Monday, November 6

Striking Frigidaire workers took their labor dispute to the streets of St. Cloud today. They were joined in a march and rally by democratic lawmakers and political hopefuls. Over 1,600 workers have been on strike for about a week, claiming a recent contract proposal from the company includes a pay raise that doesn't keep pace with insurance premium increases. Strikes of this size are rare in central Minnesota where organized labor has never had a strong presence. But as Mainstreet Radio's Tim Post reports, some say unions are on the upswing in this part of the state.

Election day will be especially interesting for people in the Greenway School District on the Iron Range where the schools are facing bankruptcy.The district is asking voters to voluntarily increase their taxes for ten years to help get the district back in the black. Voters in more than 50 Minnesota school districts will vote on similar tax increases. Greenway officials say without the money, they may be forced to consolidate with a neighboring district. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Julin reports.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman made one final appeal to Minnesota voters today when he breezed through St. Paul on a final-day cross-country campaign swing. Minnesota Public Radio's Lynette Nyman reports.

Minnesota's U.S. Senate candidates spent the final day before the election trying to get last-minute votes. Republican Senator Rod Grams campaigned in the Twin Cities, DFLer Mark Dayton hit central Minnesota and Independence Party candidate James Gibson traveled to southeastern Minnesota. We begin our coverage of the Senate race with Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum, who's been covering Grams.

Independence Party candidate James Gibson's statewide RV tour took him to southeastern Minnesota. Gibson who's been focusing on young voters made some of his last appeals for support at Winona State University. MPR's Mark Zdechlik reports.

MPR's Michael Khoo joined DFL candidate Mark Dayton in the last hours of his campaign.

The U.S. Justice Department is hailing a tentative agreement under which Northwest Airlines would dramatically reduce its stock holdings in Continental airlines. A Justice Department lawsuit challenging Northwest's controlling stake in Continental went to trial last week. But now it appears the lawsuit is effectively over. Anti-trust experts disagree on how the outcome of the case will affect the prospects for a major industry consolidation. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports.

Well over 10,000 new citizens in Minnesota will be eligible to vote in their first U.S. presidential election tomorrow. Yer Moua became a citizen in May of last year. She fled from Laos with her family after the Vietnam war and spent three years in refugee camps before coming to America in 1981. Moua's husband died fighting on behalf of American forces during the war. Speaking through her daughter, Mai Ning Moua, Yer said that although this will be her first U.S. election, this won't be her first time in a voting booth.

The two major candidates vying for Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District seat have been crisscrossing the district to drum up last minute support for their campaigns. Democratic incumbent Bill Luther is in a tight race with Republican challenger, John Kline, a retired Marine. Over the weekend, the race has gone negative after Luther filed a criminal complaint against Kline and the National Republican Congressional Committee. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports.

Advances in computing technology continues at a tremendous pace, producing ever more spectacular graphics and animated images which amaze and confound. Tomorrow in Minneapolis those on the cutting edge of the industry will gather at the 11th Minnesota Electronic Theatre Showcase to show the latest uses of technology in film, advertising and interactive games. Things may be good in the industry, but Minnesota Public Radio's Marianne Combs reports local talent is struggling to get business.

Minnesota's first significant winter storm is underway. Greg Gust is the lead forecaster with the National Weather Service in Grand Forks, N.D. He says the storm is just starting to pick up steam over western Minnesota and eastern North Dakota.

Its election day! All across the region voters have been flocking to the polls, apparently undeterred by today's inclement weather. We asked Minnesota Public Radio reporters from around the region to check in with what's getting people out to vote in their areas.

The world's only corn palace may have another distinction to add its long list of unique qualities. The Mitchell, S.D. tourist destination may become a national historic landmark. Lynda Shwan is a specialist with the South Dakota State Historic Preservation office. She is recommending the corn palace for the designation.

St. Cloud voters approved a half-cent sales tax for the city in Tuesday's election. The tax, if approved by the Minnesota Legislature, would collect $40 million for the city's library, parks and transportation needs. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Post reports.

The Republicans have taken back Minnesota's Second District, unseating four-term Democratic Congressman David Minge. Republican Mark Kennedy's victory was by the slimmest of margins; he won by less than 500 votes. The Democrat plans to challenge the results with a recount lawsuit. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.

Several referenda were on Minnesota ballots Tuesday. In Minneapolis voters approved a new excess levy for the schools, and a levy to fund a new library. In St. Paul voters approved the city's first ever levy for its school system. Around the region residents in the town which last year changed its name to Ventura voted to changed its name once again, this time back to St Augusta. In Pine County Voters decided to keep their county in one piece, rejecting a proposal to split the county in half. We have two reports on other initiatives outside the Twin Cities, starting with Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Post in St. Cloud where voters approved a half-percent sales tax increase for library's parks and transportation.

