May 18, 2005 - Former Minneapolis Mayor Art Naftalin has died. Naftalin was a friend and aide to Humbert Humphrey. He also served as state Commissioner of Administration and hosted a public affairs TV show for twenty years. Friends and family remember Naftalin as a compassionate and highly educated leader who navigated the city through the turbulent 1960s. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes reports.
May 18, 2005 -
May 20, 2005 -
May 20, 2005 - Governor Pawlenty today (FRIDAY) proposed that the state collect an additional 75-cents a pack on cigarettes. He's calling the new money a "health impact fee," and says the money would be used to pay for state health care costs. Pawlenty insists his proposal is a fee, not a tax. The distinction is critical because a budget deal could hinge on Pawlenty's ability to come away from negotiations saying he's standing by his pledge to not raise taxes. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
May 20, 2005 - Former Vice President and Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale shares his thoughts about Nixon’s trip to China in 1972, and of Minnesota Opera's performance of "Nixon in China" by John Adams.
May 25, 2005 - Health care providers and other supporters of those on state health programs say they want all of the money from a proposed tobacco tax increase to state health programs. Governor Pawlenty wants to charge cigarette wholesalers an additional 75 cents on every pack of cigarettes sold in Minnesota. Pawlenty's calling the charge a "Health Impact Fee." But critics say they're not happy that the so-called "health fee" wouldn't be spent entirely on health care programs. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
May 26, 2005 - Governor Tim Pawlenty signed the 2.8-billion dollar higher education funding bill today (THURSDAY) in Rochester. It's the first major budget legislation to pass in the regular session. Lawmakers continue to meet in special session to patch significant gaps in the remaining two year state budget. The state's college and university leaders say the recent session was much better for higher ed than past efforts. But students and others say the progress isn't enough. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes reports.
May 26, 2005 - The voices of three Minnesota Republicans. Voices of Minnesota takes a tour of the GOP's big tent with three prominent Minnesota Republicans from the party's left wing to its right: Sally Pillsbury, Wheelock Whitney and Bill Cooper.
May 31, 2005 - MPR’s Tom Crann interviews North Dakota poet Larry Woiwode on his dismay over Minneosta Governor Pawlenty’s decision to veto bill that would have established a poet laureate for Minnesota. At least 34 states have poet laureates. Like the majority of those writers, a Minnesota poet laureate would have received no tax dollars. But it wasn't the money that concerned Governor Pawlenty. Instead, he feared that naming a state poet would lead to requests for a Minnesota mime or state interpretive dancer.
June 2, 2005 - DFL State Senator Steve Kelley says he's in the race for governor next year. The Hopkins resident says his campaign will focus on his bread and butter issue, education. He says the state is drifting toward mediocrity under Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty and needs a change. But Republicans says he's not the one to bring that change. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...