June 19, 2002 - Minnesota's multi-million dollar tourism industry appears to be on track for an okay summer season. State officials say they're not expecting a gangbuster summer. At this point in the season, more than half of resort and hotel owners report they're doing the same or better than last year. Mainstreet Radio's Tom Robertson has the story... {
June 21, 2002 - Best Buy is suing unidentified defendants who are accused of breaking into the computer system of a Best Buy affiliate. The computer hackers allegedly hijacked an email program, and sent spam to people on some of Best Buy's email lists. The spam APPEARED to come from Best Buy, and allegedly contained offensive messages, and links to pornography web sites. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court against John and Jane Doe, and is seeking fines and a court order to prevent the defendants from further use of the Best Buy name. The company's suit is the topic of an article in today's "The Business Journal." Andy Tellijohn is the reporter who wrote the story. He tells MPR's Perry Finelli that there are good reasons to sue against unnamed perpretrators.
June 25, 2002 - More than 100 Minnesota Brewing Company workers who lost their jobs yesterday are trying to figure out what is next for them. The bankrupt company closed its St. Paul brewery after lenders cut off funding. The Company's CEO says he's hopeful an investor can be found to reopen the brewery. And in the meantime the controversial Gopher State Ethanol operation at the brewery site will remain open. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports...
June 25, 2002 - The three major party candidates for governor debated in Duluth today. They spoke at the Minnesota Rural Summit, a yearly meeting of rural economic development workers. This year the summit's focus was the link between health care and rural economic development. Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports.
June 26, 2002 - Attorneys representing several Twin Cities media organizations were in court today (WED) arguing that confidential documents from the Twins and Major League Baseball should be made public. The league and team turned over nearly 9 thousand documents to the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission after the commission sued last November. The groups settled the lawsuit but the groups are arguing over the fate of the documents. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
July 1, 2002 - Misconduct by some of the nation's largest companies has sparked a crisis in confidence in American business. Now business executives and others say it's time to recommit to the principles of ethical business. For guidance, it turns out Minnesota is a good place to start. Minnesota Public Radio's Andrew Haeg reports.
July 1, 2002 - Federal officials have assigned a fire in the Black Hills of South Dakota as the highest priority in the Rocky Mountain region. Federal firefighters have taken over fighting the blaze. What's being called the Grizzly Gulch Fire, is burning 62-hundred acres in the northern hills. Nearly 7-hundred firefighters are working the blaze. The fire is about ten percent contained. The towns of Deadwood and Lead (LEED) have been evacuated. 15-thousand residents and tourists were moved to safer locations over the weekend. Officials hope an cold front will push the fire back toward already burned areas.
July 1, 2002 - The Federal Government is holding a job fair this week for federal screeners at the Twin Cities Airport. The government will eventually employ more than one thousand screeners and administrators at the airport as it takes over security from the airlines. Minnesota Public Radio's Andrew Haeg reports.
July 2, 2002 - WorldCom shares fell 90 percent yesterday (MONDAY) as the Nasdaq Stock Market announced plans to remove the shares from trading this Friday. WorldCom is facing fraud charges over its admission that it hid nearly four billion dollars in expenses on its books. Shareholders have filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court saying they paid artifically inflated prices for the stock. And the federal government said it may stop contracting with the telecommunications company. Bill George, former CEO of Minnesota-based Medtronic says Worldcom's financial misconduct, along with other corporate giants like Enron and Xerox, has weakened investor confidence and damages the business community as a whole.
July 5, 2002 - A St. Paul-based development group wants to build what's expected to be the largest mixed-use development on the Hiawatha Light Rail line. That line will connect downtown Minneapolis with the Twin Cities international airport and the Mall of America in Bloomington. Minnesota Public Radio's Cathy Wurzer talked with Scott Smith, who covered the story for today's edition of the "The Business Journal." Smith says this would be the largest project ever for McGough Development, and its size was influenced by the light rail line.