Monday, October 5

Northwest airlines resumed full operations two weeks ago following the pilots strike, and many travel agents predicted a major fare sale would be in full swing by now. But so far, Northwest has stopped short of a big sale, leaving many observers wondering why. On the other hand, travel agents say the airline that dominates Twin Cities air traffic has reduced many fares even if the company is not promoting the cuts. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin has more.

Tonight, the Green Bay Packers host the Minnesota Vikings in a nationally telecast football game. Both teams are undefeated this year and tonight's game will produce a new leader in the NFC Central Division. As Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports, the long running rivalry between Vikings and Packers fans is adding to interest in the game.

This will be another tense week for the financial markets, with more worries about the health of the worldwide economy. Here's how it looks to Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Farrell.

David and Daniel Kamish, father and son writing team discuss their book The Night the Scary Beasties Popped Out of My Head. Their work will also be featured in an art exhibit at the Children's Museum, opening October 31st.

The DFL and Republican candidates for governor are trading accusations over private school vouchers. DFLer Skip Humphrey says Republican Norm Coleman is trying to hide his plans to siphon off public money to private schools through what he calls a "voucher scheme." Coleman says Humphrey is ignoring his real position in order to gain political mileage. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.

An historic conference concludes today in Minneapolis. Officials from fourteen southern African countries are meeting with representatives of more than eighty US companies. As Minnesota Public Radio's John Rabe reports, the countries are trying to counteract negative images of Africa that stifle American investment in the region.

One of the biggest obstacles in making the transition from welfare to work is the lack of adequate childcare, and Minnesota businesses are being encouraged to provide that service to their employees. But it's not as simple as it sounds, as one business in Blackduck has found. Mainstreet Radio's Tom Robertson reports.

Minnesota's congressional candidates are running out of time to raise campaign money before the November elections. Sitting comfortably at the top of the heap is sixth district DFL congressman Bill Luther. At last report, he'd raised 1.2 million dollars. Luther is not one of the state's most visible public figures, and yet he's one of the most prolific campaign fundraisers in the country. Only six other members of the US House of Representatives have raised more. Minnesota Public Radio's Brent Wolfe reports on why Congressman Luther raises so much money.

In two debates last week, Minnesota voters had a chance to compare the major party candidates running for governor. The next debate is tonight in Hibbing. So far, the candidates have spent the most time sparring over tax cuts, family farms and school choice. During the next few weeks, we'll look at how their messages are being received in different areas of Minnesota. Bill Hannah is executive editor of the Mesaba Daily News in Virginia. The region typically votes DFL, but Hanna says in this election many people are keeping an eye on Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura.

Heather Koop of the Minnesota Historical Society discusses the Lindburgh Environmental Film Festival which begins tonight.

As they try to attract American business investment, the countries of southern Africa face a challenge from within their midst: the nation of South Africa. How can the likes of Mozambique and Zambia compete with South Africa's relative stability and European-scale economy and infrastructure? Representatives from fourteen southern African nations are in the Twin Cities, trying to convince U.S. businesses to invest in sub-Saharan Africa. And, as Minnesota Public Radio's John Rabe reports, their futures may depend on how they deal with the South African question.

Torture survivor experts from around the world are gathering in Minneapolis today for a first of its kind conference. It's to train mainstream health and social service professionals on how to best treat victims of torture. In Minnesota, there are around 14,000 torture survivors trying to make a new start after fleeing their homeland. The conference is intended to expand services to them. Minnesota Public Radio's Lynette Nyman reports.

The Minneapolis City council is considering taking away some powers from the city's Civil Rights commission. Critics say the proposed changes to the civil rights ordinance are meant to help Dayton Hudson corporation open a Target store downtown. Minnesota Public Radio's Eric Jansen reports.

Gubernatorial candidates Skip Humphrey, Norm Coleman and Jesse Ventura debated on the Iron Range last night. They tailored their messages to the audience at Hibbing High School by taking on subjects like tourism, recreation and education in northeast Minnesota and invoking the image of a favorite son. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil brings us the story.

President Clinton says he has "no choice but to veto" an emergency farm aid bill that passed yesterday in the U-S Senate on a party line vote. The Republican-drafted plan would give farmers more than 2 billion dollars in disaster relief and 1.6 billion dollars in bonus payments to offset weak export sales. Democrats support a more costly plan that would spend about 5 billion dollars to support crop prices. Farmers are facing a 13 percent drop in income this year because of record-low grain prices and losses from drought, hurricane and wheat scab. Tom Rothman is Farm Director for the Minnesota News Network.

University of Minnesota President Mark Yudof is teaching a class this quarter. Nineteen freshmen showed up yesterday for the first session of the seminar titled Students and the Constitution. Yudof is co-teaching the seminar with the university's general counsel Mark Rotenberg. The president is pushing freshmen seminars as part of his plan improve the undergraduate experience at the university. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.

Minnesota lawmakers who ask how farmers are doing are getting an earful. Minnesota House Republicans are holding public meetings around the state to get input on the farm crisis. Last night they were in the Northwestern Minnesota town of Hawley. Mainstreet Radios Dan Gunderson reports.

It's not uncommon to see prison inmates at South Dakota's state hospitals doing laundry, inmates making repairs at state buildings, or cleaning up disasters and fighting fires. Every day nine hundred South Dakota prison inmates leave their cells and go to work. It's a program Governor Bill Janklow believes in and says saves the state money. Some say it's nothing short of slave labor and South Dakotans should be outraged. Mainstreet Radio's Cara Hetland reports.

The Minnesota Department of Health says now is the time to get a flu shot. Each year, doctors forecast which flu strains are likely to pose the greatest threat, and vaccinations are targeted to boost immunity to those strains. But last year the A-Sydney strain of flu appeared by surprise without being included in the vaccine and the number of flu cases across the country soared. Diane Peterson is supervisor of statewide immunization services at the Minnesota Health Department.

Yesterday, Sharon Barrett left the intensive care unit at Fairview University Medical Center in Minneapolis one week after going through groundbreaking heart surgery. Barrett spent two years connected to an implanted pump while waiting for a heart transplant. Instead of finding her a new heart, last Tuesday doctors disconnected the pump and Barrett's heart began working again on its own. Doctors are viewing the case as evidence that diseased hearts can heal themselves if they're given a chance to rest.

Representatives from several Hmong organizations met yesterday with policy makers and elected officials to discuss ways to respond to a wave of violence in the Hmong community. The group hopes to craft a series of legislative proposals to present to lawmakers in next year's session. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts reports.

A panel of Minnesota citizens questioned the five minor party candidates for Governor in Minneapolis last night. While the candidates discussed many of the issues on which their major party opponents are campaigning: taxes, education, crime - their priorities range from the legalization of marijuana to the elimination of Minnesota's sales and income taxes. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.

The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday rejected a democratic proposal that would have ended an impeachment inquiry at the end of the year and supported an open-ended Republican inquiry. Minnesota's Congressional delegation split on the vote. Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson reports.

The first season of fishing under the restored 1837 Treaty is winding down on Lake Mille Lacs. The new rules allowed Ojibway Indians 40,000 pounds of walleye from the big lake. Non-Indian anglers were supposed to take up to 220,000 additional pounds, but as Mainstreet Radio's Leif Enger reports, those anglers far overshot that amount.

The first residential charter school in Minnesota, and one of the first in the nation, held its grand opening Thursday in the tiny Iron Range town of Buhl. Beginning in November, the school will be home to delinquent teenage boys sent there by the courts. Organizers hope the charter status will let them tailor the curriculum to students' needs, while Buhl residents are glad to have their school in use once again. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports.

With scandal enveloping Bill Clinton, it bears remembering that this is not the first time an occupant of the White House has fallen into disgrace. That's at least one message in a work of music receiving it's U.S. premier in Minneapolis tomorrow night. The Plymouth Music Series will present A White House Cantata, by Leonard Bernstein. It's based on Bernstein's 1976 Broadway musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and while that production flopped A White House Cantata recently received rave reviews when it was debuted in London. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Stucky reports.

According to a new report, property taxes paid by homeowners in the Twin Cities metropolitan area went down by an average of 90 dollars in 1998 . In non-metro areas, property taxes went up slightly by an average of 3 dollars. The report was prepared by the Minnesota Tax Payers Association and the Citizen's League. Lynn Reed of the Minnesota Tax Payers Association joins Morning Edition to discuss these developments.

Lost in all the news out of Washington yesterday was word that President Clinton vetoed a Republican-backed 4.2 billion dollar emergency farm aid bill. Clinton says he wants House and Senate negotiators to come back with a new bill with more money for farmers. But Congress is on the verge of adjourning for the year and it's unclear whether they'll be able to get a new farm bill passed. Joining Morning Edition today is Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugeson.

At a workshop tomorrow, Minneapolis residents will have the chance to discuss land use around potential light-rail transit stations along Hiawatha avenue. Land use is one of the Federal Transit Administration's top criteria for determining which nationwide projects will receive federal funding. Peter McLaughlin, Hennepin County Commissioner joins us by phone.

Meteorologist Mark Seeley looks back on the fall of 1871 when the Great Lakes region suffered perhaps the worst ever fire season.