January 11, 1997 -
January 13, 1997 - As part of a series on poverty, MPR’s John Biewen looks at the growth of so-called 'fringe banks'…pawnbrokers and check-cashing shops. A growing number of low-income Americans are relying on 'fringe banks' in place of traditional banking services.
January 13, 1997 - As part of a series on poverty, MPR’s John Biewen reports that while the Minnesota legislature passed regulations in 1996 designed to control interest rates so pawn customers wouldn't have to pay ten or fifteen times the rates charged for credit card loans, some of the state's pawnshops are using a loophole in the law to charge more than 200%.
January 14, 1997 - **For Tuesday 1/14** The Minnesota Supreme Court hears arguments today (Tuesday) on whether prosecutors can use "battered women's syndrome" in court testimony. The appeal stems from a prosecutor who wanted to explain why a woman lied and recanted her testimony against her alleged attacker. It's the first time the issue has come up on appeal in Minnesota's courts. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports: Attorneys have traditionally used battered women's syndrome testimony as evidence in defense cases--showing why someone who's been battered by their partner assaults or kills their batterer to end the abuse. But in the case before the Minnesota supreme court, the question is whether prosecutors can use such
January 14, 1997 - As part of a series on poverty, MPR’s John Biewen looks at the "rent-to-own" industry and issues regarding interest rates.
January 15, 1997 - MPR’s John Rabe interviews local composer Paul Siskind about his composition “Fantasy-Variations.” The piece started off as a music school assignment, and sat on the shelf for a few years. Now the Minnesota Orchestra, under Eiji Oue, will give the world premiere performance of Siskind's “Fantasy-variations : on a fragment by Schoenberg.”
January 15, 1997 - As part of a series on poverty, MPR’s Stephen Smith reports on low-income housing.
January 16, 1997 - Midday features live coverage of Governor Arne Carlson's State of the State address. He speaks in the Minnesota House Chamber well over an hour. Highlights of speech include a state disaster fund, property tax reform, crime control, welfare reform, arts funding, and Twins stadium.
January 16, 1997 - If you think you have it bad in winter, Greg Rhode has a tale for you. Storms literally buried his home. Rhode says that he lives at the end of a cul-de-sac, on the other side of a wide beet field -- conditions that seem to dump snow right on their house.
January 17, 1997 - On this Voices of the Heartland segment, Duluth poet Barton Sutter provides a commentary on the late Minneapolis poet John Engman in a reading of “Citizen of the Milky Way: Eulogy to John Engman.”