Digitization made possible by the State of Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, approved by voters in 2008.
January 15, 1997 - As part of a series on poverty, MPR’s Stephen Smith reports on low-income housing.
January 15, 1997 - The Minnesota Pollution Agency says its investigation of deformed frogs has become too big to handle. Deformed frogs have been reported across Minnesota, in neighboring states, and as far away as Vermont. The MPCA plans to turn much of the research over to federal agencies better equipped to handle the deepening mystery. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency first began looking into the problem in the summer of 1995, when a group of schoolchildren on a fei
January 16, 1997 - Midday features live coverage of Governor Arne Carlson's State of the State address. He speaks in the Minnesota House Chamber well over an hour. Highlights of speech include a state disaster fund, property tax reform, crime control, welfare reform, arts funding, and Twins stadium.
January 16, 1997 - If you think you have it bad in winter, Greg Rhode has a tale for you. Storms literally buried his home. Rhode says that he lives at the end of a cul-de-sac, on the other side of a wide beet field -- conditions that seem to dump snow right on their house.
January 16, 1997 - ((NO INTRO -- USE KLB's pkg as intro)) This is Martin Kaste. State legislators' reaction to the Governor's State of the State address was, on the whole, polite. There were a few instances of crude jokes and notes being passed among the DFL's backbenchers during the speech itself, but their leaders were more diplomatic. House Speaker Phil Carruthers praised what he called the Governor's "bipartisan spirit": ((In many ways his agenda is the same as ours.... similar agenda... welfare reform ... I think there's a termendous numbe of areas where there's going to be a lot of bipartisan cooperation. 0:22)) But the DFL leadership's conciliatory
January 16, 1997 - Governor Arne Carlson delivered his annual "state of the state address" to a joint convention of the legislature. As Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports, the Governor made his first DIRECT pitch for funding a new baseball stadium and hammered familiar themes of his administration's policies: The annual State of the State Address is a Governor's time to take center stage and be his or her persuasive BEST. THIS year, the governor had reason to sound fairly upbeat. The state is enjoying a projected surplus of 1.4-BILLION dollars, unemployment is low and job creation is ahead of the national average. Another factor leading to the Governor's optimism is the promise by state lawmakers to work harder than ever to be bi-partisan and civil when it comes to doing the state's business.
January 16, 1997 - One estimate places the number of homeless teenagers in Minneapolis at well over 1500. There's room for several dozen at emergency shelters, while many others find a temporary place to stay with friends or relatives. Others live in cars or vacant buildings before they move on. Youth advocates say homeless teens need permanent housing before they can begin getting their lives back together. A refurbished apartment building opened in Minneapolis recently with 30 units of permanent housing for homeless young people. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports. Stereotypes of homeless teenagers melt away on meeting 'Amy'. Wearing a new flannel shirt and blue jeans, the self confident sixteen year old could just as easily be class president instead of a teenager who's been on the move for two years.
January 16, 1997 - Twins stadium supporters propose paying for a new ballpark by raising the cigarette tax a dime-a-pack. Critics quickly denounced the plan...saying it's unfair to make smokers shoulder the financial burden for a new stadium. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Wareham reports: The stadium plan announced by Twins and state officials last week calls for a public contribution of roughly $200-million dollars...and lawmakers said then it wouldn't come from general sales...income...or property taxes. That left taxes on items like liqour...lodging...and gambling on the table -- but smoking emerged as...if not the most popular...then the least objectionable option.
January 17, 1997 - This Sunday, in the wee hours of the morning, a small knot of people bundled in parkas and boots will gather outside the Saint Paul Pioneer Press office. They're seeking the first edition of the paper. Not for the classifieds, or the news. They want the clue. The first clue in the hunt for the Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt Medallion. For those of you who have never hunted the medallion, it's perhaps impossible to understand this frenzy over a four-thousand dollar prize. It means twelve days of pouring over clues, figuring out riddles and rhymes, and digging through snow in city parks with hundreds of other medallion hunters. 17-year old Chad O'Leary is a devoted medallion hunter. We invited him into our studios to explain what all the fuss is about: --------------------------------------------------------- | D-CART ITEM: 1820 | TIME: 5:56 | OUTCUE: "...TRYING TO PARK." ---------------------------------------------------------
January 17, 1997 - Ordinary colorblindness is almost always partial. People who have it confuse colors, such as green and red, but don't see completely in black and white. Achromatopsia (AYE-CHROME-uh-TOHP-EE-AH) -- total genetic colorblindness -- is surpassingly rare. It occurs in only one person in thirty-thousand. The condition makes people painfully sensitive to light and and unable to see fine details; making it difficult for them to read. On a tiny island in the South Pacific called Pingelap (PING-guh-lap) one in TEN people are totally colorblind. Oliver Sacks, the neurologist and author of "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat", travelled to Pingelap to see how individuals and the community adapted to this genetic quirk. His new book, "The Island of the Colorblind", is part travel writing, part cultural anthropology. Sacks told Minnesota Public Radio's Stephen Smith that the islanders have invented myths to explain the prevalence of colorblindness. | D-CART ITEM: 1805 | TIME: 4:26 | OUTCUE: "...my island phase"