May 19, 1998 - Guns, gangs and violence. Not the usual picture when you think of a small northern Minnesota town. But residents in Cass Lake on the Leech Lake Reservation say they're under siege. As MPR's Tom Robertson reports, the area is also struggling with high unemployment, poverty, and longstanding racial divisions between the Leech Lake tribal government and city officials. BACKANNOUNCE: Tomorrow, Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil tells us how a recent State Supreme Court decision is resulting in some changes for law enforcement on the state's reservations.
May 19, 1998 - MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles Native American blues band, Indigenous.
May 19, 1998 - The reaction to news of a compromise on the BWCAW worked out between U.S. Representatives Jim Oberstar and Bruce Vento has been swift... and mixed. Oberstar's proposal to allow trucks on two wilderness portages has been entered into the transportation bill now under consideration by a Congressional Conference Committee. It has Vento's reluctant support after the addition of a provision removing some lakes from motor access.
May 20, 1998 - Young people are frequent victims, and the most likely perpetrators, of hate crimes. Many Minnesota teens were among hundreds who gathered yesterday at a hate crimes summit in Minneapolis, hoping their stories will encourage more people to pay attention to the problem. Minnesota Public Radio's Eric Jansen reports: The most energetic session of the day-long summit on hate crimes was the taping of a national television show about how prejudice affects teens. The June 20 show is hosted by Court TV's Carol Randolph:
May 20, 1998 - Steve Young, a former dean of the Hamline University law school says it's unethical for the Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi Law Firm to charge $560 Million dollars for its work on the state's recently-settled tobacco lawsuit. Young filed a complaint with the Lawyers' Professional Responsibility Board, alleging that the size of the fee violates professional rules.
May 20, 1998 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports that leading environmentalists are vowing to fight a proposal that would return trucks to two boat portages in Northern Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
May 20, 1998 - In December, the Minnesota Supreme Court delivered "the Stone decision," a ruling on a case brought by members of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. They claimed the state lacks authority to enforce civil laws, such as traffic regulations, on reservations. The high court agreed and as a result Tribal authorities now face big decisions over how to provide their own law enforcement... and how to pay for it. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports from Duluth. Most Minnesota reservations are covered by what's known as Public Law 280, which has allowed the state to provide law enforcement on reservation land since 1953. With the Stone decision, the court clarified that the state ONLY has criminal jurisdiction. So reservations are stepping in to en
May 20, 1998 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports on Obertstar-Vento compromise over motor use in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wildnerness. Northern Minnesotans hope the compromise will settle long standing disputes over the region. Congressman Jim Oberstar's proposal to allow trucks on two wilderness portages has been entered into the transportation bill now under consideration by a Congresional Conference Committee. It has Congressman Bruce Vento's reluctant support after the addition of a provision removing some lakes from motor access.
May 21, 1998 - More than 125 Native American tribes from across the nation are represented at a tribal environmental conference underway at the Prairie Island Dakota Community. One session addressed a key issue facing Prairie Island and other tribes - the storage of nuclear waste on or near their lands. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports... One Prairie Island official says the most ominous issue facing the tribe is its nuclear neighbor. Northern States Power Company's Prairie Island plant sits less than a mile away from the reservation, along with its seven dry casks storing spent nuclear fuel. Whether tribes should accept nuclear waste for storage has been hotly debated across the country - Robert Hold
May 21, 1998 - Mainstreet Radio's Catherine Winter reports on Cass Lake-Bena school district, a small district on the Leech Lake Reservation that has struggled with racial tension for years. The district is trying to serve its Native students better, but the case is still not settled.