January 26, 1998 - Four years after Minnesota filed its lawsuit against the tobacco industry, opening statements in the trial begin this morning (Monday) at the federal courthouse in St. Paul. The state and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota are suing the major tobacco companies to recover the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses over the past two decades. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
January 26, 1998 - Rochester is the famed winter home for 30-thousand Canada geese. The wild birds stay mostly in the center of the city on Silver Lake, which does not freeze because of warm water from a nearby power plant. While the healthy flock is a source of some civic pride, their by-product is the bane of locals. One Rochester man, however, has found a use for the waste. Gary Blum (like plum) turns dried goose poop mixed with glue into art. He's found a niche creating pictures of geese, loons and even people. Minnesota Public Radio's spoke with Blum about his passion for goose poop art. Rochester artist Gary Blum talking with Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes.
January 26, 1998 - NORTHWEST AIRLINES TODAY ANNOUNCED AN ALLIANCE WITH CONTINENTAL AIRLINES. THE MOVE WILL BOOST REVENUES AND SOLIDIFY THE AIRLINE'S POSITION IN THE INDUSTRY. BUT IT MAY NOT REDUCE FARES. MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO'S BILL CATLIN REPORTS. THE ANNOUNCEMENT CAME AFTER WHAT APPEARED TO BE FRACTIOUS, ON-AGAIN OFF-AGAIN DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN CONTINENTAL, NORTHWEST AND THE NORTHWEST PILOTS UNION ... WHICH HAS VETO AUTHORITY OVER THE DEAL. TWO WEEKS AGO, THE PILOTS UNION DECIDED THE STRATEGIC ARRANGEMENT WITH CONTINETAL COULD BE PROFITABLE FOR NORTHWEST. HOWEVER, DELTA AIRLINES APPARANTLY LIKED THE IDEA AS WELL. C
January 27, 1998 - MPR's Cara Hetland reports from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where the Minnesota Twins are utilizing a caravan to hopefully draw crowds to ballpark as the team fights for a new stadium… while at the same time cutting team player payroll and dealing with talk of selling/moving team. Players admit it's tough to sell tickets for what may be a lame duck season.
January 28, 1998 - A new plan is afoot to relieve commuter congestion on Minnesota's busiest roadway. Transportation planners are proposing a commuter bus system for Interstate 35W through Minneapolis, Richfield and Bloomington. The bus plan is an alternative to the one billion dollar 35W re-design floated a few years ago to relieve car congestion. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more. audio . . . sfx 42nd street overpass It's 5pm on a Friday afternoon and the illuminated brakelights make the four lanes of 35W through south Minneapolis look as though they are carpeted in red. Traffic is barely moving - with one exception. audio . . . bus whoosh
January 28, 1998 - The highway lobby is trying again this year to get the Legislature to raise the state gas tax. The gas tax is constitutionally dedicated to highway construction, and the highway interests have been trying in vain to raise it for ten years. This year, they're hoping a new strategy will make the difference. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: The highway lobby and its rural allies at the Capitol have unable to get a gas tax hike through the Legislature since 1988 because URBAN legislators won't let them. A hard core of urban and a few suburban legislators has held the gas tax hostage for years because the rural lawmakers won't support more funding for mass transit in the cities. The pro-highway interests are now promising something for BOTH sides. They've introduced a bill to dedicate all sales taxes on cars
January 28, 1998 - A Minnesota house committee has delayed action on a bill to restrict automatic teller machine surcharges. The bill authored by house banking chair Irv Anderson would ban surcharging by banks that own more than 2 ATMs, but it places no restrictions on surcharges by convenience stores and other retailers that own ATMs. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin has more. The ATM surcharge came in for lots of criticism at the house financial institutions and insurance committee hearing. The fees have provoked a number of bills to reign them in.
January 28, 1998 - Mass transit trains for the Twin Cities will be in the spotlight today (WED) at the state capitol. Committees in both the House and Senate plan to consider light rail and commuter rail projects, and a coalition of interest groups are announcing their support for a bill to raise the gas tax and put some of the money into mass transit -- possibly, RAIL mass transit. Urban lawmakers say they think this may the year for rail transit at the Capitol... but as Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports, they've been optimistic before: The Twin Cities have been on the verge of building a rail system for YEARS... in 1988, then-Hennepin County Commissioner John Derus was SURE a Minneapolis light rail system was just around the corner:
February 3, 1998 - The Twins stadium is alive again at the State Legislature…just two months after lawmakers killed it. The stadium's chief cheerleader this time around is State Senator and gubernatorial candidate Roy Terwilliger, who says he has a plan Minnesotans will like a lot better than anything the Twins proposed last year.
February 4, 1998 - National Football League owners are expected to give final approval of the sale of the Minnesota Vikings to novelist Tom Clancy next month. Clancy has purchased a 30-percent share of the franchise, and along with several other investors, is paying a total of more than 200-million dollars for the team. That makes the deal the most expensive team purchase in NFL history. Minnesota Public Radio's Perry Finelli has more... Tom Clancy says his hand will be shaking when he writes the check for controlling interest of the Vikings. Clancy says he and his group of investors, which includes other unnamed celebrities, made a fair offer for the team and the current owners accepted it... cut 0420