August 31, 2000 - MPR’s Jim Bickal profiles the intricate differences of the Pronto pup and the Poncho Dog. Like many things at the State Fair, the corndog business is based on tradition and family, and Bickal interviews the vendors behind these fair food staples.
August 31, 2000 - Senator Paul Wellstone announced legislation that would create a national internet link between shelters for battered women. The idea is based on the 'Day One' program started in Minnesota. So far Day One has not been duplicated in other states. Supporters say the program helps save lives because it allows battered women to find shelters with one call.
August 31, 2000 - MPR’s William Wilcoxen reports how the race to succeed the retiring Bruce Vento has turned into the state's hottest House race. The tradition of political discourse at the State Fair continued as DFL and Independence Party candidates for the 4th Congressional District seat debated at the Minnesota Public Radio booth.
September 1, 2000 - Governor Jesse Ventura made what he says will be his only visit to this year's State Fair, in contrast to his nonstop campaigning there during the governor's race in 1998. But in addition to extolling the virtues of footlong hotdogs and lemonade, Ventura does some campaigning for his party in endorsing U.S. senate candidate Jim Gibson, and uses his “Lunch With the Governor" radio show to lay out his upcoming political agenda and to poke fun at the other politicians glad-handing at the fair.
September 1, 2000 - MPR’s Tom Scheck reports on how the veneer of civility disappeared as four DFL candidates for the U.S. senate tore into each other at a Minnesota State Fair debate. The campaign had been relatively quiet, but in an effort to distance herself from the other candidates, Rebecca Yanisch attacked the two frontrunners on gun control and a campaign that has seen little fireworks erupted into finger pointing and accusations.
September 6, 2000 - Former Minnesota Governor Elmer Andersen has written a memoir about his life in public service called A Man's Reach. Governor Andersen spoke about the book and his life with Gary Eichten. He was joined by Lori Sturdevant, Star Tribune reporter and editor of A Man's Reach.
September 6, 2000 - MPR’s Tim Pugmire reports on the opening of more than a dozen new charter schools in Minnesota, bringing the state's total to 64. This year's batch of schools includes some that are targeting specific racial and ethnic groups -- an approach that worries some education leaders.
September 7, 2000 - Minnesota is the birthplace of the Mississippi, the proverbial father of all rivers. So it's not surprising that river recreation figures prominently in the lives of many state residents. But Thomas Waters wants us to know more about rivers and streams than just the best place to fish or launch a boat. In his new book "Wildstream: A Natural History of the Free Flowing River," the professor emeritus of stream ecology shares his knowledge of ox bows and eddys in a way most readers without a scientific background can comprehend. I met up with Waters this week at Rice Creek in Roseville, where he used to take his university students on field trips.
September 8, 2000 - The senate candidates squared-off during a live debate. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo has more.
September 11, 2000 - Legislators and school district leaders are reacting cautiously to Governor Ventura's latest tax proposal. Ventura wants the state to take on a bigger share of public school funding, at the same time reducing the burden now placed on local property taxpayers. But the plan is raising questions about the source of the state funding and the potential loss of local control of schools. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports...