December 30, 2002 - Brainerd officials are trying to figure out what's causing a hole in the ice of North Long Lake. The hole is about than 21 hundred feet long and 400 feet wide. It was first discovered last February and reappeared again this year when the rest of the lake froze over. Dick Beeson is president of the Thirty Lakes Watershed district. He says the district is sending divers into the hole later this week to conduct tests. He says the hole could have been caused by a minor earthquake that opened up a hot spot more than a mile below the water's surface:
December 27, 2002 - Clark Morphew, a former St. Paul Pioneer Press religion writer and Lutheran pastor, died Tuesday at his South St. Paul home. He was 64. Morphew died from lung cancer, just six months after being diagnosed. His weekly religion column was syndicated across the country by Knight Ridder News Service.
December 20, 2002 - MPR’s Annie Feidt reports on a group of Hmong teenage girls from St. Paul leaving for Thailand and Laos to retrace the journey their parents took to this country. They're calling their trip "the Homeland Project."
December 2, 2002 - MPR’s Lorna Benson talks with Met Council’s Frank Hornstein about which languages will appear on ticket vending machines for the Hiawatha light rail line. Under the current proposal, the machines will operate in English, Spanish and Hmong…the three most widely used languages in the Twin Cities. But Somali advocates are protesting the plan because so many Somali citizens live along the Hiawatha route. It would cost more than $100,000 to add a fourth language to the vending machines.
November 27, 2002 - University of North Dakota benefactor Ralph Engelstad has died at his Nevada home after a battle with cancer. He was 72. Engelstad owned casinos in Las Vegas and Mississippi and had a number of real estate holdings. The former UND hockey player financed the 100-million-dollar campus hockey-arena that bears his name. He was a staunch advocate for keeping the school's controversial "Fighting Sioux" nickname. Mike Jacobs has covered the issue over the years for the Grand Forks Herald newspaper.
October 29, 2002 - Thousands of people are gathering at Williams arena on the University of Minnesota Campus for a memorial service for Senator Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila, their daughter Marcia and campaign staffers, Will McLaughlin, Tom Lapic and Mary McEvoy. Those six and two pilots died in a plane crash last Friday. The service is scheduled to begin at 6:30. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson is there and joins me now... Dan... Organizers were recommending people arrive early, it sounds like that's the case on the streets outside of Williams arena...are many people making their way into the building yet? -- We've been hearing that a number of national leaders are expected to attend tonight's service. What have you heard about who will be there? -- What do you know about this evening's program?
October 29, 2002 - Folk singer Larry Long is a longtime friend of Senator Wellstone's who is preparing two songs for Wellstone memorial service. Long says he wrote the songs after traveling with Wellstone and his wife Sheila on a plane back from Farmfest in southwestern Minnestoa.
October 29, 2002 - Organizers are putting the finishing touches on what's billed as a grass-roots farewell this evening to Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone and those who died with him in a plane crash last Friday. Thousands of people are expected to attend the event on the University of Minnesota campus, including many of Wellstone's Senate colleagues and former Vice President Al Gore. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson will represent the Bush administration. Dick Cheney offered to attend, but Wellstone's family reportedly asked the vice president to stay away. Adminstration officials say the family members were concerned Cheney's presence might cause security problems. Paul Ridgeway is helping advise the planners who are putting together tonight's service. He says people should have an easy time getting into Williams arena:
October 16, 2002 - The clanging of cowbells, swaying prairie grass and plows cutting deep into the earth may not sound like music to your ears, but to St. Paul composer Steve Heitzeg these sounds have all the makings of a great symphony. MPR’s Lorna Benson talks with the Heitzeg about his composition.
October 9, 2002 - The Minnesota Twins are preparing to face the Anaheim Angels in about an hour in Game Two of the American League Championship Series. Last night Twins pitcher Joe Mays helped the team beat the Angels 2-1 to open the series. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen is at the Metrodome where fans are gathering and joins us now... William...