Monday, April 5

The Red River is now expected to crest at 45.5 feet on Sunday. The National Weather Service estimate was pushed back from Thursday because cooler temperatures this week are expected to slow the thaw. Dikes around the city of Grand Forks have built to a level of 50 feet. Christine Deers is a spokesperson for the city of Grand Forks.

Many discipline problems at two Minneapolis schools are now resolved in student court, where students serve as the lawyers and jury. Organizers of the program at Webster Open School and Four Winds American Indian magnet school say student court is building leadership skills and reducing behavior problems. The program has also caught the attention of the nation's top law enforcement official. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.

Minnesota lawmakers headed home for a long holiday weekend last week anticipating to hear a lot about the stalemate over a tax rebate. Republicans favor a property tax rebate while democrats and the governor prefer a sales tax rebate. However, as Minnesota Public Radio's Cara Hetland found, taxes and rebates aren't necessarily foremost on the minds of farmers in western Minnesota.

Every spring for thousands of years, people have noted the first leaf buds opening, the first insects hatching, and other signs of the changing seasons. The study of seasonal plant and animal activity is called phenology—a field which in the past has often been dismissed as old fashioned. Now, scientists realize such observations can be a valuable tool for studying global climate change. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports.

The Saint Paul school board will let its high schools decide individually whether to provide birth control directly to students. Board members met until early this morning debating the controversial proposal to allow health clinics in those schools to distribute contraceptives. In a hastily conceived compromise, parents, teachers and students at each school will now vote on the issue. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.

Minnesota's U.S. Senators, DFLer Paul Wellstone and Republican Rod Grams, made a rare joint appearance for a journalism awards ceremony at the University of Minnesota. The intended topic of discussion was the impeachment procedure and policy in the 1999 Congress. But talk quickly turned to the conflict in Kosovo. The two senators are known for disagreeing with each other. As Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports, last night was no exception.

Garrison Keillor sings about beloved former Twin Bombo Rivera.

One of Minnesota's most unusual tutoring programs requires college students to live in the neighborhood of the children they serve. Project for Pride in Living, the non-profit Minneapolis housing developer, operates College House, a renovated home in the city's Phillips neighborhood. Bethel College students live in the house and tutor neighborhood young people. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports.

University of Minnesota Men's Hockey Coach Doug Woog has resigned. Woog, who held that job for 14 years, has accepted a new position in the Athletic Department, raising money for improvements to the University's hockey arena. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen reports.

The Minnesota Twins opened their season with a win, defeating the Toronto Blue Jays 6-to-1 at the Metrodome. Last night's victory comes amid low expectations for this year's team which includes a large number of rookies. But Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports the lack of star power hasn't dampened fan enthusiasm.

Some 20,000 refugees from Kosovo will be given safe haven at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. U.S. officials say the arrangement will be temporary and that the Kosovars will ultimately return to their homes. Serb forces have driven hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians out of Kosovo over the past two weeks. Five agencies in Minnesota handle refugee resettlement. John Borden is resettlement coordinator for the Minnesota International Institute. He says it's to early to tell whether any Kosovar refugees will ultimately end up in Minnesota.

The Republican leadership of the Minnesota House suffered a setback yesterday when it failed to get enough votes to pass its first big spending bill. The legislation was supposed to make up for budget shortfalls in state spending on things like unanticipated legal bills, and Republican leaders assumed it would pass without difficulty. Instead, a group of dissident Republicans joined with Democrats to defeat the legislation, and some lawmakers say the vote undermines Speaker Steve Sviggum's control of the House. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports.

University of Minnesota officials say about a dozen pigeons, that were removed from a research lab by vandals, were spotted yesterday in a suburban field east of Minneapolis. On Monday animal rights activists smashed microscopes and computers and freed more than 100 lab animals. The University says the vandalism could set back progress in research into Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, Cancer, Cerebral Palsy and other illnesses. Minnesota public radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports.

The Animal Liberation Front has a 20-year history of this kind of protest. The most damaging attack came last October, when the ALF and another radical environmental group, the Earth Liberation Front, took credit for setting a fire at the Vail Ski Resort in Colorado that caused about $12 million in property damage. The groups claimed expansion at the resort would destroy habitat for the lynx. Mary Brennan is Executive Vice-President for the Foundation of Biomedical Reserach.

A new steel plant proposed for the Iron Range town of Nashwauk could create more than one thousand jobs and pump millions of dollars into Northeast Minnesota's economy. But the proposal comes with a huge start-up cost including Millions of dollars from the State of Minnesota. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports.

The University of Minnesota now says damage done by animal rights activists who broke into a university research facility earlier this week could extend into the millions of dollars. The Animal Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for the break-in, which freed more than one hundred lab animals and destroyed computers, microscopes, and other lab equipment. As the investigation continues, activists on both sides of the issue are speaking up. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports.

The Minnesota Zoo says it will have to lay off 42 employees in June unless the legislature approves $1 million in emergency funds to make up a budget shortfall. A bill that would have authorized $600,000 for the zoo was defeated this week at the capitol. The zoo opened a new $25 million aquarium in 1997 expecting an increase in attendance to cover the costs. That hasn't happened.

House Republicans today will release their plan for spending on education in Minnesota. On Monday, a disagreement in Republican ranks helped sink the first major spending bill of the session. A group of dissidents opposed party leaders and defeated a bill that included $17 million to make up for budget shortfalls in a variety of areas, from MinnesotaCare to the Minnesota Zoo. Republican House Speaker Steve Swiggum joins me now.

The U.S. and Chinese governments today are planning to sign an aviation pact today that would open up new routes for Northwest Airlines. Northwest is one of 3 U.S. carriers with rights to fly to China. The agreement would double the number of flights between the two countries by the year 2001. Elliot Seiden is vice president for Law and Government Affairs at Northwest Airlines.

The prospects for light rail transit in the Twin Cities got a little dimmer after a key House committee vote yesterday. The Republican-controlled House Transportation Finance Committee approved this year's comprehensive transportation funding bill without including money for LRT, but the project is still very much alive in the Senate. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports.

After serving 28 months in federal prison, former White Earth Tribal Chairman Darrell "Chip" Wadena is back home on the reservation. Convicted in 1996 of 15 felony counts including conspiracy, theft and embezzlement of tribal funds, Wadena still contends he did nothing wrong. He now says he plans to seek the White Earth chairmanship again in 2000. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Robertson has this Mainstreet report from Bemidji.

Republicans in the Minnesota House met last night and suggested they may force a special session if they don't get the tax cuts they want. It's been a difficult week for the Republican caucus. On Tuesday, conservatives in the House split with other Republicans and voted with Democrats to defeat a routine spending bill. Joining us now with more on that story and other news from the Capitol is Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste.

There are a number of interesting things coming up on the popular music calendar. Sidewalk.com music critic James Diers talks about that with Minnesota Public Radio's Jim Bickal.

Meteorologist Mark Seeley discusses the weather and how the commonly used term "freak storm" is changing the expectations of weather consumers.