July 15, 1999 - Governor Ventura's announcement that he'll referee a pay-per-view wrestling event next month has tongues wagging on the political talk shows. The governor will donate one hundred thousand dollars to charity, but it's likely he'll pocket a far greater amount -- a million dollars or more according to some estimates. While there's no law saying the governor can't earn extra money on the side, Charles Lewis the executive director for the Center for Public Integrity says the Governor's extra curriculars are crossing the line.
July 15, 1999 - Governor Ventura lost one of a member of his cabinet today. David Jennings, the commissioner of commerce, announced he's stepping down to take a job as president of the Greater Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce. Jennings who's a former Republican House Speaker says he wasn't disatisfied with working for Ventura. He just saw another opportunity that was too good to pass up.
July 16, 1999 - MPR’s Tom Robertson reports from Bemidji, where a severe windstorms that ripped through northern Minnesota in July 1995, leaving destruction in Itasca State Park with thousands of lost trees. Park officials say the destruction is now bringing new life.
July 16, 1999 - A new poll indicates Republican U.S. Senator Rod Grams will have a tough battle getting re-elected next year. The Minnesota Public Radio - KARE-TV - St. Paul Pioneer Press poll found Grams fails to get a majority of voter preference against any potential Democratic challenger and a Reform party candidate.
July 21, 1999 - Mike Edgerly sits in for Gary Eichten. A discussion of the life and works of Ernest Hemingway, with St. Paul Pioneer Press editorial writer Doug Tice.
July 22, 1999 - MPR’s Dan Gunderson reports on the history of tribal government in Minnesota, and its potential changes.
July 23, 1999 - A legislative audit of Governor Jesse Ventura's state-paid security for his book tour has touched a nerve with the governor and his wife. Ventura got a copy of the auditor's letter yesterday, and last night WCCO television played portions of a voicemail Terry Ventura left on Republican lawmaker Carol Molnau's answering machine suggesting the first family might cancel all of its security. Republican Representative Dan McElroy chairs the Legislative Auditor's commission. He says the first family is overreacting.
July 23, 1999 - Governor Ventura is speaking tonight at the annual convention of the national Reform Party, in Dearborn, Michigan. This is the party's third annual convention, and many party activists are hoping this meeting will mark a turn-around for a political movement that's generally been in decline since Ross Perot's failed presidential bids in 1992 and 1996.
July 26, 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 is a profile of the Mayo brothers.
July 27, 1999 - Common Cause Minnesota says St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman is illegally using city resources to support passage of a ballot initiative for a new Minnesota Twins ballpark. Later today, the watchdog group plans to file complaints with the State Auditor and the Ramsey County attorney's office calling for an investigation.