May 19, 1998 - The reaction to news of a compromise on the BWCAW worked out between U.S. Representatives Jim Oberstar and Bruce Vento has been swift... and mixed. Oberstar's proposal to allow trucks on two wilderness portages has been entered into the transportation bill now under consideration by a Congressional Conference Committee. It has Vento's reluctant support after the addition of a provision removing some lakes from motor access.
May 7, 1998 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports on Lighthouse for the Blind, a Duluth plant that manufacturers a plain, white and rather sturdy roll of toilet tissue. But one of Duluth's most widely-distributed exports is in danger, as are the jobs of dozens of Minnesotans who are sight-impaired .
April 22, 1998 - State Senator Doug Johnson announced today he is running for Governor. Johnson is an Iron Range democrat, and the only announced DFL candidate from outside the metro area. Johnson's opposition to legalized abortion and his positions on wilderness issues make him a unique democratic candidate. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports from Duluth... As chairman of the Senate Tax Committee, Doug Johnson is one of the more influential members of the Legislature. Johnson has served the Minnesota legislature for 28-years; in the Senate since 1977. He also chairs the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board which doles out millions of dollars from a tax on taconite for jobs and projects in Northeastern Minnesota. He's a life-long Iron Ranger, living most of his life in the small Town of Cook.
April 1, 1998 - MPR's Bob Kelleher reports from Duluth, where one of the Ojibwe Bands that had staked its fortunes on a casino at Hudson, Wisconsin is now struggling under a new financial crisis. Northern Wisconsin's Red Cliff Band was one of three whose joint application to build a new Casino near Minnesota's border was rejected by Interior Department Secretary Bruce Babbitt, triggering a federal investigation. The Red Cliff Band has declared a state of emergency after discovering a huge shortfall of cash intended to support social programs. Now it is trying to keep services in place.
March 31, 1998 - The U-S House today takes up a massive highway funding bill that over the next six years will direct billions of dollars to the states. The bill would provide Minnesota 140-million dollars for special projects like roads, buses and trails. Of that amount, more than half is earmarked for projects in the 8th Congressional District, the District represented by Jim Oberstar, the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation Committee. Constituents credit Oberstar with bringing home the bacon; while critics say he's handing out pork. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports from Duluth....
March 16, 1998 - Duluth's City Council decides tonight whether to either increase the tax on city's restaurants or hotels, to help pay for a planned expansion of Duluth's Convention Center. The City's 12-and-a-half percent tax on some hotel rooms ties Bloomington and Saint Paul for highest in Minnesota. A new tax increase also faces an uncertain future in the Minnesota Legislature, which has to approve the increase. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports... City officials have asked the Legislature for 28-million dollars to expand the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center, known as the DECC. The center has been a big success, making it the nation's 11th busiest in number of events, but it has had to turn away conventions because it can't handle two events at once or the largest single conventions. Minnesota's House and Senate
March 9, 1998 - El-Nino and acorns may increase the potential for lyme disease in Minnesota. Researchers say a warm spring and bountiful acorn crops might increase the odds of people coming into contact with the ticks that spread the disease. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports from Duluth.
February 16, 1998 - It's the stuff of woodsy nightmares; a product meant to protect wilderness trekkers from ravenous beasts that turns out to attract them. An Alaskan researcher says bears in that state love pepper spray. The canned sprays are intended as a deterrent to charging bears. But some people use the product to spray a pepper residue on tents and packs, intending to keep bears away. And that, he says, might just draw the bears in. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports.
February 9, 1998 - A small, gray, airplane took off recently from Duluth's airport. It was the first air test of a production model airplane equipped with a parachute. Not a passsenger parachute; an aircraft parachute. Experts think Cirrus Designs' plane and its focus on safety could revolutionize the general aviation industry. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports from Duluth.
February 3, 1998 - A federal judge has denied an environmental group's request to halt logging at the Little Alfie tract in the Superior National Forest. District Judge John Tunheim's ruling means that a stand of old red pine trees could be logged, as early as next week. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports from Duluth.