February 24, 1999 - While few people would automatically come out against environmentally-conscious design... the rainforest-friendly rubber often meets the cash-conscious road when the bills come due. Despite this, "Green" architecture is gathering steam in Minnesota. A new building opening in St. Paul next month showcases green design options, while Hennepin County is developing what architects hope will be a model for other government bodies across the country.
February 23, 1999 - MPR’s Amy Radil reports on ‘green design’ taking place on the North Shore. The idea of building a cabin using old hoses and pickle barrels may seem fantastic, but that's exactly what is happening along the shore of Lake Superior near Tofte. The unconventional materials are being used to fulfill the mission of Medora Woods, a Twin Cities-based psychologist, to build the most earth-friendly home possible.
February 16, 1999 - The State Department of Children, Families and Learning plans to issue its new desegregation rule today, a controversial policy several years in the making. The new rule does away with 25 years of racial quotas, and tries to address trends such as "white flight," the desire for community schools and increased immigration into Minnesota's rural areas. Essentially the state says separate CAN be equal. In so doing, many critics charge the state with gutting its own mandate.
January 27, 1999 - Grand Marais has long been home to artists and art-loving tourists. But the area's theater and visual arts aren't just for summer guests -- several unique partnerships have made the arts integral to the local public schools as well. Students in the remote, sparsely populated area are kept busy dancing, drawing... and even venturing into theater of the absurd.
January 27, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio’s Amy Radil profiles Duluth musher John Stetson, who ran the 1999 Beargrease mid-distance race of 150 miles. He says he loves to race because it's the ultimate test for a musher and his or her dogs.
January 8, 1999 - Nearly fifty mushers and their sled dog teams will hit the trail in Duluth this Sunday, as the Sixteenth Annual Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon gets underway. The Beargrease has long been Minnesota's main mushing event, but this year the racing season has expanded. New races in Grand Portage and Hinckley attest to the sport's growing popularity, but also mean more competition for the Beargrease.
December 31, 1998 - After a decade of litigation, the country's first class-action sexual harassment lawsuit has been settled. The settlement, for an undisclosed amount, comes just days before a jury was to consider damages in the case. In 1988 a group of women sued their employer, Eveleth Mines in northeast Minnesota, for sexual harassment and sex discrimination. The Eveleth Mines lawsuit is little-known, but it set a precedent for class-action lawsuits based on a hostile work environment, including the Mitsubishi Motors settlement earlier this year. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports. The women who sued Eveleth Mines in 1988 -- and its owner Ogleby Norton -- were some of the first to integrate northeast Minnesota's all-male min
December 29, 1998 - In the past, mining towns in northeast Minnesota were the battlegrounds in hard-fought labor disputes. One weapon used by the steel companies was a vast, intricate spy system among their workers. Chisholm native Tom Selinski has created a video documentary, "Spies in Steel," describing that era, and how the spy network was ultimately exposed. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports. Today union offices occupy some of the most prominent buildings in Iron Range towns. But in the early part of the century, union meeting places were makeshift -- and clandestine. Workers met in storefronts and basements, knowing they'd be fired by the mining company if their union membership was revealed. Raising the stakes, and increasing the risks were company spies...in barber shops, hotels, and among their own members. Tom Selinski grew
December 15, 1998 - Duluth and the Iron Range are attempting to shed their dependence on heavy industry. They're putting tax dollars behind efforts to revamp the economy and attract technology-related jobs. In the past the DFL-dominated area enjoyed considerable power and influence at the Capitol, and put it to good economic development use. But the incoming Ventura administration, as well as the newly Republican House legislature, mean changes in the balance of power, and some are concerned that may effect the region's ability to remake itself. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports. The head of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board says the writing is on the wall for northern Minnesota's traditional industries including taconite and logging. IRRRB Commissioner Jim Gustafson says as a result the agency has ambitious plans to retool the Iron Ran
November 23, 1998 - Welfare reform has been described as the biggest seachange in social policy in the U.S. since the 1930's. That being said, the changes are so new, there is little hard data on the larger impacts of reform. Delegates to a national conference on domestic abuse in Duluth last week were concerned at increasing anecdotal evidence that welfare to work can be a dangerous transition for women in abusive relationships. And they complained a waiver to help battered women cope with welfare changes is little known and underused. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports. The experts say domestic violence is rooted in a need for control: husbands and boyfriends who will use psychological and physical violence to make a woman dependent on them.