Digitization made possible by the State of Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, approved by voters in 2008.
January 8, 1974 - Reporter Kevin McKiernan summarizes events on the opening day of the trials. Dennis Banks and Russell Means, the first to be tried in St. Paul, appeared in court. Jury selection in Judge Fred Nichols' courtroom began with questions to the possible first witness, a high school principal. McKiernan talks bout the kinds of questions the witnesses are being asked from a list of some 300 supplied by both sides. McKiernan listed a number of questions, and talked about answers given by the juror, the first of 31 prospective and available jurors. He says at this pace jury selection will be a long process, followed by a trial which may then take several months.
January 10, 1974 - The ADA, a liberal citizen activist group, has done a survey of votes by legislators on on public interest issues. Don Stoll (sp?) explains the group believes in legislative accountability and provides legislative performance to the public. He says any bias in the survey is against special interest legislation. Rep. Neil Dietrich of St. Paul says he?s seen voting against proposals because of the authorship, DFL or GOP, not the issue.
January 16, 1974 - MPR’s Gary Eichten reports on Minnesota Governor Wendell Anderson’s State of the State address, with the "energy crisis" being Anderson’s highest priority and support for a separate Department of Energy to address this issue. He also supports the federal 55 MPH bill to save on gasoline usage and Campaign finance reform.
January 16, 1974 - Sociologist for the defense, Jay Shulman, says the 57 potential jurors are not a fair representation. AIM leader, Russell Means, complained about the defense's qualifying questions to potential jurors.
January 16, 1974 - A proposed Minnesota bill will create a seperate Department of Energy. Republicans oppose it. Another bill will grant $10,000 towards the Rosemount Energy House (a University of Minnesota project) to experiment with solar and wind energy.
January 16, 1974 - Traffic accidents are a public health problem, says Minnesota Safety Council Commissioner Wallace Hoaglund. He advocates seat belt legislation to save lives and reduce injuries. Australia tried voluntary seat belt compliancy and it was unsucessful. A mandatory law resulted in major improvements in mortality rates and reduction of severe injuries. Minnesota should follow suit.
January 16, 1974 - Four Twin Cities neighborhood associations have asked Midwest Federal to allocate more money for inner city mortgages. The lending company will make $69 million dollars available.
January 16, 1974 - The Minnesota Senate debated Senator Steve Keith's bill to allow election day transportation for the elderly and handicapped (currently prohibited). Senator Mel Hanson tried to ammend features of the bill that could lead to busloads of vulnerable people being taken to the polls, people who might not know who they were voting for.
January 16, 1974 - Former North Dakota Governor William Guy announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate on the Democratic ticket. Guy claims his background as a farmer is a plus.
January 16, 1974 - Former North Dakota Governor William Guy announces his intention to run for the U.S. Senate.