July 19, 2001 - Dead fish are popping up in several southern Minnesota lakes. Department of Natural Resources officials have reported several "summerkills." Minnesota Public Radio's Laurel Druley has this report.
July 11, 2001 - County and state officials met today Wed to discuss relief options for employees who are currently out of work at the Farmland Foods plant in Albert Lea. The meat packaging plant, the second largest employer in Albert Lea, is assessing damages and may announce plans for the facility later this week.
July 9, 2001 - Firefighters from around southeast Minnesota continue to battle a fire that ignited at the Farmland Foods plant last night in Albert Lea. The ninety-year-old meat packaging facility is the second largest employer in town. As fire crews struggle to control the scene, Farmland employees and city leaders wonder what this will mean for the future.
July 6, 2001 - MPR’s Laurel Druley reports on how state farmers are now trying to predict their crop yields. Typically farmers like to see corn hip-high by the fourth of July. But 2001 was not a typical year, with massive flood waters in the spring. At the start of July, Minnesota corn height averaged 21 inches. That's a foot shorter than the year before.
June 29, 2001 - La Crosse Footwear, a major employer for more than a hundred years in western Wisconsin, will close today . Just Wednesday Trane Company announced it would lay off more than 70 employees when it closes its north side La Crosse compressor plant. The Footwear plant has hit a financial slowdown and for the last few years has gradually moved production overseas. At one time the La Crosse plant employed more than 15-hundred people, putting out a sturdy line of boots, raincoats and shoes. Today the last hundred and thirty-nine will clock out for the final time. MainStreet Radio's Laurel Druley has this report. Most plant workers were not surprised a month ago when they got their lay off notices. The company, which has had trouble competing for several years with other shoe manufacturers, has been gradually farming out jobs overseas to Asia.
June 22, 2001 - Two new Rochester public school administrators are coming on board this summer, just a couple months before a school year that promises great challenges. The biggest task will be convincing voters to approve a hefty referendum. Local community leaders say the new superintendent and school board president can handle the job. MainStreet Radio's Laurel Druley has this report. When Mark Shellinger starts work as Rochester's new superintendent in a couple weeks, he will be one of two new top administrators, at a time when the district is facing critical money troubles. A new school board chair recently took over, as well.
June 21, 2001 - Red Wing, Minnesota is known for its tourist town features: small shops, Mississippi shores, and picturesque bluffs. Discount retailers Target and Wal-Mart want to move into Red Wing and the small shop owners are afraid of what that will do to the tourist town.
May 18, 2001 - Farmers across Minnesota are scrambling to get seeds in the ground. Wet weather narrowed their window of opportunity for planting. Some farmers are still waiting for fields to dry. While soybean farmers have a few more days, corn growers are a week late as corn needs more time to grow. Mainstreet Radio's Laurel Druley shadowed farmer Kevin Paap on a recent busy planting day.
May 4, 2001 - The Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a research group, reports lead, cadmium, chromium and arsenic are just a few of the toxic metals that appear in many fertilizers.
May 1, 2001 -