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United Auto Workers strike would hit the Upper Midwest hard

Sep 11, 2023
Contracts with Ford, GM and Stellantis all end at the end of Thursday, and the president of the United Auto Workers union has made clear that members are prepared to strike.
Some United Auto Workers members in Detroit gathered after the city's Labor Day parade in early September.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

On their first date, this now-married couple decided to open a business

Dec 30, 2022
Aryn Henning Nichols and Benji Nichols run Inspire(d) magazine from Decorah, Iowa.
Benji Nichols and Aryn Henning Nichols of Decorah, Iowa.
Courtesy Aryn Henning Nichols/Silver Moon Photography

More homes are sitting in Cleveland's real estate market, this broker says

Nov 10, 2022
"The average days on market has gone from less than a week up to about 89 days," says broker Amanda Pohlman of Keller Williams Living.
"The market just isn't as robust as it has been," said Cleveland-based broker Amanda Pohlman.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Pandemic drives backyard ice rink boom

Jan 18, 2021
Families in the Upper Midwest are getting creative as they look for outdoor activities for their kids during the cold winter months.
Shea Finnegan, age 6, skates with friends on Dec. 13, 2020. Allen Ratai built this rink outside his family home in Duluth and has been helping friends build their own rinks this year, as well.
James Napoli

Midwest flooding brings high infrastructure costs

Dec 27, 2019
A lot of repair and recovery work hasn't even started yet.
Tom Bullock, emergency services director of Holt County, Missouri, stands on a broken bridge on U.S. 159. Although a state contract has been issued for its repair, work still hasn’t started.
Peggy Lowe/KCUR

My Economy: How the Pine Ridge reservation regroups after floods

May 13, 2019
A South Dakota tour business prepares for its busiest season in the wake of Midwestern flooding.
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota.
Tatanka Rez Tourz

Bad weather and trade complicate planting for Midwest farmers

Apr 22, 2019
Flood damage has made things extremely difficult.
Farmer Richard Oswald, standing on U.S. 136 near Rock Port, Missouri. In the background is a flooded grain elevator, where millions of bushels of corn and soybeans are rotting in the water.
Peggy Lowe/KCUR

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Another day, another storm

Apr 11, 2019
Businesses in the Midwest are in the process of recovering from last month's floods.
A tractor drives through flooding in Missouri last month. Midwest businesses are struggling to shoulder the financial burden of flooding and storm damage by two recent storms.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Midwest suffers extensive flooding and damage

Mar 27, 2019
There's been catastrophic flooding across the Midwest, thanks to a "bomb cyclone" weather event that hit mid-month.
An aerial shot of Hamburg, Iowa, on March 22, days after mass flooding forced evacuations, closed Interstate 29 and racked up losses in the billions.
Peggy Lowe/KCUR

Repairing Nebraska will take money and time

Mar 22, 2019
Nebraska officials report that the flooding in the wake of the recent "bomb cyclone" has caused more than $550 million in damage.
Floodwaters in Fremont, Nebraska, on March 16.
Courtesy of Scott Olson/Lee Valley Inc.