May 18, 1998 - (note: we aired this before we learned the meeting was cancelled. Also, cuts from this q/a were in circulation Friday so it's a dead horse now). Tom Clancy's bid to buy the Minnesota Vikings is on the agenda when a committee of N-F-L team owners meets in Miami tonight. The committee will consider the financing of the 200-million dollar sale to Clancy and more than a dozen other investors ... but NFL owners are not expected to vote on the proposed sale this week. There's been speculation in recent weeks that Clancy's deal might be unraveling. The best-selling author is going through a costly divorce that makes it unclear how much cash he can put toward a Vikings purchase. And some of the Vikings current owners have worried that one of Clancy's investors - Houston businessman Les Alexander - might eventually try to move the team to Texas. Alexander reportedly has the right of first refusal, meaning he could buy the team should Clancy decide to sell it. Wheelock Whitney, one of the Vikings ten current owners, plans to re-invest with the Clancy group. Whitney says it's premature to worry Alexaner would move the team to Houston:
May 19, 1998 - A Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from the small community of Comfrey, Minnesota. Mark Steil takes a closer look at new laws governing the regulation of feedlots in Minnesota…laws which give more control over feedlots to local governments. Steil talks with State Legislators Steve Dille and Gary Kubly, as well as local officials.
May 19, 1998 - [note: Koch signed late Monday afternoon so this story is good for Tuesday m.e.] Officials for the Koch Refining Company will take their request for a new, flexible air quality permit before the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency citizens board today, for a second time. The permit could allow the company to expand operations at its Rosemount Refinery, at a time when it's under increasing fire for widespread contamination in Minnesota and in other states. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports. Koch Refining Company's request for a new air quality permit first went to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency citizen
May 19, 1998 - The environmental safety of the Koch Refinery is in question again. Concerns about possible health risks from air emmissions from the refinery have delayed the company's request for a new air quality permit. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency citizens board plans to take a second look at a massive study that assured local citizens the air around Koch's Rosemount refinery was safe to breathe. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports. Koch Refining Company's request for a new, flexible air quality permit had already been under intense scrutiny because of the company's poor environmental track record. The permit could allow Koch t
May 19, 1998 - The Minnesota Vikings sale could be back to square one if the offer from author Tom Clancy doesn't pick up some momentum soon. Clancy missed an important meeting with NFL owners in Miami yesterday. The league rejected his request for a one week delay and, instead, ordered him to have the deal firmed up by tomorrow. Jeff Agrest is an associate editor with Pro-Football Weekly in Chicago.
May 20, 1998 - Steve Young, a former dean of the Hamline University law school says it's unethical for the Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi Law Firm to charge $560 Million dollars for its work on the state's recently-settled tobacco lawsuit. Young filed a complaint with the Lawyers' Professional Responsibility Board, alleging that the size of the fee violates professional rules.
May 20, 1998 - MPR’s William Wilcoxen reports that Tom Clancy has dropped his bid to purchase the Minnesota Vikings. The best-selling author had emerged as the surprise top bidder for the Vikings, but the efforts fell apart. The result is an open question on who will be the new owner of team.
May 21, 1998 - Airline industry experts expect tomorrow to be the busiest day in aviation history. The experts say more than two-million people are expected to get on a plane at the start of the Memorial Day weekend. For the week ending next Tuesday, more than 12-point-five million people are expected to fly to their destination. The Air Transport Association, representing the biggest U-S carriers, says the proportion of seats filled on flights systemwide could be as high as 83 percent. Amy Rea (Ray) is a travel analyst with Schilling Travel in Minneapolis. She says the high numbers predicted by the industry surprise her. Amy Rea, a travel analyst with Minneapolis-based Schilling Travel.
May 22, 1998 - Larry Buboltz, Director of the Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program, and Earl Wilson, Deputy Commissioner of the MN Dept of Economic Security, discuss summer jobs. Topics include what's available, who can get them, what employers are looking for, pay and skills required, and the job market.
May 22, 1998 - Tobacco legislation in the U-S Senate faces a roadblock, as Senate members have signaled their opposition to limit the industry's liability from lawsuits to eight billion dollars a year. Meanwhile, Senate conservatives have attacked the bill's tax increases. The tobacco bill's chief author, Arizona Senator John McCain, says he will continue to push the legislation. Those price increases are the subject of current television ads sponsored by the tobacco industry. The ads feature portrayals of working people who smoke asking why Congress is singling them out for another tax. David Logan, law professor at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina says the ads are a smart strategy by the tobacco industry.