February 3, 1998 - Midday previews the State of the State address and looks back in history to previous addresses. Guests Al Quie, former Republican governor; and Bob Vanasek, former DFL Speaker of the House share their reflections and listeners call in with questions.
February 3, 1998 - Best-selling author Tom Clancy is the new majority owner of the Minnesota Vikings. The offer is for about 200 million dollars and surpasses the record price paid for a National Football League franchise. Clancy pledges to keep the team in Minnesota and wants to make the Vikings one of the premier franchises in the NFL. Tom Clancy is the author of such military thrillers as "The Hunt for Red October," "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger,". He was ranked 27th last year on Forbes magazine's list of the highest-paid "entertainers" His estimated gross income was 50-million dollars. He's a Baltimore native whose love of football began as a boy when he attended the same church as Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas. Four years ago, Clancy also led an unsuccessful effort to buy the New England Patriots four years ago.
February 3, 1998 - Sportfishers have a new gadget to try out, if there's any room left in the boat. A Brainerd man is introducing AquaView- a device that goes beyond sonars and depth-finders, and actually lets you watch the fish take your bait -or ignore it, as the case may be.
February 3, 1998 - Jo Ann Shroyer discusses her book Secret Mesa about the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
February 5, 1998 - Baseball commentator Kevin Hennessey reviews the Chuck Knoblauch trade. The Twins second baseman and four-time All-Star was traded to the New York Yankees for $3 million and four minor-league players.
February 6, 1998 - Lou Bellamy, Penumbra's artistic director, says his theater has outgrown its current home in the Hallie Q. Brown/Martin Luther King Center and is looking to be a part of African American arts complex in St. Paul.
February 12, 1998 - Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports on the 2,500 striking Honeywell workers who vote on a proposed contract, possibly ending their walkout now in its 11th day. The terms of the proposed settlement are not being made public but union officials say Honeywell modified what had been the company's final offer. Central to the negotiations since the first contract was rejected, has been the union's opposition to Honeywell putting together a separate compensation package for new employees. Such arrangements often called "Two Tier," contracts, have been dividing workforces for two decades in the United States.
February 13, 1998 - Romance and glamor are words often attached both to Valentine's Day, and the heady world of publishing, although not by commentator Debby Bull. She's the author of "Blue Jelly." When she's not on book tours she lives in Chippewa Falls.
February 13, 1998 - Mainstreet Radio's Catherine Winter has this remembrance of Terry Wilkey, former Bovey police chief. Wilkey spent more than 30 years on the town's police force and the 800-some residents of Bovey all knew him. But his fame spread much farther; to the Twin Cities, even as far as Texas and North Carolina…because of Terry Wilkey, the writer.
February 13, 1998 - State Representative Tim Pawlenty (pah-LEHN-tee) bowed out of the Governor's race today. The Republican Representative from Eagan says he's giving up in the face of the momentum of Lieutenant Governor Joanne Benson's campaign, combined with St Paul Mayor Norm Coleman's likely entry into the race. Coleman says he'll announce this Sunday whether he'll run for Governor. Political commentators Bob Meek, a Democrat, and Tom Horner, a Republican, say it's very likely he'll run. Horner says Coleman would join an already strong field of Republican candidates: Republican political commentator Tom Horner, and Democrat Bob Meek.