July 17, 2003 - Dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov will perform at the Historic Pantages Theater in downtown Minneapolis for a sold-out performance entitled "Solos with Piano or Not…" It features the 55-year-old Baryshnikov dancing on stage alone. He'll be accompanied though, by pianist Koji Attwood, a student at the Juilliard School in New York.
July 17, 2003 - A spokesman for Governor Tim Pawlenty says the governor would be willing to amend a compaign disclosure report to reflect payments he recieved from a telephone company partially owned by his longtime friend and Republican activist Elam Baer. Pawlenty revealed the payments this week, but said they were made to a corporation he formed, and that he believes they didn't need to be reported as income. But some campaign finance reform advocates say Pawlenty was taking advantage of a loophole in the law, and that candidates should be required to reveal much more about their outside income. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports...
July 17, 2003 - MPR's Marianne Combs profiles painter and sculptor John Snyder, and his Circus of the Night exhibit at Weinstein Gallery in Minneapolis. The presentation features gigantic paintings reminiscent of Italian works of the 14th century. Snyder details his inspiration behind the paintings.
July 18, 2003 - Governor Tim Pawlenty today (FRIDAY) sought to defuse some of the criticisms directed at his business history. On his weekly radio program and during a Minneapolis speech, the governor deflected questions about his ties to a telecommunications firm that's been penalized in three states. But Pawlenty's political opponents says the governor's answers outline a pattern of playing loose with the rules. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports.
July 18, 2003 - Acclaimed writer and Minnesota native, Patricia Hampl, is perhaps best known for her memoirs. She focused on reading and writing memoirs and the importance of auto-biographies to help us understand the past in a recent speech at the Minnesota Historical Society. Her books include "The Summer House", "2 for 5", and "Virgin Time." Hampl has a new book coming out next year called "The Silken Chamber." She's also working on two new books--a collection of short stories and a new memoir, about her mother and father. It's called "My Mother's Daughter."
July 21, 2003 - New Access Communications has drawn customer complaints from Minnesotans similar to complaints in other states which led to regulatory fines. Governor Tim Pawlenty had connections to the Minneapolis-based telephone company while he served in the Legislature. New Access officials say the vast majority of their customers are satisfied despite consumer protection settlements in three states and an ongoing investigation in Minnesota by Attorney General Mike Hatch. But critics say New Access misled customers about pricing and... in some cases... took over people's telephone service without their permission, a process called "slamming." Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.
July 22, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio's Erin Galbally visits Andrea Een, a hardanger fiddler extraordinaire and a well-known music professor at St. Olaf College. To the untrained eye the Hardanger fiddle, Norway's national instrument, looks much like the violin. But the nine-string fiddle produces its own distinctive sound. That sound and the instrument will be celebrated at St. Olaf College in Northfield, where more than 300 hundred enthusiasts of the violin sibling are expected to attend.
July 22, 2003 - Governor Tim Pawlenty has filed a new statement of economic interest with the state Campaign Finance board. He's also registered a now-defunct consulting business with the state's legal practices board. The new filings came yesterday and are an attempt to dispel controversies surrounding his use BAMCO, his one-man consulting business, to accept payments from a pay-phone company. Former governor Arne Carlson is a fellow republican who believes the issue is far from settled. He says Pawlenty is likely to face tough questions when a legislative committee begins to look at the issue next month.
July 23, 2003 - MPR’s Nikki Tundel interviews Michele Garnett McKenzie, director of the Refugee and Immigrant Program at Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, about newly released figures show Minnesota's largest minority groups are making significant economic strides. McKenzie says over the last few decades the state has become a magnet for the county's newest residents.
July 23, 2003 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports that new information released by the U.S. Census gives a more detailed look at the state's Hmong population. When the Census was taken in 2000, Hmong Minnesotan's held jobs, but a third of them lived below the federal poverty line. The majority of Hmong are foreign-born, but over 30 percent are born in the state.