September 30, 1998 - Six states are now actively preventing Canadian imports from getting to their destinations. Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Ohio and Nebraska are inspecting trucks and requiring proof the animals or grain are disease free. In South Dakota the trucks are not allowed to pass through the state without that documentation. The inspections started two weeks ago in the Daktoas at the urging of South Dakota Governor Bill Janklow. He says as a result of the border inspections, U-S Department of Agriculture has now agreed to talk trade issues with Canadian officials. For South Dakota's governor this border war is something personal. Minnesota Public Radio's Cara Hetland talked with Bill Janklow today.
September 22, 1998 - A Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from Sioux Falls. Program highlights the controversy over the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern coal train. The railroad wishes to create large expansion as coal hauler from Wyoming, through South Dakota, and into southern Minnesota. Mark Steil interviews Kevin Schieffer, president of Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad; and Paul Wilson, co-chair of Olmsted DM&E taskforce.
August 26, 1998 - A strike by Northwest Airlines pilots would leave many people in the Dakotas and greater Minnesota stranded without alternative transportation. Northwest dominates the air service and other carriers aren't able to pick up the extra passengers. Bus routes are available once or twice a day but as Minnesota Public Radio's Cara Hetland reports in the event of a strike people are better off staying put or driving to where they want to go. It isn't easy getting where you want to go from Sioux Falls. For example to get to Fresno, California passengers fly first to Minneapolis then to Salt Lake City, next to Los Angeles - finally, to Fresno. Still Northwest has more than 50 percent of the market share for the area. In the event of a strike five-hundred people a day would have to find alternative trans
July 20, 1998 - Lowell Pratt, President of the Builders Association of the Twin Cities; Ray Waldron, President of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council; and Harry Melander of the St. Paul Building Trades Council, discuss shortage of construction workers in the region and outlook for the construction trades. Group also answers listener calls. The program begins with a report from MPR’s Cara Hetland on the construction dilemma impacting Spencer, South Dakota and St. Peter, Minnesota, in the aftermath of tornados.
June 12, 1998 - It's been two weeks since a tornado destroyed Spencer, South Dakota. The three hundred residents are waiting for federal aid, replacing household items and making long term plans. Minnesota Public Radio's Cara Hetland reports: Back-hoes transfer rubble from bulldozed sites to a quarter mile long pile on the southern edge of Spencer. Junk dealers rummage through abandoned cars for hub caps, steering wheels and other useable parts. On the shacks and houses that still stand, someone has scrawled "SAVE" in neon-orange spraypaint. Spencer residents are hard to find.
June 9, 1998 - This week on Minnesota Public Radio we are looking at what some are calling the new Midwestern Farm Crisis. Despite almost perfect growing conditions many farmers are facing financial hard times because of changing regulation and economic conditions. In today's Mainstreet Radio report Cara Hetland reports local farmers are selling to a global market where outside pressures such as the Asian and Russian financial crisis can have an impact on how they farm. --------------------------------------------------------- | D-CART ITEM:3381 | TIME:6:40 | OUTCUE: "...Minnesota Public Radio." --------------------------------------------------------- Anchor Outro: Tomorrow in the final part of our series, Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Gunderson reports on how U.S. agricultural policy has been designed more to keep food affordable than to keep farmers in business
June 9, 1998 - Midday presents a Mainstreet Radio special broadcast on what's being called the "New Midwestern Farm Crisis." The program contains reports on farming issues, including insurance, scab plant disease, government programs, global markets, and Freedom to Farm Act.
June 4, 1998 - A half century of work on a craggy granite mountain in South Dakota's Black Hills has been unveiled. The massive Crazy Horse mountain carving celebrates its golden anniversary this year with the completion of the Sioux (Lakota) Warrior's face, and the carvers are now moving on to the horse's head. Minnesota Public Radio's Cara Hetland reports.
May 15, 1998 - While many farmers are enjoying perfect conditions for early spring planting there's an area in northeastern South Dakota into southeastern North Dakota where floods prevent farmers from getting to their fields. After years of wet weather, the water tables in this region are so close to the surface, that water is bubbling up from the ground. Recent heavy rains - with more than 12 inches in the past two weeks are making things worse. Minnesota Public Radio's Cara Hetland reports: Rolling plains and expansive prairie is the typical landscape in northeastern South Dakota. It's an area where excess water fills sloughs then runs into the creeks that feed some of South Dakota's few lakes. The Glacier Lakes watershed is saturated adn the water now covers nearly every road in Day County. The lakes have swollen and are covering up a
May 6, 1998 - Warm, dry weather has helped spring fieldwork progress rapidly in the Dakotas and Minnesota. At least 81 percent of Minnesota's corn crop is in the ground -- one of the earliest planting seasons ever. In South Dakota, about 20 percent of the corn is in the ground...and the dry spring is allowing some South Dakota farmers into fields they haven't planted, for years. Minnesota Public Radio's Cara Hetland reports: There are high hopes out in the farm fields this season. Mild weather and dry soil are allowing some of the earliest planting on record. On Bob White's farm in eastern South Dakota the red tractor has been working overtime,