November 26, 2003 - The last downtown movie theater in Duluth closed last month. But locals are trying to re-open it. A national historic preservation group is helping. Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports. {
November 21, 2003 - The U.S. Senate is expected to vote today on the federal energy bill. The bill would provide money to help build a new power plant in northern Minnesota. The plant would convert coal into gas to make electricity. Burning gas is much cleaner than burning coal. But critics say the Iron Range isn't the best place to use the technology. Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports.
October 30, 2003 - The Duluth Schools are in trouble. The district is short $6 million dollars for next school year. The district is asking voters to raise property taxes to help close the gap. But even if the tax increase wins at the polls, the district will face a $2 million shortfall. And Duluth is not alone. On Tuesday, voters in more than 60 Minnesota school districts will decide whether to raise their taxes. Two years after the legislature took school funding off the property tax, 80% of districts are taxing themselves anyway. Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports. {
October 29, 2003 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill looks back at fight to stop the pollution of Lake Superior, an early chapter in the history of the environmental movement. It established the principle that the government can force industry to clean up its pollution.
October 22, 2003 - College campuses around Minnesota are dealing with issues of racism. Last year, St. Cloud State settled a lawsuit with faculty who complained the university fostered a racist atmosphere. Tonight at the University of Minnesota Duluth, students and faculty are gathering to talk about racism. Some black students say they've experienced overt racism. Others say they've felt welcomed at UMD. Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports.
October 8, 2003 - There are half as many Catholic nuns today as there were forty years ago. The median age of nuns is 69. Many religious communities around the country are trying some unusual approaches to attract new members. A group of sisters in Duluth is one of them. They're advertising. Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports.
September 10, 2003 - In Duluth's primary election Tuesday, voters narrowed a wide field of candidates for mayor. City councilor Herb Bergson and businessman Charlie Bell will face each other in November. Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports.
September 5, 2003 - Duluth is home to three growing colleges and universities. More than 10,000 students move to the city every year. And less than half of them live on campus. The rest crowd into residential neighborhoods across the city. That's made for some bad feelings. As Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports, the traditional "town and gown" friction is more complicated than usual in Duluth.
August 21, 2003 - The power blackout a week ago in New York and other eastern cities left most of us feeling lucky to have our lights on. But there's that nagging question about whether such a thing could happen here. Several new tranmission lines are proposed for Minnesota and Wisconsin. Power companies say the new lines would help prevent regional breakdowns. But critics say it would be better to build small, local generators. Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports. Once upon a time, every region of the country had its own power company. The local utility generated the electricity, and transmitted it from the power plant to its customers.
August 15, 2003 - People in northern Minnesota are gearing up to fight alien invaders. Plants that don't belong in Minnesota's forests are creeping in. This weekend, about a dozen people will spend a day learning about non-native invasive plants. The U.S. Forest Service is hoping to create a small army of amateurs to help them keep the weeds under control. Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports. {