December 27, 2002 - The year 2002 brought Minnesota one of it's most remarkable elections; record spending, unprecendented national attention ... and the death of a political icon. Today at noon on MIDDAY, we'll have a special report on the 2002 Senate race put together by Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik. Here's an excerpt from the program, picking up with the day of the plane crash that killed Paul and Sheila Wellstone, their daughter along with three campaign workers and two pilots. Wellstone campaign manager Jeff Blodgett recalls his last conversation with the senator.
December 27, 2002 - Clark Morphew, a former St. Paul Pioneer Press religion writer and Lutheran pastor, died Tuesday at his South St. Paul home. He was 64. Morphew died from lung cancer, just six months after being diagnosed. His weekly religion column was syndicated across the country by Knight Ridder News Service.
December 30, 2002 - When the 2003 Legislature convenes next week the main task facing lawmakers and Governor-elect Tim Pawlenty is how to deal with a four-and-a-half billion dollar budget deficit. The financial squeeze will affect almost every decision they make in the next few months. Yet just a couple of years ago, state officials were swimming in a sea of cash. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum looks at the dramatic downturn in Minnesota's economy - and what the state's leaders plan to do about it...
December 31, 2002 - If voters knew one thing about Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Pawlenty it was this: under no circumstances, he said, would he raise state taxes. Now, governor-elect Pawlenty is facing a $4.5 billion budget deficit over the next two years, far bigger than most had anticipated. Pawlenty says the unexpected size of the shortfall hasn't diminished his resolve to stand tough on taxes. But critics say his pledge could damage the state's long-term prospects. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo has more.
January 1, 2003 - MPR's Euan Kerr reports on Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov and his composition "La Pasión según San Marcos" (St. Mark Passion) draws from many influences. There is the classical music and klezmer he learned through his Russian Jewish immigrant parents; passionate tango of Astor Piazzola which resonates through Argentina; as well as the deep, and at times militant, Christianity of South America.
January 2, 2003 - The civil rights sit-ins and voter registration drives of the 1960's were dangerous, sometimes deadly. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day is Monday, Jan. 20th, and in a "Voices of Minnesota" broadcast, we hear from Chuck McDew and Willie Mae Wilson. McDew is a founder and the first chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee or SNCC. Wilson was one of the thousands of people who marched with SNCC organizers to end segregation in southern cities.
January 3, 2003 - Governor-elect Tim Pawlenty will be sworn into office on Monday. Pawlenty has already made several appointments, including Lieutenant Governor Carol Molnau as transportation commissioner. And yesterday, he named his longtime friend and colleague Charlie Weaver as chief of staff. Weaver served as commissioner of public safety under Governor Ventura and led Pawlenty's transition team. Commissioner Weaver joins us on the phone this morning.
January 3, 2003 - MPR's Michael Khoo reports on what is likely to be Governor Jesse Ventura’s last news conference as Minnesota's chief executive. Ventura has had a sometimes difficult relationship with the reporters who cover him, and although event was cordial, it was in many ways characteristic of previous appearances before the men and women he knew as "jackals."
January 6, 2003 - Republican Tim Pawlenty today (MONDAY) became the 38th person to hold the office of Minnesota governor. Pawlenty and the state's other constitutional officers were sworn in during a ceremony at the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul. Governor Pawlenty inherits a projected four-and-a-half billion dollar budget deficit, and his closest advisor says he's prepared for the challenge. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
January 6, 2003 - Republican Tim Pawlenty took over as Minnesota's governor today at a noontime swearing-in ceremony in downtown St. Paul. He is the 38th person to hold the office. Pawlenty must find a way to eliminate a four and a half billion dollar budget shortfall over the next two and a half years while adhering to a campaign promise not to raise taxes. And he didn't shy away from the issue in his speech: