February 17, 1998 - The United States upset Canada 3-1 in the first ever women's Olympic ice hockey final earlier today. Sandra Whyte set up a pair of powerplay goals and ended the high drama with an empty net third score with eight seconds remaining to set off a wild and emotional U.S. celebration on the ice. Karyn Bye has been the leading scorer on the US team. She is also a native of River Falls, Wisconsin, where schoolkids and residents have been cheering her on for the last week. Patrick McCardle is the Principal at Greenwood Elementary School in River Falls and a good friend of Karyn Bye. He joins me now.
February 18, 1998 - Sponsors of the latest Twins stadium plan conceded defeat today at the State Capitol. State representative Loren Jennings withdrew his stadium bill from consideration, saying he had "nowhere near" the votes to pass it in committee or in the full House of Representatives. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste joins us from the capitol.
February 19, 1998 - One of the most innovative performers in contemporary jazz will play at the Walker Art Center tonight. Clarinetist Don Byron has been described as a genre hopping, highly eclectic composer and musician, who's absorption in jazz history is as strong as his desire to forge new musical paths. Byron's forays into classical, latin, carribean, and klezmer music make him hard to label as an artist. His latest cd, Bug Music, fastidiously transcribes the work of two forgotten swing-era band leaders, Raymond Scott and John Kirby. Tonight at the Walker, Byron will perform his own score of a 1920s-era African American silent film called "Scar of Shame." Byron talked with Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts about his adventurous musical tastes and why some jazz musicians and critics have a problem with them. | D-CART ITEM: 3499 | TIME: 5:49 (music to 6:56)
February 19, 1998 - U-S athletes Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski are leading the field in the competition for the Olympic gold medal in women's figure skating after yesterday's short program. But it was a tough day for a couple of Minnesota athletes. Star Tribune writer and MPR commentator Jay Weiner is in Nagano covering the Games.
February 20, 1998 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on Canned Goods play and interviews playwright Silas Jones.
February 20, 1998 - Tomorrow, about 30 volunteer spelunkers will descend into Mystery Cave in southeast Minnesota's Forrestville State Park... to count bats. The Department of Natural Resources has been counting bats at Mystery Cave every third year since 1989... making this the fourth count. In that time, the population of bats hibernating in the cave has grown. Warren Netherton is the park's cave specialist.
February 25, 1998 - A Twin Cities speech by public radio host Ira Glass, host of "This American Life." He spoke as part of the MPR Broadcast Journalist Series, and talked about radio story-telling.
February 26, 1998 - Childhood dilemmas and adult dramas are fodder for the autobiographical essays in Jo Ann Beard's new book "The Boys of My Youth." The title is a bit misleading, suggesting tales of wild, passionate antics. But this collection of essays actually probes how relationships and experiences shape a young woman. Beard wrote most of these essays as class assignments for the University of Iowa Writing Program. She told Minnesota Public Radio's Greta Cuningham the essays are proported to be fiction, but they all contain a nugget of truth.
March 3, 1998 - Today is the 37th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps. Minnesotan and Peace Corps volunteer Marianne Combs is stationed in a poor village in the African country, Ivory Coast. In her latest "Letter from Africa," she describes how hard it is to introduce western health care to people who have to choose between vaccinating a child or buying food at the market.
March 5, 1998 - A new survey shows it is relatively easy for underage drinkers to buy alcohol in Minneapolis . The Minneapolis Health Department undertook the study to gather evidence showing the cost of underage drinking. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more.