March 29, 2001 - Mainstreet Radio’s Chris Julin talks with Lee Murdock, a folk singer who sings about Lake Superior and the Great Lakes. Murdock has made his career singing songs of the Lakes, from 200-year-old sailors' work songs, to his own compositions based on Great Lakes folklore.
March 29, 2001 - MPR's Michael Khoo reports that the move to build a new Twins stadium with partial state funding cleared a crucial legislative committee. The favorable vote comes just one day before the first deadline for committee action, but the legislation still faces significant obstacles. A number of lawmakers and citizens' groups remain staunchly opposed to public funding for a new ballpark.
March 29, 2001 - MPR's Marisa Helms reports that there's a big test for the Minnesota Twins stadium proposal at the State Capitol, with the final chance for the Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee to vote on the bill before the Legislature's first deadline.
March 29, 2001 - Alex Wolff is a writer for Sports Illustrated. He's participating in a panel discussion at the University of Minnesota to promote sportwriting as a career. You can find much more Final Four information on our WEB SITE at Minnesota Public Radio dot O-R-G."
April 2, 2001 - There is a lack of balance between the Senate and the GOP and Governor regarding the spending of the surplus.
April 2, 2001 - That was N-P-R's Steve Inskip on Capitol Hill. We asked two of Minnesota's represenatives to react to the Senate's Campaign Finance reform Bill and speculate about its future in the House. Third district Republican Jim Ramstad says he's pleased with the bill... especially the provision that bans so-called soft money:
April 2, 2001 - Paul Wellstone is voting for the campaign finance bill because it will get rid of the soft money. The main problem is that it takes the cap off of the hard money budget.
April 3, 2001 - 15-6 vote passed the Carry and Conceal bill in the House. There are some additional requirements attached to the bill.
April 3, 2001 - Lavelle Neal, who covers the Minnesota Twins for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, sees a promising season for the team as the 2001 Major League Baseball season begins. Neal says the Twins have a lot of developing ballplayers that are starting to figure out their way around the league.
April 3, 2001 - In the first half of the 20th century, the union movement in Minneapolis grew with the city. Minneapolis was the flour milling capitol of the country, and OTHER industries that supported flour milling, like banking and machine tools were growing as well. Unions were trying organize the workers, but were opposed by a coalition of employers that came to be known as the Citizens Alliance. The story of how these employers blunted the union movement in Minneapolis is the subject of a new book titled "A Union Against Unions." Author William Millikan says at the turn of the century, employers in Minneapolis didn't really have to worry about unions. But in 1902, the Teamsters went on strike, and employers had to change.