March 6, 2001 - MPR’s Tim Pugmire reports that educators throughout Minnesota have criticized Governor Ventura's proposed budget as insufficient for public schools, but supporters of the state's Indian Education programs are not complaining. Ventura wants to double the current funding targeted to American Indian students in an attempt to lower one of the state's highest drop out rates.
March 6, 2001 - A bill that would require Minnesotans to show picture identification in order to vote had a hearing yesterday before a House elections subcommittee. The bill would also require voters to provide the last four digits of their social security number, which would allow checking against criminal records or death certificates to reduce fraudulent voting. After the election problems in Florida, many states are considering election reform. On the line now to discuss what other states are doing is Jenny Drage, a policy specialist for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
March 6, 2001 - Minneapolis is finally moving earth in preparation for light rail transit. But what about Saint Paul's transit future? Instead of laying rails, the capital city is rumbling toward a less expensive system known as a busway to connect the downtown with Bloomington. There are still plenty of questions about what such a busway might look like ... and its construction is not a sure thing. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen visited the Twin Cities' only existing busway at the University of Minnesota and filed this report...
March 6, 2001 - MPR’s Michael Khoo reports that Governor Jesse Ventura has announced a package of campaign finance reforms he says will level the playing field for all candidates in future elections. A tri-partisan group of lawmakers joined the governor to support his initiative, although some of them say even deeper reforms are necessary.
March 7, 2001 - The State Appeals Court has reversed the misdemeanor convictions of three women who participated in a December 1999 protest against the re-route of Highway 55 in Minneapolis. The women were among 24 people prosecuted and convicted for obstructing a highway. But while the women may have won on appeal, they and dozens of other protestors lost the bigger battle to prevent the controversial road project which will be completed in a year and a half. Minnesota Public Radio reporter Mary Losure is writing a book about the Highway 55 protesters. She remembers meeting Jennifer Beatty, one of the women cleared yesterday by the appeals court.
March 8, 2001 - In 1994, the Pew Charitable Trust gave the state and three counties $1.5 million to use for Children, Families, and Learning. In 1998, they didn't spend all the money. They illegally gave the money to the United Way of Olmstead County as means of a bank account.
March 8, 2001 - Emotional testimony from victims of gun violence marked today's (THURSDAY) hearing on a concealed handgun bill. Two women whose parents were shot in front of them told their stories to lawmakers. But the two took different sides in the gun debate. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
March 9, 2001 -
March 9, 2001 - All Things Considered’s Lorna Benson talks with reporter Michael Khoo about Governor Jesse Ventura’s visit in Rochester, where he met with local residents on selling his budget proposal. The most revealing stop on his tour may have been to Evergreen Place, an assisted living facility in Pine Island, just north of the city.
March 9, 2001 - President George Bush continued his tax cut roadshow today the nation's top political leaders showed a bipartisan spirit at a Sioux Falls clinic - before the tax bickering began. Mainstreet Radio's Cara Hetland reports: