October 28, 2003 -
October 31, 2003 - The first of what could be hundreds of civil trials involving computer maker IBM begins next week in California. Former employees and relatives of deceased workers filed the suits. They contend that years spent working at IBM resulted in cancer, birth defects, and other ailments. So far suits are pending in at least four states including Minnesota. Minnesota Public Radio's Erin Galbally (GAL buh lee) reports: <
November 7, 2003 - On this hour of Midday, host Gary Eichten talks with William McGuire, chief executive officer of UnitedHealth Group, about healthcare reform and what could happen in Minnesota. McGuire discusses healthcare resources and defining ‘essential’ healthcare.
November 14, 2003 - Minnesota is one of several states in a Midwestern belt that experiences a weather phenomenon called "thundersnow" -- when lightning flares and thunder rumbles in the midst of a snowstorm. Meteorologists really don't know a lot about thundersnow, and that's why a University of Missouri researcher has just been awarded a half-million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation to find out more. Patrick Market has been studying thundersnow for the past four years. He says thunderclouds that form in the winter are much different from those we see in the summer.
November 14, 2003 - An 800-million dollar loan package earmarked for an electrical power plant on Minnesota's Iron Range has survived in the Federal Energy Bill. The loan package is one provision in a 17-hundred page bill that's expected to go before the U-S House and Senate next week. The bill also includes support for the region's ethanol industry. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports
November 14, 2003 - The U.S. Department of State's Richard Boucher is in the Twin Cities speaking about Iraq, terrorism, and foreign policy. The State Department spokesman led a town hall meeting in St. Paul yesterday. He told the audience that the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq does not mean they won't be found eventually or that the original invasion decision was wrong. Several of Boucher's comments provoked some heckling from the audience. I spoke with Boucher this afternoon about the U-S approach to Iraq. He said the Bush administration is accelerating the process of turning authority over to a new Iraqi government.
November 17, 2003 - The St. Paul Companies plans to merge this spring with a rival nearly twice its size. The St. Paul would join with Travelers Property Casualty, a Connecticut-based provider of business and personal insurance. The combined company would be the nation's second-largest commercial insurer. The company will have its headquarters in St. Paul. But the move raises questions about the future in Minnesota of one of the state's oldest companies. Minnesota Public Radio's Jeff Horwich reports.
November 17, 2003 - Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch was in Hennpin County District Court this morning to ask a judge to force the drug company GlaxoSmithKline to produce documents related to sales in Canada. Hatch is conducting an investigation into whether Glaxo and other drug companies are conspiring to limit drug sales to Canada in retaliation for cross-border drug sales. Many Canadian mail order and internet pharmacies are profiting by selling less expensive, price-controlled prescription drugs to Americans. Hatch says he wants Glaxo to turn over any documents that exist in Canada and England, where the company is based. Glaxo attorneys say Hatch is overstepping his authority. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
November 18, 2003 - Minnesota's economy added 85 hundred jobs in October. That's the biggest gain since February of 2000. Still, the state's jobless rate held steady because the pace of layoffs and the length of unemployment remain serious problems. Even so, state officials say the state added an impressive number of jobs. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports.
November 18, 2003 - Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman chaired a hearing today on the practice of marketing tax loopholes. The accounting firm KPMG is alleged to have developed, marketed and implemented tax shelters for wealthy clients. Coleman is the chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which is holding this week's hearings. He says KPMG isn't the only accounting firm to have used such practices.