March 22, 2001 - Minnesota Author Evelyn Fairbanks has died at the age of 72. Fairbanks wrote "Days of Rondo," a memoir about growing up in St. Paul's largest black neighborhood in the 1930's and '40's. The Rondo neighborhood was razed in the 1960's to make way for interstate 94. Fairbank's book was published in 1990 and is now in its fourth printing. In 1991, Fairbanks gave up city life and moved to the outskirts of tiny Onamia, Minnesota, where she operated a 20 acre tree farm. In a 1995 interview with Minnesota Public Radio's Beth Friend, Fairbanks described why she was drawn to the country:
March 22, 2001 - The simmering controversy over the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux came to the fore at a daylong conference in St. Cloud Wednesday. Hundreds of Native Americans, college students and faculty attended as St. Cloud State University played host to a summit on American Indian Mascots. Mainstreet Radio's Tim Post reports. =============
March 22, 2001 - Parents, students, and other home schooling advocates filled the Capitol Wednesday calling for lawmakers to preserve their educational freedom. Members of the Senate Education Policy Committee were listening and rejected a proposal to place new requirements on Minnesota home schools. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports...
March 26, 2001 - FOR MONDAY MORNING The U-S census bureau will release the first set of data for Minnesota this week. The census is expected to reflect significant increases in many minority populations. States bordering Minnesota and many others report substantial gains among Hispanics and Asians. Many groups in Minnesota are encouraged by the efforts to count minority populations, but they say the process has a long way to go. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes reports. (scene: music, noise)
March 26, 2001 - The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System faces a tough budget fight at the capitol. MNSCU seeks much more money than the governor recommends. While the University of Minnesota budget has received much more attention -- the MNSCU campaign for state money is heating up. Minnesota Public Radio's Patty Marsicano reports:
March 26, 2001 - The state's largest non-profit, which helps children who have autism or mental retardation, wants to shorten its waiting list by expanding. Experts say Minneapolis-based Fraser offers some of the most comprehensive programs in the country for children with mental disabilities, but waits of a year to get Fraser services are common. The organization is raising money to build a center officials say will shorten the delays.
March 27, 2001 - Efforts to kill the Profile of Learning heat up again today (Tuesday) at the state capitol. The House Education Policy committee takes up a bill that would repeal Minnesota's complex system of high school graduation standards. But the state's education commissioner says she plans to wait another year to recommend any changes. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports...
March 27, 2001 - A bill that would extend health insurance to virtually every uninsured child in Minnesota has cleared a state Senate committee. The proposal would offer coverage to the estimated 48-thousand children who now go without insurance. Estimates suggest the plan would cost the state between 35 and 60 million dollars annually. Jim Koppel is the Director of the Children's Defense Fund. He says the money would be well spent:
March 28, 2001 - The Final Four focuses on what is all wrong with higher education, focusing on sports rather than learning.
March 28, 2001 - Four hours of committee debate resulted in killing Profile of Learning. School districts need to decide what standards they each want. A new bill would require local testing in third, fifth, and tenth grades in the core subject areas.