Lake Superior (known as Gichigami, or ‘big lake’ in Ojibwe) is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area and the third largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh water. The lake straddles 150 miles of Minnesota’s northeastern border, with its most western edge ending along the city twin ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin.
May 5, 1999 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports on the diminishing population of rainbow smelt in Lake Superior. Years ago, the smelt run drew huge crowds to Lake Superior beaches, where fish were netted by hand and cooked over open fires. Raucous all-night beach parties fueled by generous doses of alcohol achieved mythical status around the big lake. But now, the big smelt runs are history.
October 11, 1999 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports that an Ohio man is recovering in an Upper Michigan hospital, after falling overboard from a lake freighter and having to swim five miles in the frigid waters of Lake Superior.
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.
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 shipwrecks on Lake Superior. Hosted at the Canal Park Maritime Museum in Duluth, Rachel Reabe speaks with guest panelists, including director of The Maritime Museum, an underwater photographer, a Maritime historian, and founder of the Great Lake Shipwreck Preservation Society. Panelists also answer listener questions.
December 20, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio's Leif Enger shipped aboard a Bulgarian tramp freighter as it departed for Italy with a load of North Dakota wheat. As the last ship of the season departed Duluth early in the morning, the St. Lawrence Seaway's 40th season draws to a close.
May 12, 2000 - First there was the fish-cam, then the bear-cam…now visitors to the World Wide Web can see "Lake Superior Cam." A team of inventors have dropped a gadget into 30-feet of Lake Superior water just off Duluth. It will show anyone who's interested what's happening down there, 24 hours a day.
July 5, 2000 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill catches up with a small band of environmental crusaders starting a planned walk around Lake Superior to bring attention to the need to protect the greatest of the Great Lakes. The walk is fulfillment of an the idea from Walter Bresette, a prominent Ojibwe activist.
November 10, 2000 - It's an event that's a part of Great Lakes lore. On November 10, 1975, The SS Edmund Fitzgerald, one of the biggest, fastest, and most powerful iron ore carriers at the time, sank in a fierce storm on Lake Superior. All 29 crew members went down with the ship. MPR’s Cathy Wurzer talks with Captain Dudley Paquette, the last living captain who sailed on Lake Superior during the infamous storm.
March 26, 2001 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports on the effects low water levels in Lake Superior are having on shipping. Great Lakes freighters will be loading lighter than ever to stay above the bottoms of harbors and rivers between the lakes.