July 18, 1997 - In the last three years, many communities across the state have adopted curfews for 16 and 17 year olds. The curfews were put in place to give parents and law enforcement a way to curb the growing problem of juvenile crime. The actual curfew ordinance for each city is almost identical, but the way each community has chosen to enforce the law varies greatly. Minnesota Public Radio's Gretchen Lehmann reports from St. Cloud, a city that just adopted it's teen curfew this month.
July 18, 1997 - Midday features a special report on teen curfews, with a follow up discussion with guests Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman in the St. Paul studios; and in MPR's Collegeville bureau, Sherry Smolik, coordinator of the St. Cloud Area Violence Prevention Council. The guests also answer listener call-in questions.
July 7, 1997 - The west-central Minnesota town of Alexandria is experiencing a business boom. Factory owners say over the next two years they anticipate dramatic increases in production which will mean close to two hundred new jobs in the area. Growth of this kind would seem to be good news, but city and county officials are scrambling because there's no one to fill the new positions. Labor shortages are hitting many rural Minnesota towns and as Minnesota Public Radio's Gretchen Lehmann reports, communities are having to go to greater and greater lengths to attract workers.
July 2, 1997 - It was a bit of nostalgia and a bit of wide-eyed curiosity for the people who got the chance to try out a commuter train yesterday (TUESDAY). The train ride was one of several demonstration trips travelling between Minneapolis and St. Cloud. As Minnesota Public Radio's Gretchen Lehmann (lay-mun) reports, riders are eager to see if commuter rail may be the answer to easier travel in and out of the Twin Cities.
June 30, 1997 - Starting tomorrow the age of rail will return as a special commuter train makes demonstration runs between St. Cloud and the Twin Cities. The trips, which will only go for three days, are intended to drum up public support for establishing daily commuter service. While regular service is many years away, organizers of the demonstration runs are already picturing what the train service could bring. Minnesota Public Radio's Gretchen Lehmann reports.
June 16, 1997 - In the depths of the farm crisis ethanol was seen as one of the great hopes for reviving the agricultural economy. The course of the ethanol industry, however, has not always run smoothly. Some consumers have complained about using fuel with ethanol in it, and it has been hard to gain a large market share. Now there appear to be threats to federal subsidies, but Minnesota's ethanol producers are still confident about the future of their industry. Minnesota Public Radio's Gretchen Lehmann reports.
June 6, 1997 - With alumni such as Lou Brock and Gaylord Perry, the St. Cloud Rox is a tough act for any baseball team to follow. The former minor league team was a sports staple in Central Minnesota through the 40s, 50s and 60s and sent on more than 60 players to major league teams such as the Chicago Cubs and the New York Giants. A new amateur team, the St. Cloud Riverbats, has decided to try and build on memories of the Rox . . . and maybe give them a run for their money. Minnesota Public Radio's Gretchen Lehmann reports:
May 12, 1997 - Residents of central Minnesota's Morrison County have been exhibiting a strange behavior lately. On any given day, you're likely to find one of them sleuthing through a cemetary. These "bone yard" afficianados are volunteers in a unique fact-finding project for the Morrison County Historical Society. As Minnesota Public Radio's Gretchen Lehmann reports the project, which at first seems tailor-made for the morbidly curious, is actually drawing a wide variety of participants.
April 14, 1997 - It's all buttons and beeps on most elevators these days. Automation has replaced humans, but not everywhere. In St. Cloud, 70 year-old Ed Pick takes people to work in one of the last of its kind in Minnesota: a manually operated elevator. Pick talks with Minnesota Public Radio's Gretchen Lehmann about working a job where you can bring everyone along for the ride.
February 13, 1997 - The cultural paradoxes and misunderstandings of the Australian outback have found their way to St Cloud in the latest production at the New Tradition Theatre Company. Tonight the company premieres "Diddgitty-Doo" a play inspired by the real life story of a Wisconsin woman who finds herself in a remote aboriginal community. As Minnesota Public Radio's Gretchen Lehmann reports, "Diddgitty Doo" is a classic fish-out-of-water story with frustrating miscommunications and humorous bumblings, but it is also a serious story about the struggle of two people trying to relate to one another.