Monday, January 4

Minnesota's six new constitutional officers take office over the noon hour today, and for the first time in the state's history, a national television audience will be watching the swearing-in ceremony. The focus of all the extra attention, of course, is Governor-elect Jesse Ventura. The colorful former pro wrestler is a natural media personality - just as he was a natural campaigner last fall. What kind of governor will he make? Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste takes a closer look at Ventura's management style.

Governor-elect Jesse Ventura kicked off two weeks of inaugural activities over the weekend. On Saturday, he released a bald eagle at the Isaac Walton Reserve in Brooklyn Park, then had a potluck lunch with Twin Cities-area farmers, which organizers billed as "Ag 101". Ventura didn't spend much time campaigning on agricultural issues, but is trying to get up to speed quickly on farm policy. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.

Less than a year ago, a former pro wrestler entered Minnesota's gubernatorial race on the Reform Party ticket, saying he wanted to test the American dream and see if an ordinary citizen could be elected to statewide office. At noon today, Jesse Ventura will be sworn in as the 38th Governor of Minnesota. He'll then preside over a new era in Minnesota politics in which three parties will share responsibility for governing the state. Minnesota Public Radio's Dale Connelly says today you can sense something new in the chilly air.

1998 was another good year on Wall Street, not as spectacular as '97, but certainly fine. What will 1999 bring? Here's what MN Public Radio's Chris Farrell thinks.

Practice for the Minnesota Vikings should be a little more focused this week because the team now knows it will be playing the Phoenix Cardinals on Sunday at the Metrodome. The Cardinals earned that spot by beating the Dallas Cowboys 20-to-7 on Saturday. Don Banks covers the Vikings for the Star Tribune and is a regular commentator for Morning Edition.

The winter storm that hit the Midwest forced Northwest airlines to cancel more than 400 flights on Sunday. Spokesman John Austin says the carrier's hub in Detroit was shut down, but operations at the Twin Cities airport should get back to normal today.

Next Sunday, Twins Cities residents will have to begin dialing 10 digits to call friends across town. St. Paul's new 651 area code is the newest of a generation of new area codes popping up across the country. An estimated 30 new ones will be needed each year, unless the industry makes some big changes. Ronald Binz is co-chair of the North American Numbering Council which is advising the Federal Communications Commission how to fix the problem. He says faxes, cell phones and modems aren't to blame: each area code can handle 8 million numbers - more than enough to supply residents with multiple numbers. The real cause is that the phone system was designed to dole out new numbers in blocks of 10,000.

It's official. Yesterday, Jesse Ventura was sworn in as Minnesota's 38th governor. State officials, media, celebrities, well-wishers and the plain curious turned out to observe the ceremony. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo has more.

Today marks the beginning of three-party government in Minnesota, as the DFL-controlled Senate and the newly-Republican House convene for the first day of the legislative session. Reform-party governor Jesse Ventura took office yesterday. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste takes this look at the new political order at the state capitol.

For the first time in Minnesota history, the two new caucus leaders in the House both hail from the suburbs. But it's even more unusual that the two grew up on the same street in South St. Paul. Majority Leader Tim Pawlenty of Eagan and Minority Leader Tom Pugh of South St. Paul also share a similar style - less partisan, more moderate - and the two attorneys remain friends, despite their political differences. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.

A new report is raising questions about the effectiveness of Minnesota charter schools. The Office of Educational Accountability says the test scores of charter school students are lower than most public schools. Charter school advocates claim the study is flawed and want it tossed aside. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.

Hog prices may be rebounding. Last week, the price of slaughter hogs was 19 cents a pound in Sioux Falls, up 10 cents from the 42 year low of nine cents set last month. However, these prices remain far below the cost of raising hogs, and farmers are still in trouble. Last night, Congressman David Minge held a town meeting in Fairmont, Minnesota to explore possible solutions to the pork price crisis.

With three parties now sharing power at the capitol, lobbyists may have to find new ways to push their agendas. John Knapp represents the Minnesota Business Partnership and other business groups at the legislature. He's also an attorney at the St. Paul firm Winthrop and Weinstine.

Experts say farm chemicals are the big source of Mississippi River pollution. But farmers point the finger right back at urban areas and say city dwellers need to do more to clean up their act. Tens-of-millions of dollars are being spent to upgrade the Twin Cities sewage treatment system to do just that. The goal is to remove phosphorous from sewage. Environmentalists applaud the action as a step in the right direction, but they say the Mississippi's health will improve only when more far reaching steps are taken to restore the river's ecology. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports.

Governor Ventura keeps telling students they should pay for college themselves, and the students keep cheering. A day after his inauguration, Ventura made a campaign-style appearance Tuesday at the University of Minnesota to greet the students who helped elect him. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.

A major new national study of local TV news shatters the myth that viewers prefer shorter stories and more crime and mayhem. The study, performed by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, ranked TV newscasts at 61 stations in 20 cities over two weeks. In Minnesota, KARE-11 was one of five stations to receive an A-plus rating for it's 10 p.m. newscast, while WCCO, channel 4, received a failing grade. Carl Gottlieb, the project's deputy director, joins us by phone.

University of Minnesota President Mark Yudof is planning to ask the legislature for a budget increase of more than 18-percent to improve undergraduate programs, faculty salaries and medical education during the next biennium. The U will also request an extra $17 million for building projects. President Yudof joins me now.

Some people on the extreme fringe of Y2K hysteria say you should pull your money out of banks, because bank computers will lose your money when they become confused about the date in 2000. Y2K expert Mitch Ratcliffe, who runs the ZDY2K web site, says not to worry.

Scientists meeting at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said they're encouraged by the progress being made in determining the cause of deformities in frogs found in Minnesota and other states since 1995. Researchers say several different avenues of the investigation are providing information that could lead them closer to finding the reason many frogs have missing limbs, extra limbs, missing eyes and other deformities. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports.

The St. Paul companies this week announced it has filled its number two job. James Gustafson takes over as president and chief operating officer of the largest private employer in downtown St. Paul. He arrives after a tough year for the state's oldest corporation. The large property and liability insurer has been buffeted by bad weather and brutal competition in the insurance industry. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin has this look at the company and its struggles.

Minnesota is already trying to return $1 billion of surplus revenue to taxpayers, but it hasn't been as easy as expected. Taxpayers were able to claim property tax rebates for the first time last year. But in December, the Department of Revenue reported about $60 million was still waiting to be claimed. That means some 300,000 taxpayers have failed to ask for their money back. Matt Smith is the department's acting commissioner.

The Senate begins impeachment proceedings against President Clinton this morning. Senators still haven't agreed on basic guidelines for the trial, like what format it will follow, whether witnesses will appear and how long it should last. Sources say Republicans are leaning toward a plan that would give each side several days to present evidence. Then the Senate would vote on whether to adjourn or to go ahead and summon witnesses. A full trial could take as long as six months. Minnesota's senators reflect a partisan split. We hear from Democrat Paul Wellstone and Republican Rod Grams.

The Mississippi river is the lifeline of the Central United States, carrying diverse groups of people and their cultures from Minnesota to Louisiana. The Mississippi: River of Song, is a multimedia project over five years in the works, exploring the richness and vitality of American music at the close of the twentieth century. Writer Elijah Wald worked on the project and joins us by phone.