February 11, 1997 - A quickly growing company nestled in the tiny northwestern Minnesota town of Carlstad is quickly getting an international reputation for it unique product. The company's called "Mattracks." They make something that can transform a standard four wheel drive pick up truck into an all terrain machine capable of driving through almost anything. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.
February 12, 1997 - Statewide standardized testing would be required for Minnesota primary and secondary schools under an agreement reached at the capitol this week. The Senate added a testing provision to the bill restoring 337-million dollars in planned cuts to schools. The bill now goes to a conference committee. Legislators and state education officials must now agree on what kind of tests should be used to measure academic achievement. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... --------------------------------------------------------- | D-CART ITEM: 7006 | TIME: 5:21 | OUTCUE: sound out --------------------------------------------------------- Minnesota's top education official says statewide standardized testing is the key to improving education for all students in the state. Robert Wedl, commissioner of the Department of Children, Families and Learning says
February 13, 1997 - One day after a faculty unionization vote at the University of Minnesota professors are still taking stock of the results. The unionzation failed by a very small margin -- 692 votes to 666 -- but as Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports, pro-union professors aren't necessarily unhappy about the outcome.
February 13, 1997 - With this week's legislative agreement to hammer out a plan for statewide testing of students, many Minnesotans are asking what will be done with the test results. One suggestion a conference committee will consider is proposed by a central Minnesota lawmaker. D-F-L'er Joe Opatz wants the tests to be used to gauge whether students' scores improve at each school, reward schools that show improvement, and provide help and possibly punish those that don't. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports... --------------------------------------------------------- | D-CART ITEM: 7258 | TIME: 3:56 | OUTCUE: s.o.c. --------------------------------------------------------- S
February 19, 1997 - Another winter sports season is wrapping up for Minnesota high school teams. State tournaments in gymnastics, wrestling, hockey and basketball are just weeks away. But far from the noise and sweat of gymnasiums and ice arenas, other high school teams are also preparing for tournament competition. The Minnesota State High School Quiz Bowl tournament is scheduled March 6th and 13th in Burnsville. Quiz Bowl teams stress brains over brawn and pit some of the area's brightest students against one another in competition as fierce as any athletic event. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.
February 19, 1997 - Mediators trying to write new a management plan for Voyageurs National Park have again found themselves stuck on an old issue: the use of snowmobiles within the Park. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports from Duluth: After meeting for months and finding solutions to dozens of management questions, the 12 active members of the Voyageurs Mediation panel have found themselves split over the single most contentious surrounding use of the park: snowmobiling on the park's largest land area, the Kabetogama Peninsula. Mediators agreed in January that the snow machines should be allowed on the peninsula's chain-of-lakes trail, but they parted over a proposal to limit
February 19, 1997 - A panel of state lawmakers has recommended schools administrator Dave Metzen join the University of Minnesota's Board of Regents -- DESPITE allegations of sexism in the candidate selection process. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: Allegations of male chauvinism stirred up the otherwise placid process of selecting new University Regents at the state capitol on Tuesday. Roseville Representative Mindy Greiling complained to the news media that lawmakers from the Ramsey County area had passed over Roseville school superintendent Carol Ericson for one of the vacancies on the Board of Regents -- even though Greiling says Ericson WAS CLEARLY the best candidate. The group of lawmakers instead endorsed another school superintendent, David Metzen of South St Paul. Women's political lobbying groups quickly picked up on Greiling's complaint... Judith Schotzko, president of the Minnesota W
February 20, 1997 - A huge piece of countryside south of the Twin Cities near Rosemount has been off limits to development for fifty years. The owner, the University of Minnesota, says it may be interested in selling off a portion of the property. Some neighbors worry urban development moving south from the Twin Cities will overrun a portion of the land. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more.
March 19, 1997 - State education officials say the state's eighth-grade students did slightly better in the second year of the basic skills reading test...but test scores stayed the same in math. Nearly a third of the students who took the tests for the first time last year failed. The Department of Children Families and Learning released the latest test scores today, and like last year they show nearly a third of the students are not meeting the minimum standards. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... The basic skills tests are the first phase of the state's new minimum high school graduation standards. The tests help determine if students are on track for graduation. This is the second year students have taken th
March 19, 1997 - State education officials say the state's eighth-grade students did slightly better in the second year of the basic skills reading test...but test scores stayed the same in math. Nearly a third of the students who took the tests for the first time last year failed. The Department of Children Families and Learning released the latest test scores this morning. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... The basic skills tests represent part of the state's first effort to impose minimum high school graduation standards. The tests help determine if students are on track for graduation. This is the second year students h