Digitization made possible by the State of Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, approved by voters in 2008.
January 30, 1998 - Tobacco attorneys will cross examine a Mayo Clinic physician today in Minnesota's trial. Internal memos released yesterday paint a picture of an industry that capitalized on a smoker's craving for nicotine even though tobacco companies knew smoking caused lung cancer 40 years ago. They also show the industry led a campaign to reassure smokers that smoking wasn't harmful. Minnesota public radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports: The papers reveal how British American Tobacco or batco scientists in the 1950's visited numerous individual researchers in the U-S and Canada to find out what they knew about smoking and cancer. From those meetings BATCO concluded smoking caused lung cancer. That was 1958... 36 years before a group of tobacco company C-E-O's testified before congress that smoking was not addictive and did not cause cancer.
January 30, 1998 - All Things Considered’s Chris Roberts reports on high school students participating in the annual Music Listening Contest. Whiz kids from all over the state gathered at Augsburg College in Minneapolis for the state finals. Roberts looks at how they prepared, what they've learned, and the rigors of the contest itself.
January 30, 1998 - Minnesota's tobacco trial has adjourned for the day ending a week of damaging testimony against the tobacco industry. The state and Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota are suing the major tobacco companies on charges they defrauded the public by concealing information that smoking can kill. Minnesota public radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports.
January 30, 1998 - This weekend, the St. Paul Winter Carnival will celebrate the best of what winter has to offer: hockey, hayrides, softball on ice and of course, ice carving. Historian Paul Larson says the Carnival is all about fortitude and making the best of what mother nature hurls our way.
February 2, 1998 - Opponents of so-called "factory farms" rallied at the state capital, calling for a two year moratorium on the expansion of large feedlots. They say new, concentrated livestock operations are polluting Minnesota's air and water, and squeezing out family-sized livestock farms. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports. Wearing "Stop Factory Farms" buttons and carrying signs with slogans like) "land of ten thousand hog lagoons" signs, the crowd of 150 voiced its support for the feedlot moratorium. Monica Cahout farms in Renville County, where some of t
February 2, 1998 - Many Minnesota 8th graders have been hitting the books hard in the last few weeks, preparing for statewide reading and math tests which start tomorrow. This is the first year every school in the state has to participate. Last year, about one third of all tested students failed, prompting a public outcry and pushing school districts to make changes. This year there's tremendous pressure for students and schools to perform well, but some are still questioning the value of the tests. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire checked in at one Minneapolis school where preparations are continuing at a furious pace.
February 2, 1998 - Ten years ago a hastily organized candlelight vigil protesting homelessness in New York turned into a social lightning rod aimed directly at Mayor Ed Koch. It all began the day after the protest, when the homeless people recruited for the vigil decided to hang around the City Hall Park, since they had nowhere else to go. Writer John Jiler noticed the odd assembly of people while visiting the park that morning. Jiler, who later wrote a book about the event, figured it wouldn't take long before the homeless would be kicked out of the park.
February 2, 1998 - A new era of crime fighting begins this month in Minneapolis. It's similar to the strategy used by police in New York City where it's credited with double-digit decreases in crime rates. The plan supplies police with daily reports of crime hotspots so they can send officers there to investigate. The plan also relies on more extensive questioning of suspects. And that feature of the strategy worries some people. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more.
February 2, 1998 - MPR’s Mary Stucky matches up the content of the State-of-the-State addresses through Governor Arne Carlson’s tenure. His speeches over the years reflect the changing fortunes of the state and ups and downs in Carlson’s relationship with state lawmakers.
February 2, 1998 - The next step in Minnesota's future management of the timberwolf begins next month. The Department of Natural Resources will assemble a roundtable of citizens representing many viewpoints on the wolf issue and in turn they will advise the agency as it prepares to assume management of the wolf in 1999. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil has a preview of the group's work.