November 26, 2001 - Six whooping cranes are nearing the end of their migration from Wisconsin's Neceda Wildlife Refuge to a refuge in central Florida. The U-S Fish and Wildlife service is leading the endangered birds by ultralight aircraft. The service hopes to re-establish a traditional migration path the species forgot as its numbers dwindled. Chuck Underwood is a public affairs officer with the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service. He says the crane personalities have significantly slowed the migration:
November 23, 2001 - In hockey-focused Minnesota, it's easy to forget the state has a strong tradition in any other sport. But in 1895, the first college baskeball game in the country was played at Hamline University against the St. Paul Agriculture School. The game took place in a rundown basement with 9 foot ceilings. The final score was just 9-3. Ross Bernstein tells the story of that game- and the countless high school, college and professional basketball games played in the state since- in his new book, "Hardwood Heroes." He says his favorite chapter in the book is on the Minnesota Lakers.
November 21, 2001 - All Things Considered’s Lorna Benson interviews Stanford economist Roger Noll about a report released that concludes Major League Baseball is unlikely benefit economically from its contraction plan. Noll, who wrote the report, says the League WOULD benefit if it could eliminate only the struggling Montreal Expos, but he says there are no other teams struggling enough to make buying them out worthwhile.
November 13, 2001 - Supporters of the Minnesota Twins are on the road today, gathering petition signatures to keep the team alive. Four vans left this morning from the Metrodome on a tour around the state to promote a Twins rally scheduled for next Sunday. Meanwhile, baseball's former commissioner is weighing in on Major League Baseball's vote to contract two teams. Faye Vincent was commissioner from 1989 to 1992. Baseball owners forced him to resign, in part because they thought he was too soft on the players union. Vincent says contraction is one part of the solution to Major League Baseball's problems, but its targeting the wrong teams:
November 12, 2001 - Twins fans organized a last ditch grass-roots effort to save the team over the weekend. About 40 fans gathered at the Metrodome Sunday, waving homer hankies... asking passers-by to sign a petition to deliver to baseball commissioner Bud Selig. Paul Ridgeway is leading what he's calling the "Keep the Twins at Home" campaign. He says fellow fans can sign the petition at his website, keepthetwins.com.
November 8, 2001 -
November 6, 2001 - Two university professors came forward this week to solve a months old mystery of a second Kensington Runestone. The pair say they carved the stone in 1985, while taking a class on runes at the University of Minnesota. Three other students were involved, but have decided to keep quiet about the event. A Minneapolis artist found the 2,200 pound rock six months ago. A team of townspeople and scientists then dragged it to a secret location where an archeologist has been studying it to determine its age and origin. Jana Schulman is one of the confessed carvers. She is currently an associate professor of English at Southeastern Louisiana University. I asked her why she decided to tell her story now:
November 5, 2001 - The fate of the Minnesota Twins remains uncertain as Major League Baseball's owners prepare to meet tomorrow in Chicago. The team owners could vote to buy out Twins owner Carl Pohlad and dissolve the franchise. Allen Sanderson is a senior lecturer in economics at the University of Chicago. He says the Twin Cities has a sizable population with a reasonable amount of disposable income -- two qualities that make it a good baseball market. But he says the Metrodome is not a place where most fans want to spend and afternoon or evening, especially when they could go to a new arena to see the Minnesota Wild or watch the Vikings and Timberwolves.
September 6, 2001 - The Minnesota State Fair attracted record breaking crowds this year, but few found their way to the Grandstand. The ten grandstand concerts drew a total of 65-thousand people, the worst attendance in recent memory. Fair organizers say the low numbers are due in part to a slow economy. Chris Tahti is the fair's entertainment director. He admits the numbers are disappointing, but says they're not suprising:
September 4, 2001 - (to follow NPR piece on efforts to control the virus in houston) Twin Cities mosquito control officials say its just a matter of time before West Nile virus shows up in the Minnesota. Two dead crows found in Wisconsin tested positive for the virus last week. Jim Stark is public affairs director for the Metropolitian Mosquito Control District. He says the virus is spreading across the U-S more quickly than most people thought: