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RACHEL REABE: MPR's Mainstreet Radio coverage of rural issues is supported by the Blandin Foundation, committed to strengthening communities through grant-making, leadership training, and convening. We invite you to visit the Mainstreet website. Go to www.mpr.org, where you can hear today's program at your convenience, as well as other Mainstreet reports. The address again, www.mpr.org.

[ALAN JACKSON, "GONE COUNTRY"]

(SINGING) She's been playing at a room on the Strip

For 10 years in Vegas

Every night she looks in the mirror

RACHEL REABE: Good morning. I'm Rachel Reabe and we're opening this special Mainstreet Radio show with music from Alan Jackson, one of the country music stars performing at this year's WE Fest outside of Detroit Lakes. And that's where we are this morning, broadcasting live from the country's largest camping and country music extravaganza.

We've got a great view of the stage and the crowd, where music started just minutes ago. In the next three days fans will be treated to back-to-back performances by Jackson, Vince Gill, Clint Black, Patty Loveless, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Ronnie Milsap, and others. 40,000 people are expected for this 16th annual WE Fest.

We'll talk this morning about the history of WE Fest and the phenomenon of outdoor music festivals. We'll also look at what it takes to run a small temporary city. Our phone lines are open for your questions and comments today. You can call us at 1-800-537-5252. My guests this morning, WE Fest organizer Jeff Krueger and Rand Levy of Rose Productions. Good morning, gentlemen.

RAND LEVY: Good morning, Rachel.

RACHEL REABE: It's happening here.

JEFF KRUEGER: Yeah. I was just listening to your voice, and I listen to the station. I wonder, who is that with that wonderful voice? You do such a great job. Hey, it's a pleasure to be here. I'm just glad you're here. And it's a wonderful setup right here.

RACHEL REABE: Is this WE Fest weather? Is this as good as it gets?

JEFF KRUEGER: This is incredible. It's a beautiful, beautiful day. 85 and not a cloud in the sky. And the humidity is-- a nice breeze, and it's perfect.

RAND LEVY: One of our eight days of summer.

JEFF KRUEGER: Yes.

RACHEL REABE: Tell us who's playing now and what the lineup is for today, Jeff.

JEFF KRUEGER: Right now we have what is called the horizon artists, on the horizon. The next group that'll be up is Wheels. But right now, it's the Hank Brothers Band. What we do is in October, regional bands from all over the five-state area send us tapes. We have a committee then, in February, goes through all those tapes. And we pick out 10 of the best what we call on-the-horizon groups, and out of that ten, six made it on our stage the year. The Hank Brothers is on now. And then Wheels will be next, and then there's groups for the rest of the week.

RACHEL REABE: Let's talk about the real show that started at 9:30 this morning, when the strains of the "William Tell Overture" were blasted throughout here, and the gates opened up. And that was quite a show.

JEFF KRUEGER: Yeah. It's something which is our trademark. What happens is--

RACHEL REABE: People dashing like maniacs, carrying lawn chairs, rushing down to the stage?

JEFF KRUEGER: Well, no. The "William Tell Overture," the music is exciting overture. And what happens is people will line up in the morning at 6 o'clock in the morning to get in to get the best seats. And they've been doing this, those people have been here for 16 years. That's our diehard fans. They're the ones who get to sleep early so they can get up early to sit in front of the gates.

RACHEL REABE: And people need to understand, this isn't fixed seating here. This is a big, wide-open field.

JEFF KRUEGER: 20-acre amphitheater. The big delay towers, two big jumbotron screens. Every seat in the house is a front-row seat, but people line up in the morning. We open the gates at 9:30. We do a countdown. We play the "William Tell Overture." And they run in, they dash in. Now we have a security crew that sends them in groups, so--

RACHEL REABE: One guy who watched this morning said it's really calmed down from what it used to be. Perhaps you evolved to that.

JEFF KRUEGER: We've refined it somewhat.

RAND LEVY: It's organized chaos.

JEFF KRUEGER: It's organized chaos, yeah.

RACHEL REABE: Although still, that was not for the old or the fainthearted.

JEFF KRUEGER: There's a few fainthearted that run in, though.

RAND LEVY: [LAUGHS]

RACHEL REABE: They were coming in at a good clip wearing their lawn chairs, weren't they?

JEFF KRUEGER: Absolutely. They were wearing their lawn chairs on their heads, their arms, bouncing them off their knees.

RAND LEVY: It's a bit like golf's Masters Tournament, though. Once your chair is down, it's sacred ground. Nobody else will sit in that area. Nobody will move your chair.

JEFF KRUEGER: That's right.

RACHEL REABE: Well, that's nice to know. Let's go back to 1983. This is the 16th year for WE Fest. Jeff, what were you thinking about in '83 when you decided to do this? What did you have in mind?

JEFF KRUEGER: Let me go back in some history. When I was 15, I hitchhiked to Woodstock. I was always in music. I loved music. I got a backstage pass to Woodstock. I worked on the stage, and it was an incredible experience for me. I've always loved outdoor shows. I love music.

And in '83-- actually in '82, I saw the US Festival out in California. And I said, I want to do a WE Fest. All of us together, having this-- I don't know if it was a need, but this-- you get entertainment in your blood, and the excitement of an outdoor show and putting it together and the organizing, it always amazed me.

In that time period, from the time I was 15 to 17, I must have went to 10 outdoor shows. That was the heyday of the big, big shows all around the Midwest here, where they had 40 or 50 different acts would play. And that really excited me. And so I carried that with me until I was-- it wasn't a bad thing that I carried with me. It wasn't like baggage or anything. It was a fun deal.

RACHEL REABE: So you wanted to do it, but--

JEFF KRUEGER: I wanted to do it.

RACHEL REABE: How did you get from the US Fest to Detroit Lakes?

JEFF KRUEGER: Oh, well, we tried to do it in River Falls, Wisconsin, and the county board there chased us out of town. They felt we were going to bring in a bad element and destroy their city. And--

RAND LEVY: They were right about that.

JEFF KRUEGER: Yeah. [LAUGHS] And in '83, a partner of ours, Terry McCloskey, has a lake cottage up here in Detroit Lakes. And when we got shut down he said, well, why don't you try up in Detroit Lakes? There's a guy who owns a ranch up there. He's doing some little concerts. Why don't you see what he thinks? I drove up the next day, literally the next day, did a deal with that gentleman, and the rest is history.

RACHEL REABE: And did you buy this property?

JEFF KRUEGER: Our investment partner, Ray Mithun, in 1985 bought the property. And we have the company, WE Fest Inc.

RACHEL REABE: So in '83, you had a deal to use the land.

JEFF KRUEGER: Yes.

RACHEL REABE: And how did you manage to talk these-- Alabama, Tammy Wynette, Merle Haggard. You didn't start low. You started pretty high in '83. How do you convince people? I could see it would be much easier 16 years later to say to Alan Jackson, boy, they love you here. We want you back. But when you're starting something for the first year and telling these people, we're going to draw these huge crowds to where? Outside Detroit Lakes, Minnesota?

JEFF KRUEGER: Well, they didn't quite understand it themselves. But when you said, hey, look, we'll pay X amount of dollars, and they're routable and they're in the area. I guess we were lucky. I'd like to attribute it to my skills as a booker and a producer, but I think I was more lucky than anything. And a lot had to do with my faith and just hanging in there, perseverance.

RAND LEVY: Bands love to play fun shows. If it sounds like it's fun and financially it works for them, they're very interested. Bands want variety. There's only so many great dates they can get in a year and if they see one that can grow to something big, that's a lot of fun for a band.

RACHEL REABE: And how anxiety-ridden was that? Getting the performers, committing yourself to the money, getting this place lined up, and waiting to see if you build it, would they come? Did you know instantly? At what point did you know this thing was going to work?

JEFF KRUEGER: Well, in '83 I thought 200,000 people were going to show up the first day, which didn't happen. And of course, my partner sitting over there, he was just laughing at his desk in the Twin Cities. He thought, what a fool up in Detroit Lakes. How could he ever try to do anything like that? He wasn't my partner then.

And I didn't book Alabama until June, the end of June. I had the rest of the show done, but I didn't have Alabama done till the end of June, and the show was in August. And so they came on board right at the end, and that's really what blew it apart. That sealed it and made it legitimate, once I had the big band signed.

RACHEL REABE: And did you think all along, Jeff, was the plan to do a camping and music combo?

JEFF KRUEGER: Yes.

RACHEL REABE: The camping, I'm sure, had to happen. Because these people couldn't drive comfortably and drive home in a day.

JEFF KRUEGER: Camping was always the key. And having landed in Detroit Lakes, it's such a beautiful area. It's such a wonderful place to be. 412 lakes within 50 miles, and having that happen was really a blessing because it worked so well. And that was always the design, to have a big campout. Woodstock was a big campout. I said, that's got to be the plan, people to come spend three days. When you said 40,000 people, we expect that's 40,000 a day. 120,000 for the three days.

And when you have a concert and you have 40,000 people, single-day concert, they come and go. That's one thing. But when they're here for three days or four days, it really multiplies everything that you have to do, from the rolls of toilet paper you've got to put in the bathrooms to the number of hay bales that you have to have out on the site, to production crew foods, hotel rooms. It really is a lot different than just putting on a single-day concert.

RACHEL REABE: How many people showed up in '83?

JEFF KRUEGER: About 10,000 a day. About 30,000 people.

RACHEL REABE: And were you pleased with that? You expected 200,000. Could you meet your expenses that year?

JEFF KRUEGER: Yeah, that year we broke even and everybody was pretty pleased. It was a good year and people were excited, and Alabama let us use their bus to go in the parade downtown in Detroit Lakes. It was amazing. It was really a fun time. It was actually one of the funnest events I've ever went to because it was a first-time thing that actually happened.

You see, the concert site now is engulfed with over 120-some booths. They have a Western motif, our Western village. We had two booths then. We didn't have any booths then. We had a temporary shed up one, and our fence was a temporary plywood fence. We bought the plywood. We leased the plywood to sell it back. We tore the entire fence down around those 20 acres.

RACHEL REABE: You didn't have money to keep it through the next year.

JEFF KRUEGER: No, we couldn't keep it through the next year. But in '84, I lost over $400,000, and that was a bad year. That wasn't fun at all.

RACHEL REABE: Was that weather?

JEFF KRUEGER: That was just poor planning, and tried to expand too fast. Tried to go to five days. Bad management. I was falling down.

RAND LEVY: You learn by doing in the festival business.

JEFF KRUEGER: Yeah.

RACHEL REABE: Yeah.

JEFF KRUEGER: I needed help and I needed more heads. In a way that was a blessing in disguise too, because it brought my partner Randy Levy on, who had 25 years of experience at that time. At that time he started to become somewhat of a believer, seeing that it actually could happen.

RAND LEVY: I was 12 years old then, too.

JEFF KRUEGER: Yeah. [LAUGHS]

RACHEL REABE: Randy, let's talk about this phenomenon of outdoor music festivals, this camping-music combo. WE Fest, the biggest in the country?

RAND LEVY: Well, we just listen to what the bands tell us. It seems to be, if not the biggest, certainly right up there. We're told time and again it's the biggest show they see.

RACHEL REABE: And was it Woodstock that started this whole, let's get together, let's camp, let's listen to music?

RAND LEVY: Well, it must have been Frank Sinatra before that, wasn't it?

RACHEL REABE: [LAUGHS] So what other festivals are you involved with, and how can you compare those to what we're doing here today?

RAND LEVY: Well, Jeff lives up here, and he works the WE Fest, and something he's created this year called the Spirit Fest. I live in Minneapolis, and I do promotions year-round down there. This summer, or upcoming, is the Lilith Fair, which you might be familiar with. And we just finished the Ozzfest with the Warped Fest, which was primarily a rock and roll and kid's show.

Earlier in the year, we did this George Strait touring festival at the Metrodome, which was very successful. And every Memorial Day, I've always had a school's out party that's become a two-day event out in Somerset, Wisconsin, that we call the Edgefest, and that's been very, very successful for us.

RACHEL REABE: Do you have to pick a certain genre of music and stick with it to attract the crowds?

RAND LEVY: Oh, no. I think every festival has its highlights. This is country, but we don't hesitate to throw anything from what, Roy Orbison through the years, and John Denver and Roger Miller.

RACHEL REABE: So you take a broad view.

RAND LEVY: Beach Boys. Sure. I think with people, you want to have somewhat like music, but people like music. And if it's good talent, they may be an Alan Jackson fan, but that doesn't mean that they're not also a Beach Boys fan or a Willie Nelson fan. There can be quite a mix.

RACHEL REABE: Our phone number today is 1-800-537-5252. If you have ever been to WE Fest or any outdoor music festival, we'd be interested in hearing your experiences. Call us with your questions, your comments, 1-800-537-5252. Why is it a good deal for people to come to something like this, Rand? Have we seen more and more people gravitate towards these instead of single-performer venues?

RAND LEVY: Well, I don't know if it's more or less. I think ultimately all of these events are people's life memories. And when you can create an event that's so encompassing that they're here 24 hours a day for three or four days, that they're arranging their vacation times around it, that in many cases-- this is year after year-- these are like season ticket holders. They really look forward to this.

And it isn't even so much that this particular band or that band. They're going to camp in the same place. They're going to see the same people. These are memories that are created over time, and a festival event does offer that opportunity.

RACHEL REABE: And it is a better value, would you say, for the crowd?

RAND LEVY: Well, certainly. If you go see any one-night band nowadays, ticket prices, well, they're quite high in some cases. But maybe it's $30 or $40 for a headline attraction in a Target Center or something like that. Where in a show like this, I think our single-day price is $35.

JEFF KRUEGER: For eight bands.

RAND LEVY: Yeah, we've got eight bands. And let alone it's an outdoor mall here. There's just so much going on.

RACHEL REABE: So it's a good deal.

RAND LEVY: Well, it's to be perceived, but we sure think it is.

RACHEL REABE: You're expecting how many people? We said 40,000?

JEFF KRUEGER: 40,000. Last year we did 44,000 a day. This year, about 40,000 a day. We might hit last year's numbers, but our site actually works better at 40,000 people. We can service better.

RAND LEVY: Well, if it's down, we can always blame it on Alan Jackson. We've got Tony, his road manager, here with us, and we can blame him if there's a problem.

JEFF KRUEGER: Yeah, I don't know if I want to blame him.

RACHEL REABE: But your crowd's actually-- your all-time high attendance was several years ago.

JEFF KRUEGER: Actually, the last time Alan Jackson was here in 1996 was our high water mark. We did 50,000-plus. Alan Jackson played on the Sunday. I think he closed the show. It was an incredible event, but it was hard to service. 50,000-plus is tough for this facility. At 40,000 actually works better for us. We can service better. Food and beverage works better, camping works better, and it's just a lot more comfortable. We can handle 50,000, but it's just like the Metrodome. They can do what, 60,000?

RAND LEVY: Sure.

JEFF KRUEGER: But when it's 60,000, go out in the corridors--

RAND LEVY: Gets a little crowded.

JEFF KRUEGER: You can't walk, and it's actually kind of scary when it gets packed that full.

RACHEL REABE: So this is a nice comfortable crowd.

JEFF KRUEGER: This is very comfortable, and we had a wonderful crowd. We opened up early on Wednesday, which was really great. It got people off the highways and worked well. Last night, we had about between 5,000 or 6,000 people. Probably about 10,000 that came through, but at any one time, about 5,000 for the kickoff party up here. And it was one of the best nights I had ever seen with the crowd. They were just--

RAND LEVY: Full moon, gorgeous. Full moon tonight.

JEFF KRUEGER: Full moon, gorgeous evening, a band playing right on the stage we're sitting on here, and just well-behaved and just really geared up and just having a good time.

RAND LEVY: I was told our security is asking for double time pay because it's a full moon tonight.

RACHEL REABE: They may need it. We have Mainstreet reporter Dan Gunderson in the crowd this morning, and he is talking to some people who have been to WE Fest before, and some first-timers. Good morning, Dan.

DAN GUNDERSON: Good morning, Rachel. I hope you can hear me. I'm down in front of the stage here where the Hank Brothers Band is performing, and people around here are pretty mellow, sitting in their lawn chairs and enjoying the music. A lot of empty seats yet. A lot of people still coming in and getting ready for the show. There's a mix of people here. And I found three girls who are here for the first time, and tell me why you came.

ELAINE: Elaine.

DAN GUNDERSON: Why are you here?

ELAINE: [LAUGHS] Just to have a good time, I guess.

DAN GUNDERSON: What's your impression the first time here? What do you think of this whole scene?

ELAINE: It's awesome. Campgrounds are cool, and a lot of drinking and partying. [LAUGHS]

DAN GUNDERSON: So what did you really come for, the music or the partying?

ELAINE: The partying. [LAUGHS]

DAN GUNDERSON: Theresa is also here for the first time. Your impression is pretty much the same?

THERESA: I just love country music. I came to see Alan Jackson, mostly.

[LAUGHTER, CHEERING]

DAN GUNDERSON: Do you think you'll be coming back again?

THERESA: Oh, yeah. Next year, definitely. We won these tickets through work, so we'll be probably getting them next year too, for free.

DAN GUNDERSON: So what's the scene like in the campgrounds here at night? You're staying here, and it's pretty much a party?

THERESA: Yeah, we were kept up all night long by our neighbors hooting and hollering, throwing beer cans at our tents.

DAN GUNDERSON: But everybody's pretty much having a good time? You don't feel like it gets out of hand?

THERESA: Oh, no. It's really fun, yeah.

DAN GUNDERSON: All right. John's been coming, Rachel, for seven years now. And John, how has this changed in the seven years that you've been coming? What's changed? What's changed in the seven years you've been coming to this event?

JOHN: What's changed in seven years since I've been coming here is things just keep getting better and better and better. The security is really good, and the way the guys run the show around here, they got wristbands now and stuff that it's a clean deal. You come in and just move right in. You pull up on the road. That takes you about five minutes, and you're on your way after you get up to the initial stand.

You gotta wait in line a little bit, but it's not too bad. Find a camping spot, and you're on your way in here having a good time. And the music's awesome every time they come up here. And WE Fest is one of them things that it's what you make of it. You just have a great time. Neighbors are friendly. I haven't met a bad person in here yet in all seven years, and 55,000 people, that's saying a lot.

DAN GUNDERSON: So what is it really attracts you? Is it the music? Are you a true country music fan, or is it just the atmosphere?

JOHN: Both. I love country music to the core, and then just being here in the atmosphere and always meeting some people from-- next thing you know, you meet your next door neighbor up here, and you never knew they even come here. It's that kind of thing.

DAN GUNDERSON: And you meet friends? You come back year after year to see the same people?

JOHN: I've run into about two different groups that year after year, we run in the same ones. And we end up mix and mingle and back and forth, and I got to know some friends from up here through the years. It's great. It's great. You can't beat it.

DAN GUNDERSON: All right, Rachel, there you have it. You can do just about anything here. It's kind of a cross between a carnival and a theme park. You can get a temporary tattoo, you can get lottery tickets, you can get a new cowboy hat or cowboy boots. All the food you want, and all the beer you want to drink. And lots of hot sun today, and country music.

