Digitization made possible by the State of Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, approved by voters in 2008.
January 2, 1998 - Midday presents the January edition of MPR’s Voices of Minnesota series, featuring interviews with three outgoing Minneapolis City Council members, who have nearly 70 years of experience between them: Alice Rainville, Walt Dziedzic, and Dennis Schulstad.
January 26, 1998 - Four years after Minnesota filed its lawsuit against the tobacco industry, opening statements in the trial begin this morning (Monday) at the federal courthouse in St. Paul. The state and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota are suing the major tobacco companies to recover the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses over the past two decades. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
January 26, 1998 - Rochester is the famed winter home for 30-thousand Canada geese. The wild birds stay mostly in the center of the city on Silver Lake, which does not freeze because of warm water from a nearby power plant. While the healthy flock is a source of some civic pride, their by-product is the bane of locals. One Rochester man, however, has found a use for the waste. Gary Blum (like plum) turns dried goose poop mixed with glue into art. He's found a niche creating pictures of geese, loons and even people. Minnesota Public Radio's spoke with Blum about his passion for goose poop art. Rochester artist Gary Blum talking with Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes.
January 26, 1998 - Recently there have been almost daily announcements of major gifts to various educational and charitable institutions in Minnesota. Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor gave Mankato State University 8-million dollars; the Ordway theatre received a 4-million dollar gift from Minnesota actress Ruth Easton to stage new shows in the future. Minnesota Public Radio's Gretchen Lehmann (lay-mun) examines the reasons behind this spurt of giving and it's implications for the future.
January 26, 1998 - Long time critics of the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District are taking another swipe at the agency. The Sierra Club and other environmental organizations are pushing a bill that would require the Mosquito Control District to notify individual property owners before spraying. The agency, one of the largest mosquito control programs in the nation, sprays some 120 thousand acres annually for adult mosquitoes. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports.
January 26, 1998 - Minnesota became the first state to litigate a case against the tobacco industry, when attorneys made their opening statements today. The state and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota are suing major tobacco companies to recover the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses. The state's lead attorney called tobacco a greedy industry, while tobacco's lead attorney says even if the industry behaved badly, it didn't increase the state's health care costs. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports... The state's lead attorney Michael Cerisi said the tobacco companie
January 26, 1998 - NORTHWEST AIRLINES TODAY ANNOUNCED AN ALLIANCE WITH CONTINENTAL AIRLINES. THE MOVE WILL BOOST REVENUES AND SOLIDIFY THE AIRLINE'S POSITION IN THE INDUSTRY. BUT IT MAY NOT REDUCE FARES. MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO'S BILL CATLIN REPORTS. THE ANNOUNCEMENT CAME AFTER WHAT APPEARED TO BE FRACTIOUS, ON-AGAIN OFF-AGAIN DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN CONTINENTAL, NORTHWEST AND THE NORTHWEST PILOTS UNION ... WHICH HAS VETO AUTHORITY OVER THE DEAL. TWO WEEKS AGO, THE PILOTS UNION DECIDED THE STRATEGIC ARRANGEMENT WITH CONTINETAL COULD BE PROFITABLE FOR NORTHWEST. HOWEVER, DELTA AIRLINES APPARANTLY LIKED THE IDEA AS WELL. C
January 26, 1998 - Muslims in Rochester are observing the holy month of Ramadan in a new mosque. A group of Muslims purchased the unassuming three-story brick building on the city's main thoroughfare and renovated it with some 650-thousand dollars. The new mosque's leaders say the larger space will acommodate Rochester's growing resident and visiting Muslim population. But they also hope it bridges a philosophical gap among Rochester Muslims that began more than four years ago. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes reports. Muslims never know the exact day during Ramadan that commemorates the Night of Majesty, when God revealed himself to the prophet
January 27, 1998 - Like the rest of the nation people in our area are talking about the goings-on in Washington. We asked folks in Bemidji, St Paul, and Sioux Falls for their opinions on the scandal and whether the President ought to talk about it in tonight's State of the Union speech.
January 27, 1998 - Hate crimes and racism will be the subject of an open meeting in St. Paul this evening. Comunity leaders are calling for vigorous prosecution of those responsible for hate crimes. The meeting is a response to the alleged beatings of two black women in St. Paul by two white men on Martin Luther King Day. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.