February 10, 1997 - Leaders of the Star Tribune newspaper had their day at the Capitol when they appeared before the Senate Elections Law Committee. They explained how a photograph of failed Minneapolis Senate candidate John Derus appeared next to an article about charity fraud. Derus says the mistake, which was published the day of the primary last September, cost him the election against Senator Linda Higgins. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports.
February 10, 1997 - Minneapolis officials are considering opening up the city's private trash hauling contract to competitive bids for the first time in 25 years. At least one council member thinks the city could save several million dollars a year by seeking other bidders. The consortium of haulers that now handles the waste admits the city might be able to save some money -- but contends small haulers would likely go out of business in the process. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Wareham reports.
February 10, 1997 - Today the jury decided that O-J Simpson must pay $25-million dollars in compensatory damages for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. In most basic terms, they decided what amount of money equals Simpson's crime. We've been making comparisons like this for thousands of years, according to Jack Weatherford, who sees bad and good in the process. Weatherford teaches anthropology at Macalester College in Saint Paul, and his latest book is "The History of Money." Minnesota Public Radio's John Rabe and senior economics editor Chris Farrell talked with Weatherford about his book, which starts in the kingdom of Lydia somewhere around 635-B.C.
February 13, 1997 - The University of Minnesota is one of the state's largest landowners and, thus, a big neighbor. Some residents of a Minneapolis neighborhood would like the U to be a better neighbor and agree to sell some of its surplus Minneapolis campus property to homeowners. The residents want a mix of housing to try create what some call an urban village environment. They are concerned the U will sell to the highest bidder which in this case may be a developer who wants to tear down the houses. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more. The developer is Dinnaken Properties owned by James Cargill, Sr. a former executive of Cargill the global commodity processing and trading company. The neighborhood is what generations of U students know as Stadium Village - a collection of businesses, apartments and houses where the best known intersection is Oak Street and Washington Avenue. The U intends
February 14, 1997 - Your regional baby bell says it needs to hike prices to easy telephone congestion caused by internet users, and a McDonald's in France puts the Mcinternet on the menu.
February 17, 1997 - This time of year one might envy Roseville resident Cindy Herman. Herman is spending her winter in sunny climes aboard a cruise ship, and she's getting paid for it. Herman is the only woman drummer, now music director, for a cruise line, in her case Crystal Cruises. As part of our series called Odd Jobs, Mary Stucky visited with Herman recently while she was spending a few days off here at home. Herman says she got her start in the Roseville school music program.
February 18, 1997 - On its rail lines across the country Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad plans to increase train speeds through towns to sixty miles per hour. Many towns and cities now have ordinances limiting train speeds but the Federal Railroad Administration has given BNSF the okay to increase speeds. Some North Dakota communities are trying to put the brakes on the plan. Minnesota Public Radio’s Dan Gunderson reports.
February 19, 1997 - Evergreen Media Corporation is buying Dallas-based Chancellor Broadcasting Company and Viacom's ten radio stations for a total of $1.76 billion dollars. Chancellor owns seven Twin Cities radio stations. They are KFAN-AM, WBOB-FM, KEEY-FM, KTCZ-FM, KTCJ-AM, KDWB-FM and KQQL-FM. Once the deals are completed, the new company will be known as Chancellor Media Corporation. It will own 103 radio stations in 21 major markets. Tom Taylor, who edits "Inside Radio", a radio industry newsletter, says listeners won't be likely to notice the difference right away and he says it's the next logical step in a recent pattern.
February 19, 1997 - Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is endorsing a continued role for the federal government in funding scientific research, which he says is crucial to making computers easier to use. In a speech to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Gates said Microsoft is planning to double the size of its basic research division over the next several years.
February 20, 1997 - MPR's Bill Wareham takes a look efforts by Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton to spend $35 million to help finance a Target store and other development on the south end of Nicollet Mall. The two-story Target would anchor a 14-story office and retail complex on the 900 block of Nicollet. Meanwhile, a block away the University of St. Thomas plans to expand its graduate school campus and link it to a K-12 magnet school also on the drawing boards.