Monday, July 19

The University of Minnesota's men's athletic director says he will consider other replacements for men's basketball coach Clem Haskins after Terry Holland said he was leaning against taking the job. Mark Dienhart says Holland is still a candidate for the job, but that he can't wait any longer for the University of Virginia Athletic Director to make up his mind. Kwame McDonald writes a sports column for the Minneapolis Spokesman and St. Paul Recorder newspapers.

In Minnesota there are at least 1,000 children who are wards of the state and who have no permanent home. Those numbers are expected to rise due in part to federal and state mandates that have reduced the amount of time that parents will have to improve their lives and keep custody of their children. Beginning this month, Minnesota counties are supposed to be up and running with a new program that puts a new twist on the role of foster parents. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports.

Minnesota students get another chance to pass the state Basic Standards Tests this month. Thousands of students have spent the past several weeks in summer school classes, preparing for the tests, which they must pass to graduate from high school. Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts have their largest ever summer enrollments, and school officials are hoping the mandatory programs pay off in high test scores. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire visited a class in Saint Paul.

Strong earnings and benign inflation are helping propel some major stock averages to new highs. Here's how Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Farrell sees things.

The Department of Natural Resources says the search and rescue effort in the Boundary Waters is now over. It has been two weeks since strong winds downed millions of trees in the BWCA, forcing the evacuation of 19 campers. DNR spokesman Ron Sanno says the search of the campsites was completed yesterday.

When it comes to teenage marijuana use, many parents seem to think it's not their kid. According to a national survey released by Hazelden today, nearly three quarters of parents believe their teen has never smoked marijuana. But the most recent figures from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (part of the National Institute of Health) suggest that nearly half of teenagers have tried the drug by the time they graduate from high school. Carol Falkowski is a senior research analyst at Hazelden, and she's on the line now.

Kathleen Soliah may get out of jail as early as today. An attorney representing Soliah - known in Minnesota as Sara Jane Olson- says that she will post $1 million bail at today's hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court. Soliah faces charges of planting pipe bombs under police cars in the mid-70s as part of the Symbionese Liberation Army. Her attorney says there are no plans to provide a security escort for her return flight, but he's lined up a company to electronically monitor Soliah once she returns to Minnesota. Susan Gaertner is the Ramsey County Attorney, and she's on the line to explain how electric monitoring works.

Congress is expected to begin debating emergency aid for farmers this week, but some farmers are worried that the help will be too little, or too late. The US Department of Agriculture reported last week that average soybean, corn, and wheat prices had hit their lowest point in 20 or 30 years. Since the Freedom to Farm Act phased out commodity price supports three years ago, Congress has passed several bills to provide farmers with emergency aid. Congressman David Minge plans to introduce a bill that would allow farmers to store grain on their farms until prices improve. He's on the line with us now.

It appears beleaguered farmers in the Red River Valley may get a break from scab disease this year. The fungus has damaged or destroyed wheat and barley crops for the past six years. But experts who monitor crop disease say other fungal infestations are worse than usual this year, and one particular fungus is causing particular concern. Minnesota Public Radios Dan Gunderson reports.

Tired of low prices in agriculture, Minnesota farmers are forming co-ops in increasing numbers. Lately it's become a popular and successful undertaking for farmers selling everything from dairy products to fresh produce. Co-ops allow family farmers to combine their efforts, avoid the retail market and earn more money for their products by selling direct to consumers. One Central Minnesota co-op has found a loyal customer base in some twin cities congregations, and in the process, has developed a friendship between farmers and the people who buy their food. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Post has this report.

Rain just keeps falling in southeastern Minnesota. Yesterday strong thunderstorms dropped about an inch and a half an hour in some parts of the state. Mower County authorities recommended no travel in the Adams area, and officials said nearly every road in that area was covered by water. The heavy rains might be bad news for Minnesota farmers. Kendall Langseth is the Agricultural Extension Educator in Freeborn County, and he's on the line now.

Since the Y2K computer problem was identified, companies and governments have spent billions of dollars to defuse it. Most observers now believe critical services and sectors of the economy should continue to operate past December 31st, when many older computers could have trouble handling the date change. But the potential for smaller-scale, spotty disruptions is virtually unlimited. As part of "Y2K Day" on MPR, we'll be examining the state of preparation nationally and in Minnesota. We begin with this report from Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo.

