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:
April 2, 2001 - Dow was under when starting the second quarter. How soon will it be until we hit rock bottom?
April 3, 2001 - While Best Buy's share price soared today, other prominent Minnesota companies watched their stock tumble along side the Dow. ADC telecommunications was down 12 percent. St. Paul Companies was off four percent. Jim Paulsen is an economist at Wells Fargo in Minneapolis. I asked him why Best Buy is beating the odds in the current market:
April 3, 2001 - Liquor Industry lobbyists made threats toward politicians. The lobbyists are focused on the bill to sell wine in grocery stores.
April 3, 2001 - Best Buy has surprised analysts with better than expected earnings. The Eden Prairie-based consumer electronics retailer credits sales of high-margin items like DVDs and digital cameras for boosting its profits .... even as many other companies struggle in an economic slowdown. Minnesota Public Radio's Andrew Haeg reports.
April 3, 2001 - In the first half of the 20th century, the union movement in Minneapolis grew with the city. Minneapolis was the flour milling capitol of the country, and OTHER industries that supported flour milling, like banking and machine tools were growing as well. Unions were trying organize the workers, but were opposed by a coalition of employers that came to be known as the Citizens Alliance. The story of how these employers blunted the union movement in Minneapolis is the subject of a new book titled "A Union Against Unions." Author William Millikan says at the turn of the century, employers in Minneapolis didn't really have to worry about unions. But in 1902, the Teamsters went on strike, and employers had to change.
April 4, 2001 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer talks with Lucky Rosenbloom, son of longtime Saint Paul icon Tiger Jack Rosenbloom, who may have a street named after him. The St. Paul city council is expected to approve a measure that would co-name a short stretch of Dale Street "Mr. and Mrs. Tiger Jack Street."
April 4, 2001 - Wireless phones and untethered internet has an impact on users around the world.