December 11, 2001 - An official with Major League Baseball's Player's Association says the union and Major League Baseball did not make significant progress today in talks that could delay elimination of teams. The league and union are reportedly close to reaching an agreement that delays contraction for a year. If the deal goes through, the Twins will play baseball next season but could still face elimination at the end of the 2002 baseball season. Some state lawmakers and other stadium activists say the delay gives them time to save the team but acknowledge a stadium financing plan would have to be put together quickly. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports....
December 11, 2001 - A federal grand jury today indicted Zacarias Moussaoui for consipacy to commit the September 11th terrorist attacks. The 30-page indictment lists six counts against Moussaoui, four of them are punishable by death if he is convicted. The French Moroccan first raised investigators' suspicions when he took flight lessons in Eagan a month before the hijackings. Tom Heffelfinger is Minnesota's U-S Attorney. I asked for his reaction to the indictment:
December 12, 2001 - The Star Tribune is reporting that Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Joan Ericksen Lancaster is the Bush Administration's choice to fill a federal judgeship in Minneapolis. Lancaster isn't commenting on the report. Lancaster began her career as a civil trial lawyer and served as assistant U-S Attorney. She was a Hennepin County district judge in 1998 when then-Governor Arne Carlson appointed her to the state's highest court. He says she was an obvious choice to fill that seat:
December 14, 2001 - As the military campaign against Al-Qaeda tightens, so does a campaign launched by Minnesota Congressman Gil Gutknecht. Gutknecht wants to transfer Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman away from Rochester's Federal Medical Center to a secret location. The 63 year-old blind Imam was found guilty of conspiracy in the World Trade Center bombing of 1993. He is currently serving a life sentence. Gutknecht, a Republican who represents the first district, says the sheikh's prescence poses a threat to Rochester.
December 17, 2001 - There are over 30 ports of entry on the US/Canadian border and the heavy traffic and restrictions after September 11th are affecting people and their timetables.
December 17, 2001 - AOL's co-founder Steve Case and Dell Computers' Michael Dell are two advisors on President Bush's high tech advisory council.
December 18, 2001 - The government says citizens need to be given what they need in a website.
December 18, 2001 - Minnesota's first African-American woman gubernatorial running mate. She will be remembered fondly and as a pioneer.
December 18, 2001 - There are over 100 ports of entry along the US/Canada border. Over half-million people are coming over the border everyday and much more money coming with them. Are they all being protected? Both military and civilian volunteers are taking charge.
December 18, 2001 - The welfare caseload had been FALLING steadily since 1994, in part due to a federal welfare reform act that puts a five-year limit on benefits. This past summer, we talked with a series of women who were facing the benefit cutoff, and trying to find work. Shirley Hawkins is the single mother of one child who had recently started her first job. She was working in a temporary position at a packaging company doing everything from creating store displays to stuffing calendars into plastic bags. At that time, I asked her how she felt about her future. Jan Mueller works with welfare recipients at Lifetrack Resources, a social service agency in the Twin Cities that runs a job training program. She's on the line now.