March 8, 1999 - Arts education has been something of a battleground for the past decade. Policy makers go back and forth on its importance just as school districts do about whether art should be a priority in the budget. Minnesota is now writing a new chapter in the debate. The legislature is wrestling over what to require of arts education as part of the graduation standards. Even WHEN that argument is settled, HOW and WHAT students learn about art will still be inconsistent.
March 1, 1999 - Voters in the Pipestone/Jasper school district must decide soon whether to build a new school or repair the old one. The state fire marshall has set a deadline for action, and calls the situation serious. This is a scenario many school districts are encountering as their buildings age and the cost to update and improve increases.
February 9, 1999 - Officials from the U-S Department of Agriculture met today with South Dakota pork producers to discuss an investigation into hog prices and marketing options. But The event did not give farmers any new information except how to read new market reports. In December, prices hit an all time low. The frustration with federal programs, current conditions and lack of solutions was evident at today's meeting.
February 1, 1999 - Agriculture is taking a more prominent role in the congressional arena, with even a mention in the state of the union address. The attention underscores the seriousness of what some are calling a new crisis - worse than the 1980's. The Justice and Commerce departments are also addressing agricultural issues, and while farmers are pleased with all the attention they say action speaks louder than words.
January 8, 1999 - The US govenment announced today 50-million-dollars in emergency aid for struggling hog farmers. Vice President Al Gore says the administration wants to soften the blows of record low prices for producers and help them get back on their feet. The announcement came as South Dakota Pork Producers were debating asking for a billion dollars in disaster aid.
December 29, 1998 - Lawmakers want uniform laws in the four states to help independent producers stay on the farm. State lawmakers from Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota sponsored an organizational meeting in Sioux Falls today to combat low hog prices. Farmers are seeing prices as low as they were in the 1950's. Minnesota Public Radio's Cara Hetland reports: Seven hundred hog producers, bankers and state officials packed a three-hundred seat cattle barn at the Sioux Falls stockyards. Many of these hog farmers are facing record low prices. If a 250 pound hog sold today a farmer would get 37-dollars and 50 cents. Four months ago that same hog brought 82-50 to the farmer. On the short term farmers want disaster assistance in order to make loan payments.
December 23, 1998 - Low prices for this year's crops have left many farmers struggling... and now, they're making decisions for the next planting season. With both crop and livestock prices the lowest they've been in decades, farmers may have to diversify in order to make it as agriculture changes. Minnesota Public Radio's Cara Hetland reports: Pioneer seed salesman Brian Jergans finishes up a sale for next spring. Most farmers buy their seeds early, to get in on price breaks and to ensure they'll get the seed they want. This year, farmer Jim Lammers will buy ten different varieties of corn. Salesman Brian Jergans encourages customers to test varities and check data over three years before ordering large quantities.
December 23, 1998 - The U.S. was once a nation of farmers. But now, we're a country full of people who's families once farmed...so the story of foreclosure, bankruptcy and the letting go of a lifestyle is not uncommon. One South Dakota family experienced all of that a decade ago. Their story is still an open wound filled with anger, defeat, revenge and hope. Mainstreet Radios Cara Hetland reports: Bill was born and raised on a farm in southeastern South Dakota. For 19 years, his live was measured by the weather and the sky as he worked the soil raising corn, soybeans and lifestock. Today it doesn't matter how much rain falls or how dry the land is as Bill goes to work in Sioux Falls..
December 21, 1998 - Low crop prices, a decrease in land values and poor export markets are creating a new farm crisis. In the 1980s, farmers experienced several years of the same... and as a result, Congress added a chapter to the bankruptcy code giving farmers more negotiating tools with lenders and more options to stay in business. By April, lawmakers will decide whether or not to keep the Chapter 12 provision alive in the bankruptcy code. In this first of three reports, Mainstreet Radio's Cara Hetland looks at farm bankruptcy provision... and whether Chapter 12 works, or delays the inevitable. OUT COPY:
November 17, 1998 - It's been nearly six months since a tornado destroyed the town of Spencer, South Dakota. Before the storm Spencer was a town struggling for survival. Now some say the outlook is completely different. New construction will rebuild the town's basics... a watertower, apartments and a community center. There's hope that longtime residents will return and new families will find the town. Spencer residents are hopeful but skeptical. Mainstreet Radio's Cara Hetland reports: Spencer. a town settled before the turn of the century looks like a new housing development. Three days after a blizzard every street is plowed to reveal a 14 square block area. The streets are clear...