MPR News Features are news segments created for various long-form programming, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered, amongst others. Features run the gambit of interviews, reports, profiles, and coverage.
February 3, 1997 - Today, two D-F-L'ers introduced a bill in the House to license naturopathic physicians--those who use on natural remedies to heal the sick. State Representatives Linda Wejcman and Karen Clark are proposing a number of criteria that a naturopath must meet in order to attain licensure, including a four-year degree. At this point, only six practioners in the state are known to meet the requirements. Helen Healy is a naturopathic practioner in St. Paul. Last year, the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice sued her for practicing medicine without a license, and reached a settlement laying out what she could and could not do in her practice. She favors the idea of licensing because it would give some legal protection to naturopaths and significantly expand the care they would be allowed to give. Dr. Paul Sanders is the CEO of the Minnesota Medical Association which opposes the licensing. We invited Healey and Sanders into the studio to lay out the pro's and con's of the proposal. Healy told us licensing would give naturopaths more credibility with patients and in the medical establishment:
February 4, 1997 - As some state lawmakers continue the task of drafting language for a state welfare reform bill....OTHERS are hearing from people bracing for the resulting effects. TODAY (THIS week) at the state capitol, parents of disabled children said they need to retain the help they now get from federal supplemental security income...or S-S-I. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports: The new federal welfare reform law changes the definition of disability...making it more difficult for certain children to qualify as disabled. The state estimates that up to 32-hundred low-income children in Minnesota with disabilities could lose S-S-I benefits come July first. More EXACT numbers will be known once the federal governm
February 4, 1997 - This session, Congress is expected to tackle the thorny issue of reforming Medicare. Many seniors are worried the reform effort will ultimately translate into fewer benefits. But in Minnesota, seniors are actually hopeful they might come out ahead. Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson reports.
February 4, 1997 - A new elementary magnet school in Maplewood might be one of the most complex educational operations in the state. The school is supported financially by three districts, yet the school has its own district number and school board. The school is a voluntary desegregation project involving urban and suburban students. The curriculum has a duel focus of multicultural education and environmental studies. On top all this, the school is operating year-round. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire takes a look at what could be a model for the future of elementary schools... The seeds for Tri-District school were planted seven years ago when Saint Paul school district officials began talking to neighboring suburban districts
February 4, 1997 - Minneapolis officials are hoping to increase the state sales tax in the Twin Cities to expand the Minneapolis Convention Center and bolster mass transit. But the proposal faces a tough fight. Governor Carlson's chief of staff, Morrie Anderson, says convention center backers should prepare to compete for state bonding support because Carlson opposes raising the sales tax. In fact, the Governor vetoed an expansion plan last year. John Labosky formerly headed Minneapolis' downtown council, so he's familiar with the fight. Now he's with the capital city partnership in St. Paul.
February 4, 1997 - Democrats in the state House of Representatives are still reeling from the Senate's surprise passage yesterday of mandatory standardized testing for all public schools. House DFLers wanted to take their time with the testing issue, but now they're feeling pressure to meet the Senate's challenge. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports from the Capitol: It's not just the timing of the Senate's action that's caught House DFLers off guard. They're also suprised by how close the Senate's plan is to what Governor ARne Carlson wants. The Senate legislation, introduced by DFL leader Roger Moe, would impose state-wide achievement tests for 3rd, 5th, 8th and 11th graders. The Governor likes the Senate legislation so much, he's offered to sign it immediately -- if and when the House goes
February 4, 1997 - Some Hennepin county public defenders say prosecutors and the courts are discriminating against children of color in applying a law aimed at adding tougher consequences for juvenile offenders. At least two attorneys are challenging a law that's supposed to act as a bridge between the juvenile and adult court systems. But as Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports, no one knows how the law has worked because no one has been tracking the cases.
February 4, 1997 - A Minnesota House higher education panel took its meeting on the road last night to the University of Minnesota-Duluth campus. Legislators were greeted by students, educators and community members pleading for more support. Minnesota Public Radio's Hope Deutscher reports.
February 4, 1997 - Housing officials in Saint Cloud have been searching for three years to find a new site for the community homeless shelter. Few dispute that the current 15-bed shelter is too small for one of Minnesota's fastest-growing areas - it turned away more than a thousand people last year - and its century-old building is deteriorating. Yet each time a site is considered, neighbors say they don't want it located next to them. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.
February 5, 1997 - A State Senate panel has approved a bill to allocate 20-million dollars from the General Fund to pay for emergency snow removal. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports: Those who testified before the Transportation Budget Division, didn't even have the LANGUAGE to explain the hardships they're living with...the video and the photographs coming out of the regions hardest hit by winters storms say it best. Senate minority leader Dean Johnson says the constituents in his western minnesota district are living under duress: