Monday, March 22

Minnesota legislators now have fewer bills to consider. Anything that didn't make it out of a policy committee last week is dead for the Session. Joining us now to discuss what's still alive is Maureen Shaver, a lobbyist with Dorsey and Whitney. Her clients include the City of Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota, SuperValu and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux.

Native American elders from several states are supporting the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota in their effort to prevent the reroute of Highway 55 in Minneapolis. In two days of testimony, the elders told federal and state transportation officials that a site near the route of the proposed highway has long been sacred to many tribes. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports.

The reputation of Rochester's Mayo Clinic spans the globe due in part to high profile visitors like the late King Hussein of Jordan. Rochester residents are accustomed to hearing bits of Italian or Arabic or Portuguese in the downtown shopping mall. However of the 300,000 patients that visit the clinic each year, about 2.5 percent come from overseas. Doctors say while the percentage of foreign visitors may be small, serving them is an important part of the clinic's mission. Minnesota Public Radio's Brent Wolfe reports from Rochester.

Around the Twin Cities metropolitan area, old lines are beginning to blur between previously separate telecommunications technologies. Within the near future, cable television, high-speed Internet access, and telephone service could all be provided in one package through one hook-up in each home. Already, St. Paul and many suburbs are close to completing that convergence. But a dispute between the City of Minneapolis and Paragon cable company has that city and its residents on hold while the rest of the region moves ahead. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports.

Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Farrell discusses the Dow's continuing flirtation with 10,000 and the impact of rising oil prices.

Film Producer Sarah Pillsbury (yes, of the Pillsbury Dough Boy connection) who's production credits include How to Make an American Quilt, Desperately Seeking Susan, and Eight Men Out. Her latest called The Love Letter, produced for Dreamworks, will be released May 21. She has yet to produce a feature film in Minnesota and hopes to do that. She says the five-percent tax rebate passed under the Arne Carlson administration will go a long way towards seducing film financiers to shoot in Minnestoa rather than Canada. She says Jesse's exposure in Los Angeles should boost film making in Minnesota.

University of Minnesota men's basketball coach Clem Haskins strongly denies allegations that he provided money to a tutor and gave cash to a former player. Haskins issued the denial in a news release last night. After releasing the statement, Haskins spoke by phone with University President Mark Yudof. Yudof says Haskins was cordial and strong in his denial of the charges.

Just about every where you go in Minnesota there's a shortage of workers, with one exception - Minnesota's prison system. Thousands of able-bodied inmates live inside state prison walls; 830 work for Minnesota's taxpayer supported prison industries. And Corrections officials want to create more jobs. They say prisoners don't make trouble when they're working. And the prison system also needs to meet a state mandate to make prison industries self supporting. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports.

On a 77-to-51 vote, the Minnesota House has passed a bill allowing voters to propose new laws and repeal existing ones. Supporters say giving citizens the power of initiative and referendum - as 24 states have done - will increase voter participation, but the issue faces strong opposition in the DFL-controlled Senate. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.

Minnesota is one of the few states in the nation with a seat belt gag rule. That rule bans information about whether a person was wearing a seat belt as evidence of fault in personal injury lawsuits or in lawsuits against automakers. Some opponents say the law is outdated and now penalizes as many people as it was designed to protect. Minnesota public radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports.

St. John's University in Collegeville unveiled the first page of an exquisite handwritten Bible yesterday at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It will take six years to finish the new St. John's bible commissioned at a cost of about $3 million. Queen Elizabeth's calligrapher, Donald Jackson, will oversee the massive project and its team of international calligraphers. He says the new St. John's Bible will use a traditional text but he told Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson that it will be coupled with non-traditional images likely to appeal to today's readers. The new Bible will be added to an already substantial collection of rare books and manuscripts at St. Johns University. The Benedictine Order of Monks at the school has been acquiring a collection of exquisite Bibles and other monastic books since the late 1800's. Mainstreet Radio's Kathryn Herzog reports.

A new Pentagon-sponsored study says military computer and communications systems are vulnerable to attack by hackers and high tech enemies, and should be shored up immediately. The National Research Council says the military's key command and control systems, called C4I are dangerously weak. James McGroddy is chairman of National Research Council committee that wrote the study.

A St. Paul manufacturing plant is back on-line today after its chemical disposal tank in released noxious fumes yesterday. There were no serious injuries. But the leak forced the temporary evacuation of nearby homes and businesses and snarled rush-hour traffic near the intersection of Snelling Avenue and I-94. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports.

Governor Jesse Ventura is due back in Minnesota this afternoon after spending the past few days in Los Angeles trying to convince studio executives that Minnesota is a great place to shoot a movie. He also met with Minnesota natives like Sarah Pillsbury who is a film-maker now based in California. She says convincing the accountants that Minnesota is the place to shoot a film is a tough sell these days. Pillsbury says the favorable exchange rate is luring productions to Canada. She says Governor Ventura understands that Minnesota must provide financial incentives to get more production here.

The baseball season is just two weeks away and while most team executives are figuring out who will make the final roster, Mike Veeck is figuring out the side shows. Veeck, who made minor-league baseball the hottest ticket in St. Paul, is now an executive with the big league Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He is planning lots of fun events including a tribute to the twentieth anniversary of Disco Demolition, an event in Chicago in which fans wouldn't leave the field and caused the White Sox to forfeit the second game of double-header. Veeck says he doesn't mind celebrating this black mark on his record.

The Brooklyn Park City Council has approved an outdoor amphitheater for the Minnesota Orchestra. The decision was welcomed by Orchestra officials, but the project faced strong opposition from many area residents who fear the venue will host noisy pop music acts. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting that a University of Minnesota graduate student is now the third person to allege that she did class work for University of Minnesota men's basketball players. Yesterday, Jan Gangelhoff, who was the first person to make those accusations, told reporters about class work she did for basketball players, and a former team member described receiving cash payments from the coach. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen reports.

Scott Anderson, the Chief pilot and director of flight operations for Cirrus Design, was killed yesterday after the brand-new SR-20 he was flying crashed a half mile from the Duluth airport. The crash is raising serious concerns for the Duluth-based company which had received 261 orders for the single-engine aircraft after it was approved by the FAA last fall. Federal officials will investigate the crash. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports from Duluth.

David Bailey, who visited Vietnam to see the site of his father's plane crash, talks about the experience.

The United States Supreme Court has ended one of Minnesota's most contentious disputes by ruling in favor of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe's right to spearfish and gillnet on the state's premier walleye lake, Lake Mille Lacs. By a vote of 5-to-4, the High Court ruled yesterday that the Band has retained the right to hunt and fish, free from state regulation on 13 million acres of land it sold to the government more than 160 years ago. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports on this landmark decision.

The Minnesota chapter of Common Cause says Governor Ventura has opened a loophole in the state's campaign finance laws—and they want the Legislature to close it. The non-profit government watchdog group says the governor gave private companies a means to buy influence with his administration when he solicited donations to pay for his transition and his inauguration. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste has the story.

Mille Lacs Ojibwe leaders are calling for cooperation and friendship after the Supreme Court ruled yesterday in favor of treaty rights. The decision affirmed an 1837 agreement allowing eight tribes to fish and hunt without state regulation in east-central Minnesota. The court case made for fractious relations between Indians and non-Indians around Lake Mille Lacs. Yesterday, both called for healing. Leif Enger of Mainstreet Radio reports.

South-central Minnesota communities blown apart by a devastating tornado a year ago are preparing to mark the storm's first anniversary this weekend. The tornado drew a line from west to east—from Comfrey to St. Peter to Le Center early on the evening of Sunday March 29th. In Le Center, the tornado blew the roofs off several small manufacturing plants and leveled a mobile home park that was home to some of the town's Hispanic residents. In the first of a series of reports, Mainstreet Radio's Brent Wolfe reports on the re-building of the trailer park in Le Center.

In his State of the City Address this week St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman suggested he would try to get a stadium built for the Minnesota Twins in St. Paul. Yesterday on MPR's Midday program, Coleman said his stadium plan may be a long shot, but so was the city's effort to build a new hockey arena. MPR Sports Commentator Jay Weiner discusses the Mayor's suggestion.

The Minnesota House has voted 94-to -7 for a hunting and trapping season for the gray wolf once the animal comes off the endangered species list. Members approved the bill at the urging of Northern Minnesota legislators who said wolves in their districts are coming into increasing conflict with people. Minnesota wolves are expected to be removed from federal protection sometime in the year 2000. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports.

It should be a busy day at the State Capitol today. The Senate Environment and Natural resources Committee will debate whether to allow hunting of gray wolves. And the Senate Health and Family Security Committee will consider repealing Minnesota's Health Care provider tax. Joining us with an update on what else is going on is MPR Capitol Correspondent Laura McCallum.

Heading into this year's legislative session, many lawmakers declared relief for the state's struggling farmers a top priority. However, nearly three months into the session, no consensus has emerged on how to provide assistance. Yesterday, more than one hundred farmers gathered at the state capitol to voice their concerns about worsening agricultural conditions and make their case for tax reforms. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports.

Northern States Power Company has announced plans to merge with Denver-based New Century Energies. The deal would create a company with more than $6.5 billion in revenue and customers in 12 states and several foreign countries. The merger will require the approval of numerous state and federal regulators. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.

If you consider the collecting of hardware an art form, then the Berger Hardware Store in Superior, Wisconsin is like the Louvre. The store, which opened in 1915 and closed 70 years later, is crammed to the ceiling with stock that often dates back to the 1920s and '30s. Locals knew it as the one place that stocked everything. Now, everything is being auctioned off. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports.

Meteorologist Mark Seeley discusses why the snow has melted so fast and reads some poetry about sundials.