March 29, 2001 - MPR's Marisa Helms reports that there's a big test for the Minnesota Twins stadium proposal at the State Capitol, with the final chance for the Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee to vote on the bill before the Legislature's first deadline.
March 30, 2001 - The focus of the sports world will be on Metrodome in Minneapolis this weekend where the NCAA men's basketball Final Four will be held. The games, which begin tomorrow, will also draw the attention of gamblers. Chad Millman, author of "The Odds" says March Madness generates over 80 million dollars in sports betting every year in the state of Nevada.
March 30, 2001 - Basketball fans gathered at the Metrodome this afternoon to watch the NCAA mens final four teams practice. Arizona, Duke, Maryland and Michigan State are in town for the tournament, which starts tomorrow and wraps up on Monday. Charlie Pierce, a commentator for N-P-R's "Only a Game" is also in town to catch all of the action. He says final four competition is easy to classify:
March 30, 2001 - Rolling blackouts and rising electricity prices in California have brought new urgency to efforts in Minnesota to keep the state's power supply affordable and reliable. Proponents of moving electricity generation closer to consumers are holding a conference in St. Cloud today Mainstreet Radio's Jeff Horwich reports.
March 30, 2001 -
April 2, 2001 - There is a lack of balance between the Senate and the GOP and Governor regarding the spending of the surplus.
April 2, 2001 -
April 2, 2001 - Thousands of basketball fans are in Minneapolis for the NCAA Final Four Tournament, which ends tonight with the Duke and the Arizona. When not in the Metrodome, visitors swarmed the Final Four nerve center in Downtown Minneapolis and the NCAA's "Hoop City" at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Some came to root for their teams, others just because they always go wherever the Final Four is. Minnesota Public Radio's Helms caught up with some of the fans, and has this montage of voices. The report begins with a couple from Alaska who found out, getting tickets at the last minute isn't too difficult.
April 2, 2001 - A new report says it's feasible to build an enhanced iron pellet operation in Northeastern Minnesota - but that LTV Steel's shuttered Hoyt Lakes taconite plant may not be the best place to do it. A consultant for a state development agency has formed a new company to produce iron pellets at an existing taconite plant in Silver Bay -- a project he says would eventually provide one hundred jobs. But the future of the LTV mining plant remains in doubt. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher, reports: {A new study says, yes, it's possible to produce high iron-content pellets in the closed LTV Steel taconite plant in Hoyt Lakes, but, no, it's not likely to happen any time soon. Instead, a steel industry consultant expects to produce Minnesota's first enhanced iron pellets in Northshore Mining company's taconite plant in Silver Bay.
April 2, 2001 - That was N-P-R's Steve Inskip on Capitol Hill. We asked two of Minnesota's represenatives to react to the Senate's Campaign Finance reform Bill and speculate about its future in the House. Third district Republican Jim Ramstad says he's pleased with the bill... especially the provision that bans so-called soft money: