February 18, 1999 - Baseball analyst Kevin Hennessy says it doesn't bode well for a good season for the Minnesota Twins as pitchers and catchers reported to baseball spring training. The team has slashed its payroll by $10 million in the hopes of breaking even after several seasons of losing money. They're total team payroll is almost what New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens, alone, makes in a year.
February 18, 1999 - Governor Ventura took a break from the state capitol today and took his show on the road to the small town of Delano, about half an hour west of Minneapolis . Ventura says he's beginning to feel isolated from the people who elected hi,m and he made the trip to get back in touch with the grassroots.
February 19, 1999 - MPR’s Katherine Lanpher talks with poets Robert Bly and William Duffy about their adventures in poetry - both then and now.
February 19, 1999 - Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone and Republican Senator Rod Grams squared off for the first time ina public debate over social security. Their audience was the membership of the NorthMetro Chamber of Commerce.
February 22, 1999 - A "Talk of Minnesota" program, presenting the views of MPR listeners on how Governor Ventura is doing his job. A preview to the next hour's live broadcast from the National Press Club.
February 22, 1999 - Governor Ventura brought his particular brand of populism to a national political audience in Washington D.C. today. Ventura spoke to a sold-out crowd at the National Press Club. In a half-hour speech, he told the story of his surprise election, from the initial conference in his barn where he decided to run, to the shock of his victory last November. After his speech, Ventura answered reporters questions about whether other independent candidates who don't have his name recognition and celebrity status can do what he did.
February 22, 1999 - A small cut in the state's 23-billion-dollar budget has business people and organized labor concerned. Governor Jesse Ventura's budget removes funding for a 60-year old apprentice training program that turns out thousands of new trade workers each year. Some worry the ranks of skilled workers are already at risk, and the shortage will be exacerbated by the cut.
February 23, 1999 - To close out the millennium, Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered presents a look back at Minnesota life in 1900 via a 12-part series, entitled “A Minnesota Century.” This segment pieces together two sets of 100-year-old predictions of what Minneapolis and St. Paul would look like in the year 2000.
February 23, 1999 - MPR’s Amy Radil reports on ‘green design’ taking place on the North Shore. The idea of building a cabin using old hoses and pickle barrels may seem fantastic, but that's exactly what is happening along the shore of Lake Superior near Tofte. The unconventional materials are being used to fulfill the mission of Medora Woods, a Twin Cities-based psychologist, to build the most earth-friendly home possible.
February 23, 1999 - The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis has announced its 1999-2000 season. While it maintains the Guthrie's devotion to the classics, it also feature new works, including a musical that wowed critics in London and another collaboration with St. Paul's Penumbra Theatre.