Neil LeVang: Champagne music and beyond
Neil LeVang left Bemidji, Minn., for California in 1945. The self-taught guitarist joined the Lawrence Welk family in 1959 and went on to carve an illustrious career as he mastered many styles of music including jazz, country, early rock and roll — even funk. Read about his life story in Vintage Guitar Magazine at… http://www.vintageguitar.com/20125/neil-levang/
Frozen river and flowing oil puzzles cleanup experts
Oil from another pipeline spill, this one sending 31,000 gallons flowing under Yellowstone River ice, has hampered cleanup efforts near Glendive, Mont. The spill polluted the city’s water supply with toxic chemicals. The impact on fish and wildlife is unclear. Government and oil industry ‘experts’ remain perplexed. One said: “The spill is a great opportunity to learn so many things that we don’t understand.”
Deforestation and water quality vs. agriculture: Minnesota seeks solutions
The Star Tribune examines Minnesota’s predicament that pits more agriculture vs. fewer forests and the impact that transition already is creating: water quality woes. The battleground is in central Minnesota where the forest, wildlife, lakes and a large pristine aquifer are at stake. Why? Farmers want to irrigate to grow more spuds. Stakeholders want action now to protect what’s not damaged.
http://www.startribune.com/local/290436161.htmlB
Beans do not belong in chili, period
A writer takes a historical look at why people who add beans to chili ought to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Sort of.
As the old saying goes, “If you know beans about chili, you know that chili has no beans.”
Discover Laura Ingalls Wilder
Did you know Laura Inglass Wilder’s first job was a poultry columnist for a St. Louis newspaper. Minnesota Public Radio explores the life and times of Laura Ingalls Wilder, both in a short story and in Monday morning’s Daily Circuit. If you’ve been in the woods too long, Wilder is legendary for her book, “Little House on the Prairie.”
http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/01/10/books-laura-ingalls-wilder-autobiography
Stupid politics causes econ problems
“Demand is what the world needs most and the private sector will not supply it, but fiscal policy can.” So says a Columbia University professor and Nobel Laureate in Economics.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-e-stiglitz/stupid-politics-economy_b_6544014.html
Google’s medical research could
lead to detecting skin cancer
Google X labs is attempting to create a wristband that can detect cancer, impending heart attacks and other diseases. The idea links a person’s biochemistry and nanoparticles placed in the body.