Tuesday, March 21, 2000
Metals
NEW YORK (AP) -- Spot nonferrous metal prices Monday.
Births
Christopher and Dondi (Warta) Pederson, Brainerd, a boy, Cole Dayne, 11 pounds, 11 ounces, Feb. 28, 2000. Grandparents are David and Kay Pederson, Brainerd, and Jim and Cindy Warta, Brainerd.
Cash grain
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Wheat receipts Monday 136, a year ago 26.
Livestock
SOUTH ST. PAUL (AP) (USDA) -- Monday cattle: 350.
Crimes
THEFTS -- Pam Brittell, 1000 block of Oak Street, reported Saturday the theft of a mountain bike valued at $400 from in front of her residence.
Accident
BENA -- A 24-year-old Deer River man was seriously injured Sunday in a one-vehicle accident on Highway 2, four miles east of Bena.
Local brief
The Crow Wing County Memorial Day Committee will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at the American Legion Club in Brainerd.
Spring streeeettcchhhh!
Warrior distance track runner Kellie Kratochwill used the goal post for support while stretching Monday at Don Adamson Field. With a patch of snow remaining, she ran the track in 40-degree weather. (Dispatch Photo by Steve Kohls)
How to get old without really trying
We get older but wiser. That's the official concept. The sagacity and serenity that come with maturity are supposed to compensate for the degeneration of the corporeal self. We might get
Activists schedule founding convention to renew Reform Party
ST. PAUL -- Backers of pundit Pat Buchanan's presidential candidacy are planning to resurrect the state Reform Party in the wake of its abandonment by third-party activists in Minnesota.
C. Elmer Anderson Memorial Highway awaits governor's signature
A bill to name the Highway 371 bypass after former Gov. C. Elmer Anderson now goes to the governor's desk after a Minnesota Senate vote today.
County's child well-being statistics show things to worry about
Crow Wing County was listed as being close to a state average for several indicators of child well-being, but there were concerns for a higher-than-average rate of school transfers, dropouts and substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect.
Study looks at state child well-being
A snapshot of the health and well-being of Minnesota's children was released today, pointing to improvements in child welfare and new areas of concern.
Brainerd annexes three parcels of land
The Brainerd City Council completed its first round of annexation by ordinance Monday night with the third and final readings on three parcels of land north of the city in Unorganized Territory. The council adopted all three ordinances unanimously.
Women's spiritual center embraces future, remains faithful to the past
LOVELAND, Ohio (AP) -- It has been a long time since Janet Kalven slept in a stall in a cow barn or pumped water for bathing.
Local briefs
Crow Wing Power customers living south and east of Lastrup will experience a power outage around 10 a.m. Wednesday.
BWCA campers advised to bring camp stoves because of fire danger
DULUTH (AP) -- Vacationers headed to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area this year better bring camp stoves and fuel if they hope to eat hot meals.
Seniors' own TV station
That's the kind of coverage residents at Maryland's two largest retirement communities -- Oak Crest Village in Parkville and Charlestown in Catonsville -- have at the touch of their remote controls.
Storytelling keeps small town's history alive
PLAINVIEW (AP) -- There are a thousand little towns with a thousand stories.
History of the Mahlum Sugar Bush on North Long Lake
Anton Mahlum came to America from Norway in 1869 and came to Brainerd in 1870. He worked at different jobs in sawmills and for the railroad. He also bought and sold Lumberman's Clothing and Lake Superior Herring.
McCain's twin assets
WASHINGTON -- Much has been written about the maverick, mercurial character of John McCain and his presidential campaign. We're here to tell you it's in the blood.
Walker school referendum draws attentive crowd
HACKENSACK -- Questions and comments voters posed to Walker-Hackensack-Akeley School representatives Monday night were far less confrontational than those preceding the 1999 bond referendum.
