September 27, 1999 - You don't have to get up at three in the morning and squeeze into a pair of long johns to go deer hunting anymore. Hunters are now stalking deer and other animals on their computers. As Minnesota Public Radio's Jon Gordon reports, a Twin Cities software company leads the way in virtual hunting and fishing.
September 27, 1999 - Ron Offutt, aka Sultan of Spuds & the Lord of the Fries, grows more potatoes than anyone else in the world, and the potatoes are perfect for French fries. But his success has a price. Growing the perfect French fry has an environmental downside, as people in small towns near Offutt's potato farms have learned to their dismay.
September 27, 1999 - Hennepin county is being sued over a l990 child protection case where two children were returned to their biological mother who abused them. The youngsters, now nine and ten years old, have been adopted and no longer live with the biological mother. The adoptive parents are suing saying county social workers disregarded and even concealed evidence of the abuse. The county says it concealed nothing and argues the children were not in its custody when the abuse occurred. Minnesota public radio's Dan Olson reports, the federal civil suit may clarify the liability counties face when child protection cases go awry.
September 28, 1999 - The Minnesota Orchestra has won a critical state variance for its proposed 23-million dollar amphitheater in Brooklyn Park. The citizen's board of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency voted today to exempt a handful of neighboring properties from state noise laws. The variance was one of the last major hurdles for the project, which has been contentiously debated for a year and a half. Opponents are now promising to take their fight to court.
September 28, 1999 - Ron Offutt, aka Sultan of Spuds & the Lord of the Fries, grows more potatoes than anyone else in the world. The potatoes are perfect for French fries for fast food chains like McDonald's and frozen French fry processors like JR Simplot and Ore Ida. But Offutt’s success has a downside. Many people who live near Offutt's potato farms worry about the pesticides sprayed on his fields.....but they soon find they're up against a system much bigger than they are.
September 28, 1999 - The Ventura Administration today formalized its request for federal help in building a light rail transit line in Minneapolis and Bloomington. This is the closest the state has come to building such a system since discussions of rail mass transit first began, more than three decades ago. Administration officials say they're confident the federal money will come through, but House Republicans who oppose light rail continue to cast doubt on the project's viability -- and its pricetag.
September 28, 1999 - The Hennepin county report on child injury and violence also shows alarming rates of self-inflicted poisoning among adolescents... especially girls. Rene Wixon is a data analyst at the Hennepin County Community Health Department and the majority author of the study. She says the new figures are alarming.
September 28, 1999 - Koch Petroleum Group has agreed to pay a six million dollar fine for criminal violations at its Rosemount Refinery. It's the largest federal environmental fine in Minnesota history.
September 28, 1999 - Homicides are the leading cause of death for children in Hennepin County. That's according to a new report Hennepin County officials released today on injuries and deaths to children up to age 19. Thirty two percent of the deaths recorded between 1993 and 1997 were attributed to abuse or assault.
September 28, 1999 - The people planning the light rail project proposed for Minneapolis and Bloomington settled a design controversay yesterday by deciding the train will go over Lake Street on a bridge rather than cross on the ground. The design for the twelve-mile-long line approved by the Hiawatha Avenue Corridor LRT planning group now goes to the Federal Transit Administration in Washington D. C. The FTA must approve the plan before up to $250 million in federal funds become available.