RACHEL REABE: Sounds like you are in heaven, Dan Gunderson. Thank you. We've been talking to Dan Gunderson, a Mainstreet reporter who's out in the crowd at WE Fest. And that's where we're broadcasting from. WE Fest is just outside of Detroit Lakes. We're in a perfect spot, especially after listening to Dan fighting to be heard down there. We are up high overlooking the stage and the concert scene here, and we can actually see a couple of lakes from where we're sitting, and some of the campgrounds in the distance here.

RAND LEVY: To explain to people, we did plant that last guy. We don't get positive reports like that all the time.

RACHEL REABE: Hey, they love it. They're here. It's sunny. It's approaching 80 degrees, and it's great WE Fest weather. We have Tony Stephens with us this morning. He's the tour manager for Alan Jackson. And actually, Jackson is going to be performing tonight at 10:30. Tony handles those management duties, but also takes the stage and plays with the band sometimes as well, huh, Tony?

TONY STEPHENS: Just a little. Enough to keep me going.

RAND LEVY: What do you play, Tony?

TONY STEPHENS: Harmonica.

RAND LEVY: All right.

RACHEL REABE: Let's talk about it from the performer's point of view, Tony. Do they like to come and play this concert setting?

TONY STEPHENS: Yes. It's always a party atmosphere. That's always a plus for someone on stage, because the people on stage feed off of what they're getting from the crowd. The better what's coming from the crowd, the more that goes out to the crowd. So it makes a big difference.

RACHEL REABE: Does it get to be so much of a party atmosphere that sometimes the performers wonder if anybody is really listening to them? Or when you're Alan Jackson, that's never a problem?

TONY STEPHENS: It really hasn't been a problem. I remember being here two years ago when the weather didn't cooperate, and I don't think there was an empty seat. I think everybody stayed. Everybody was partying and everybody had a great time.

RACHEL REABE: How about the logistics of getting Alan Jackson and his crew-- you told me 38 people about are going to be here with him. The production people, the stage crew, the techies. How do you get him here in Detroit Lakes? This isn't like playing the Target Center, where he could fly to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and be over there in 20 minutes, and then be gone from there. How do you do it when you're out in the middle?

TONY STEPHENS: Well, actually, it's not very hard to get here. It's really easy to get to Detroit Lakes, as far as our buses go. We carry three buses that brings all of our people up. But Alan flies in, and there's an airport here in Detroit Lakes that we utilize, and it's really easy. He comes in, he will definitely get in late. He's very family-oriented, so as much time as he can stay at home, he does. So him and the band will be coming up.

RACHEL REABE: And does he fly commercial or does he fly private?

TONY STEPHENS: He has a private plane that he flies.

RAND LEVY: When you fly with a whole band like that, it actually pays.

RACHEL REABE: To fly private.

RAND LEVY: It gets very close to being equal to just take a private plane. If he takes his band like that, it comes out economically-- it comes out often to the better of it.

TONY STEPHENS: Yeah, I would say it's better.

RACHEL REABE: So he's on the stage at 10:30 tonight. When do you expect him to touch down in Detroit Lakes today?

TONY STEPHENS: I'm looking-- is this a trick question?

RAND LEVY: Yeah, 10:28.

RACHEL REABE: No, I don't think so.

JEFF KRUEGER: Let's hope he just arrives on time.

TONY STEPHENS: Oh yeah, he'll be here. I'm not worried about him not getting here.

RACHEL REABE: Do they cut it quite close? Does he come in at 9:30, or--

TONY STEPHENS: No, it'll be 7:30-ish.

RAND LEVY: It's hard to get paid when you don't show up, so one thing they do is get here on time.

RACHEL REABE: So then he comes down and they have a temporary dressing room that's assigned to him to get ready for the show?

TONY STEPHENS: Actually, we use the bus. That's why we bring the buses up. It's very comfortable. It's like home away from home for everybody. Basically, once they get here, it's almost like the backstage area is almost like being at any other show. Your environment's there for you. That's why we carry the buses with us.

RAND LEVY: And you carry your full set to this show. Is that a fair statement?

TONY STEPHENS: That's a very fair statement. We utilize most of the lights and most of the sound that's already here, and we just hang moving lights to just enhance the show.

RAND LEVY: In my recollection, a big part of the negotiation-- especially with Alan, because he's very concerned that each show is his show, that he doesn't want to just like, well, I'll just one-off this one. It's very important to him to make sure that they bring their full set so that the customer gets the great Alan Jackson show every time they see it.

RACHEL REABE: How do you have time to do that, though, when you're talking about back-to-back performers? And we see the whole lineup today, there is somebody almost continually on stage. How long does it take your group to set up before he can go on?

TONY STEPHENS: Well, luckily at this festival, everybody is so accommodating. We actually set our set up last night. The stage is large enough where we can back our stage up, our set up, and you got plenty of room for anything else to go up there.

RAND LEVY: The power of rolling casters.

TONY STEPHENS: Exactly. Everything's on wheels, so everything can move out of the way. So it's very simple, actually, and our crew came in last night and set everything up that takes the extra time.

RAND LEVY: In this case, they drove us crazy a day early.

TONY STEPHENS: Right. Exactly.

RACHEL REABE: So he's on at 10:30 tonight. What kind of show? How long will that be?

TONY STEPHENS: Alan's been doing anywhere from 85 to 100 minutes. So we're actually slotted for 90 minutes, so it's probably going to be right around there.

RACHEL REABE: And can fans expect a great show tonight?

TONY STEPHENS: Absolutely.

RAND LEVY: If you cheer loud, he'll do a long show.

JEFF KRUEGER: Yes, I think it'll be incredible. I know that in talking to the agency, we've wanted to bring Alan back. We waited a year. It doesn't pay for us sometimes to do back-to-back.

RAND LEVY: Nighttime under the big moon is something special.

JEFF KRUEGER: It's going to be quite incredible. I got to tell you, they did come in the day before, and it's a great crew to work with. Actually, one of their semis, we're using the video screen. It actually just sets up right backstage, and they work the video screen right out of the back of their semi. It works out great.

RACHEL REABE: So that's tonight at 10:30. Do you plan to have, or do you always set it up, Jeff, where you have the biggies ending up each evening? Do we build to a certain climax every night?

JEFF KRUEGER: Yeah, that's part of show business. You've got to save the best for last. And in this case, it's Friday night with Alan Jackson. That's the best for last. But I think we have an incredible show. The entertainers that are playing before Alan Jackson are a compliment to his show. We have an incredible variety of talent for these three days, and that's what makes our show, I think, so unique this year.

