December 27, 1999 - To close out the millennium, Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered presents a look back at Minnesota life in 1900 via a 12-part series, entitled “A Minnesota Century.” This segment, a look back at what was the news at the turn of the last century.
December 17, 1999 - The National Audobon Society will kick off its 100th annual Christmas bird count tomorrow. The first year, only 27 people showed up to count. This year, the Audobon Society expects 50,000 volunteers worldwide to participate. In Minnesota, about 30 groups across the state will form count circles. They'll record every bird they see in a 15 mile radius. Don Arnosty is the Minnesota Director of the National Audobon Society. He says the count started as a way to promote protecting birds instead of hunting them.
December 16, 1999 - MPR’s Annie Feidt tests out the snow with a few cross-country skiers as they hit the trails at Trollhaugen and hope for more snow.
December 16, 1999 - Govenor Ventura has declared Minnesota officially ready for the year 2000. The state's Y2K Superboard met for a final time this morning and reported it doesn't expect any more problems than a normal New Year's Eve. The final tab for preparing the state for the Y2K bug came to about 30 million dollars. David Fisher is the State Commisoner of Administration and Chairman of the Y2K Superboard. He says Minnesotans can put their fears to rest.
December 14, 1999 - An amateur archeologist added a rare artifact to his collection when he found a fragment of an etched pipestone tablet near Holmen in southwestern, Wisconsin. The tablet Steve Allen discovered comes from the Oneota culture and dates back about four hundred years. Robert Bozhardt is the regional archeologist for Western Wisconsin and has been studying the fragment since Allen found it last week. He says the fragment is about the size of the palm of your hand.
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.
November 29, 1999 - To close out the millennium, Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered presents a look back at Minnesota life in 1900 via a 12-part series, entitled “A Minnesota Century.” This segment is the story of Fredrick McGhee, a civil-rights advocate and Minnesota's first black lawyer, who left an important local and national legacy.
November 18, 1999 - Walter Kirn lives in Montana where he works as a book critic. But he grew up in Minnesota, and so its not surpring his new novel "Thumbsucker" is set in the St Croix River Valley. Although it's probably not going to please the Minnesota Tourist board. Kirn's satirical view of rural Minnesota in the 1980's is a turbulant world of Miami Vice, Izod shirts and Mormons. In a town gone suburban, 14-year-old Justin, gives up thumbsucking his long-time security blanket, only to replace it with girls, cigarettes, booze and drugs. With adults too self-absored to care, Justin is forced to navigate the bizarre waters of adolesence alone.
November 3, 1999 - Frequently at this time, we bring you an interview with an author, many of whom are giving readings at the Hungry Mind bookstore in St. Paul. Soon you won't be hearing that name anymore. The bookstore, which also publishes a literary review and runs a small press, is selling its name to a new cyber-university based in San Francisco for an undisclosed amount.
October 28, 1999 - To close out the millennium, Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered presents a look back at Minnesota life in 1900 via a 12-part series, entitled “A Minnesota Century.” This segment is the the story the notorious outlaw Cole Younger.