Monday, May 3

The picture of rural Minnesota painted by official government statistics shows a white tapestry with occasional scattered threads of color. But some would argue that picture is inaccurate. In the past 150 years immigrants from more than 60 countries came to Minnesota, creating a state which may seem homogeneous, but enjoys a legacy of rich cultural diversity. Minnesota Public Radios Dan Gunderson reports.

Unicameralism is back in vogue in Minnesota politics. For years, a small but vocal group of state politicians has proposed converting to a one-house legislature - as opposed to the traditional House and Senate. Now Governor Ventura has taken over as the idea's cheerleader-in-chief. But would it be a change for the better? Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste went to Nebraska - the only state in the union with a one-house legislature - to find out.

Concerns that stronger than expected economic growth will lead to inflation has the financial markets on edge. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Farrell tells Bob Potter, don't worry be happy.

The Minnesota legislature has just two more weeks to finish its work before the May 17 deadline for adjournment. Conference committees are trying to resolve major differences between the House and Senate, and come up with compromise bills the Governor will sign. Laura McCallum covers the Capitol for Minnesota Public Radio, and joins me now with a look at the week ahead.

Communities and schools provide education programs so immigrants and their families can learn English. These programs are changing as educators learn better ways to teach English as a second language. Seven years ago in Worthington there was typically one student of color in a classroom - today nearly half the class is minority. While the new residents learn a new language and culture, some feel there should be lessons in tolerance for the rest of the town. Mainstreet Radio's Cara Hetland reports.

Marianne Larsen is a landscape photographer in Sioux Falls. As a young girl, she she was part of a white minority in Los Angeles. She's witnessed changes in Sioux Falls over the last 20 years.

The Minnesota Senate has voted 65-to-0 to pass its final - and biggest - spending bill. But the $7.9 billion K-12 education bill nearly derailed, after several Senators tried to include sex-related provisions. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.

That's part of the Guadeloupe Church congregation singing "Madre," a cut from the new Minnesota Historical Society CD Musica de la Roza: Mexican and Chicano Music in Minnesota. Musician and Anthropologist Maya Lopez-Santamaria collected the music and wrote the book which accompanies it. She spoke with Minnesota Public Radio's Jim Bickal about the project.

Minneapolis police and Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton say a new computer-aided crime strategy helped produce a 16 percent drop in serious crime last year - the sharpest drop the city has seen in two decades. The strategy is called CODEFOR, which stands for Computer Optimized Deployment Focus On Results. Police reports are plugged into a database twice a day and the crimes plotted out on maps of the city. Police use the maps to find crime patterns and to decide how to respond. Officer Mark Koenig works at the CODEFOR center. He says the system tracks a variety of crimes.

Travel through rural northern Minnesota and while you'll come across some Native Americans, what you'll see are mostly white faces - people who trace their roots to Scandinavia and other parts of Europe. But things are changing. A small, but growing number of African Americans are calling Northern Minnesota home. Some are attracted to education or job opportunities, others seek relief from urban strife, but many find it a challenge to settle into a rural culture where black faces are rarely seen. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Robertson has this report, part of MPR's series on rural diversity.

The Rainbow Smelt are running this week in Lake Superior. Years ago, the smelt run drew huge crowds to Lake Superior beaches, where fish were netted by hand and cooked over open fires. Raucous all-night beach parties fueled by generous doses of alcohol achieved mythical status around the big lake. But now, the big smelt runs are history. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports why.

The New York-based International Rescue Committee is sending a woman from St. Paul to Albania to set up schools for Kosovar refugee children. More than 375,000 refugees have fled to Albania since NATO airstrikes against Yugoslavia began. It's estimated more than half of them are children. Susan Nicolai plans to work in Albania for six months. She says while refugee families have many needs, education is one of their top concerns.

The legislative session is expected to end on schedule in two weeks. But members of various conference committees have their work cut out for them. The DFL-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House have been passing radically different legislation and have shown little inclination to compromise. Representative Phil Carruthers was Speaker of the Minnesota House last session when the Democrats were in control. He says the House and Senate seem further apart than in previous years and that makes the outcome of conference committees less predictable.

The Supreme Court's recent affirmation of Indian hunting and fishing rights in Minnesota capped a decade of friction between American Indians and their non-Indian neighbors. The treaty rights debate was characterized mostly by shouting, defensiveness and political maneuvering. But there is a less-told story about relations between Native-Americans and whites in Minnesota - a story of people who have reconciled with a larger culture - who've grown so comfortable in that culture, they no longer see themselves as minorities. Leif Enger of Mainstreet Radio reports.

In coming weeks, 20,000 Kosovar refugees will land in New Jersey, the staging point before going on to other U.S. communities. Only a handful are expected to make their way to Minnesota. The state is known for accepting refugees from around the world, but several factors, including the lack of a large ethnic Albanian population, mean most of these refugees will head elsewhere. Minnesota Public Radio's Lynette Nyman reports.

With less than two weeks left in the legislative session, lawmakers have yet to find more state money for a $446 million light rail line from downtown Minneapolis to the Mall of America in Bloomington. Proponents say $60 million in state funding is needed to attract federal money. House and Senate conferees meet again this morning to come up with a transportation bill acceptable to both chambers, and the Governor. People watching the LRT issue predict it will be among the last items settled before lawmakers adjourn. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports.

State funding for public broadcasting is still alive at the state capitol, despite efforts by Governor Ventura and some House Republicans to phase it out. The Minnesota Senate wants to put almost $3 million a year into public TV and radio, while the House spends about $1 million less. Most insiders say House and Senate negotiators will probably end up splitting the difference on the total amounts, but there may be more of a fight over whether any of that money should go to Minnesota Public Radio. MPR's Martin Kaste reports.

The Minnesota Timberwolves will be playing the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the NBA playoffs starting Sunday in San Antonio. Last night the Wolves finished the regular season by losing to the Phoenix Suns by a score of 100 - 96. A lot has happened since the Wolves nearly upset Seattle in the playoffs last year. A labor dispute forced the league into a condensed, truncated season and the team lost two of its three key players: Tom Gugliotta and Stephon Marbury. Brit Robson covers the Timberwolves for City Pages and he joins us now.

This week our Mainstreet Radio team has been examining "The Hidden Rainbow," minorities living in rural Minnesota. We have also been hearing from commentators about their thoughts and experiences. Pete Padilla, a Mexican-American lives in Northwestern Minnesota.

University of Minnesota President Mark Yudof has named a task force to consider athletic department policies regarding the use of money raised by booster clubs. The move comes a week after the university revealed basketball boosters paid for a golf trip by coach Clem Haskins and his staff. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen reports.

Legislative leaders are trying to resolve differences between a $3.5 billion tax cut plan passed by the House and a $2.5 billion tax bill passed by the Senate. One of the biggest sticking points is whether to cut income tax rates in all three brackets, as the House plan does, or only in the lower two tiers, as the Senate and governor support. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum looks at how some typical families will fare under the two plans.

Four hundred more ethnic Albanians are expected to arrive at Fort Dix, New Jersey today. That will double the number of refugees already there. The Kosovar refugees will stay at Fort Dix for two to three weeks, then be sent to live with sponsor families throughout the U.S. Some of the new arrivals will likely end up in North Dakota. Fargo has one of the highest per capita refugee populations in the country, and the community is preparing for the arrival of dozens of refugees from Kosovo. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Gunderson reports.

Morning Edition speaks with authors John Camp and Ron Handberg. Camp, who publishes under the name John Sandford, has a new book coming out next week called Certain Prey. Handberg's new book Dead Silence is already in stores.