Extra credit
Kandice Brick, Brainerd, and Simon Waltman, Little Falls, are members of the Student Athlete Advisory Council at Bemidji State University. They are responsible for organizing fund-raisers, helping with community service events and working to improve athletes on campus.
Residents evacuated from unfolding hostage scene
DUNDALK, Md. -- Residents were evacuated from a suburban Baltimore neighborhood where a man suspected of four murders was holding three people hostage for a third day.
Providing a look to the past
More people from outside the area are visitors to the museum than local people, according to Lou Ann Moudry, curator.
Local briefs
The Otto Bremer Foundation awarded a $10,000 grant to the Aitkin School District in January for the Kids Plus program's work to help adults better value youths as a community asset.
Brainerd, Baxter councils study spraying to control mosquitoes
The city councils of Brainerd and Baxter are reviewing a mosquito control study on the possible use of larvicide to combat mosquitoes this summer.
Legislative briefs
State Rep. Larry Howes' bill to keep Ah-Gwah-Ching nursing home open took a major leap forward when it passed Wednesday by a 132 to 0 vote in the House of Representatives.
A new twist on saving for old age
SHANGHAI, China -- Han Wenzhen lives alone in a one-room apartment with no heat, no hot water and no indoor bathroom. A separate kitchen, shared by three families, is hard to reach using her crutches.
Trail of asbestos-related deaths, illnesses prompts investigation
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Children who romped on a waste pile of processed vermiculite ore and neighbors who hauled away the free crushed rock had no warning that it was contaminated with deadly tremolite asbestos.
Life's lessons
As I approach my 70th year, I realize that I have gained some knowledge along the way that is worth passing on.
This was Brainerd
20 years ago (1980) - Worms, Ketchum, Fish represents both the hope of participants in the May 10-11 Brainerd Lions Club's Crappie Tournament and the names of three persons purchasing tickets, Wayne Ketchum, Eddie Worms and Jack Fish. Bill Van Essen is Publicity chairman.
Task force: High taxes contribute to shortage of rental housing
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Apartment owners are overtaxed, and that's contributing to a shortage of affordable rental housing across Minnesota, a task force of government, nonprofit and private-sector officials says.
Support for death penalty slips
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The death penalty is losing support in Minnesota but a majority still wish the state had capital punishment, according to a Star Tribune Minnesota Poll published today.
Grandfathers with time on their hands
EXCELSIOR (AP) -- Harry Carlson may be 89 years old, but he knows he's not likely to be forced into retirement any time soon.
Legislature to take up taxes, ethics complaint
ST. PAUL -- The three-way tax debate among House and Senate lawmakers and Gov. Jesse Ventura illustrates that sometimes having too much money can be as much of a problem as having too little.
TV sleaze hasn't bottomed out yet
This summer CBS will roll out two new ''reality'' series that have been the talk of the T
Other spring, summer road projects listed
Other Minnesota Department of Transportation spring/summer road projects:
Lack of exercise hurts quality of life
''I am convinced that strength is important for preservation of function,'' said researcher Steven N. Blair of the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas.
Poll: Minnesotans feel safer because of drop in crime rate
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Fear of crime among Minnesota residents has dropped to a 17-year low, according to a new poll. But almost half of Minnesotans living outside the Twin Cities fear crime is on the way up in their neighborhoods.
Mankato man remembers Pearl Harbor
MANKATO (AP) -- Marty Kroeger had just graduated from high school in the spring of 1940, and he decided his father's farm northwest of Rapidan was becoming a bit stifling.
Minnesota emerges from hibernation
Spring officially arrived in Minnesota at 1:35 a.m. today, celebrating the triumph of the sun over darkness, and the survival of life through the winter.
Senate backs $625 million in new transportation spending
ST. PAUL -- The Senate voted overwhelmingly Monday to spend an extra $625 million on roads, bridges and transit projects over the next three years, reinforcing transportation's place as a marquee issue this session.
