remove dead timber near Northeastern Minnesota's Gunflint Trail. Officials are worried about the danger of fire from millions of trees downed in a Fourth of July Storm. The waiver allows the Forest Service to go ahead with salvage timber sales with an abbreviated environmental review process.