Monday, July 21

John talks with Hume Cronyn, who has returned to the Guthrie, about his career on stage and in films.

John talks with Arthur Lazarus of the firm Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse and Endreson about Martin Sonosky, Minnesota native who did legal work for Native American tribes and was responsible for the Supreme Court ruling in 1980 saying the US government was wrong to take the Black Hills away from the Sioux nation. Sonosky died last Wednesday.

Mary Losure has the first of two reports on the development and demise of the fishing industry on Minnesota's North Shore.

Dan Olson reports on a Minneapolis announcment today to build the city's largest housing development.

repeat broadcast: Tim Pugmire reports on the expansion of the Learning Readiness program in the St. Paul Schools.

Tuesday, July 22

A hundred years ago, bicycles were a common mode of transportation for police officers. As the automobile assumed a central role in American life, squad cars became the preferred means of patrolling city streets. Now bikes are making a comeback as police departments in big cities and small towns try to reconnect with citizens. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Gunderson reports.

Lake Superior once supported a booming commercial fishery, until overfishing, pollution, and lamprey eels killed off huge numbers of fish. In the 1960s, the commercial fishery was closed, and biologists have spent 40 years trying to bring the lake back to a more natural state. Now, they say they are winning the battle. The fish are coming back. The fishery is open again, on a smaller scale. But Lake Superior is not the lake it once was. Superior will only STAY healthy with constant human intervention. Mainstreet Radio's Catherine Winter reports.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, comparing Fed policy decisions to tapping the brakes to keep from hitting a truck, said today the central bank stands ready to boost interest rates at the first sign of inflation. Meanwhile, Wall Street is worried that inflation is lurking behind today's tight labor market. But as Minnesota Public Radio's senior economics editor Chris Farrell tells us, the fear over wage inflation may be misplaced. Economic historians tell us that long-run episodes of fast growth have also marked by relatively low inflation. What's more, prices appear to be falling rather than increasing.

Wednesday, July 23

Two food cooperatives in the Twin Cities are teaching young children healthy food choices and organic farming. The project includes classroom instruction about growing food and field trips to organic grain and vegetable farms near the metropolitan area. A group of homeless inner-city children recently toured a small farm in Wright County. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.

A small group of state lawmakers thinks Minnesota voters, and not the legislature, should decide the fate of state funding for a new stadium. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports.

The Minnesota Twins opened the door a crack to a multi-use stadium today after seeing plans for a next-generation baseball and football facility. But officials from the team, who have asked the state to pay for a baseball-only park, remain highly skeptical a dual purpose stadium could generate the revenue they say they need. The push for a multi-use facility is coming from the Minnesota Vikings, who say they can't survive financially as the sole tenant in the Metrodome. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Wareham reports.

Dual use stadia: Why isn't anyone building them anymore? Is it because the designs for baseball and football stadia are incompatible, or is it because the teams say they need all the revenue one stadium can generate? We'll talk with David Freedman with Fitch Investors Services.

In bad Minnesota winters, you could spend days looking to buy a snowblower and still end-up settling for a shovel and a sore back. This rainy Twin Cities summer, the hot item seems to be wet-and-dry shop vacs. John calls a few hardware stores in South Minneapolis that have run out of shop vacs.

Thursday, July 24

A legislative Task Force heard testimony today on whether the state should help fund a new sports stadium. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports.

More rain could mean trouble in Minneapolis. Residents near Minnehaha Creek are bracing for the possibility of flooding, as some homes have already sustained structural damage from the recent onslaught of rain. Volunteers in Minneapolis are filling and distributing sandbags today and intern Joe Fryer spoke with some of the sandbag makers and takers.

A new record label in Minneapolis is hoping to become the home of traditional Scandanavian music in North America. Founders of Northside records say the traditional folk music and fiddle tunes of Sweden, Norway and Finland are becoming the hottest thing going in world music circles. The resurgence is being fueled by young Scandanavian musicians. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts reports.

Police officials who were tracking Andrew Cunanan say they're relieved but also a little disappointed by the alleged serial killer's suicide. The killing spree has come to an end, but there are lots of unanswered questions left as they shut down investigations into the two Minnesota murders. Mark Zdechlik reports.

Friday, July 25

Cable television subscribers in Winona will soon have a choice of cable providers if the Winona City Council approves a franchise agreement with a local company on Monday. Once the new company lays cable around the city, Winona will become one of the few small cities in the nation with competing cable providers. But it may be part of a growing trend as cable, telephone, and internet companies vie with each other for direct access to people's homes through fiber optic cables. Minnesota Public Radios Brent Wolfe reports on how competition will affect subscribers and why it developed in Winona.

Health insurance premiums for state employees will go up a whopping 9-point-7 percent next year. The State of Minnesota officially announced the new rate hike today following weeks of negotiations with some of the state's biggest health insurers. Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson reports.

Minneapolis officials appeared before a legislative task force on stadium financing to say they have secured the needed public/private partnerships in the city to help make the project happen. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports.

The weather service says incorrect flood forecasts in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks could not have been avoided. The Weather Service released a preliminary report today on the 1997 Red River Valley flood trying to explain how it underestimated the crest. Back in April, The weather service revised its forecast upward by three feet two days before the deluge in Grand Forks, and resident complained that they didn't have time to adequately prepare. Dan Gunderson joins me on the line now from Grand Forks.

St. Paul has shut down Lee Lenore's, the last of its saunas, which the vice-squad calls "thinly veiled fronts for prostitution." We'll hear from neighbors of the former North Snelling business, and talk with Saint Paul police vice squad commander Lieutenant Richard Iffert and Minneapolis City Councilmember Joe Biernat, who has a draft ordinance regarding the sex biz.

Director John Madden talks about his new film opening tonight in Minneapolis, "Mrs. Brown" about a Scotsman, John Brown, who befriends Queen Victoria while she's deep in mourning for Prince Albert.

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