September 21, 1999 - A Senate committee hearing in Washington today focuses on a controversial pension plan that many large corporations have adopted or are considering. Recently IBM employees launched a campaign against the company's switch from a traditional defined-benefit plan which rewards long service, to a cash-balance plan favoring younger, more mobile workers. As Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes reports, IBM workers from Rochester testify at today's hearings bolstered by recent victories.
September 6, 1999 - Technology industry giant IBM is making a play to attract younger, more productive workers by changing the company's retirement plan. The new system provides more portable benefits that younger employees can take away when they change jobs. The company's previous pension package rewarded long years of service. As a result, many veteran IBM employees are up in arms and some are claiming pension losses of as much as forty percent. IBM employees in Rochester are joining their counterparts across the country trying to get back what they say they've lost.
July 26, 1999 - A long-standing fight between commercial and environmental interests over the future of the Mississippi River is flaring up again. The Army Corps of Engineers is conducting a series of meetings beginning today in St. Louis. Agency officials will present alternatives for improving barge traffic they say will help shippers and therefore farmers by keeping shipping costs low. But opponents, including major environmental organizations, say the cost of renovating the aging navigation system doesn't add up if environmental concerns are factored in.
July 9, 1999 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on a tornado that hit the southeastern town of Lewiston, Minnesota. Hughes talks with residents about their experiences as the storm passed through.
July 6, 1999 - Job training centers for developmentally disabed people typically focus on finding or even creating low-skill jobs. Workers can pocket their earnings while developing a sense of pride and accomplishment as well as doing valuable work. But an agency in northeastern Iowa has taken that idea a step further, helping four people with developmental disabilities run their own business.
June 16, 1999 - A report released today by a collection of government and private organizations documents a steady decline in the the health of the Mississippi River. The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center says its Status and Trends report promises to be the start of the most comprehensive ecological study ever of the river system. By collecting years of information, scientists hope to be better at tracking the threats to the river such as sediment and farm run-off.
June 15, 1999 - The federal agency that regulates the nuclear power industry is changing how it inspects reactors. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission hopes to make the agency more efficient...and at the same time help nuclear power plants compete once the electric utility industry is deregulated. Northern States Power's Prairie Island plant near Red Wing is one of nine facilities around the country where the NRC is testing the new inspection process. Agency officials explained the plan to citizens last night, and got a mixed response.
June 1, 1999 - The members of a 1974 Hopkins high school woodworking class are gathering in Owatonna today, to commemorate a special anniversary: 25 years ago an airplane built by students under the guidance of a skilled and visionary teacher made its first flight. The ambitious project remains a highlight in the memories of many of the students; for others, it was a life-changing event.
May 3, 1999 - Midday presents a Mainstreet Radio special report "Hidden Rainbow: The Changing Face of Minnesota." Program presents a series of reports on the state's growing minority population in outstate Minnesota.
March 30, 1999 - St. Peter residents spent the weekend in a mostly soleMinnesota remembrance of the tornado that tore through their town a year ago today. In the time since then, roofs and windows have been replaced and broken tree stumps have been pulled from the ground. The site where the city's Community Center once stood is now a vacant block and many other buildings---including over a hundred homes---have been torn down and carted away as trash. The city has long since tallied the loss in terms of numbers. But many homeowners in St. Peter regard their houses as much more than just shelter. In the last of a series of reports remembering the tornado, Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes looks at efforts to rebuild and preserve the historic buildings people as the heart of St. Peter.