Senate agrees to ease some bleacher-safety standards
ST. PAUL (AP) -- The Senate voted to ease some bleacher-safety standards that it passed into law last year, which some had criticized as putting too much financial burdens on school districts and cities.
Whopper spending bill approved 85-42 in House
ST. PAUL -- Abortion restrictions, welfare sanctions, ethanol funding, Gov. Jesse Ventura's salary, disaster relief, state park closings, the senior drug program and other wildly varying issues all were wrapped into a single spending bill.
Area state legislators address overpass
Two area legislators think the upcoming state transportation bill, expected in April, may provide an answer to the Highway 371 overpass question.
It's time to tear up the roads
Lane changes, slowdowns and a few detours.
When adults feel orphaned
Newsday ''Afterward, I couldn't break myself of the habit of reading the newpaper obituaries,'' says one woman about what she started doing differently when her parents died.
Six die when van careens into roadside clean-up program
LAS VEGAS -- The teen-agers in the bright orange vests were a common sight along busy Interstate 15, picking up trash strewn by garbage trucks heading for a landfill northeast of town.
Study: Physicians' empathy can ease depression for caregivers of terminally ill
PHILADELPHIA -- David Grande knows how to heal broken bones, prescribe powerful drugs and perform surgery. Empathy, though, was only touched on briefly at his medical school.
Attorney for Olson withdraws from bomb plot case
LOS ANGELES -- The defense attorney of bomb plot suspect Sara Jane Olson has withdrawn from the case, just a month after joining her legal team.
Report: Medicare making questionable rehab payments
WASHINGTON -- Well over half the Medicare payments made to outpatient rehabilitation facilities over a one-year period were questionable in nature, according to a six-state review released today.
Jury finds against tobacco companies in lawsuit
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A jury has ordered the country's two largest tobacco companies to pay $1.47 million to a former smoker dying of lung cancer, ruling the companies misrepresented the health dangers of cigarettes.
Angry crowd dwindles, but no peace for Taiwan's battered Nationalists
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- An opposition victory in Taiwan's presidential election rattled the jittery stock market today and prompted lawmakers and hundreds of demonstrators to demand that retiring President Lee Teng-hui immediately quit as chairman of the ruling Nationalist Party.
NASDAQ drops again while blue chips soar
The NASDAQ composite index stumbled again Monday -- its fourth losing day in the last six trading sessions -- and analysts see little immediate relief in sight for the once red-hot index.
Toy effects on children discussed
BOSTON -- Rock 'n' Roll Ernie looks cool with his shades and leather coat. And as advertised, the stuffed toy based on the Sesame Street character also bangs out a tune or two when you push the right buttons.
Strollers, pull toys recalled
WASHINGTON (AP) -- About 44,000 jogging strollers were recalled Monday because their brakes may fail, causing runners to lose control and endanger children riding in them, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said.
Three die in fraternity house fire
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- A memorial plaque sits outside a former library of Bloomsburg University, dedicated simply to ''five friends'' who died in a 1994 fraternity fire.
Forty Sikhs massacred in Kashmir
CHATI SINGHPURA, India -- Gunmen lined up and fatally shot 40 Sikh villagers in India's disputed northern territory of Kashmir, police said today, casting a pall over the start of President Clinton's visit to the country.
Boeing strike ends
SEATTLE -- One of the biggest white-collar walkouts in the country's history has ended. Now comes perhaps the toughest part: delivering planes again.
Pope arrives in Israel to begin official visit
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- Pope John Paul II arrived today in Israel, beginning the first official visit by a Roman Catholic pontiff to the Jewish state and embarking on his own long-held dream of walking in the footsteps of Jesus at the dawn of Christianity's third millennium.
Criminal charges against Clinton still possible
WASHINGTON -- The independent counsel wrapping up the investigation of President Clinton says he has not ruled out filing criminal charges and is bringing in investigators from the FBI and other agencies to help him decide.
