November 30, 1999 - The last cars went through Minnesota's emmissions testing stations today, as the program officially came to an end after 8 years.
November 17, 1999 - The US population is expected to grow by some 50 percent in the next 50 years. Cities around the country are trying to decide what they want the landscape to look like as the number of people swells. Many are concerned about the spreading development critics call "urban sprawl." But some experts say the best way to stop it is NOT neccessarily new government policies. Instead, they say it's time to get rid of some old ones.
October 18, 1999 - Seed companies first introduced genetically engineered corn and soybeans to the midwest just four years ago. Farmers welcomed the new technology. This year around half the soybean crop and a third of the corn crop came from genetically altered seed. But now, some midwest farmers are having second thoughts about the high-tech seed..and biotechnology companies are scrambling to contain a backlash in what was once a stronghold of bioengineering.
October 5, 1999 - A new study shows frog deformities may be linked to problems in the animals' thyroid hormone systems. The research may help scientists understand why so many different factors seem to contribute to the deformities found in wild frogs in Minnesota and other states.
October 4, 1999 - Opponents to the reroute of Highway 55 in south Minneapolis have been camped out in the path of the highway for more than a year. Young people from the environmental group Earth First have chained themselves to trees and bulldozers. Dozens of them have been arrested. Early on in the battle, Earth First enlisted the help of a group of Native Americans known as the Mendota Mdwakanton Dakota. The Mendota Dakota say the land the highway will pass through was sacred to their ancestors.
September 28, 1999 - Koch Petroleum Group has agreed to pay a six million dollar fine for criminal violations at its Rosemount Refinery. It's the largest federal environmental fine in Minnesota history.
September 28, 1999 - Ron Offutt, aka Sultan of Spuds & the Lord of the Fries, grows more potatoes than anyone else in the world. The potatoes are perfect for French fries for fast food chains like McDonald's and frozen French fry processors like JR Simplot and Ore Ida. But Offutt’s success has a downside. Many people who live near Offutt's potato farms worry about the pesticides sprayed on his fields.....but they soon find they're up against a system much bigger than they are.
September 27, 1999 - Ron Offutt, aka Sultan of Spuds & the Lord of the Fries, grows more potatoes than anyone else in the world, and the potatoes are perfect for French fries. But his success has a price. Growing the perfect French fry has an environmental downside, as people in small towns near Offutt's potato farms have learned to their dismay.
September 23, 1999 - Koch Petroleum Group has announced it will make a new, low sulphur gasoline for sale in the twin cities. Company officials say it will reduce tailpipe emmissions 10 to 20 percent. That's the equivalent of taking 40 thousand cars off the road in the metro area.
September 7, 1999 - Students went back to school today at the University of Minnesota, coping with parking problems and the change from academic quarters to a semester system. As if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, the Minneapolis grain giant Cargill announced it's donating 10 million dollars to the U. The grant will go to expand the University's research on the gene sequencing of plants and microbes.