May 25, 1998 - MPR’s Amy Radil reports on the history of musicians coming out of the Iron Range, which had a vibrant music scene, with scores of bands that never made the bigtime but played to packed dance halls every weekend.
May 21, 1998 - A Duluth agency which has insulated homes and paid heating bills for low-income people for twenty years, is shutting down this week. The Community Action Program, or CAP, has been in trouble for months. CAP board members, management and union members are bitterly divided over the elimination of programs. As a result, low-income people in Duluth could lose an agency that helps them survive the winter. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports from Duluth. For months, board members at Duluth's Community Action Program have complained that the agency's management has not provided complete financial information. Last Friday, however, board members learned CAP has had cost overruns of $130,000, and is suspending its energy assistance program for at least thirty days. The program helps low-income people pay the
May 20, 1998 - In December, the Minnesota Supreme Court delivered "the Stone decision," a ruling on a case brought by members of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. They claimed the state lacks authority to enforce civil laws, such as traffic regulations, on reservations. The high court agreed and as a result Tribal authorities now face big decisions over how to provide their own law enforcement... and how to pay for it. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports from Duluth. Most Minnesota reservations are covered by what's known as Public Law 280, which has allowed the state to provide law enforcement on reservation land since 1953. With the Stone decision, the court clarified that the state ONLY has criminal jurisdiction. So reservations are stepping in to en
May 19, 1998 - After a seven year legal battle a Duluth man has reached a settlement with the church congregation whose pastor sexually abused him as a child. David Samarzia has accepted an apology from Duluth's Redeemer Lutheran Church congregation, which was on the brink of dissolving as a result of the dispute. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports from Duluth: This coming Sunday the parishioners at Redeemer Lutheran Church will sign a statement saying they are partly responsible for the abuse and molestation of Samarzia committed by the church's former pastor, Daniel Reeb. Their statement says it is "understandable and reasonable" that church authorities should have known what was happening. Samarzia says he has been seeking that apology since filing a lawsuit against the church and Reeb in 1991.
April 28, 1998 - The Department of Natural Resources and other agencies predicted a severe fire season in northeast Minnesota, and over the weekend they were proved right. Fire fighters finished "mop-up," or putting out remaining embers, on wildfires near the towns of Cotton and Grand Marais late Monday. And the continued dry weather is keeping the DNR and the Forest Service on alert for more. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports from Duluth. Almost 1,500 wildfires have already been reported in Minnesota this year, with 37,000 acres of wilderness burned. Normally fire season does not even begin until late April; this year it started in mid-March. Jean Bergerson with the Interagency Fire Center in Grand Rapids says lack of moisture is the culprit. Bergerson: We went into winter with very little p
April 28, 1998 - As part of MPR's month-long series of programs and reports on "Religion in Everyday Life,” this program presents various reports, interviews and commentaries compiled from the series, and looks at the contemporary impact and influence of religion in America.
April 27, 1998 - "Report for Murder" by Val McDermid is the latest mystery title to be released by the Duluth publishing house Spinsters Ink. Under their "Grave Issues" imprint, Spinsters has been publishing what they call "feminist mysteries" since 1992. Plot-wise, a feminist mystery can mean anything from incorporating a lesbian romance...to just giving the detective a few close friends. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports from Duluth. From their offices in the Building for Women in downtown Duluth, Spinsters Ink publishes fiction and nonfiction with a feminist slant. The press is owned by Joan Drury, a Minnesota native who explains that they're in Duluth basically because she loves Lake Superior. She also loves mysteries, and so not surprisingly Spinsters Ink publishes a line of mystery novels Drury has written two herself -- the second, "Silent Words," was nominated for an E
April 21, 1998 - Kateri , or declared "blessed," by the Vatican, making her the first Native American candidate for sainthood. In Minnesota and around the country, small groups meet to pray to her and study her life. She is a source of inspiration for these Catholics, but for her to be canonized it will still take a miracle. Literally. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil has this report. On a recent Sunday morning at Holy Family Church on the Fond du Lac reservation, a small group of Catholics, most of them Native American, comes together for what they call their "Kateri circle."
April 13, 1998 - The state Board of Education will vote tonight in northeast Minnesota. If approved, the school will be run by KidsPeace, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit company. It will offer education and vocational training to troubled teenage boys. Some Iron Range legislators fought the project, but residents of Buhl are welcoming it with open arms. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports. News of the proposed KidsPeace school first surfaced in some stormy sessions of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board. Some board members opposed another juvenile facility in northeast Minnesota because they feared it
March 31, 1998 - Nature photographer Jim Brandenburg created the "ninety days project" to challenge himself, and to reconnect with the wilderness. He will appear tonight at the Bell Museum of Natural History in Minneapolis. His talk and slide show will feature images from the project, which will also be the subject of an upcoming book.