December 1, 1999 - Communication towers those blinking, guywired harbingers of car phones have sprouted at the rate of 5000 a year nationwide for the past decade. Industry watchers say another 100-thousand of the structures could go up by 2010. While digital phones mean improved service, the towers themselves -- often topped by flashing strobelights arewidely abhorred as a blight on the landscape. In the Brainerd lakes area, county officials are trying to bring them under control.
November 4, 1999 - As thousands of Minnesotans lock up their lake cabins for winter, many wonder whether everything will be intact when they return. Seasonal homes are favorite targets for burglars, and protection against property crime has been a high-profile subject since a Minnesota man set a booby trap in his cabin and wounded an intruder. In the Brainerd lakes area, summer homes provide a challenge for law enforcement; and big returns for home-security companies.
October 29, 1999 - James Galvin is the rare author who knows from experience how to rope cows. Writing from his ranch in Wyoming, Galvin extolls the glory of hard work in his new novel "Fencing the Sky". He also laments the disintegration of rangeland culture.
October 13, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio's Leif Enger shipped aboard a Bulgarian tramp freighter as it departed for Italy with a load of North Dakota wheat. Enger presents an understanding of sailor life aboard.
October 13, 1999 - Midday presents a Mainstreet Radio special program to discuss shipping on Lake Superior. Hosted at the Canal Park Maritime Museum in Duluth, Rachel Reabe speaks with guest panelists, including executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, a ship captain with the Western Great Lakes Pilots Association , and a ship agent with Guthrie-Hubner. Panelists also answer listener questions.
September 6, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports on digitally-mapped, electronically monitored, pushbutton GPS golf. The latest lure for the golf-obsessed is satellite technology, global positioning to be exact. But at least one golf purist is not impressed.
July 30, 1999 - A program about the western novel. Guests include Loren Estleman of the Western Writers of America and author of "The Wister Trace: Classic Novels of the American Frontier," and author and Minnesota Public Radio reporter Leif Enger.
July 28, 1999 - The black bear is hot. Just ask the Minnesota Science Museum, current venue of "Bears", the most popular traveling exhibit it's ever hosted. And just ask the Department of Natural Resources, which in recent years has dealt with record numbers of bear sightings and nuisance reports. In fact, as the bear population continues to rise, wildlife managers are asking themselves if they're still in control of these usually-reclusive animals.
July 28, 1999 - A Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from the International Wolf Center in Ely. Rachel Reabe hosts a discussion about black bears with Dave Garshelis, of the Minnesota DNR; Lynn Rogers, a bear researcher; and Bill Lea, president of American Bear Association. Program begins with a report on bears in Minnesota from MPR's Leif Enger.
July 14, 1999 - MPR’s Leif Enger reports on Federal Emergency Management teams fanning out across northeasten Minnesota, gathering information to build a case for federal aid to communities in the BWCA area.