November 18, 2003 - The St. Paul Companies announced yesterday (Tues) that it will merge with Travelers Property Casualty Corporation, creating the nation's second largest commercial insurer. The sixteen-billion-dollar stock deal calls for the company to keep its corporate headquarters in St. Paul. But some employees say the merger raises questions about job security and the future of the company's corporate culture. Susan Seitel says that's no longer the case.
November 18, 2003 - The chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board says the plane crash that killed Senator Paul Wellstone and seven others last fall was a tragic accident that should not have happened. The NTSB today (Tues) issued the final report on its investigation into the crash and laid the blame squarely on actions of the flight crew. The board also announced regulatory recommendation it hopes could prevent similar accidents in the future. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports....
November 18, 2003 - St. Paul officials are breathing a sigh of relief that, for the moment at least, the new St. Paul Travelers Insurance company will be headquartered here. That decision was part of yesterday's Mon announcement of the merger of St. Paul Companies and Travelers insurance to create the nation's second largest business insurer. Analysts say the proposed merger buys the company some time in an environment where change is the order of the day. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports.
November 18, 2003 - A 16-billion dollar deal announced yesterday willcreate the second-largest business insurer in the country. Travelers PropertyCasualty Corporation is combining with the Saint Paul Companies Incorporated.The joint venture should be worth about 107-Billion dollars. Jeff Horwich ofMinnesota Public Radio reports.
November 19, 2003 - More than ten-thousand high-tech jobs in Minnesota vanished between 2001 and 2002. Minnesota actually did better than the nation as a whole, which saw a twelve percent drop in high-tech jobs in the last two years. Across the country, employers in the industry that led the economic boom of the 1990s are on pace to lay off nearly a quarter million more people this year. But a new industry report says jobs losses in the high-tech sector are slowing down. Kate Rubin is president of the Minnesota High-Tech Association. She says when it comes to the vitality of the high-tech industry, Minnesota typically follows national trends.
November 19, 2003 - Yesterday the CEO of the St. Paul Companies, Jay Fishman, held a question-and-answer session with employees to talk about the proposed merger with insurance giant Travelers. The St. Paul underwrites programming on Minnesota Public Radio. Travelers is about twice the size of The St. Paul, and the merger would create the country's second-largest provider of business insurance. Fishman cautioned workers to ignore speculation about job losses and focus on the promise of increased industry clout. Minnesota Public Radio's Jeff Horwich reports.
November 21, 2003 - An appointed panel today (FRI) discussed a range of options for improving security at the Hennepin County Government Center. The task force made no decisions, but is wrestling between those who want a new system of weapons screening and those wanting to preserve the building's public access. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes reports.
November 21, 2003 - Minnesotans throughout the state are bracing for the first major snowstorm of the season. And like any major storm, the Minnesota Department of Transportation is urging motorists to use extreme caution when traveling. But a news release issued by MnDOT today also says travelers may notice fewer snow plows on the roads due to reduced overtime costs and staffing changes. The news releases were sent by district engineers in several rural parts of the state. House and Senate DFLers say the changes are a result of budget cuts, another example, they say of how the state's budget cuts are affecting Minnesotans. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports..
November 24, 2003 - Minnesota is one step closer to forging a permanent identity in the nation's coin purses and change pockets. The state's quarter dollar commission met this afternoon to narrow down the list of design ideas for the state's commemorative quarter. The short list of ideas will be forwarded to the U-S Mint, which must approve of the finalists. Then the public will have an opportunity to weigh in. Tony Sertich is a state representative from Chisholm who sits on the quarter commission. He says the group will narrow the submissions down to five main themes.
November 24, 2003 - The designs for the Minnesota quarter don't exist in actual visual design form -- yet. That's a job that's left to the U-S Mint. But it got us at Minnesota Public Radio thinking, if you can describe a design with just words, could you do it with just sounds? And if Minnesota could be summed up in sounds, what would they be? Here's what we came up with.