It's not a buyer's market. It's a seller's market. So you don't always get your wish list. You put together a wish list. Here's what you want, this act and that act. But I'll tell you, this year we really got lucky and got some of the best, I think, live performers in the business.

RAND LEVY: We should tell people today is Lee Ann Womack and Blackhawk. Billy Ray Cyrus came to replace Collin Raye, who had to cancel for his own reasons. Then Martina McBride and then Alan Jackson. Well, if you're a country fan at all, that's right through every award ceremony for the last three or four years.

JEFF KRUEGER: Yeah, this is a plateful. This is meat and potatoes here. It's a lot. And if that doesn't tickle your fancy, Saturday even gets better. You have Neal McCoy, you have Patty Loveless, ending with Vince Gill. Before that--

RAND LEVY: Who is on our show?

JEFF KRUEGER: --Sherrié Austin, who was showcased at the CMA convention. The thing about Billy Ray Cyrus, let me just say, I go down the CMA convention every October. I know you guys are represented down there, and Billy Ray Cyrus has always wanted to play our show. And when he was really hot in 1994-- I think it was '93 or '94-- we just never connected. And then I think he really got a bum rap, for me, anyways. A lot was one-hit wonder, and he can't really do it.

But I'll tell you, this guy has hung in there. He's got one of the best fanbases you'll ever want to see. He's got 16 internet sites. They follow him everywhere. It's incredible. But he's hung in there, and his album right now is one of the hottest albums out there. And you're going to see a real emotional performance from Billy Ray Cyrus, because it was such a connection.

RAND LEVY: It'll be fun.

JEFF KRUEGER: It was a blessing in disguise. He was close by. Our prayers go out to Collin Raye. He's a hard worker and we wish he could have played, but it didn't happen. Having Billy Ray Cyrus is, I think, going to be a great compliment to the Alan Jackson show, having him up there. And I just got to say, if you're in the area, you've never been to WE Fest, this is going to be an incredible night of talent.

RACHEL REABE: I'm Rachel Reabe and we're broadcasting live this Mainstreet special from WE Fest, just outside of Detroit Lakes. Randy Levy and Tony Stephens, thanks for coming with us. And we are going to continue our program with Jeff Krueger. We're also going to bring in some of the people from Becker County to see about what the logistics are in setting up a small city like this for a few days.

You're listening to a special Mainstreet Radio program from WE Fest. MPR's Mainstreet Radio coverage of rural issues is supported by the Blandin Foundation, committed to strengthening communities through grant-making, leadership training, and convening. We'll be back with weather and more of Mainstreet at WE Fest right after this.

[ALAN JACKSON, "DON'T ROCK THE JUKEBOX"] Don't rock the jukebox

I want to hear some Jones

'Cause my heart ain't ready

For the Rolling Stones

I don't feel like rocking

Since my baby's gone

So don't rock the jukebox

Play me a country song

Before you drop that quarter

Keep one thing in mind

You got a heartbroke

RACHEL REABE: WE Fest performer Alan Jackson, and he'll be on stage tonight at 10:30. Today's weather in the Twin Cities calls for scattered showers throughout today, a high of 80 degrees. 40% chance of rain tonight with a low of 62 degrees. Saturday, skies clearing by the afternoon, a high of 83 degrees.

The WE Fest forecast looks a lot better than that. Here in Northwestern Minnesota, we are enjoying partly sunny skies. We're going for a high of 85 degrees today. Partly cloudy skies tonight, 57 degrees. And tomorrow, sunny and warmer, 90 degrees and sunshine at WE Fest for tomorrow.

I'm Rachel Reabe and we're continuing our live Mainstreet broadcast from WE Fest. Our phone lines are open for your calls at 1-800-537-5252. We have a bird's eye view of the concert stage and the crowd gathered here at WE Fest, the first day of the three-day country music and camping festival. Organizer Jeff Krueger is with me. We've been joined by Sheriff Tom Hunt and administrator Mike Williams, both from Becker County, where WE Fest is located. Good morning, gentlemen.

BOTH: Good morning.

RACHEL REABE: We're going to go right away to the phone lines, where people are patiently waiting for us. We have Christine from Detroit Lakes on the phone. Good morning, Christine.

CHRISTINE: Good morning. I find it interesting that you are going on at such great length about the great view that you have in the bird's eye seat, and perhaps I have a little less savory view of the WE Fest. I live a little further south of Detroit Lakes, immediately adjacent to a public access that for the next three days becomes basically a large outdoor toilet and bathtub, and concertgoers appear, apparently in various states of sobriety, to do whatever nature calls them to do here.

And I will compliment the Becker County Sheriff. I've already had to place one call to them. They're extremely responsive. But I just think that if the organizers of this event think that you can successfully accommodate 40,000 people comfortably, I would beg them to consider the impact that this event has on lakes and residents here.

RACHEL REABE: Christine, what would you like to see happen?

CHRISTINE: Well, I don't know. I don't know what the thrill of camping within six inches of someone else who's camping, and to have a great time while someone throws beer cans at you and yells all night is something that eludes me. But if they really are going to build this and promote this as an onsite event for three days, I would suggest they have some sort of infrastructure to allow people to bathe and use the bathroom other than my hedge. [LAUGHS]

RACHEL REABE: Sheriff Tom Hunt, let's ask you about that. Is this typical of the reaction we get from people who live around here?

TOM HUNT: You'll find that happening with people in different areas, whether it's in the city of Detroit Lakes-- they had a problem there a number of years ago with a lot of people, a lot of revelers running around and using people's lawns for whatever reason. And it'll happen out here too. But I think they've made great strides out here in the past couple of years in trying to hold the number of people down, to provide all those facilities they need to bathe properly and to stay away from people's residences.

People get inebriated. They're going to do that. And we're doing our best to help out, to see to it it doesn't happen. We are gaining ground. It is not fun for the person that has somebody coming into your yard and doing these type of things, and we'll respond to those as quick as we can.

RACHEL REABE: How many officers do we have here?

TOM HUNT: At a peak time, probably 30 from my department.

RACHEL REABE: And we have 30 from the Sheriff's Department, and then there are members of the Highway Patrol here.

TOM HUNT: The Highway Patrol has their people here. There's probably, depending upon the peak periods, seven to eight on the highway. Plus they bring in a team of officers from outstate Minnesota. I think there's another 10 or so.

RACHEL REABE: And then we also have a private security force.

TOM HUNT: There's a private security force here, ASIA Security out of St. Paul.

RACHEL REABE: So all told, how many uniformed people do you think we might have?

