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.
April 1, 1999 - On this special date, MPR’s Amy Radil reports that the Duluth Port Authority is scrambling to respond to unconfirmed reports of whale sightings in the Duluth Ship Canal. Biologists speculate a scarce food supply has driven a whale far inland during the spring breeding season. Authorities are trying to determine whether the whale poses a shipping hazard and how the marine mammal made its lengthy journey.
March 18, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio’s Amy Radil reports on the U.S. Coast Guard's Mackinaw and the debate to replace it. The 55-year-old ship is the biggest icebreaker on the Great Lakes, and always greeted enthusiastically by commercial shippers and idle boat watchers alike. The U.S. House approved spending 130-million dollars to replace the Mackinaw, but its fans are nothing if not loyal, and are trying to keep it around.