December 13, 2002 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Keith Ellison, a State Representative from Minneapolis, about State budget shortfall. Solving the budget shortfall will be the top priority of the Republican caucus, that issue was also the top of a meeting last night in Minneapolis. The Minneapolis Urban League, the NAACP, and the Council on Black Minnesotans met to discuss their ideas for the upcoming session.
December 16, 2002 - MPR’s Michael Khoo presents highlights of four years with Governor Jesse Ventura, and Minnesota's brief experiment with three-party government.
December 17, 2002 - MPR’s Laura McCallum examines Governor Jesse Ventura’s legacy, taking a look at taxes, state budget, education, light rail, deficit, and judiciary.
January 3, 2003 - MPR's Michael Khoo reports on what is likely to be Governor Jesse Ventura’s last news conference as Minnesota's chief executive. Ventura has had a sometimes difficult relationship with the reporters who cover him, and although event was cordial, it was in many ways characteristic of previous appearances before the men and women he knew as "jackals."
January 17, 2003 - Many state agencies are looking for ways to trim their budgets in light of Governor Tim Pawlenty's proposal for fixing the $356 million shortfall in fiscal year. One of those agencies is the Metropolitan Council, which takes a $2.6 million cut in the governor's plan. Peter Bell, the new chair for the Met Council, talks about future plans and budget priorities.
January 29, 2003 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews John Munger about the first annual City of Lakes Loppet ski race. The lack of significant snow cover in the Twin Cities isn't going to derail event. Organizers are working to install a shortened course on the ice of Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles. The race was conceived by R.T. Rybak, Mayor of Minneapolis, as a way to help designate the city "the urban sports capitol of America." Munger, the race’s director, says experts from Mora's popular Vasaloppet ski marathon are tackling the difficult job of grooming the icy course.
February 4, 2003 - MPR’s Steven John interviews R.T. Rybak, mayor of Minneapolis, on changing snow plowing plans within the city. The cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul declared snow emergencies in wake of the winter's biggest snowstorm. In St. Paul when crews finish plowing east-west residential today the parking restrictions will end. But in Minneapolis the snow emergency will not end until 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday. When R.T. Rybak campaigned for mayor of Minneapolis he pledged to change the city to a 24-hour plowing schedule.
February 25, 2003 - MPR’s Brandt Williams reports on Minneapolis budget cuts. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak says proposed cuts in Local Government Aid will cost the city nearly forty-five million dollars over the next two years. Rybak offered a preliminary estimate of how much each department will have to cut from in order to balance the city's budget. The cuts will be deepest in the city departments with the largest budgets: police, fire and public works. Some city officials say they fear these cuts will make it harder for police and fire departments to protect the people of Minneapolis.
March 6, 2003 - MPR’s Laura McCallum reports on more than a thousand gay and lesbian Minnesotans appearing at the Minnesota State Capitol to protest a proposal to remove sexual orientation from the state's human rights law. They called the bill mean-spirited. The bill's author says he wants to prevent homosexuality from being taught in the schools.
March 25, 2003 - MPR’s Gary Eichten interviews former DFL Senator Eugene McCarthy discusses his world views and the current situation in U.S.-Iraq War.