Monday, March 5

Loan deals too good to be true are causing problems for a growing number of Minnesota borrowers. Predatory lenders, critics say, have targeted minorities, working poor and the elderly as prospects for the high-cost loans. Minnesota regulates many banking and financial services. But the high-cost loan business has grown faster than the state's ability to keep track of it. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports.

Harold Stassen, one of Minnesota's most prominent political figures, is dead. He died Sunday at a nursing home in Bloomington. He was 93 years old. Stassen was the youngest person in the nation ever elected governor. Minnesota voters first put the moderate Republican in office in 1938, when he was 31. Historians say Stassen's youth and ideas rejuvenated the national Republican party. He helped create the United Nations. Others say his crowning achievement was laying the groundwork for nuclear arms limitation. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports.

Safety experts say gun violence in Minnesota must be viewed as a public health issue as opposed to simply one of criminal justice. A new report released today by a nonprofit group, the Minnesota Institute of Public Health, found a large number of unintentional deaths in the state involve guns. The study also found more than half the state's suicides involve firearms. The report calls for tighter gun controls. But Critics say there are already too many restrictions and no further laws are needed. Minnesota Public Radio's Marisa Helms reports.

Join MPR Capitol Bureau Chief Laura McCallum for a preview of the upcoming week in the legislature.

Here's Minnesota Public Radio's Chief Economics Correspondent Chris Farrell with a look at how the markets are doing. You can hear more from Chris today on Midmorning.

Today we are remembering the life of Harold Stassen who died yesterday at the age of 93. Stassen had a long career in politics. In 1938 at the age of 31 he became the youngest man ever elected governor of Minnesota. One man who knew Stassen throughout his career in politics was Elmer L. Andersen. Andersen, who would also go on to become Minnesota's governor, got his start in politics as a campaign strategist for Stassen in 1938.

Educators throughout Minnesota have criticized Governor Ventura's proposed budget as insufficient for public schools, but supporters of the state's Indian Education programs are not complaining. Ventura wants to double the current funding targeted to American Indian students in an attempt to lower one of the state's highest drop out rates. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.

Over the next six weeks, citizens will be able to tell Minneapolis Public Library officials what they want in a new central library downtown. Voters approved $110 million to build a new library last November. Before choosing an architect, library officials will hold a series of public meetings to hear from users, and from library experts from around the country. Joining us on the line is Rick Johnson, project manager of the new Minneapolis Public Library project.

Snow drifts are piled high in western Minnesota reminding many people of the winter four years ago when the spring melt lead to record flooding. But the snow is not quite as deep as 1997, and that has most hoping this year's high water will be more a nuisance than a threat. As the snow begins to melt, residents of the Minnesota River valley are preparing; hoping for a slow, controlled melt, but ready just in case March brings more heavy snow or rain. Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports.

A bill that would require Minnesotans to show picture identification in order to vote had a hearing yesterday before a House elections subcommittee. The bill would also require voters to provide the last four digits of their social security number, which would allow checking against criminal records or death certificates to reduce fraudulent voting. After the election problems in Florida, many states are considering election reform. On the line now to discuss what other states are doing is Jenny Drage, a policy specialist for the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Negotiators for Northwest Airlines and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association are meeting in Washington DC today in hopes of resolving a four and a half year old contract dispute. A 30-day cooling-off period is set to expire this Sunday, opening up the possibility of the second strike in two years at Northwest. Meanwhile Northwest has renewed allegations before a federal judge that the mechanics are illegally disrupting its flight schedule. The union denies the allegations and is marking the resumption of negotiations by staging informational picket lines. President Bush has said even if there's no settlement by the March 12 deadline, he'll require the workers to stay on the job for another two months while a solution is sought. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechllik reports from Washington.

Spring in the Red River Valley is often a mixed blessing. Residents welcome the warmer temperatures, but shudder at the inevitability of at least some flooding along the Red River of the North. Now after years of discussion, planning and testing, the National Weather Service has developed a new system for issuing flood forecasts. As Minnesota Public Radios Bob Reha reports the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services or AHPS is getting mixed reviews.

A new baseball stadium funding bill is being drafted at the State Capitol. This latest plan would have the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis present competing proposals for a new stadium and then a neutral panel would pick the best plan. This is similar to the model used when Minneapolis beat out Bloomington as the preferred site for the Metrodome. Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson is backing this concept and he joins us now.

As users anticipate the end of unlimited access to music files through Napster, many are scrambling to download as many songs as possible while they still can. Napster has always been particularly popular on college campuses and at times students have overwhelmed Internet connections because of the amount of material being downloaded. Joel Clemmer is the vice president for library and information Services at Macalester College in St. Paul. He says he's not too concerned about being swamped by Napster users because of precautions taken about a year ago.

President George W. Bush makes his first visit to the upper Midwest, with stops in North Dakota today, and South Dakota tomorrow. He's selling his $1.6 trillion tax cut, hoping he can rally North and South Dakotans to pressure lawmakers from their states. Democratic Senator Tim Johnson from South Dakota is under particular pressure. He's up for reelection in 2002, in a state that Bush won last fall with over 60 percent of the vote. Senator Johnson joins us on the line.

An exhibit showcasing the art of Yoko Ono opens this weekend at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Ono, who is best known for her marriage to John Lennon, has pushed the boundaries of art during her 40-year career. The Walker exhibit features more than 150 pieces of her work, including many she did in collaboration with Lennon. Barbara Haskell is a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and co-author of a book about Yoko Ono's work. Haskell says Ono began in the early 1960s with performance art, which was cutting edge at the time.

The passionate feelings aroused by snowmobiles got a full hearing in St. Cloud last night. The St. Cloud City Council is gathering input on changing the city's snowmobile ordinance, and possibly enacting an outright ban. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Post has this report.

For about a month now, Huisken Meats has been making beef patties in the town of Sauk Rapids. The company sends some of the patties to Iowa, where they're irradiated with a concentrated beam of electrons to kill e-coli, and other microorganisms. Huisken Meats is thinking about whether to install their own irradiation equipment at their plant. But, despite the Food and Drug Administration's recent approval of irradiation for beef, the decision to go with irradiation is controversial. Activists in Sauk Rapids fear that the beef could cause cancer, or chromosome damage. As Jeff Horwich finds in this Mainstreet Radio report, there may be something even bigger at stake for small-town Minnesota.

Negotiators with Northwest Airlines and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association are continuing their efforts to reach a contract agreement. They've been meeting since Wednesday at a hotel in Arlington Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C. They're expected to remain at the negotiating table right up to the deadline Sunday, when a 30-day cooling off period expires, unless they reach an agreement before then. Inside the closed-door sessions, watching the official negotiators are rank and file Northwest mechanics, who've been brought into a traditionally off limits off limits process. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.

A trio of Karelian folk musicians is in Minnesota to sing and play centuries-old music from their homeland. Karelia is a piece of northern Europe between Finland and Russia. The land is carpeted with forests and dotted with lakes. These days Karelia is an autonomous region of the Russian Federation. The Karelian Folk Ensemble tunes showcase ancient instruments and stories of forest wizards. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports.

Lawmakers shaping energy legislation this session face the daunting challenge of coming up with a plan that satisfies all Minnesotans. Last night some the state's municipal utilities spoke out publicly for the first time against moving toward electric deregulation, one of the more controversial aspects of the House energy bill. Minnesota Public Radio's Helms reports.

Nearly 12,000 people turned out in Fargo to hear President Bush speak yesterday. Hundreds more lined streets to watch his motorcade. The crowd responded enthusiastically to the president's call for lower taxes, and his promise to not forget farmers. A bomb threat on the North Dakota State University campus closed four buildings but didn't directly threaten the president. Minnesota Public Radios Dan Gunderson reports.

Mark Seeley, with this week's weather.

Tigers will be in the spotlight at the Minnesota Zoo this weekend. The zoo has organized a weekend of speakers, films, kids' games, and other activities, all to educate the public about tiger conservation. The Minnesota Zoo has five Amur tigers of its own and it's also considered a leader in international tiger conservation efforts. Dr. Ron Tilson is the director of conservation at the zoo. He's just returned from Indonesia, where the zoo is involved in an ongoing study of wild Sumatran tigers. He says tigers are in big trouble.

President Bush is in Sioux Falls, South Dakota this morning to promote his $1.3 trillion tax plan. Nearly 12,000 people turned out in Fargo, North Dakota yesterday to hear Bush speak.