Monday, January 3

The Minnesota Vikings finished the regular season yesterday with a 24-17 victory over the Detroit Lions. Wide Receiver Randy Moss caught five passes for 155 yards, including a 67-yard touchdown pass, the longest of his career. The win earned the Vikings a home playoff game next week against the Dallas Cowboys. Don Banks covers the Vikings for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and he joins us now.

Education Commissioner Christine Jax has some duties beginning today. She assumes the powers of the State Board of Education which dissolved at the end of the month after 80 years of shaping public policies. The state Legislature voted to dissolve the Board after controversy over the Board's attempt to create a rule on school diversity. Critics of the Board say it no longer had any significant role. Commissioner Jax says her duties will not change significantly because of the change.

Jesse Ventura, a.k.a. Jim Janos and Jesse "the Body," took office as Governor of Minnesota one year ago this week. Ventura was easily the biggest act in the world of Minnesota politics in 1999. But twelve months into his term, some of the hype has begun to fade, and Minnesotans inside and outside politics are beginning to think of him as just another elected official. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste has this review of the Governor's first year.

A judge has ruled Donald Blom's confession to kidnapping and killing Katie Poirier is admissible at his trial. Blom's attorneys argued the confession was protected as part of a failed plea agreement. The judges ruling elevates the importance of an already controversial case. It is the first time Minnesota courts have considered whether a defendant can make a confession outside of plea negotiations, thus waiving his or her rights. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports.

An attorney for a former employee at the Koch refinery in Rosemount portrayed him as a good worker who was fired because he reported serious environmental violations by the company. Charles Chadwell is suing Koch Petroleum Group under a state law that protects whistleblowers from retaliation. The case went before a ten-person civil jury yesterday in Minneapolis. An attorney for Koch told the jury Chadwell was fired for "legitimate and lawful reasons." Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports.

The University of St. Thomas baseball team will play a game in Cuba. They're going later this month to the University of Havana to play an exhibition game. The Tommies are the first U.S. college team to play baseball in Cuba since 1986. Joining us on the line is the Reverend Dennis Dease, president of St. Thomas.

There's a busy political calendar coming up. Donald Trump will be in town later this week to meet with Governor Jesse Ventura. Several presidential candidates will be in Iowa later this month for the nation's first caucus and at the beginning of February, the Minnesota Legislature will open its next session. Stephen Schier is the Chair of the Political Science Department at Carleton College. He's on the line now for a look at politics in the weeks ahead.

A federal judge in St. Paul this morning will consider issuing a temporary restraining order barring Northwest Airlines flight attendants from illegal job actions. Northwest filed a lawsuit against the Teamsters union yesterday alleging its flight attendants are engaged in an illegal sick-out that's driving away customers. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.

January is about as far away from baseball season as the calendar gets but dozens of young ballplayers in St. Paul will be in uniform this month, preparing for an extraordinary road trip. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen reports on the University of Saint Thomas' plans to send its baseball team to Cuba.

The cost of fishing and hunting may go up in 2000. The Department of Natural Resources wants to raise license fees, a crucial revenue source in its budget; the DNR says if the legislature doesn't do so, Minnesota's outdoors will suffer. Mainstreet Radio's Leif Enger reports.

On Thursday, three Dakota County hospitals will begin accepting newborns from women who would otherwise abandon their babies. The Dakota County Attorney has agreed not to pursue criminal charges against women who take advantage of the program, called "Safe Place For Newborns." Minnesota Public Radio's Lynette Nyman reports.

The director of the Department of Natural Resources Fish and Wildlife Division will retire tomorrow. Roger Holmes has been with the DNR for over 40 years. One of Holmes' achievements has been helping to expand the state's public wildlife management areas. He has also been a force in establishing Minnesota's Non-game Wildlife Program, and the regulation of the state's deer population. Mr. Holmes is on the line now.

St. Paul public school officials say recent test scores indicate their schools and students are moving in the right direction. District leaders yesterday released results from last fall's Metropolitan Achievement Tests, which show gains at nearly every grade level and in most schools. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.

Grain prices, volatile foreign markets, and more are making life difficult for farmers these days. The time is long gone when they could simply concentrate on raising a bumper crop. So some producers are banding together in an effort to create leverage in the marketplace. Their efforts are part of a broader campaign in farm country to find new markets for their products. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Reha reports.

The Minnesota Civil Liberties Union will file a lawsuit this morning challenging a surcharge on the money state prisoners receive from the outside. Minnesota Public Radio's Patty Marsicano reports.

An unrepentant carpetbagger has just arrived in North Dakota with his sights set on one of the state's U.S. Senate seats. Senator Kent Conrad's current term ends with the 2000 election. Steve Clark is a columnist for the state of Virginia's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Last July he wrote a piece deriding Hillary Clinton's bid for the open Senate seat in New York, saying if she could do that then so could he - in North Dakota, a state he'd never visited. Well, he got such a response to his column, including a flood of e-mails from North Dakotans, that he's now on a two-week "listening tour" to test the political waters. Steve Clark is on the line now from Fargo.

The Guthrie Theater is focusing its two-year-long search for a new theater site on Minneapolis' downtown riverfront. A Guthrie representative met with city officials late Thursday who say the theater is interested in land next to where the Minnesota Historical Society's Mill Ruins Park project is taking shape. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports.

St. Paul school officials are seeking public input on plans to end social promotion in the district. Last night, Superintendent Pat Harvey and school board members outlined the plan during a forum at Central High School. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports.

An East coast man with a history of unrealized stadium plans around the country has unveiled another, this time for the Minnesota Twins and the Vikings. Socrates Babacas says he has a plan to build a $350 million retractable roof stadium in the northern Twin Cities suburb of Lino Lakes. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.

Meteorologist Mark Seeley talks about the mild, dry weather this winter.

Arts reporter Chris Roberts rounds up the week in arts.