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. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil has this report: One photograph a day for ninety days. That was the task Jim Brandenburg set himself. The results -- all ninety of them -- will appear in a forthcoming book, titled "Chased by the Light." The images first appeared in National Geographic last November. Brandenburg says professional pho
March 6, 1998 - MPR's Amy Radil reports on Minnesota Opera’s Opera Ventures program. Where a venerable art form like opera is placed in the hands of eleven and twelve-year-olds, anything can happen….and that's just what's been happening on the stage of the Hibbing High school auditorium with the production, "The Diner Blues."
March 5, 1998 - A referendum in Duluth on a veterans' state park with the U.S.S. Des Moines has been rejected by voters. 60 percent of of those voting went against the project. The vote was non-binding but Governor Carlson and city officials pledged to abide by its results. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports.
March 3, 1998 - Governor Carlson canceled a trip to Duluth today to campaign for his veterans state park project. The park would feature a retired naval cruiser, the U.S.S. Des Moines. The governor cancelled the trip after his office received a series of nasty phonecalls, purportedly from opponents of the park. This is the latest development in a highly passionate debate over what is usually a benign issue: the creation of a Minnesota state park. Tomorrow Duluth residents go to the polls to decide the fate of the project. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports from Duluth.
February 27, 1998 - A new Minnesota Public Radio/Pioneer-Press/KARE-11 poll indicates most Minnesotans would favor steps to control the state's increasing wolf population. But those polled indicate they would not support a wolf hunting season. The federal government is in the process of removing the wolf from the endangered species list, and public attitudes will play a role in formulating a state management plan for the animals. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports from Duluth.
February 24, 1998 - The city of Duluth and its University of Minnesota Campus have announced plans to create what they call a $30 million dollar "technology village". The village will act as an incubator for high-tech businesses and as a branch of the UMD campus. Organizers say the collaboration will mean jobs for the area's computer science students and a shot in the arm for downtown. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports from Duluth.
February 23, 1998 - Recreational mushing is booming in Minnesota. The Beargrease sled dog marathon in Duluth and Alaska's Iditarod have increased the sport's visibility. Mushing trips for novices are one way sled dog owners can educate people about the sport and pay their bills. And as Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports, mushers are bringing dogsledding to a whole new audience.
February 12, 1998 - Minnesota officials are letting welfare recipients know it's time for them to look for work. Under the state's welfare reforms, 1600 northeastern Minnesotans in the Minnesota Family Investment Program, mostly single mothers, must be employed by 1999. Employment in the Arrowhead has lagged behind the rest of the state in recent years. Social service agencies say encouraging welfare recipients to start their own busines may be a promising alternative. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports on two women in Hibbing who are going to work, for themselves.
February 10, 1998 - Federal and state agencies are conducting a joint investigation into the recent killings of three wolves near the Agassiz National Wildlife refuge. One was hit by a snowmobile, while two wolf pups from another pack were shot. With the federal government preparing to remove Minnesota wolves from the endangered species list, such killings could further inflame the debate over how much protection is necessary for the animals. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports from Duluth.
February 5, 1998 - The debate over the U.S.S. Des Moines Veterans' Park in Duluth shows a city in transition. In the past few decades, the city has staged a metamorphosis from an industrial center to the state's biggest tourist town. But residents are still ambivalent about Duluth's direction and the Des Moines proposal brought many of those tensions to the surface. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports.