Monday, March 29

Voters in Minnesota's largest county will pick a new commissioner tomorrow. The winner will replace Hennepin County commissioner Mark Andrew, a DFLer who resigned mid-term. The election pits Republican Peter Bell, who's favored by Governor Ventura, against DFLer Gail Dorfman, who's endorsed by Andrew. Minnesota Public Radio's Eric Jansen reports.

Thousands of Minnesotans trace their ancestry, or their immediate past, to the region of Europe now subject to NATO airstrikes: Yugoslavia. Serbs and Serb- Americans in northeastern Minnesota say they feel betrayed by the U.S. military action, which has prompted frantic phone calls to relatives overseas. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil spoke with Serbian residents in Duluth.

Governor Ventura spent part of the weekend back on the campaign trail, barn-storming through south-central Minnesota in support of senate candidate Terry Anderson. Anderson is the Reform Party candidate in the special election in district 26, and the party's leaders consider this their first realistic chance at winning a legislative election. As Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports, the party wants to prove Ventura's upset victory in November was not an isolated event.

The town of Comfrey has a new face one year after a tornado nearly destroyed the southwestern Minnesota community. Residents there gathered in church Sunday to remember the destruction and rejoice at the recovery. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Steil reports.

The Agriculture Department is temporarily shifting money in its budget to guarantee $333 million in emergency farm loans. Congress failed on Friday to pass an emergency spending bill to fund the loan programs. Lawmakers are expected to take up the bill when they return from Easter vacation in another two weeks. With many farmers across the country facing an economic crisis, demand for federal loan programs is soaring and many programs are running out of money much sooner than expected. Stuart Shelstad is farm-loan director at the Farm Service Agency.

The city of St. Peter is also remembering the tornado that hit a year ago today. All 59 campus buildings on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College were damaged and 2,000 trees were lost. Fortunately, the campus was deserted because students had just left town on spring break. College President Axel Steuer says a year later, all the damage has been repaired.

The Federal Reserve meets this week to discuss the level of short-term interest rates. Here's what Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Farrell thinks they'll consider.

The House has approved a bill ending auto-emissions testing on older cars in the Twin Cities. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen Louise Boothe reports.

A legislative change gives Governor Jesse Ventura a chance to put a new face on the Metropolitan Council by naming up to sixteen new members at once. He could announce the names as early as today. The council is in charge of such mundane metropolitan matters as treating sewage and making sure the buses run on time. But it is also has the power to regulate Twin Cities development. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson talked to three people who have ideas for how the reconstituted Council should do it's job.

The state's longest-serving legislator returned to the Minnesota House on Monday after nearly a two-month absence. Eighty-eight-year-old DFL Representative Willard Munger is recuperating from surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his colon. Munger starts chemotherapy today. Munger represents part of Duluth and has held office in the House almost continuously since first being elected in 1954. Despite his health problems, Munger isn't ready yet to discuss retirement. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports.

The Minnesota House has approved legislation to allow law enforcement agencies to sell confiscated weapons. A Senate committee considers the proposal today. Many rural law enforcement agencies say selling the guns would raise cash they need to operate. Opponents say the confiscated guns should be destroyed. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Gunderson reports.

Much of the economic news of the last year or more has focused on financial turmoil in Asia. Currency devaluations, recession, and other fall-out from the so-called Asian flu have had a direct impact on Minnesota workers and companies of all sizes. 3M, for example, cut its work force as problems in Asia cut into profits. But officials with 3M and other observers say Asia appears to be stabilizing and may now be on the upswing. Minnesota public Radio's Bill Catlin has more.

A part time carpenter and social worker in Minneapolis can now call himself an author as well. Philip Martin's first book, entitled The Zen Path Through Depression, applies his 24 years as a student of Buddhism to an affliction affecting millions. The book arose from Martin's own serious bout with depression, and his discovery that there wasn't much written offering a spiritual response to the illness. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts reports.

A new survey shows nearly 90 percent of senior executives at Fortune 500 companies expect the economy to slow down this year. But almost as many, 80 percent, feel their company is better positioned than their competitors to handle a downturn. The study's authors say that could mean many companies are being too complacent about preparing for economic turbulence. Mark Horwich is Vice President of Bain and Company, a global strategy consulting firm in Chicago.

Republican Don Ziegler has won a special election to fill the state senate seat formerly held by DFLer Tracy Beckman. Ziegler won with 35 percent of the vote, beating DFLer Chuck Fowler and Reform Party candidate Terry Anderson. Anderson was the first Reform Party candidate to run for election since Jesse Ventura won the Governor's race last year. The contest was billed as a test of Ventura's coattails. In another race, St. Louis Park Mayor Gail Dorfman beat Peter Bell for a seat on the Hennepin County Board. Steven Schier chairs the political science department at Carleton College in Northfield.

As we just mentioned, St. Louis Park Mayor Gail Dorfman is now Hennepin County Commissioner-elect. Dorfman was the DFL and Labor-endorsed candidate in the race. She beat Republican Peter Bell 61-to-38 percent. She says about 17,000 people came out to vote, a higher turnout than expected.

A plan to train inner-city youth for careers in agriculture is moving through the state legislature. The Minnesota Agricultural Education Leadership Council wants to build an urban agriculture high school in St. Paul. The group is seeking $350,000 in start-up money. But some critics call the plan a boondoggle. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.

The quest for jail space has become a perpetual issue for cities and counties around the state. Stiffer penalties and growing populations have filled jails to capacity; some counties spend hundreds of thousands a year driving prisoners back and forth to other locations. Now six central-Minnesota counties are asking the legislature to fund a study for a regional jail with 200 beds to catch the overflow, and take the pressure off county lockups. Leif Enger of Mainstreet Radio reports.

Prices retreated on Wall Street yesterday. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 127 points to 9,786. Still, the average of 30 blue-chip stocks ended the first quarter of 1999 with a gain of nearly 605 points, or 6.6 percent. Bob Dickey is a technical analyst with Dain Rauscher in Minneapolis.

Winter weather moving into parts of the Dakotas today could affect the crest of the Red River. Snow is falling this morning around cities including Bismarck, Dickinson and Grand Forks. Wendy Pearson is a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Forks. She says the snowfall could be significant - 5 to 7 inches or more in some areas - and that could affect flooding in the Red River valley.

The University of Minnesota library is 12,500 books larger than it was yesterday. Former governor and University Regent Elmer Andersen contributed four truckloads of books to the U. An article in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune says Andersen has a history of donating rare and valuable books to his alma mater. Thomas Shaughnessy is University librarian.

Nearly everyone at the Capitol seems to agree the state should beef up its commitment to public education this year. Governor Ventura set aside nearly half of the new spending in his budget for education, and both Republicans and Democrats say they back more money for schools. But agreement on how much to spend, and how to spend it, has so far eluded lawmakers, who have different ideas on the most efficient way to fund public schools. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.

Climatologist Mark Seeley says winter has made a full retreat in Minnesota and spring is ready to get underway.

The Minnesota Legislature is taking a long weekend off for the Easter and Passover holidays. The recess marks a midpoint in the legislative session. Much work remains to be done, and the first item on the agenda is still passage of a tax rebate plan. Legislators failed to reach agreement on a tax rebate before adjourning this week, despite pressure from Governor Ventura. Minnesota Public Radio Capitol reporter Martin Kaste joins me now.

If you have school-age children, you've almost certainly been exposed to numerous fund-raising activities. Commentator Kathleen Shea thinks many of these fund-raisers teach children a bad lesson.

There's a wide assortment of work on display currently at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. A much-publicized retrospective of the work of architect Ralph Rapson opened last week. But time is running out to catch two other exhibits. About 100 portraits by local artist Frank Gaard are on display at the museum through next weekend. They include not only paintings of Gaard's own family and friends, but a few Twin Cities luminaries as well. And an exhibit by New York photographer Roy De Carava is open through April 25th. Patty Hegman is an arts producer at KTCA TV. She says it's interesting to view these three exhibits in one visit.