December 20, 2001 - Saint Paul City Council members have approved a 2002 budget that does not cut services or raise property taxes. But to do that, the council had to dip into Saint Paul's reserve fund -- and that's causing some apprehension about how painful the budget process might be a year from now. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen reports...
December 20, 2001 - A plan to boost the U-S economy sponsored by President Bush today died in the Democratic-led U.S. Senate. The Republican-led House passed the measure on a largely party-line vote early this morning. The package, which would cost the federal treasury $90 (b) billion dollars next year--and $214 (b)billion dollars over five years, included tax breaks for corporations and wealthy individuals. The Senate was pushing for a plan that did more to extend specific types of unemployment benefits to laid off workers. Jaye Rykunyk (racoon-ik) heads the hotel and restaurant workers union in the Twin Cities, which has many laid-off members. She says the house bill wouldn't have done much to help her members:
December 21, 2001 - Outgoing Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton talks with Midday’s Gary Eichten about her work in the city, tenure as mayor, and the state of Minneapolis at the end of 2001. Sayles Belton also answers listener questions.
December 21, 2001 - Two Minnesota Congressmen have heard new details of how terror suspect Zacarias Moussaoui raised suspicions at the Pan Am International flight Academy in Eagan. Congressmen Jim Oberstar and Martin Sabo met with representatives from the flight school in their Washington offices earlier this month. The flight school instructor who first called the FBI said he told agents he was concerned Moussaoui might want to use a jet as a weapon. Congressman Sabo says there were a number of things about Moussaoui that seemed out of the ordinary:
December 21, 2001 - Scott Fischbach, the new head of the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL).
December 21, 2001 - Established in the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the United States and British North America created the border.
December 26, 2001 - MPR's Mark Zdechlik reports that Governor Jesse Ventura says Minnesotans will likely be more open to major governmental reform with the state facing a projected budget deficit of nearly two billion dollars. Ventura says he'll use his State of the State speech a week from tomorrow as something of a “Government 101” course to help Minnesotans learn how state taxes are spent.
December 26, 2001 - There's a good chance the DFL candidate for governor in 2002 will be a woman. Others may still enter the race, but for now, the DFL race is between two women - state Auditor Judi Dutcher and state Senator Becky Lourey. While women candidates may not seem unusual in the year 2002, it's worth noting that a woman has never been on the ballot for governor in Minnesota. The presence of Dutcher and Lourey in the race has many political observers, especially women, saying it's about time. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum has more...
December 27, 2001 - MPR’s Cathy interviews Amy Klobuchar, Hennepin County Attorney, on fight against elder abuse. Klobuchar will announce the results of a program designed to prevent abuse of the elderly. The Senior Initiative is one year old. Its team of four attorneys, an investigator, and a victim advocate has worked on 43 cases so far this year. Klobuchar says they've seen a wide range of crimes.
December 27, 2001 -