October 29, 1999 - The pro-stadium tax Yes! St. Paul campaign committee has released a television ad in support of Mayor Norm Coleman's plan for a new Minnesota Twins ballpark. But you won't see it unless the campaign mails a video tape directly to your home. Rather than blanket the metropolitan airwaves with its message, the organization is running a targeted campaign designed to reach undecided St. Paul voters.
November 1, 1999 - MPR’s Euan Kerr interviews Minneapolis author Alexs Pate about his book “The Multicultiboho.” The book opens with an police officer entering a South Minneapolis apartment to find a dead body and a live African-American writer, named Ichabod Word.
November 2, 1999 - St. Paul is just one of four cities where voters are being asked to approve new sports facilities. Neil deMause is a critic of publicly funded stadiums and the author of the book "Field of Schemes." He's paying careful attention to stadium proposals across the country.
November 2, 1999 - Minneapolis -based Interact Theater, an nationally acclaimed company of performers with disabilities, may have to close its doors. The transportation company that's been bringing many of the cast and crew to the theater each day has pulled out, saying Interact can't pay enough. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Stucky reports, Interact calls attention to what some call a larger transportation crisis for the disabled.
November 2, 1999 - Its getting harder and harder to find a quiet spot away from the screeches and crashes of modern life. Small town Minnesota is no exception. In Battle Lake, Minnesota, in the heart of Lake country, some city offcials thought they'd found a creative solution, but have since drawn national attention, and sparked a debate over whether listening to certain popular music is a pleasure or punishment.
November 3, 1999 - Voters in St. Paul have rejected an attempt to eliminate about half the city's billboards. 53-percent of voters said no to a measure that would have removed billboards from city streets and prohibited new signs. The billboard industry says the result shows people don't want to get rid of a legal form of advertising, but billboard opponents say they're not giving up.
November 3, 1999 - Now that St. Paul voters have rejected a stadium tax to lure the Minnesota Twins to the Capitol city, attention in the stadium debate is shifting back to Minneapolis . Community leaders there say the time has come for them to find a solution that will satisfy the Twins' and the Vikings' needs. But they also say a firm proposal may not come forward until the 2001 legislative session.
November 4, 1999 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews gay poet Mark Doty about his book “Firebird: A Memoir.” Doty reads a selection from the book, recalling how the lyrics to Petula Clark's song "Downtown" gave him hope.
November 4, 1999 - Over 200 mandolin players from North America and Europe are in Minneapolis to attend annual convention of the Classical Mandolin Society of America. Jack El-Hai formed the Minnesota Mandolin Orchestra in 1991, and talks with MPR’s Bob Potter about mandolins.
November 4, 1999 - The City of Burnsville and the Minnesota Wild hockey team have announced plans to build an amphitheater along the Minnesota River. The Black Dog Amphitheater is one of four proposed amphitheaters in the metro area. Burnsville and Minnesota Wild officials say, if approved, their amphitheater might be the first to open in the Twin Cities area.