Israel withdraws from 6.1 percent of West Bank, giving Palestinians more control
BEITUNIA, West Bank -- Israel withdrew troops from 6.1 percent of the West Bank today, giving the Palestinians control over roughly 40 percent of the disputed territory and fulfilling a key obligation of Israeli-Palestinian peace accords.
Clinton to meet Syrian leader
DHAKA, Bangladesh -- President Clinton said today he will meet in Switzerland next week with Syrian President Hafez Assad. An Israeli spokesman said he hoped that would get stalled Syria-Israel peace talks back on track,
Former employee sought in car wash shooting that killed five
IRVING, Texas -- Police were looking for a former car wash employee suspected of fatally shooting five people and critically wounding another during an apparent robbery at the shop three days after he was fired.
Trial at Yugoslav tribunal marks first international case of rape camps
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The trial of three Bosnian Serbs accused of running rape camps of Muslim women opened today with a prosecutor linking the organized sexual assault to a wartime Serb ''ethnic cleansing'' campaign.
Up in smoke
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled today the government lacks authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug, rejecting the Clinton administration's main anti-smoking initiative .
Judge dismisses political asylum lawsuit filed on behalf of Cuban boy
MIAMI -- A federal judge today refused to block efforts to return 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez to Cuba, saying only the U.S. attorney general can grant political asylum to keep the boy in the United States.
Trapped in crashed van
DOWNEY, Calif. (AP) -- Trapped for days in a crashed van as traffic whizzed by only a few feet away, Lee Risler got so desperate he tried to cut off his pinned hand with a pocketknife.
Command post of search team for suspected serial bomber Eric Rudolph to be vacated
ANDREWS, N.C. -- The Southeast Bomb Task Force's command post, protected by armed guards, barbed-wire fences and spotlights, has become an enduring symbol of the government's presence in this small town.
Gore begins March with more money in bank than Bush
WASHINGTON -- Vice President Al Gore began the month with $1.5 million more to spend than Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the first time Gore has achieved financial superiority over his Republican opponent.
Prison officials say inmate used dental floss to escape cell, kill rival
HOUSTON (AP) -- Prison officials believe an inmate used dental floss or a similar coated string to painstakingly cut his way out of his cell and kill a rival.
Analysis begins on Waco field test results
KILLEEN, Texas -- Federal officials and the Branch Davidians who are suing the government for wrongful death in the 1993 Waco siege are sifting through the results of an elaborate field test that may resolve whether federal agents fired at sect members during the standoff's last hour.
Foreign oil prices swell trade deficit
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. trade deficit shot up to a record $28 billion in January as Americans' demand for foreign oil hit an all-time high while sales of exports slipped.
Two chemical plant workers found dead
CHANNELVIEW, Texas (AP) -- Two workers were found dead early today inside a large boiler they had been cleaning at a chemical plant.
Farmers rally in Washington for higher price supports
WASHINGTON -- Roger Winter lost $28,000 on his wheat and dairy farm in Callaway, Minn., last year, and is in Washington this week trying to make sure that doesn't happen again.
De La Hoya to fight unbeaten Mosley
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Oscar De La Hoya plans to work on his New Year's resolution when he fights unbeaten Shane Mosley.
Wisconsin, North Dakota earn first-round byes in NCAA tournament
Wisconsin, North Dakota and St. Cloud State represent the Western Collegiate Hockey Association this weekend in the NCAA Division I men's hockey tournament, which gets underway at four sites around the country.
Cool freshman keeps Louisiana Tech in NCAA women's tournament
With 2.5 seconds left and his team trailing by a point, Leon Barmore's coaching future hinged on the nerves of a freshman.
Cinderellas win
Mike Montgomery's blank look said it all.
Cubs hurting for pitching
The Chicago Cubs traded for Ismael Valdes to shore up their starting pitching. So far, it's not working out.
Upsets carry the NCAA weekend
This isn't Bracketville, it's Nutsville.
NBA Roundup
The Los Angeles Lakers are returning home after another hugely successful road trip, this one almost as impressive as the last one.
Iowa loses only one wrestler from national championship team
ST. LOUIS -- Iowa appears well-positioned for a run at a seventh straight NCAA wrestling championship next year.
Penn State, Notre Dame, BYU, Kent advance in NIT tournament
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- For the past couple of years, Penn State coach Jerry Dunn's players begged him to let them play a more up-tempo game.
It was a wild West
Call it the Wild West Regional.
Jagr returns in Penguins victory
Jaromir Jagr returned from injuries ahead of schedule and rejuvenated the Pittsburgh Penguins' playoff hopes.
NCAA mad about March mania
NDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Basketball fans heading to the Final Four hoping to eat March Madness Meatloaf or a Big Dance Burrito could walk away hungry.
West is wild on the women's side, too
The West is getting downright wacky in the women's bracket, too.
Leo Engstrom
MOTLEY -- Leo Engstrom, 71, Motley, died Monday, March 20, 2000, at Greater Staples Hospital.
Marion Shepard
PINE RIVER -- Marion Shepard, 74, Pine River, died Monday, March 20, 2000, at Whispering Pines Good Samaritan Home of Pine River.
Mary Jane Lord
Mary Jane Lord, 78, Brainerd, died Sunday, March 19, 2000, at St. Joseph's Medical Center of Brainerd.
Peter R. Keprios
BREEZY POINT -- Peter R. Keprios, Breezy Point, died Saturday, March 18, 2000, at his home.
Dale E. Leaman
GARRISON -- Dale E. Leaman, 68, Garrison, died Friday, March 3, 2000, of congestive heart failure.
Wayne E. Lysdahl
AITKIN -- Donald C. Curtis, 77, Aitkin, died Sunday, March 19, 2000, at Riverwood Health Care Center of Aitkin.
Myrtle B. Anderson
Myrtle B. Anderson, 88, Brainerd, died Sunday, March 19, 2000, at Bethany Good Samaritan Village of Brainerd.
Mayme M. Moore
CROSBY -- Mayme Mildred Moore, 83, Crosby, died Saturday, March 18, 2000, at Abbott Northwestern Hospital of Minneapolis.
Rebecka Lynn Philipp
AITKIN -- Rebecka Lynn Philipp, 12, Aitkin, died Sunday, March 19, 2000, at Children's Hospital in St. Paul.
Mary J. Lord
MERRIFIELD -- Mary J. Lord, 78, Merrifield, died Sunday, March 19, 2000, at St. Joseph's Medical Center of Brainerd.
Wayne E. Lysdahl
PILLAGER -- Wayne E. Lysdahl, 68, Sylvan Township, rural Pillager, died Saturday, March 18, 2000, at the Desert American Hospital of Mesa, Ariz.
Olive J. Erickson
BURNSVILLE --Olive Jennifer Erickson, 95, Burnsville, formerly of Flensburg, died Wednesday, March 8, 2000, at Ebenezer Nursing Home of Burnsville.
Mary Strum
AITKIN -- Mary Strum, 92, Aitkin, died Monday, March 20, 2000, at Aicota Health Care Center of Aitkin.
Arnold A. Steinke
Arnold A. Steinke, 84, 4865 50th Ave. S.W., Brainerd, died Thursday, March 16, 2000, at St. Joseph's Medical Center of Brainerd.
Raymond J. Dowling
Raymond J. Dowling, 90, Brainerd, formerly of Nisswa, died Friday, March 17, 2000, at Bethany Good Samaritan Village of Brainerd.
Peter Keprios
BREEZY POINT -- Peter Richard Keprios, 80, Breezy Point, died Saturday, March 18, 2000, at his home.
Rebecka Philipp
AITKIN -- Rebecka Philipp, 12, Aitkin, died Sunday, March 19, 2000, at Children's Hospital of St. Paul.
Myrtle B. Anderson
Myrtle B. Anderson, 88, Brainerd, died Sunday, March 19, 2000, at Bethany Good Samaritan Village of Brainerd.
Joseph F. Gabiou
WASECA -- Joseph Francis Gabiou, 86, Waseca, died Thursday, March 16, 2000, at the Shoshone Medical Center in Kellogg, Idaho, after a brief illness.
Donald Curtis
AITKIN -- Donald Curtis, 77, Aitkin, died Sunday, March 19, 2000, at Riverwood Health Care Center of Aitkin.
Margaret 'Peggy' M. Kientzle
FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP -- Margaret "Peggy" M. Kientzle, 70, Fairview Township, died Saturday, March 18, 2000, at her home.
Delores A. Maas
CROSBY -- Delores Ann Maas, 69, Crosby, died today, Monday, March 20, 2000, at her home.
The media and the NRA
In its Tuesday, March 14 edition a Dispatch editorial stated, "There's no place for NRA leader's inflammatory rhetoric in gun debate." I'd like to submit that there are two sides to this rhetoric. I too saw the ABC interview on Sunday and cringed when I heard NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre's comment about the president willing to accept a certain number of killings to further his political agenda. But one of the main reasons for my dismay was that I knew that this would be the one sentence out of the whole interview that would get all the attention of the media. It was actually a fairly unbiased interview of President Clinton and LaPierre that clearly showed the difference in opinion of these two, and the political left and right in general, on the issue of gun control.
A best friend's story
The power to change.
OTHER OPINIONS
With participation at all-time lows and presidential races already decided by voters in other states, political party caucuses in Minnesota last week were practically meaningless -- which again makes us wonder why Minnesota doesn't hold an inclusive primary earlier in the game.
C-I teachers' negotiator speaks out
As the negotiations chairperson, I would like to clarify some of the facts of our most recent negotiations session and arbitration that has led to the lowest teacher contract settlement in the state of Minnesota. Any new teacher in our district will now receive the second lowest starting salary in Minnesota.
Open Forum
There is going to be a meeting, Tuesday, March 21 at 7 p.m. at Baxter City Hall, Baxter, to discuss the request of Tamarack Creek Ranch to expand their facilities. Owners Arnold and Kathy Kinney are trying to realize a dream that they have. Their dream is to bring a horse facility to their ranch that would provide therapeutic horseback riding opportunities to physically, mentally and emotionally challenged or handicapped children and adults, an opportunity of a lifetime, the chance to ride a horse in a safe and controlled environment.
Gum balls anyone? - Dispatch Editorial
Some how, some way, Minnesota's legislative leadership has got to get a handle on the number of bills state lawmakers deal with each session.
Open Forum
Today as I was reading the Sunday paper over a cup of coffee I came across the article "Hiking with Hal" and was sad to see Mr. Anderson was hanging up his writing pen.
Back to gimmicks
The following editorial appeared in today's Washington Post:
W. Burton dominates at Darlington Raceway
DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) -- Bill Davis didn't believe it, not even as he saw it unfold.
Area events Monday
High School Athletics
Kelly sends message with cuts, tough workouts
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -- The City of Palms became Panic City when five more cuts to the Twins roster were announced Sunday at Minnesota's spring training complex.
Scoreboard
Boys Basketball
CBIR announces super plans for summer racing
It's going to be a super season at The Colonel's Brainerd International Raceway this summer.
Don't overlook adapted floor hockey state tournament
STILLWATER -- The Twin Cities area was a sports mecca this past weekend.
Edina wins Pee Wee A state championship
Edina captured the championship of the Pee Wee A hockey state tournament at Brainerd Area Civic Center on Sunday with a 7-2 win over Roseville.
Third quarter lifts Wolves
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Terrell Brandon took the historic blowout in stride.
Nothing magic about three in girls' state tournament
MINNEAPOLIS -- Whoever said the third time is a charm forgot to tell the participants in the girls' basketball state tournament.
Pequot, Pierz fans deserve to take a bow
If your team was either the Pierz Pioneers or Pequot Lakes Patriots girls' basketball teams you witnessed some of the best talent and best basketball on the way to the state tournament.
Area events Monday
High School Athletics
Cardinals prepare for Tuesday state quarterfinal
Concordia College in Moorhead has virtually been the home away from home for the Staples-Motley Cardinals boys' basketball team for two decades.
Local sports shorts
Baseball tryout April 8
State champs
STILLWATER -- A lot can happen over the course of four months.
Old, young, veterans, inexperienced come together in boys' tourney
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- It's not exactly the return of the prodigal son, but when Kraig Ulveling takes second-ranked Red Wing into the Class 3A semifinals against Mankato East, it will be a homecoming of sorts. But Ulveling hopes that at least one person in Mankato won't remember the good old days.
Patriots place fourth
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Pequot Lakes girls' basketball team didn't finish the season like it hoped but the Patriots were talented enough to end as Minnesota's fourth-best team in Class AA.
Aitkin's Alto to receive high school league hall of fame induction
ANOKA -- Former Aitkin High School teacher and coach Lee Alto is among six individuals selected for induction into the Minnesota State High School League Hall of Fame.
Brainerd forecast
Tonight...Mostly cloudy. Areas of fog. Lows in the lower 30s. Light southwest wind.
Biking into spring
Weather drawing by Mariah Moen of Sharon Jendro's first grade class at Lowell school.
Around the region
Alexandria 40 35 .00
Northern Plains to get snow
Windswept snow was buffeting the Southwest today, while rain slathered the Carolinas and a storm front whipped through the Rockies with strong winds and snow.
Around the world
Amsterdam 53 41 cdy
Brainerd forecast
Tonight -- Mostly cloudy with areas of fog and drizzle. Freezing drizzle also possible. Lows around 30. Light and variable wind.
First day of spring
Weather drawing by Tiffany Turner in Mrs. Furan's fifth-grade class at Lowell School.
Around the nation
Albany,N.Y. 45 29 cdy
Around the nation
Albany,N.Y. 55 35 cdy
Newspaper carriers make request
Dear Heloise: My husband and I are retired and have become paper carriers. Many of your readers write in about what to do with the bags received with the newspaper.
Names and faces
NEW YORK (AP) -- Actor Jerry Orbach is seeking some law and order himself -- he has filed a lawsuit blaming an Internet auction site for letting his Social Security number spill into cyberspace.
Support for members of the military
Dear Readers: A while ago, I spoke at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, and while I was there I had an opportunity to visit several facilities around the base.
Man in abusive relationship fights others' disbelief
DEAR ABBY: Finally, someone was willing to point out that women can be as abusive as men. The letter I'm referring to came from ''Worried Mother in Oregon.'' When I read the ''15 Reasons to Leave Your Lover, Warning Signs of an Abusive Personality,'' I was disappointed, but not surprised. You have no idea how many men are in abusive relationships. People assume that women can never be as violent or controlling as men. It's even harder to believe if the man is much bigger than the woman.
Wife bites tongue when guests hang around for dinner
DEAR ABBY: We have a problem with relatives not knowing when a visit should end. They call on weekend afternoons to say they'll be stopping over for an hour or so. Well, the couple of hours stretch into five or six, and then it's dinnertime.
50th anniversary
Virgil and Carol Denzer will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary today. They were married March 20, 1950, in a Lutheran church in Rochester.
Stolen Oscars found next to trash bin
LOS ANGELES -- Katharine Hepburn has four. Tom Hanks has two. But, for a while at least, salvage man Willie Fulgear had more Academy Awards than Kate, Tom, Woody, Meryl and Barbra put together.
Names and faces
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- James Earl Jones wants to do for Walt Whitman's poetry what he already has done for CNN and Darth Vader.