June 17, 2002 - (to follow laura) Steven Schier is chair of the Political Science Department at Carleton College. He says Tim Pawlenty's pledge NOT to raise taxes could be a big issue on the campaign trail:
June 17, 2002 - MPR’s Laura McCallum reports on the newly-endorsed slate of Republican candidates as they embark on a three-day statewide bus tour. This follows the candidates flying around the state earlier, after getting party backing during the state convention. Gubernatorial candidate Tim Pawlenty says his campaign will focus on the three issues he terms "kids, roads and jobs."
June 20, 2002 - With Jesse Ventura out of race for governor, Minnesota's Republican, Democratic and Green Party candidates are each claiming Ventura supporters will flock to their respective camps. That may be wishful thinking. Three and a half years ago Ventura won the election with 37 percent of the vote statewide. But he did much better than that in a ring of suburban metro counties north metro of the Twin Cities. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik visited Chisago county and talked to voters about the 2002 race.
June 21, 2002 - The first attack ad of the U.S. Senate campaign is running on radio stations across Minnesota. Paid for by an interest group, the ad accuses DFL Senator Paul Wellstone of "taxing the dead". Wellstone's campaign is outraged over the ad. At the same time, the Wellstone campaign is running its first television spot. In the latest in our series of Ad Watches, Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
June 25, 2002 - State climatologist Bruce Watson explains the concept of wet-dry cycle and how recent heavy rains are part of a long term weather cycle. 8 inches of rain fell in the metro area on the night of June 24, 2002. Watson says the month ranks among the top ten soggiest on record.
June 28, 2002 - Ann Bancroft joins MPR to talk about her and Liv Arnesen’s latest expedition, kayaking across four Great Lakes.
June 28, 2002 - An all out advertising war has broken out in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race over the estate tax issue. Republican Norm Coleman's campaign is asking a Washington D.C. area special interest group to stop running ads attacking incumbent DFL Senator Paul Wellstone on the estate tax issue. The Coleman campaign is also ONCE AGAIN extending a proposal that both campaigns fight off outside advertising. But Wellstone's campaign says it will NOT ask outside groups to stay out of the Senate contest and will NOT ask the Minnesota DFL Party to pull an ad the Democrats say sets Wellstone's estate tax record straight.
June 28, 2002 - Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, joins us by phone to talk about her new book, "Profiles in Courage for Our Time."
July 1, 2002 - LaVelle Neal, who covers the Twins for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, comments on Minnesota Twins' outfielder Torii Hunter, pitcher Eddie Guardado, and catcher A-J Pierzynski making the American League roster for 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee.
July 3, 2002 - Famed American playwright Arthur Miller is in Minneapolis this week preparing for the world premiere of his latest play at the Guthrie Theater. Miller is best known for his plays "Death of a Salesman" and "The Crucible" - this is the first time he's premiered a play in Minnesota.