DFL Sen.-elect Mark Dayton says he's thrilled to have won the seat he first sought 18 years ago. Dayton defeated Republican incumbent Rod Grams 49-43-percent in yesterday's election. The former state auditor and department store heir spent more than $11 million of his own money in a bitterly-contested race that Grams didn't officially concede until late this afternoon. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.

The presidential election produced a myriad of responses among the public about the closeness of the race, the media coverage, and our democracy. Minnesota Public Radio's Patty Marsicano talked with people at Town Square in St. Paul during the lunch hour.

Some Star Tribune readers woke up to the headline "Bush Wins Cliffhanger." The paper was not alone in calling the race prematurely: newspapers from the New York Post to the Charleston Gazette declared a Bush triumph in their first editions, only to find out later that the race was and is still too close to call. Pam Fine is managing editor at the Star Tribune. She says the decision to go with headline was made just after network television stations called the race in Bush's favor.

Minnesota voters are sending a woman to Congress for the first time in more than 40 years. DFLer Betty McCollum won her Fourth District seat last night in a hotly contested battle to replace the late Bruce Vento. McCollum had help from a campaign called "Women to Washington" sponsored by the Minnesota Women's' Education Council. Former St. Paul City Council member Bobbi Megard is the council's president. She says the organization met its goal two year's earlier than expected.

Rochester voters turned out in force yesterday to defeat a proposed $10 million, ten-year school operating referendum. Sixty percent of voters casting ballots were against the operating levy. Proposal proponents say the measure's failure could lead to as much as $9 million in cuts from next year's school budget. Rochester School district human resources director Jerry Williams says the vote will mean fewer teachers and larger classes.

Metro area referendums fared well in last night's election. Voters approved millions of dollars in increased taxes for both the Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts. In Minneapolis, voters overwhelmingly agreed to $140 million in increased property taxes to pay for a new central library. Colin Hamilton is the executive director of Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library. He says the referendum's approval wasn't always a sure thing.

Students in Minnesota and the rest of the country are getting a unique civics lesson this week as they wait for a recount of presidential ballots in Florida and a decision on who wins the White House. The unsettled presidential contest is the main topic of discussion in most classrooms, and students are bombarding teachers with questions. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire visited a high school in Minneapolis and filed this report.

Best Buy stock plunged almost 40 percent today after the company announced profits will be lower than expected, largely because of increasing competition in electronics retailing. The problems at Best Buy are just one sign of a tougher environment for retailers this holiday season. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.

Tomorrow is the 60th anniversary of one of the deadliest blizzards this region has ever seen. The Armistice Day storm killed 49 people in Minnesota, 150 nationwide. One of the most tragic chapters of the storm occurred on the rivers, lakes, and wetlands of the Midwest. Hundreds of duck hunters trapped by the storm found themselves in a life and death struggle. There was practically no warning the blizzard was on it's way. Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil has our story.

A lot of gardeners in northern Minnesota try to grow sweet corn, and give up in disgust when frost or cool summers ruin their efforts. But Frank Kutka isn't giving up. He's experimenting with corn from all over the world to create a variety that will grow up north. His work is attracting attention around the country, and experts are hoping it may result in new crops that will help marginal farms. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill visited his farm during the harvest and has this report.

A study in this week's journal Nature contradicts a fundamental belief on how lakes change as they age. Scientists have long thought lakes become more overgrown with algae and other nutrients over time. But a six-year study of lakes in Glazier Bay, Alaska, led by Science Museum researcher Dan Engstrom found just the opposite, that lakes actually become clearer as they age. Engstrom says he hopes the information will help us better understand lake pollution.

Some Democrats are blaming The Green Party and Ralph Nader, in part, for the closeness of the presidential election. They say Nader and his backers cost Al Gore thousands of votes in Florida and other states in Tuesday's election. Nader's running mate was Winona Laduke, an author, journalist and Harvard-trained economist who lives on the White Earth Reservation in northwestern Minnesota. La Duke became politically active for the first time when she ran with Nader four years ago. She says that the criticism of Nader is misplaced.

If you're like most of us here in the Minnesota Public Radio newsroom, you have spent the last few days obsessing about a single number: the difference in votes between Gore and Bush in Florida. It's been tough to follow all the ups and downs, and the only thing certain about the current number, 327 in favor of Bush, is that it will surely change. For a scientific explanation of the process, we turned to Jim Holt, who is a journalist in residence at the mathematical sciences research institute at the University of California Berkely.

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