TOM HUNT: Well, at any one time, you're probably running about 70 to 80 at the peak periods, and maybe even a few more in the nighttime. You'll see between ASIA Security, event staff security, and I guess you call them security, right, Jeff?

JEFF KRUEGER: Yeah, the National Guard. We have 300 National Guard personnel on duty. Not all at one time, but at any given time, there's about a hundred per shift.

RACHEL REABE: To help keep the peace here?

JEFF KRUEGER: Yeah, they help people move around. Let me just respond to what you said. First of all, we've built showers out here, shower facilities in every campground. We have portable showers in all of the temporary campgrounds. It's unfortunate that we can't be the managers of every person.

During the 4th of July here, we've had some problems with people just-- abuse in a way. And at any time, when there's a lot of people gathering, some people just can't control themselves for some reason, and you find a bathroom somewhere. I don't get it. But to me, that's a problem. But when you look at the income dollars that this festival and the workforce bring in, it's tremendous.

And so I'm not saying that that's not a problem that shouldn't be looked at. But I think for a three-day period, if a few people happen to urinate near my house, it's not OK, but it's not the end of the world either. And I hope people would understand that we try to do everything we can to make this event run in a safe-- and there's certain rules that we hope people would abide on. We say the golden rule has always been our rule. Don't infringe on other people. We do a lot. We've done a lot in the last years to try to rectify that image.

RACHEL REABE: Try to minimize those things.

JEFF KRUEGER: But I got to tell you, we have one of the best audiences in the country. When you get 50,000 people together, you're going to have a few bad apples no matter what. But for the most part, we have one of the best audiences in, I got to say, in this United States, or it would just blow apart. You can't have three days and have as few problems as we do without some really good people also attending this festival.

RACHEL REABE: Mike Williams, let's get you involved in this conversation. You are the Becker County administrator. First, the economic impact. Is it substantial?

MIKE WILLIAMS: That's funny. Tom and I were just talking about that before we came up here, and I was saying it would be nice to do an analysis to see what the economic impact is to this community and this area. Because I know it's huge. And I know Jeff might have even a better idea, because he knows the numbers better than I do. But I don't know exactly, but it is big. You just look around here, and you see the vendors and everybody that's employed here and how many dollars are brought into this community for the next three days. It's tremendous.

JEFF KRUEGER: People don't understand the workforce, too. It's not just the dollars that are influxed into the community during the three days, but we have over a million and a half dollar payroll that stays in this community that trickles down. The manager who made $1,500 here, he's going to spend that here in Detroit Lakes. He may buy his groceries, his gas, some appliances or whatever, in the next couple of weeks here, or months, in Detroit Lakes.

So there's this ripple effect that people don't really look at. They think, oh, it's just three days. It's the guy who's going to be at Perkins or the filling station, and then they're all gone. Well, that's not the case. The impact is in the millions.

RACHEL REABE: Mike, does the county regulate who can come and how many can come and how they can come?

MIKE WILLIAMS: We permit the WE Fest, it's called a mass gathering permit. And that permit, I believe it says 50,000 people. And so that regulates a whole host of things. And what Jeff and his staff do every year is they pull together a plan, and they present it to us, and we go through it. Everything from traffic control, safety, law enforcement, restrooms and the toilet facilities, and everything is basically included in that permit.

RACHEL REABE: Have some of the changes that have occurred at WE Fest been driven by your office saying, we've got to do this, we've got to have a different way to move the pedestrians in and out, we need the shower facilities at the campgrounds?

MIKE WILLIAMS: Well, certainly the permit process has allowed the county and WE Fest to work together closely. And actually I'm very complimentary of WE Fest, because they do their best to make everything run smoothly. And I think through the years we've worked together pretty well in making those decisions of how to move people and keep people safe.

A couple of projects we've done just in the last few years was the walkways under the major roads here. And we did that together with our Highway Department, and that's been a really, really good addition for the safety here. And those kinds of things have happened throughout the years.

JEFF KRUEGER: It's been very mutual. I have to say that the county, the Sheriff's Department, and all the members of the Safety Commission have been very supportive and actually have helped us work out problems, instead of being in hedge where we can't-- or at impasse. They've always helped us work. If there's a problem, they sit down and work it out. And so that's been exciting for me, that it's more of a cooperative effort.

RACHEL REABE: And Mike, does the county, does Becker County bear the full financial responsibility of providing this infrastruction? Or does the WE Fest company share that with you?

MIKE WILLIAMS: WE Fest has shared that greatly. They compensate our law enforcement agencies for the work that they do. And some of the infrastructure projects that have gone on out here have been in conjunction with county work, but WE Fest has helped to pay for those. So they pay their own way.

RACHEL REABE: And have you had complaints, like Christine on the phone, coming to the county board in any substantial number saying, we don't want this? We don't want WE Fest here?

MIKE WILLIAMS: No, not in any substantial numbers at all. But when we went through the process, we had some people that came and made comments. That's why we go through the process. But as far as complaints, they're pretty minor, really.

RACHEL REABE: Our phone lines are open today. You can call us and join this conversation at 1-800-537-5252. I'm Rachel Reabe and you're listening to a special Mainstreet broadcast from WE Fest. Kelly from Osseo is on the phone with us. Go ahead with your question or comment, Kelly.

KELLY: Yes, a glorious Friday morning to all four of you. I say myself, who's attended several outdoor music festivals and still needs to get up to WE Fest, I do envy the position that all of you are in this morning. I have one question for Sheriff Hunt and then two questions for Mr. Krueger. First, I'll ask my question of Sheriff Hunt. And that is annually, how many arrests or citations are given to WE Fest patrons every year during this festival?

TOM HUNT: Well, I can tell you from our department, it's probably in the vicinity of about 30. I can't speak for the Highway Patrol. I know they come up here with their teams and issue a number of citations to people, and they're not all WE Fest-bound either. There's a lot of people that are locals that we can't really associate with it, but they make quite a number of DWI arrests. But as far as ours is concerned, no, we don't have that many. We process the ones that really need to go through and try to keep everybody else on an even keel, and hopefully it'll all work out for the best.

KELLY: OK Thank you, Sheriff.

RACHEL REABE: What's the worst thing, Sheriff Hunt, that's happened here in the years of WE Fest? Are most of them nuisance, or have there been some actual life-threatening situations?

TOM HUNT: We had a car accident a number of years ago where a young person lost their life. But the other ones are usually domestic-related, people not getting along. The weather is warm and they're fighting, or theft of stuff from other people, radios, coolers, those type of situations. Nothing real major. In the past we've had a few assaults reported on females, and with the help of the crisis center in Detroit Lakes and with the staff out here, we've been able to cut that down to just about nothing right now. So that's encouraging.

