January 29, 1999 - The Governor's budget sets aside one-point-three billion dollars of the state's tobacco settlement. Ventura says he wants to invest the tobacco windfall in Minnesota families, medical research and public health. But not everyone at the Capitol agrees with his method of spending the money.
January 29, 1999 - One of the losers in Governor Ventura's budget proposal is public broadcasting. Ventura says he wants to gradually eliminate state subsidies for public radio and public television stations in Minnesota. The stations, some of which are in rural areas, say its money they can't afford to lose.
January 29, 1999 - A coalition of African American ministers and other community leaders today denounced Governor Jesse Ventura for failing to include any African Americans among his appointees. The group is demanding a meeting with the governor. But Governor Ventura is standing by his hiring decisions.
February 1, 1999 - DFL leaders say many of their proposals came directly from farmers who attended ag rallies in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Sioux City, Iowa in recent weeks. Representative Doug Peterson says Minnesota is working in concert with four other Midwest states to implement many of the farmers recommendations which also include loosening loan restrictions and providing state support for farmer-owned processing and marketing facilities. But Peterson say reforming the pricing system will be the main push this session. In particular, he says the DFL wants to require processors to disclose the "real" worth of the contracts they sign with farmers.
February 1, 1999 - The new farm crisis was expected to be a major topic in the legislature this year but you wouldn't know it from Governor Ventura's budget proposal. Scores of Red River valley farmers have left the business and hog producers are suffering one of their worst price slumps ever. Ventura though only made a couple of suggestions to help farmers and those ideas aren't finding much support.
February 3, 1999 - A Twin Cities speech by National Public Radio host Ray Suarez. He spoke at Macalester College about the history and future of American cities. Ray is writing a book due out in May, titled The Old Neighborhood: What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration.
February 3, 1999 - Minnesota Republican Senator Rod Grams wants to rename the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in honor of a prominent Democrat. Today, Grams introduced a bill to rename the BWCA the Hubert H. Humphrey Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Grams says doing so would honor the late Vice President.
February 4, 1999 - A new opinion poll published today shows a majority of Minnesotans polled think Governor Jesse Ventura is doing a good job. Ventura's 72 percent approval rating in the Star Tribune/KMSP-TV Minnesota Poll is the highest ever measured for a new governor in the half century of the poll. Ventura says he's encouraged by the results and predicts it will help him in dealing with the Legislature. Political Scientist Chris Gilbert agrees. Gilbert says lawmakers should try extra hard to appear tri-partisan.
February 5, 1999 - MPR’s Leif Enger interviews American singer, songwriter, and musician Bobby Vee, who shares memories of his 40-year music career…and that of a music tragedy tied to his own history.
February 5, 1999 - MPR’s John Rabe interviews Garrison Keillor on his new satirical book, Me, that seems to parody Jesse Ventura.