August 8, 1997 - Michael Osterholm, state epidemiologist, answer listener questions about infectious diseases, bacteria and antibiotics, encephalitis, and much more. This was Osterholm’s last appearance on Midday. At end of program, he and Eichten share an appreciation of the other. [Please note program is joined “in progress”, and beginning of hour is not present]
August 27, 1997 - Two provisions in a major spending bill in the US Senate would deal a serious blow to the sovereignty of Native American tribes. The first would force tribes to waive their sovereign immunity from civil lawsuits or lose 767-million dollars in Federal funding. The second would deny tribes Federal money if tribal members' average income is above a certain level. Some say it's part of a strategy to eventually dismantle tribal protections. The proposals apparently face stiff opposition in the Senate and a Presidential veto threat. But if they were to pass, Federal Judge Jack Tunheim doesn't think they'd survive in the judiciary. The measures are riders on a 13-billion dollar bill paying for the National Endowment for the Arts and parklands acquisition, and are supported by a Senator who has an old axe to grind, according to Henry Buffalo.
August 28, 1997 - The legislative task force considering state funding of a new Twin Cities baseball stadium heard testimony yesterday about several possible ways to pay for such a stadium. Most proposals involve using money from some form of gambling. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen has more.
September 4, 1997 - MPR's Martin Kaste reports that Minnesota Indian tribes are reacting skeptically to suggestions they use their casino revenues to help pay for a new Twins stadium. The co-chairman of the Legislature's special stadium finance task force met with the chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in an attempt to get Indian money for a possible stadium financing package... but at least one Indian official in St. Paul says state politicians are "crazy" to think they can convince tribes to pay for the stadium when Minnesota taxpayers won't.
September 5, 1997 - Midday presents a report by Dan Olson about the prospects for a Light Rail Transit line in the Twin Cities, followed by a discussion of the transit issue with guests Nacho Diaz, Transportation Planning Director for the Metropolitan Coucil, and Ken Stevens, Director of the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority. Listeners call in with questions. (program ends early due to special coverage)
September 5, 1997 - Here's today's news quiz. What costs nearly as much as a new baseball stadium and goes ding-ding? Times up. It's LRT, of course - light rail transit. Just when you thought it's safe to consign LRT to the attic of public policy debate, out it comes. On the drawing board is a Hiawatha Avenue 'transit way'. LRT boosters want to build a line from the University of Minnesota, run it by a new ball park, past the existing Metrodome, through downtown Minneapolis, then out to the airport and the Mall of America along Hiawatha AVenue. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more. tape . . . bus Buses - you remember buses - those big vehicles seldom seen anymore because of all the route cutbacks - buses, at the ver
September 10, 1997 - Midday guests St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman and his challenger State Senator Sandy Pappas visit the Minnesota Public Radio studios to talk about issues facing the city and to answer questions from MPR listeners. Topics include partisanship, city development, housing, and downtown revitalization.
September 10, 1997 - St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman and his DFL-endorsed challenger, State Senator Sandy Pappas, are moving into the next phase of the mayor's race today. Pappas and Coleman easily defeated five other candidates in yesterday's primary. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen reports.
September 10, 1997 - Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton will face Barbara Carlson, a former city council member, in the city's mayoral election in November. In city council primary outcomes, incumbents advanced easily. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more.
September 17, 1997 - President Clinton today called for sweeping changes in the proposed national tobacco settlement, including industry penalties of up to a $1.50 per pack if teen-age smoking fails to fall sharply over 10 years. In making his first detailed comment on the $368-billion tobacco settlement reached in June, Clinton effectively refused to endorse the agreement, outlining so many changes that it was certain to serve as little more than a starting point for any legislation that Congress may ultimately fashion. Minnesota's lawsuit against the industry is set to go to court in January. State Attorney General Skip Humphrey, who has been highly critical of the tobacco companies and the settlement, says the original settlement is dead. It's not, he says, just a bargaining tactic by the President.