RACHEL REABE: Kelly, go ahead with your other question.

KELLY: OK. Mr. Krueger, you and the WE Fest company, are you looking to attract other major summer musical festivals? An example of some maybe being Ozzfest, Warped Tour, HORDE Fest, Lilith Fair, and then any number of new festivals that might start up in the coming years, to Detroit Lakes?

RACHEL REABE: It's a great question because this year, actually, you did start with a new festival.

JEFF KRUEGER: Yes, I left those festivals for my partner in the cities. My second venture is called Spirit Fest. It's a Christian festival. It's a gathering of families uplifting the Lord and bringing people together in their teachings of Jesus Christ. And it was very, very powerful this year. We had over 35,000 people in attendance, and it was a true blessing for me. There are problems with me in terms of lifestyle at WE Fest, but again, I'm not another person's keeper. For me, it's a celebration of country music.

For the Christian event, it was bringing families together, and boy, it was just tremendous. We had both Lake Sallie and Northwoods were completely filled. There was little or no cleanup at all at the of the festival. We had 17,000 people for the Amy Grant show on Saturday night. There was no cleanup, no security. We had minimal county or Highway Patrol. They were here and assisting.

It was just a wonderful event and something that I look forward to working on next year and expanding. I think it'll be an explosion. I think we'll do 30,000 or 40,000. Those are the only two festivals that I have planned for the site. That's a plateful. Believe me, we work on this all year long and doing both those festivals really had us quite busy.

RACHEL REABE: Was there a whole different atmosphere, Sheriff Hunt, for the Spirit Fest?

TOM HUNT: Oh yes, there was. People thanked us when we helped them across the road. They were pretty happy when they came in and they were pretty happy when they left. So the problems we had were mainly with traffic, trying to get people in and out and where they wanted to go, and assisting with-- a lot of the people that came hadn't been to WE Fest before, so they didn't the way around. So we had to spend a little extra time with them, but it worked out very well.

RACHEL REABE: Somebody told me you had to take down the Marlboro Man for Spirit Fest.

JEFF KRUEGER: Well, actually, Marlboro is not a sponsor. We didn't take it down for the Christian fest. We took it down because Marlboro no longer can sponsor an event like this, and so we had to take off the Marlboro signature on it. But no, the cowboy is representative of our event. That's what it is, a celebration of country music. And Spirit Fest, it was a celebration of Jesus Christ.

I don't take off my Jesus hat and put on my country hat. Jesus is with me all the time. I just happen to be in the business of promoting a country music festival. And it may seem hypocritical, but God put me in this position for some reason, and I think the reason is because I get to talk to people like you about what I'm doing.

RACHEL REABE: Let me ask you this, Jeff. You got into the WE Fest business in the early '80s, and you rode the rails up to the country music explosion. Are you feeling like you're doing the same with Christian music? We have Sunshine Festival and just a lot more attention focused now on that kind of music.

JEFF KRUEGER: I think there's a lot of families who want to go and be part of entertainment, have a good time. And there just aren't a lot of really good entertainment events out there that they can go to that your family isn't offended at going to. And I don't care if it's a Vikings game or a-- whatever it is, they're not all family-orientated where you can bring your kids.

And that's the opportunity that's provided with Spirit Fest. WE Fest was never designed for children in mind. It was always considered, and it was always planned to be an adult event. And so that's the difference. We're giving it an opportunity, for people who want to celebrate music and the great outdoors, an opportunity to do that with their families and young children.

RACHEL REABE: In addition to the people that are camping out here, Mike, are we seeing all the motels full in this area? Are the restaurants full? Are people spilling out of this venue into the surrounding community?

MIKE WILLIAMS: Sure, all the hotels in the area would be full. In fact, probably they're all full in Fargo as well, and busloads of people come from Fargo. I don't know how many buses they run, but there's plenty of people that travel each day to and from Fargo as well. So yeah, you wouldn't be able to find a hotel room in, I don't know, probably 50 miles, 70 miles, yeah.

RACHEL REABE: Tom Hunt, what are the improvements that have happened over the years? When we talked on the phone, you told me those years where there were 50,000 people, you were a little nervous. That was teetering on the edge for you.

TOM HUNT: That gets to be just about a few thousand more people than we're capable of handling. I don't have a place to put them for parking vehicles. Maybe the campgrounds aren't enough. And yet the people are coming here. And they want to be entertained, and if you don't have the room, somebody's going to get upset. So it's dropped down a little bit. I think it's a lot more comfortable for my department to work with these people because we have a place we can put them. They're easy to get along with. So it's working better.

RACHEL REABE: Jeff, where do you go from here? You already said that Spirit Fest and WE Fest, that will be enough for you. Although some people might come here and see this huge 700-acre facility, and now you have the infrastructure here. Now you've got the showers. Now you've got the pedestrian underpasses. It would seem logical to think, well, let's keep this place rocking every weekend.

JEFF KRUEGER: It doesn't work. Single-day concerts and other forms of music have never worked on this site. We tried to do Neil Diamond, and he went to the Fargodome. We tried to do Rod Stewart. He went to the Fargodome. We tried to do Billy Joel. He went to the Fargodome. The thing is, we're competing against artists that like to play indoors, control the weather. Again, we're not on the major routing. Detroit Lakes isn't. Fargo is. Fargo has an international airport. We have a smaller airport. Alan Jackson can fly in because he has a private plane.

And for us, those things, you can't depend on. You can't depend on a loyal fanbase in rock and roll because ages change, and rock and roll music just recycles. It's not the same from year to year. It's constantly changing and the market's constantly changing. Where country music, you have a solid, loyal audience that's here from now until 20 years from now.

In Christian music, it's the same thing. You have a loyal audience that you can build on, that people are going to come from now until 20, 30 years from now. And the same with the talent in country music. They're easy to work with. It's easy to contract them and talk with management and agencies. And the same with Christian music. It's easy to talk with agents and management and get commitments. Whereas other forms of music, rock and roll, alternative, those forms of music are hard to connect with.

When you do a Lollapalooza tour, it's hard to make it happen. I'll just give you an example we went through. I was totally against this. It was not part of something I wanted to do. My partners wanted to do a Lollapalooza show here. Ended up coming back here from vacation, and we had to out some of the permitting stuff. And it wasn't something I wanted to do, but we went ahead and did it and signed a temporary contract with Lollapalooza to do it on our site. They wanted us to tear out the sound booth, tear out all the railing, completely reconfigure the site for a cost of $200,000 or $300,000.

RACHEL REABE: They needed the mosh pit.

JEFF KRUEGER: Yeah. And then of course, we didn't share in the lion's share of the admissions. After getting ready to do all those things, a month into negotiating all this and working with the county and driving me nuts because I didn't want to do it, they go, well, we're not coming. We're going to go to outside Chicago. Bye. That's the aggravation.

MIKE WILLIAMS: We had plenty of public comment when we were going through that permitting process.

RACHEL REABE: And Mike Williams, would the county at some point say, no. We're not doing them here every weekend. We can do these two, but that's about what the market will bear.

MIKE WILLIAMS: And actually, the permit that WE Fest has does limit them to a certain number of events per year. So if they were going to begin to exceed that, they would have to come back and request further permitting. And at that time, then we could say yes or no. So I think we permit you for seven events now or something like that.

RACHEL REABE: We're halfway through this Mainstreet broadcast from WE Fest. Jeff Krueger, Tom Hunt, and Mike Williams, thanks for being with us today. Next hour, we're going to turn our attention to another summer diversion-- personal watercraft, those small, noisy boats that have caused such a stir on some lakes, including those in the Detroit Lakes area. Can personal watercraft coexist with all the other boats on Minnesota lakes? We'll talk about it when we continue our Mainstreet special after the news. But first, we're going to close this hour with a song from one of this year's WE Fest performers, Mary Chapin Carpenter, who will be on stage here Sunday evening.

[MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER, "I FEEL LUCKY"] No Professor Doom going to stand in my way

Mm, I feel lucky today

Woo!

LORNA BENSON: I'm Lorna Benson. On the next All Things Considered, we'll celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the world's oldest Sherlock Holmes clubs. It's All Things Considered, weekdays at 3:00 on Minnesota Public Radio, KNOW-FM 91.1.

RACHEL REABE: You're listening to Minnesota Public Radio. It's 70 degrees at KNOW-FM 91.1, Minneapolis-St. Paul. Today's Twin Cities weather calls for scattered showers, a high of 80 degrees. 40% chance of rain tonight with a low of 62. Skies clearing on Saturday by the afternoon and 83 degrees. It's 12:01.

ANNE BOZELL: From National Public Radio News in Washington, I'm Anne Bozell. President Clinton says the bombings at two US embassies in East Africa are inhuman acts of terrorist violence, and he vows to use all means at his disposal to bring the bombers to justice. As many as seven Americans are reported killed in the bombings. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

PETER KENYON: At a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, President Clinton said although the bombings at US embassy buildings in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, appear to have been coordinated, no one has claimed responsibility for them. The president said medical experts, investigators, and counterterrorism personnel are being dispatched to East Africa, and he pledged that the bombings would not go unpunished.

BILL CLINTON: These acts of terrorist violence are abhorrent. They are inhuman. We will use all the means at our disposal to bring those responsible to justice, no matter what or how long it takes.

PETER KENYON: The president said the families and loved ones of the American and African victims of the explosions are in his thoughts and prayers. Out of respect for those killed, he's ordered US flags lowered to half staff around the world. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, the White House.

ANNE BOZELL: The two blasts came within minutes of each other, killing dozens of people and injuring hundreds. John Greenlee is an American relief worker. He has offices in Nairobi, just across the street from the US embassy. He was there when the bomb went off.

JOHN GREENLEE: The blast was really a big one. I don't know how you could measure it in pounds of bombs. It certainly is equal to a 10,000-pound bomb, it seemed like to me. But it was a pretty big one. We found a way to get a ride to get back home. We had to walk a good distance roundabout to get out of there, and I noticed many, many buildings with shattered glass within a four or five-block distance.

ANNE BOZELL: The United States is rushing medical equipment and antiterrorism teams to both Kenya and Tanzania, and security has been tightened at US embassies throughout Africa.

Chicago businessman Steve Fossett is ready to make a fourth try at circling the globe nonstop in a hot air balloon. Andrea Murray reports from St. Louis.

ANDREA MURRAY: His mission control team at St. Louis's Washington University says if favorable wind and weather patterns hold up, Fossett will lift off some time today from a soccer stadium in Argentina. If he's successful, the 20,000-mile trip across the Southern Hemisphere will take about 18 days. Fossett attempted the trip from St. Louis earlier this year, but a problem with his heating system forced him to touch down in southern Russia.

The new flight plan will help him avoid countries such as Libya, which could prevent him from entering their airspace. The millionaire adventurer hopes his new flight plan, and some design changes, will help him become the first solo balloonist to ever complete a nonstop round-the-world trip. For NPR News, I'm Andrea Murray in St. Louis.

ANNE BOZELL: On Wall Street at this hour, the Dow Industrials are up 78.75 points at 86.55. This is NPR News.

SPEAKER 1: Support for National Public Radio comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation for Reporting on Biological Resource Issues.

TIM PUGMIRE: Good afternoon. With news from Minnesota Public Radio, I'm Tim Pugmire. Former Vice President Walter Mondale says the US House of Representatives' approval of a ban on soft money campaign contributions will put pressure on Senate leaders who are opposed to the bill. The bill would halt currently unregulated contributions to political parties and tighten restrictions on advertisements. Mondale cochaired a bipartisan effort to rally congressional support for campaign finance reform. He contends a majority in the Senate favor the bill.

WALTER MONDALE: After the action in the House, I think we would even get more support. The problem is whether the leadership will filibuster this bill like they did last time or not. I'm hopeful that they'll raise the bill. Now with the House having adopted it, I think there's a lot more pressure on the Senate to act.

TIM PUGMIRE: Mondale says he's pleased with the House vote, which he calls very significant. A Washington County district court judge is being publicly reprimanded for cursing during a courtroom hearing a year ago. The Minnesota Board on Judicial Standards says Judge Thomas Armstrong violated the code on judicial conduct.

DFL candidate for attorney general Mike Hatch wants homeowners to have their own bill of rights. Under a plan unveiled today, homeowners would receive interest on their escrow accounts, mortgage originators would be required to disclose the lowest interest rates available, and homeowners could prepay mortgage without penalties.

The state forecast this afternoon, scattered showers and a few thunderstorms in the east, central and south. Partly sunny in the northwest. Highs from the 70s to the mid-80s. In the Twin Cities, scattered showers, a few thunderstorms, a high in the low 70s. At last report, Rochester, 70, Duluth, 66, the Twin Cities, 70 degrees. That's news from Minnesota Public Radio. I'm Tim Pugmire.