November 22, 2001 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer interviews DFL State Senator Linda Berglin, chair of the Health, Human Services, and Corrections Budget committee, about the Ventura administration unveiling its plan for fighting terrorism. It includes more wiretap authority for the government, limits on public access to sensitive information, and broader authority to quarantine citizens in the event of a bioterrorist incident.
November 28, 2001 - All Things Considered’s Lorna Benson talks with Steven Wagner, one of three St. Cloud professors who released results from a St. Cloud State University poll that shows Governor Ventura's approval rating has dropped sharply. 44% of respondents rated Ventura's overall performance as "excellent" or "pretty good." That's down from 63% the year prior.
November 29, 2001 - MPR’s Laura McCallum reports that while it is too soon to tell if extending taxes to services will be a major component to Ventura's financial recommendations, he may revive his plan. The response to the idea from Legislature has not been favorable and they are being vocal about it.
December 10, 2001 - All Things Considered’s Lorna Benson talks with Minnesota explorer Ann Bancroft. At this time a year ago explorer Ann Bancroft was on the polar plateau of Antarctica, pulling a 250-pound sled with teammate Liv Arneson. The pair became the first women in history to cross the continent on skis.
December 18, 2001 - MPR’s Tasya Rosenfeld talks with David Fey about affordable housing in Minneapolis. Mayor-elect R.T. Rybak today introduced his 90-day plan to increase affordable housing in Minneapolis. Rybak says he wants to change development codes and regulations to encourage renovation. He also hopes to use four million dollars of Neighborhood Redevelopment funds to pay for more housing. Rybak has chosen David Fey, a long-time affordable housing advocate to be his deputy mayor. Fey was the vice chairman of a task force which recommended in 1999 that the city council spend fifty million dollars to create more affordable housing. Fey says one of Rybak's approaches to the housing crisis is to reduce the existing sea of red tape.
December 21, 2001 - Outgoing Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton talks with Midday’s Gary Eichten about her work in the city, tenure as mayor, and the state of Minneapolis at the end of 2001. Sayles Belton also answers listener questions.
December 26, 2001 - MPR's Mark Zdechlik reports that Governor Jesse Ventura says Minnesotans will likely be more open to major governmental reform with the state facing a projected budget deficit of nearly two billion dollars. Ventura says he'll use his State of the State speech a week from tomorrow as something of a “Government 101” course to help Minnesotans learn how state taxes are spent.
December 27, 2001 - MPR’s Cathy interviews Amy Klobuchar, Hennepin County Attorney, on fight against elder abuse. Klobuchar will announce the results of a program designed to prevent abuse of the elderly. The Senior Initiative is one year old. Its team of four attorneys, an investigator, and a victim advocate has worked on 43 cases so far this year. Klobuchar says they've seen a wide range of crimes.
December 28, 2001 - In just a few days R.T. Rybak becomes Mayor of the city of Minneapolis, replacing Sharon Sayles Belton after eight years in that office. In this audio excerpt, Sayles Belton formally said goodbye in remarks made to the city council and city staff in newly renovated Minneapolis City Council chambers.
January 1, 2002 - R.T. Rybak talks about how St. Paul and Minneapolis needs to come together and put aside the jokes, housing in Minneapolis, and how things need to change at City Hall.