Kathleen Soliah is a free woman for the first time in almost a month. She was released from a Los Angeles county jail yesterday afternoon on $1 million bail. She plans on heading home to Minnesota on Friday, pending her trial in California for allegedly conspiring to plant pipe bombs under police cars in 1975. Minnesota public radio's Mark Zdechlik reports from Los Angeles.

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities board is expected to approve tuition increases today. Officials say overall for the system's 36 schools the tuition hikes will average 3.8 percent. But students at Bemidji State University are reeling over their university's plan to raise tuition 12 percent, and they've asked MnSCU officials to intervene. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.

Governor Ventura holds a news conference this morning to announce plans by Alamo Rent-a-Car and National Car Rental to merge their corporate headquarters in Minnesota. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.

After five years and spending $5 million in development Duluth-based Cirrus Design has federal approval to deliver its new aircraft to customers. The SR 20 is one of the first small airplanes to come on the market in the past twenty years, and is the first airplane to use a full-plane parachute. Cirrus hopes to reinvigorate the small plane market by assuaging the fears of would-be pilots. However, after losing its top test-pilot to a crash, and now in the wake of the Kennedy tragedy Cirrus has great deal to overcome. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports.

Texas Governor George W. Bush stopped in Minnesota last night to raise more money for his presidential campaign. The campaign aimed to raise at least half a million dollars at a fund-raiser in a private home in Orono. Bush also stopped briefly at the "Sharing and Caring Hands" charity services center in downtown Minneapolis Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports.

Steven Schier, chair of the Political Science Department at Carleton College, discusses Bush fever.

Minnesota government and industry leaders met yesterday to discuss the state of preparations for the Y2K conversion. At year's end some older computers may not recognize the year 2000 as a valid date and could malfunction. Most observers agree critical infrastructure and economic systems will continue to operate, but some fear random, localized disruptions could nevertheless trigger an avalanche of lawsuits. As Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports, federal legislation signed into law yesterday is designed to cushion the blow for companies threatened by a flood of lawsuits.

It's likely to get a bit harder to buy cigarettes in Minnesota's largest city. A Minneapolis council committee voted yesterday to ban cigarette vending machines and increase fines for selling tobacco to minors. Minnesota Public Radio's Eric Jansen reports.

MPR's Stephen Smith discusses his trip to Kosovo and upcoming documentary.

Physicist Earl Peterson discusses a new lab in Minnesota that will catch neutrinos fired from Chicago.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting's Inspector General is investigating the nation's 723 public television and radio stations to determine how many have traded membership lists with political parties and campaigns. Some members of Congress, as well as the president of the CPB, have condemned the practice. Minnesota's two largest public broadcasters, Minnesota Public Radio and KTCA-TV, have traded their lists with other non-profit organizations and MPR acknowledged yesterday that on one occasion, in 1995, it traded donor names with the Democratic National Committee. Minnesota Public Radio's Brent Wolfe reports public broadcasters around the state worry the controversy could jeopardize their federal funding.

The Department of Children, Families and Learning is offering school districts a way to get around the requirements of the Profile of Learning, but so far there are few takers. The state's top education official says the lack of interest might mean schools are learning to live with the complex system of graduation standards. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.

For more than 60 years, the six Ojibwe Indian Bands that make up the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe have been governed by a constitution imposed by the federal government. Now the tribe is considering a draft constitution of its own making. But the document is generating harsh criticism, and some are worried that it would do more harm than good. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Robertson has the story, the second in a two-part series on the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.

Here's a look at some of the arts events going on around the state this week.

The 12th Annual Lake Winona Jazz Festival takes place on Saturday in Winona, Minnesota. "Less Fivels and the Turkey River All-Stars" will open the summer festival, which runs from noon to 6 p.m. at the Jaycee Pavillion at Lake Winona East. Two other Dixieland bands, the "Mississippi Mud Cats" and the "Gate City Band" will also perform. The festival is free.

A celebration of independent filmmaking begins at the Walker Art Center tonight. The Independent Film Festival features ten films, including Louis Malle's work My Dinner with Andre and Jennie Livingston's documentary Paris is Burning, about a gay community in Harlem. All films will be shown in the Walker Auditorium in Minneapolis.

And one of America's most popular a cappella classical ensembles will perform at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis on Sunday. Chanticleer, whose name means "clear singing" will present songs from the Renaissance to today, as part of the Minnesota Orchestra's Sommerfest. Let's listen now as Chanticleer sings "Dulaman."

Meteorologist Mark Seeley talks about the record dewpoints.

Erin Hart discusses a few new plays that have opened recently.