September 22, 1999 - With the arrival of a new century, many of us may be taking stock of where we are now compared with a hundred years ago. The latest issue of The Old Farmer's Almanac makes such comparisons easy. In addition to it's bigger-than-usual Special Millenium Issue, editors reprinted the black-and-white 56-page edition printed in 1900. Managing Editor Susan Peery says while the old Almanac focused on the traditional farmer's calendar, it also contained poems, riddles and bits of homespun advice.
September 21, 1999 - MPR’s Lorna Benson talks with nature photographer Jim Brandenburg about the the Boundary Waters after the massive blowdown. Brandenburg discusses the unknown long-term effects to the forest and animals.
September 16, 1999 - A new report says rainfall in the upper midwest is loaded with mercury, which is polluting the region's lakes and streams. The National Wildlife Federation report says rainfall in the Duluth area holds about six times the amount of mercury considered safe for people. Readings in some urban areas like Detroit are about 65-times the safe level. Bill Grant is Director of the Midwest Energy Program at the Isaac Walton League. He says mercury is a naturally occurring metal, but in this case the problem is the result of human action.
September 15, 1999 - Presidential hopeful Bill Bradley is in Minneapolis this afternoon to attend a campaign organizing meeting at the Sabathani Center. His opponent, Vice President Al Gore is considered the front runner in the race for the Democratic ticket. But Bradley appears to be close behind. In a statewide poll of New York voters released today Bradley is now in a virtual tie with Gore. The same poll in July had Gore leading Bradley by 18 points. MPR political commentator Sara Stoesz is a democrat who hasn't made up her mind yet about whether to support Bradley or Gore...but she says it's clear Bradley has made big inroads in Minnesota.
September 14, 1999 - The Reform Party has been on the sidelines while Republican and Democratic candidates criss-cross the country campaigning for President. But, that could soon change. GOP Presidential hopeful Pat Buchanan who is dissatisfied with his party is considering switching to the Reform Party. Meanwhile, Governor Ventura is apparently wooing New York financier Donald Trump who is also considering a run under the Reform Party banner. Political Science Professor at Gustavus Adolphus College Chris Gilbert says while the attention is good for the party, it does highlight a problem within the organization.
September 13, 1999 - Former Twin Cities media mogul, Otto Silha died Saturday of a heart attack. He was 80 years old. Silha got his start at the Minnesota Daily newspaper. In 1940 he took a job as a copy editor at the former Minneapolis Star and eventually became chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Cowles Media, the former owner of the Star Tribune. Silha was involved in many things from city planning to the Republican party. But journalism was his first love. In his retirement, he helped found the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law at the University of Minnesota, his alma mater. Director, Bill Babcock, says Sihla started the Center because he wanted the media to be more accountable.
September 9, 1999 - Maps are constantly being re-written to reflect new political boundaries, and improved map making techniques. Blobby sketches jotted down by early explorers have given way to satellite photos that don't leave an inch of mystery. A new exhibit at the University of Minnesota celebrates the vast array of maps that serve as a timeline of sorts, charting human understanding of the world and universe. The Weisman exhibit also includes new maps, commissioned by artists. Curator Rob Silberman says he got the idea for a map show from current events.
September 6, 1999 - Minnesotans at work will be the subject of a new photography exhibit at the pARTS gallery in Minneapolis next week. Minneapolis photographer Stephen Dahl spent 13 years capturing black-and-white images of Minnesotans on the job. He got access to many of the area's largest corporations and shot the people behind the scenes--hotel maids, baggage handlers and stockboys. Dahl, who's a social worker in the Hopkins school district, also captured dislocated auto workers in Wisconsin, and the dwindling number of commerical fishermen on Lake Superior. The project started in the mid-eighties, when Dahl began photographing farm families in Goodhue County.
September 6, 1999 - Labor Day always marks the end of the State Fair in Minnesota...and time to start tallying attendance which seems to grow every year. While the numbers are not in yet, because the fair is still underway through today, fair organizers say they're expecting to come close to last year's record-breaking attendance of one-million six-hundred and 89-thousand people. Jerry Hammer is the executive vice president of the fair. I asked him what this fair will be remembered for.
September 1, 1999 - Many farmers are facing tough times due to low prices, and it's frequently referred to as a "crisis" but is it a DISASTER? Today in Mankato, the State Emergency Board of the US Department of Agriculture met to determine if the troubled farm economy qualifies as a disaster, making farmers eligible for the same kind of assistance they might get after a natural disaster. It's an approach that hasn't been tried before.