August 6, 1999 - Governor Ventura spent about half an hour this afternoon listening to tax reform suggestions from everyday Minnesotans. The 17 people spent the week getting a crash course in how the state's tax system works, then putting together a package of modest reform suggestions. The process is a public-policy experiment called a "Citizens Jury," and it's run by a private research organization known as the "Jefferson Center". The Ventura administration says it plans to take the jury's verdict seriously.
August 6, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio’s Marissa Helms reports on two brothers in central Minnesota that are taking the family dairy farm in a new direction.
August 9, 1999 - President Richard Nixon resigned 25 years ago today. We'll talk about his legacy with William Berman, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Toronto, author of "America's Right Turn: From Nixon to Clinton." We'll also talk to former Minnesota Republican Congressman and Governor Al Quie.
August 12, 1999 - The harsh reality and natural beauty of ranching life is at the center of Minnesota writer Jonis Agee's latest novel "The Weight of Dreams". The book's main character is Ty Bonte--a Nebraska teenager who learns from his alcoholic father that violence is a way of life. Ty and his friend beat up two teenagers from the nearby Rosebud Indian Reservation. He decides to flee his home and the law. The book then follows Ty as he tries to find redemption and a new way of life as a horse trader in Kansas. Author Jonis Agee says the book questions whether Ty can truly find peace.
August 13, 1999 - On this Midday program, Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton talks about her budget priorities, drop in crime, education, taxes, housing, ideas for a new ballpark, and other city matters. Sayles Belton also answers listener questions.
August 16, 1999 - North Dakota native and internationally known youth worker Trudi Able Peterson Hoefler, shares her firsthand experiences as a runaway street kid - what the life is like, what the kids are like, and what society should do to help them. She spoke at the Chautauqua Lecture Series in New York. She's the author of two books, "Children of the Evening" and "Children of the Street."
August 16, 1999 - In 1997 and 1998, a series of almost a dozen suspicious fires destroyed a number of older buildings in Superior, Wisconsin. Investigations into the causes and perpetrators of the fires were inconclusive. Author Mike Savage draws on the arson episodes in his new mystery novel Burn baby Burn.
August 16, 1999 - Governor Ventura will tour the state tomorrow to drum up support for a unicameral legislature. Ventura wants to persuade lawmakers to let voters decide the issue in the 2000 election. It would take a constitutional amendment to reduce the House and Senate to one body. The governor is also expected to recommend that members of the unicameral Legislature be non-partisan, meaning candidates would carry no party designation on ballots. Minnesota had a non-partisan legislature up until the early 1970's. Former Minnesota Governor Wendell Anderson, a Democrat, served in the legislature then. He says it was non-partisan in THEORY, but not in practice.
August 16, 1999 - Saying he wants to put the farm crisis on the national agenda U-S Senator Paul Wellstone today started a weeklong series of meetings in northwestern Minnesota. Wellstone tried to give hope to farmers discouraged by years of bad crops and low prices.
August 16, 1999 - The state is in the process of sending out almost 2 Million tax rebate checks, worth a total of $1-point-3 Billion dollars. Some Minnesotans recieved their money over the weekend, and Revenue Department officials say all checks should arrive by Labor Day.