April 24, 2001 - MPR’s Erin Galbally reports on an operation to expand a 1,600 dairy cow operation, despite pollution concerns. The state's pollution control agency was served with a lawsuit for failing to order environmental testing on the site of a proposed Waseca dairy expansion.
April 24, 2001 - Online music sharing service, Napster, is going to start using new technology that will identify songs not by title, but by pitch. They are going to use this to get around the court order to not provide copyrighted songs.
April 24, 2001 - Transportation spending bills are taking shape in the Minnesota Legislature. A proposal crafted by House Republicans is expected to clear a House committee today (TUESDAY). It would ask Minnesota voters to permanently increase highway funding, but contains less money for transit and one-time projects than the Senate transportation bill. The Senate version, which cleared the tax committee last night (MONDAY), no longer includes a gas tax increase. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
April 25, 2001 - A bleak earnings report drove Compaq to lay off over 2,000 employees. It is due to an overarching downward business across the board.
April 25, 2001 - As part of Mainstreet Radio series Broken Trust: Civil Rights in Indian Country, MPR’s Mark Steil reports on funding and discrimination battles Native American farmers face with the U.S. government.
April 26, 2001 - Today's high topped out in the Twin Cities at a remarkable seventy-seven degrees. That's about fifteen degrees above average and even more welcome than usual after what so far has been a cool, wet spring. But if the warm weather has you daydreaming about summer travel, consider this- gas prices are rising right alongside the mercury. Dawn Duffy is Public Relations manager of AAA of Minneapolis. She says today's prices are much higher than the same time last year:
April 26, 2001 - The descendants of the Lakota leader Crazy Horse have settled a defamation lawsuit over the use of his name in the marketing of Crazy Horse Malt Liquor. Crazy Horse's descendants filed suit eight years ago trying to stop beer makers from using the chief's name on an alcohol product that was distributed to 32 states. The opposition to Crazy Horse malt liquor came in part, because Crazy Horse had denounced the introduction of alcohol to American Indians. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports:
April 26, 2001 - MPR’s Andrew Haeg reports that the CEOs of twenty companies from Finland are in the Twin Cities to meet with local business leaders, and to explore potential business opportunities. The group attended a two-day workshop at a local law firm where they listened to an address by Governor Ventura, who has often promoted foreign trade and investment to boost the state's economy.
April 26, 2001 - Saint Paul officials are celebrating the return of housing to the Upper Landing. A ceremony at the Mississippi riverfront site today (Thursday) marked the start of pollution cleanup. That will be followed by construction of six hundred units of housing. Once the heart of Saint Paul's Italian community, floodwaters and industrial contaminants have prevented construction there in recent decades. But city boosters see the new project as a victory over those obstacles and a sign of the development momentum along the river. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen reports...
April 26, 2001 - Food aficionados: this is your weekend. The greatest names in gastronomy are descending on the Twin Cities for the 29th annual International Association of Culinary Professionals conference at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Chef Walter Potenza owns an Italian restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island and he works with Bloomington-based Freshetta Frozen Pizza. He believes in preserving traditional cooking styles: