March 31, 1998 - MPR’s Perry Finelli interviews Greg Aune, choral director at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, as he describes the scene after tornado hit the town. Like other parts of town, Gustavus Adolphus College was severely damaged, including the chapel...which lost its 137-foot spire. Aune says the campus has been transformed.
March 30, 1998 -
March 30, 1998 - MPR’s Art Hughes and Lynette Nyman describe the scene in St. Peter after a tornado went through the town, destroying much of it.
March 19, 1998 - National Football League commissioner Paul Tagliabue has cleared the way for novelist Tom Clancy to own the Minnesota Vikings. Nine of ten current Vikings owners accepted Clancy's surprise bid of slightly more than 200-million dollars in early February. But, team President Roger Headrick says he had the right to match Clancy's offer. Minnesota Public Radio's Perry Finelli reports... In a much-anticipated 18-page opinion, Tagliabue ruled team president and co-owner Roger Headrick had the right to match Clancy's bid ONLY if some of the current owners committed to being part of Clancy's group. Some of the owners had said they wanted to join Clancy. But, today's ruling prevents that. Tagliabue says Headrick also gave up the so-called "right of first refusal" when all ten agreed to sell the club.
March 9, 1998 - Officials in the Iron Range town of Cohassett consider a loan tonight intended to prevent the eviction of a St. Paul-based manufacturer of a product called "Stonite". The new company has run out of money and has yet to produce the granite-like product. The plan would provide $300,000 in short term financing from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board and the Minneapolis Police Association. Minneapolis police and firefighter pension funds have each already invested $5-million in the project, and that has raised questions about whether public pension plans should invest in high-risk projects. Minnesota Public Radio's Perry Finelli reports.
March 3, 1998 - Minneapolis will spend millions of dollars over the next few years to upgrade its water treatment system, and St. Paul may have to follow suit. The expenditure is in response to proposed federal regulations which are largely the result of the 1993 cryptosporidium outbreak in Milwaukee. 100 people died and 400,000 got sick from a parasite in the water. Minnesota Public Radio's Perry Finelli reports.
February 20, 1998 - This winter may go down as one of the warmest ever in Minnesota. The winter of 1986-87 currently holds the record... with an average statewide temperature of 21.7 degrees. But we could come within a tenth of a degree of that record this year according to a forecast by assistant state climatologist Greg Spoden. As you might expect, Minnesotans have developed some strong opinions about the departure from the usual sub-zero chill... as Minnesota Public Radio's John Bischoff discovered on a stroll down Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis .
February 20, 1998 - Tomorrow, about 30 volunteer spelunkers will descend into Mystery Cave in southeast Minnesota's Forrestville State Park... to count bats. The Department of Natural Resources has been counting bats at Mystery Cave every third year since 1989... making this the fourth count. In that time, the population of bats hibernating in the cave has grown. Warren Netherton is the park's cave specialist.
February 19, 1998 - While the stadium bill appears to be dead for now, Legislators are scrambling to keep other bills alive. All legislation must pass out of a policy committee in the House AND Senate by tomorrow. Lobbyist Maureen Shaver has been busy keeping track of it all. She represents many organizations including the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association and the Minnesota Trucking Association.
February 19, 1998 - U-S athletes Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski are leading the field in the competition for the Olympic gold medal in women's figure skating after yesterday's short program. But it was a tough day for a couple of Minnesota athletes. Star Tribune writer and MPR commentator Jay Weiner is in Nagano covering the Games.