Climate change, industry, parks, air and water quality are issues that are debated in congress, compete for funding and enpassion many Minnesotans.
April 28, 1997 - Clean up along the Red River in Minnesota and North Dakota is just beginning...but some government representatives are already busy looking at the long-term policy questions raised the floods. State officials say they'll need new ideas to pay for Minnesota's costliest natural disaster. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... At its daily briefing on flood news, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's office of Emergency Management reported the Red River was cresting lower than expected at Saint Vincent, the last stop on the river's nothern flow into Canada. With the dikes in Saint Vincent holding, and the water levels dropping in East Grand Forks, state officials say they've had a few
April 28, 1997 - A NORTHWEST AIRLINES 747 CARGO PLANE DELIVERED 120-THOUSAND-POUNDS OF SUPPLIES FROM THE TWIN CITIES TO THE GRAND FORKS AREA YESTERDAY. TARGET STORES COLLECTED THE GOODS ON SATURDAY. RESIDENTS DONTATED MORE THAN THE AIRPLANE COULD CARRY, SO FIVE SEMI-TRUCKS WILL BRING THE REST IN THE DAYS TO COME. MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO'S JON GORDON REPORTS. ........................................................................... DCART ITEM:9150 TIME:2:58 OUTCUE:soc ........................................................................ TWELVE TRUCKLOADS OF BOTTLED WATER, CLEANING SUPPLIES, TOILETRIES AND MORE WERE TAKEN FROM THE TARGET STOREES TO THE TWIN CITIES AIRPORT SATURDAY. NORTHWEST AIRLINES EMPLOYEES VOLUNTEERED THEIR TIME TO STUFF THE GOOD INTO SILVER CRATES, THEN INTO THE BELLY OF THE BOEING 747,
April 28, 1997 - High school classes are scheduled to resume this morning (Monday) in Ada, where students were displaced by floodwaters for three weeks. School officials must demolish the Ada-Borup high school due to severe water damage. The Department of Children, Families and Learning says 20 Minnesota school districts closed at least one day due to flooding. East Grand Forks was forced to end the school more than a month early. Hundreds of students, teachers and administrators are working to reclaim their waterlogged schools and get back in business. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... Seventh through 12th grade students in Ada will finish their schoo
April 28, 1997 - The Federal Emergency Management Agency is providing additional funding to expand mental health counseling services in the Dakotas and Minnesota. Officials in Fargo are calling for licensed psychologists and psychatrists to volunteer services to help people deal with stress. Minnesota Public Radio's Cara Hetland reports on counseling services available to victims of severe weather.
April 29, 1997 - Minnesota drivers would pay an extra four-cents for a gallon of gas under a bill approved by the Senate Taxes committee last night (Mon). Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports. The Senate bill would raise the per-gallon price you pay at the pump by two cents this summer, and then another two cents next year. That's in addition to the current 20-cent-per-gallon tax. The money raised by the gas tax is supposed to be spent solely on transportation, and that means most of the money goes to highways and bridges. The highway construction lobby and rural lawmakers have been pushing for the increase, which they say is long overdue. The last increase was in the late 80s, and the bill's author, Willmar Republican Dean Johnson, says it's time to catch up
April 29, 1997 - State lawmakers on the House and Senate tax committees will spend much of tomorrow discussing proposals for financing a new Twins stadium. It's a critical day for stadium supporters...because with less than three weeks left in the legislative session, they still have no politically viable plan to pay for a new ballpark. If the joint House-Senate hearings don't begin to generate some consensus it will be difficult to get a bill passed by adjournment on the 19th. Twins owner Carl Pohlad says he needs an answer from the legislature this year for him to assure the team will remain in Minnesota. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Wareham reports: The proposed Twins stadium has produced trial balloons galore -- an
April 29, 1997 - Flood ravaged communities up and down the Red River, are sizing up damage to their towns, trying to figure out how much it's going to cost to repair, roads and bridges, and sewer, gas, electric and water lines. The cost is certain to be hundreds of millions of dollars. Grand Forks North Dakota sustained some of the heaviest flood damage and as the water continues to receed , local officials are beginning to slowly find out just what it's going to take to put their city back together. And as the work continues on a municiple level , so to do recovery efforts among homeowners and businesses. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.
April 29, 1997 - It's been more than a week since residents of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks were evacuated from their homes because of rising flood waters. About 37-hundred evacuees have ended up in Bemidji. Some of the refugees have been told they may be able to return to their homes this week. Others are settling in for the long run. Coping with upturned lives has been easier for some than others, as Minnesota Public Radio's Christina Koenig (KAY-nig) reports.. Kristy Erickson watches her son play with baseball cards on the floor of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Bemidji as her mother-in-l
April 30, 1997 - A MYSTERIOUS DEVELOPMENT IN THE FLOOD STORY OF THE GRAND FORKS AREA HAS RESIDENTS WHO'VE BEEN THROUGH AN INCREDIBLE ORDEAL FINDING SOME HOPE. A SECRET DONOR IS OFFERING FLOODED OUT FAMILIES 2-THOUSAND DOLLARS NOT IN LOANS BUT AS OUTRIGHT GIFTS IN THE HOPE THE MONEY WILL HELP EASE THEIR BURDEN. MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO'S MARK ZDECHLIK REPORTS. Sun 28-MAY 19:43:20 MPR NewsPro Archive - Wed 04/11/2001
April 30, 1997 - The scenes and stories of the devastating flood are prompting people across the state to contribute to what is now a steady stream of cash, food and supplies. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes has a look at what one city is doing to help.