December 8, 1999 - Mainstreet Radios Leif Enger reports from Pierz, where more than half the employees of a small nursing home in the central Minnesota community have been on strike for weeks. At issue - How to divide a wage-and-benefit increase granted by the state.
December 8, 1999 - Minnesota experienced one of the driest falls on record this year, and the lack of precipitation has some concerned about the health of this year's Christmas tree harvest. But experts say the drought had little affect on the trees, and those being sold for the holiday season are in good shape.
December 9, 1999 - The 2000 election is eleven months away, yet campaign ads have already begun hitting the airwaves. DFL Senate candidate Mike Ciresi has been running radio spots on the Iron Range, the Republican Party has countered with an attack ad, and the first of what promises to be an explosion of so-called "issue ads" challenges Congressman Bill Luther. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports in the first of our series of Ad Watches scrutinizing campaign 2000.
December 9, 1999 - Its the kind of close-call that makes you cringe to think what MIGHT have happened. This Tuesday, a 77-year old man pulled a disabled woman from the path of a freight train with just seconds to spare. Vicki Pankratz's motorized chair got struck on the tracks in Verndale, Minnesota. Norman Hines was the first person on the scene.
December 9, 1999 - Despite a rocky start, Duluth's Technology Village could be finding its feet. The project's been the center of controvery: Downtown businesses were displaced, and old buildings demolished to make room, with citizens protesting a lack of public input. The Technology Village president resigned in June. Then the project became a hot topic in November's mayoral and city council elections, with critics calling the building a city-subsidized failure. But the tide may be turning, with the arrival of new tenants for the building.
December 10, 1999 - When the new Science Museum of Minnesota opens its doors tomorrow morning, it will mark the opening of a new era not only for the museum but also for its host city. Saint Paul officials say the museum's new location makes it a key to linking downtown with the Mississippi River.
December 10, 1999 - A special investigation has found no evidence that Senator Rod Grams asked for special treatment for his son, Morgan, during an encounter with Anoka County sheriff's deputies last summer. The investigation does accuse the deputies of failing to arrest Morgan Grams when they should have, and it leaves unanswered the question of WHY that happened.
December 10, 1999 - The St. Cloud explosion led to a change in the law governing the handling of pipeline ruptures. Charles Kenow, the administrator for the Minnesota office of pipeline safety says the St. Cloud accident demonstrated the need to clarify the first response to any pipeline accident.
December 10, 1999 - In December 1998, a massive blast resulted in four deaths, about a dozen injuries and the displacement of several downtown St. Cloud businesses. Mainstreet Radio's Marisa Helms reports on the varied potential plans for developing site of the explosion that became an empty square piece of land in the heart of the city's downtown business district.
December 10, 1999 - The state patrol says it will soon clear out protesters camped in the path the highway 55 reroute in south Minneapolis . But authorities say the impending raid will be much different than the pre dawn sweep they made the last time they cleared the camp, last December.