January 23, 1997 - A COALITION OF COMPUTER AND INTERNET COMPANIES SAY INTERNET USERS HAVE PAID THEIR FAIR SHARE TO LOCAL TELEPHONE COMPANIES AND POSE LITTLE THREAT TO THE PHONE SYSTEM. THE COALITION PRESENTED THEIR STUDY TO COUNTER STUDIES BY LOCAL PHONE COMPANIES RELEASED LAST YEAR SEEKING TO JUSTIFY NEW ACCESS FEES ON INTERNET USAGE. PHONE COMPANIES CLAIM INTERNE
January 27, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio's Catherine Winter reports from Embarrass, where several dozen people spend time in sleeping in snow shelters to test everything from sleeping bags to cell phones. Temperatures in northern Minnesota provide perfect weather for camping…if you want to find out how your camping gear performs in the bitter cold.
January 28, 1997 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports that the battle lines that marked the fight over passage of Minnesota’s Human Rights Bill have not gone away. Roberts interviews numerous individuals on the law’s effect.
January 29, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio’s Mark Steil looks at turnover issues at meatpacking plants in Minnesota. The average worker in the meatpacking industry only stays on the job for a few months. The job is so difficult, dangerous and some might argue downright nasty that many plants hire the equivalent of a new work force each year. That creates problems for towns which host a meatpacking factory, with school enrollments changing constantly and short term housing stretched to the limit.
January 31, 1997 - MPR's Mark Zdechlik reports on how the Minnesota Twins tried to generate some excitement after a long week of defending their proposal for a new stadium against mounting criticism. The team unveiled an architect's model of the retractable roof ball park it hopes to build in downtown Minneapolis.
January 31, 1997 - Lawmakers will be lobbied on the bus this morning by mayors from several Twin Cities communities who want more money for transit and cleaning up polluted ground. The bus tour grows out of discussions among central city and suburban mayors who want a united front in lobbying for some of their interests. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports. Lawmakers will board the bus at the state capitol for a relatively short ride to one of the first sites - several acres of St. Paul land dominated by a huge mound of polluted soil. St. Paul mayor Norm Coleman says a priority among several cities is money to help clean up sites which can be used for development.
February 4, 1997 - Minneapolis officials are hoping to increase the state sales tax in the Twin Cities to expand the Minneapolis Convention Center and bolster mass transit. But the proposal faces a tough fight. Governor Carlson's chief of staff, Morrie Anderson, says convention center backers should prepare to compete for state bonding support because Carlson opposes raising the sales tax. In fact, the Governor vetoed an expansion plan last year. John Labosky formerly headed Minneapolis' downtown council, so he's familiar with the fight. Now he's with the capital city partnership in St. Paul.
February 6, 1997 - In case you haven't noticed, this is Sweeps Week, when all the commericial broadcasters bring out the programming they think will bring them the biggest audiences and the biggest advertising dollar. Here's a sample of what Channels Four and Five were offering yesterday.
February 6, 1997 - A debate over a proposed large-scale dairy feedlot west of the Twin Cities moves to the courtroom today. A Wright County environmental group is suing the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, arguing the MPCA should do further study on the potential environmental effects of what could be Minnesota's largest dairy farm. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.
February 7, 1997 - Within the next several weeks the local telephone market will be opening up to free market competition just as the long distance monopoly was broken apart in the early 1980's. Throughout the country, companies that control local phone lines are scrambling to protect themselves as regulators welcome outside competitors into what's been their territory. In Minnesota US West says it's being forced to offer newcomers an unfair advantage that could lead to a deterioration of the local phone network. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.