Monday, February 16

This weekend, voters in the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina got their first look at a campaign to win public funding for Major League baseball in North Carolina. Those who want a franchise in the state realize the first step is building a stadium in the region. A spring referendum is designed to gauge public support for such an effort. It's the latest twist in the on-going debate on whether the Minnesota Twins will move south. From Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Michelle Johnson reports.

The strike of 25 hundred Honeywell workers is over. Teamsters Local 1145 rank and file voted by a extraordinarily thin margin yesterday to accept Honeywell's latest contract offer. Many union memebrs are angry with the deal. They say their colleagues should have held out for a better contract. The first shifts reported back to work last night. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.

Norm Coleman has put an end to the speculation and officially declared himself a candidate for Governor. Coleman also pledged to abide by the Republican endorsement process -- despite the fact that he's getting a late start rounding up convention delegates. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports.

On Future Tense: Beginning in April, it'll cost you 21-95 a month for unlimited time on America Online. That's a two dollar a month increase. I asked Houston Chronicle computer columnist Dwight Silverman whether A-O-L customers will stand for it.

Today is President's Day, the day we honor the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. When Washington became President he appointed Alexander Hamilton as the first Secretary of the Treasury. These days politicians talk a lot about the importance of balancing the budget and reducing debt, but Hamilton had a different view. He called the national debt a blessing and Hamilton's Blessing is the name of a new book that looks at the role of the national debt through history. Author John Steele Gordon talked to Bob Potter about how this tradition of borrowing got started.

MPR's Martin Kaste previews the week ahead at the Legislature.

Jay Weiner reports from the Olympics in Nagano on men's hockey, MN ski jumper, speed skater Amy Peterson, and women's figure skating.

Tuesday, February 17

Republicans are accusing state DFLers of backsliding on welfare reform. They say the state legislature's majority party is "eroding" key provisions of last year's welfare reform package. DFLers say they're just trying to make reasonable adjustments in the laws. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports.

Minnesota's tobacco trial heads into its fourth week with testimony from a former high-ranking Philip Morris research official--Thomas Osdene. Tobacco attorneys fought hard to keep out Osdene's videotape saying it would prejudice the jury. Minnesota public radio's Elizabeth Stawicki has this look at what's ahead at the trial.

Minneapolis' new policing strategy called CODEFOR is exacerbating a long-standing problem - there's no more room in the jail to hold people arrested by police. A new jail called the public safety facility is going to be built downtown next to Minneapolis City Hall. Hennepin County officials say it will help solve the space crunch but it won't be ready until 2001. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports.

On Future Tense: The Clinton Administration is throwing its muscle behind "Internet 2." The Administration is seeking more than 100 million dollars a year from Congress to speed the development of the network, which is backed by universities and major corporations. Future Tense technology news analyst Bill Loving says we'll probably be using the next-generation Internet in about five year, and that's none too soon for many net users.

Can the stock market possibly top its record-setting week last week? That will be on the minds of traders as this holiday-shortened week begins. Here's Mn Public Radio's Chris Farrell.

When Norm Coleman officially announced his candidacy for governor on Sunday he said he would seek the endorsement of the Republican party and promised that he would not run in the primary if he didn't get the endorsement. Four out of the five republican candidates for governor have made that pledge at a time when many pundits were suggesting that the endorsement process had become almost meaningless in the political process. Carleton College Political Science professor Stephen Schier discusses the current state of the endorsement process.

Officials from the Norwood/Young America school district held a meeting with parents, counsellors and police last night to discuss the case of a high school teacher accused of having sex with a 15-year-old student. Biology teacher Robert Pannier was charged with the crime last month. He was arrested again last week for violating the conditions of his release by sending e-mail to two former students. During their investigation, police discovered Pannier faked his transcript in order to get a Minnesota teacher's license. Margaret Lemke is a reporter for the Norwood/ Young America Times and she was at the meeting last night.

The United States upset Canada 3-1 in the first ever women's Olympic ice hockey final earlier today. Sandra Whyte set up a pair of powerplay goals and ended the high drama with an empty net third score with eight seconds remaining to set off a wild and emotional U.S. celebration on the ice. Karyn Bye has been the leading scorer on the US team. She is also a native of River Falls, Wisconsin, where schoolkids and residents have been cheering her on for the last week. Patrick McCardle is the Principal at Greenwood Elementary School in River Falls and a good friend of Karyn Bye. He joins me now.

Wednesday, February 18

Minneapolis and St. Paul city employees are a step closer to being able to live wherever they choose. A legislative committee has approved a bill that would end those two cities' requirements that employees live in the city. Minnesota Public Radio's Eric Jansen reports from the state capitol.

Minnesota's Largest Realty Company -- Burnet Realty -- has been purchased by N-R-T the largest real estate company in the nation. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.

Eighty families face eviction from their east St. Paul apartments in April. The buildings near Lake Phalen are being demolished to make way for middle income town homes. Most of the families will get taxpayer help in the form of relocation money and a lump sum settlement. But advocates for the families say the closing of the Lakewood apartments is another example of how city efforts to spruce up neighborhoods often come at the expense of poor people. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more.

Last night the Norwood Young America School Board voted to fire teacher Robert Pannier who has been charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct. Meanwhile, The Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning says it will begin spot checking teachers' records and reviewing all new license applications in order to ease worries over teacher credentials. The department is responding to the revelation that Pannier forged his transcript to get a job. Commissioner Bob Wedl joins me now.

A new airline will begin scheduling flights from the Twin Cities to Europe in April. Icelandair is announcing plans to offer service to England, Scandinavia and continental Europe with stops at its hub in Keflavik, Iceland. Northwest Airlines and its partner KLM already dominate Twin Cities-to-Europe routes. Joining me to discuss the new venture is Gunner Ecklund of IcelandAir.

On a recent visit to the Lowry Nature Center, Naturalist Kathy Heidel told Bob Potter about how one species of butterfly survives the winter.

Thursday, February 19

The sponsors of the latest Twins Stadium plan threw in the towel at the state capitol yesterday. The bill's author, Harris DFLer Loren Jennings, announced he was withdrawing the plan from consideration... just hours before a crucial committee hearing. Jennings says the bill had "nowhere near" the support it needed, and he says it's probably dead for the year. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports.

In Minnesota's tobacco trial, a former Philip Morris Vice President yesterday denied knowing about an industry conspiracy to suppress research into smoking and health. Helmut Wakeham testified on videotape about documents he wrote in the 1960's and 70's while he worked in research and development for Philip Morris. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports.

The Minnesota History Center has new exhibit called "Our Gathering Places: African-Americans in Minnesota." To prepare for that exhibit historians recorded many hours of oral history from black Minnesotans. This month on Morning Edition we've been playing excerpts from some of those interviews. Today, we'll hear from Pauline and Sylvester Young. For many years they lived in a housing project in North Minneapolis that was adjacent to the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center.

U-S athletes Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski are leading the field in the competition for the Olympic gold medal in women's figure skating after yesterday's short program. But it was a tough day for a couple of Minnesota athletes. Star Tribune writer and MPR commentator Jay Weiner is in Nagano covering the Games.

The public has had only one chance to see the movie "Hampton Alexander"... and that was 24 years ago at its premier in St. Paul. Then single print of the film was lost for more than a decade before resurfacing last year. Today, the Minnesota Historical Society is holding a special screening that will look at the film as a historical document. "Hampton Alexander" is apparently the first indpendent feature film produced by African Americans in Minnesota and it provides a rare glimpse of what St. Paul's Selby-Dale neighborhood was like 25 years ago. Timothy McKinney wrote, directed and shot the movie as a 19-year-old novice filmmaker.

While the stadium bill appears to be dead for now, Legislators are scrambling to keep other bills alive. All legislation must pass out of a policy committee in the House AND Senate by tomorrow. Lobbyist Maureen Shaver has been busy keeping track of it all. She represents many organizations including the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association and the Minnesota Trucking Association.

Friday, February 20

On Future Tense: The magazine "Yahoo! Internet Life" says Minneapolis has the sixth-best Internet infrastructure and services in the country. The top five, in order, are San Francisco, Atlanta, Washington DC, Austin, Texas and Seattle. I asked Yahoo Internet Life's associate publisher Paul Turcotte why his magazine is talking about geography when geography has little meaning in cyberspace.

This winter may go down as one of the warmest ever in Minnesota. The winter of 1986-87 currently holds the record... with an average statewide temperature of 21.7 degrees. But we could come within a tenth of a degree of that record this year according to a forecast by assistant state climatologist Greg Spoden. As you might expect, Minnesotans have developed some strong opinions about the departure from the usual sub-zero chill... as Minnesota Public Radio's John Bischoff discovered on a stroll down Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis.

Former President George Bush told an audience in Minneapolis last night that Whatever President Clinton decides over U.S. policy and Iraq he'll support him. Bush spoke to an audience of more than one-thousand people attending a Minnesota Family Council event. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports.

At the Minnesota tobacco trial yesterday much of the testimony centered on whether a research group started by cigarette manufacturers in the 1950s was formed to find out about the health effects of smoking or to reassure smokers. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports.

Questions of identity are at the heart of a new play being staged at the Penumbra Theater in St. Paul. "Canned Goods" is a surreal drama chronicling the life of an Asian American Grocery store owner in South Central Los Angeles, who watches his life crumble when he sells the store to his son. Tensions between Asian and African Americans in the inner city are explored, but as Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts reports, the production is more concerned with the question of what makes an American, an American?

With temperatures in the 40s, much of the state's snow cover should be gone by the end of the weekend. That means a lot of plants and animals will fooled into thinking that spring has arrived. On a recent visit to the Lowry Nature Center, Naturalist Kathy Heidel told MPR's Bob Potter about one reptile that could be waking up early this year.

U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan is headed to Bagdad today to negotiate with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Annan will try to convince Hussein that he must abide by the 1991 Gulf war disarmament resolutions. This May...the secretary general will be speaking in a less stressful enrivironment. He returns to his alma mater, Macalaster College, to give a commencement speech and receive an honorary degree. Annan began his career as a great orator at the Saint Paul college under the tutelage of Dr. Roger Mosvick Professor of Communication Studies.

Tomorrow, about 30 volunteer spelunkers will descend into Mystery Cave in southeast Minnesota's Forrestville State Park... to count bats. The Department of Natural Resources has been counting bats at Mystery Cave every third year since 1989... making this the fourth count. In that time, the population of bats hibernating in the cave has grown. Warren Netherton is the park's cave specialist.

Meteorologist Mark Seeley talks about this record-setting mild winter.

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