May 5, 1998 - [Desk attempted to smooth out levels on the last piece from Robertson but they are still a little wild. Operator should ride them, especially transitions from actualities to middle voice track.] The upper midwest's warm dry spring continues to cause concern about grass and forest fires. In northern Minnesota, forest fire crews have been on standby for weeks... newly planted seedlings may die without rain... and the summer construction season is in full swing a month ahead of schedule. This is one of the driest springs in ten years for northern Wisconsin, where strict fire restrictions are in place. Minnesota Public Radio's Todd Moe has the first of several reports on the effects of the dry weather around the region.
May 6, 1998 - A group out to reduce tobacco use in Minnesota says the state should get tough on enforcing the law which prohibits smoking under age 18. In addition Minnesota Decides wants to ban smoking in bars and restaurants. The group is described as "a community health partnership" led by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. Anti-smoking activists welcome the report. They say Minnesota has fallen behind other states in smoking prevention. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports. --------------------------------------------------------- | D-CART ITEM: 7175 | TIME: 4:13 | OUTCUE: "...SOC --------------------------------------------------------- We brag about surviving cold winters and coping with mosquitoes and we point with pride to our 25 year old anti smoking law. The Minnesota Clean Indoor Act, the first in the nation, regulates smoking in public places including restuarants and work sites. Most winters are still cold and mosquitoes still bite but the state's anti smoking effort has been
May 7, 1998 - Speculation about how the jury might decide the tobacco trial has already started, even though it is still possible for the two sides to reach a settlement. George Annas is a Professor of Health Law at Boston University. He says a jury verdict for the state might not yield as much money as a settlement, but it would be impressive symbolically. Sun 28-MAY 11:20:20 MPR NewsPro Archive - Wed 04/11/2001
May 7, 1998 - Closing arguments began today in Minnesota's tobacco trial. Settlement talks have collapsed, and the chief executive of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota says chances of a settlement are "extremely slim." He said one problem was tobacco companies' demand that they be protected against lawsuits by Minnesota counties. Hennepin County commissioners are informally debating whether to sue the tobacco industry to recoup county costs for treating sick smokers. Commissioner Randy Johnson says the immunity issue is moot: Hennepin County Commissioner Randy Johnson.
May 7, 1998 - Tobacco company attorneys present their closing arguments this morning in Saint Paul amidst rumors of settlement talks. Minnesota Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Skip Humphrey sounded like he'd prefer to settle Minnesota's tobacco trial but also said he's prepared to let the jury decide. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports: Humphrey spoke before an audience of public health professors at the University of Minnesota giving few clues as to whether he's close to settling the case. Settlement rumors have been flying since Monday when the St Paul Pioneer Press reported parties for the state, blue cross/blue shield and tobacco companies had outlined an agreement. That agreement reportedly called for the industry to pay five-billion-dollars over the next 25 years and submit to marketing restrictions to teenagers.
May 8, 1998 - Minnesota State Attorney General Skip Humphrey met with reporters and supporters this afternoon to outline some of the details of the tobacco settlement. Humphrey emphasized the elements of the agreement that are designed to reduce smoking among young people...... Minnesota Attorney General Skip Humphrey, speaking to reporters and supporters earlier this afternoon. Sun 28-MAY 11:19:21 MPR NewsPro Archive - Wed 04/11/2001
May 8, 1998 - Some are calling this weekend's fishing opener in Minnesota the "opener of the decade." DNR fisheries experts say the early ice-out and warm spring temperatures have created ideal conditions for a strong opening season. That's good news for anglers, and great news for thousands of Minnesotans who depend on tourism for their livelihood. Minnesota Pubic Radio's Tom Robertson reports from Bemidji... (sound of motorboat)
May 8, 1998 - Minnesota has now become the fourth state to settle its tobacco suit. The industry is already paying out a total of thirty (B) billion dollars to settle cases in Mississippi, Florida and Texas. Mississippi Attorney General Michael Moore was the first to settle with the industry for 3-point-35 (BILLION) dollars. Florida got 11 (Billion) and Texas got just over fifteen. We asked Attorney General Moore how Minnesota's settlement affects Mississippi's:
May 8, 1998 - When tobacco companies agreed to settle 40 state lawsuits against them last June, it did so with astonishing enthusiasm considering it was going to cost them more than 368-billion dollars. Critics, who are naturally suspicious of anything the Companies find acceptable, had little to use in an argument against the settlement.....until the Minnesota tobacco trial started. When it did, momentum toward a national deal stopped and the settlement collapsed. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Collins looks at how the Minnesota trial has changed the national debate on tobacco.
May 8, 1998 - Stanton Glantz is an anti-tobacco researcher who was thrust into the national spotlight in 1994 when he received an anonymous shipment of four-thousand internal tobacco company documents. Glantz, a professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, used the papers as a basis for a book called "The Cigarette Papers," a landmark work about the tobacco industry's deception of the American people. Glantz sees the Minnesota's case as a continuation of his work. You might say if "The Cigarette Papers" provided a keyhole glimpse of the tobacco industry, then the Minnesota trial knocked down the door. Glantz doesn't see a settlement as a defeat, he sees it as another important step in defanging the tobacco industry: