Monday, September 8

School administrators throughout Minnesota are deciding how to spend the money they've received to help poor students get better grades. The state will give schools 180-million dollars this year to improve academic achievement, a 50-million dollar increase from a year ago. For the first time, the money is going to individual schools, rather than school districts. Educators say the getting the money, and the responsibilities that go with it, is a giant step forward for local control and site-based decision-making. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.

Every month or so we get a letter from a friend in Africa. Our former colleague, Marianne Combs, quit her job as a reporter at MPR earlier this year to work for the Peace Corps in the Ivory Coast. In her last letter, Marianne described her experiences at a Peace Corps training post. Now she's living in her assigned village...a tiny place called Groo-MAHN-ya dominated by two major tribal groups. As Marianne explains in her latest dispatch...it's been difficult adjusting adjust to her new home.

Today in our Odd Jobs report, we meet 31-year-old Chris Laumb, who calls himself an ambassador of beer in central Minnesota. Laumb is head brewer at O'Hara's Brew Pub and Restaurant - Saint Cloud's first brewery in more than fifty years. Laumb was an avid home-brewer before he took over at O'Hara's last year. He shows Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum how it's done.

On Future Tense: The web site Reel.com specializes in helping users find films that match their tastes. Once the match is made, customers can rent or buy the video and recieve it through the mail. Now, REEL is taking an unusual step for a commercial internet site...it's opening a store in the physical world. REEL's New Berkeley, California video store is jam-packed with hard to find documentaries, foreign films, independent films, plus the usual Hollywood stuff. Stuart Skorman is REEL's CEO.

Wall Street traders will be waiting for some important inflation data this week -- and we can probably expect the same kind of volatility that has characterized the financial markets for several weeks now. Here's the latest from Mn Public Radio's Chris Farrell.

Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson discusses the school choice movement on the eve of his trip to Washington, D.C. for aseries of appearances on the subject. Carlson also talks about the prospects for the Twins, a new stadium and gambling revenue.

Tuesday, September 9

Retired U of M Political Science professor Charles Backstrom on the history non-partisanship in Minnesota.

Wednesday, September 10
On Future Tense...When Apple Computer bought Power Computing - the biggest maker of Macintosh clone computers - it was a sign the Cupertino, California company wanted to once again be the only company to sell computers with the Macintosh operating system. The move angered many Macintosh users who felt the so-called clones made Apple more competitve and gave THEM more choices. Dwight Silverman says the anti-clone stance has Steve Jobs written all over it.

Saint Paul mayor Norm Coleman and his D-F-L-endorsed challenger, state senator Sandy Pappas, are moving into the next phase of the mayor's race today. Pappas and Coleman easily defeated five other candidates in yesterday's primary. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen reports.

Minneapolis mayor Sharon Sayles Belton will face Barbara Carlson, a former city council member, in the city's mayoral election in November. In city council primary outcomes, incumbents advanced easily. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more.

Consumer groups have blasted banks for excessive fees in an era of record profits. One of the most lucrative service charges is the bounced check fee. In the first report of our series, Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports that banks have figured out the bounced check fee can turn rubber into gold.

Political analysts Bob Meek and Tom Horner trade quips in the wake of yesterday's primary results.

Mike Boyd, an analyst with Aviation Systems Research Corporation in Colorado, discusses the latest airfare price changes.

Thursday, September 11
On Future Tense, The National Consumer League says fraud reports from cyberspace have tripled in the last year. Susan Grant directs the NCL's internet fraud watch.

This year, state lawmakers are expected hold hearings on a proposal to ban a controversial fee charged at Automated Teller Machines. Banks that impose the ATM surcharge typically levy a 1 dollar fee on the competition's customers. The fee can be highly profitable, and has drawn fire from consumer groups. U.S. Senate Banking committee chair Alphonse D'Amato has vowed an effort to ban them. Here is an exerpt of the second of our reports on bank fees by Bill Catlin.

Fred Corrigan, Executive Vice-President of the Minnesota Transportation Alliance, discusses the new suburban transit hub in Eden Prairie, part of a growing system of suburban transit options.

Dr. Stephen Feinstein, acting director of the Center of Holocaust and Genocide studies at the U of M, discusses a new photo exhibit at the Children's Museum which shows children who were later killed during the Holocaust.

Friday, September 12
Consumer groups argue bank fees are gouging customers at a time of record profits in the industry. In Minnesota and nationally, banks have increased service charges and added new ones. The fees add up to a lot of money. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Minnesota commercial banks collected more than 800 thousand dollars a day in service charges last year, a total of 293 million dollars. Complaints about fees have reached the Minnesota legislature, where proposals to reign in bank fees are pending. Here is an exertp from the third of Bill Catlin's reports on bank fees.

On Future Tense a discussion of the controversy over encrypting data on the Internet.

Lynn Reed of the MN Taxpayers Association discusses this year's study of property tax rates around the state.

Meteorologist Mark Seeley previews Hurruicane Linda and discusses other interesting weather information.

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