June 26, 2000 - Scientists throughout the state and country are applauding the virtual completion of the Human Genetic Code. The Human Genome Project completes a 10 year race to discover the first "rough draft map" of a human's d-n-a. But medical ethicists fear the discovery may lead to invasions of privacy. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
June 27, 2000 - The Federal Government released new guidelines today on smoking cessation. The recommendations urge health insurers to provide coverage for tobacco treatment just as they do for treating other chronic diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes. Dr. Richard Hurt is the Director of the Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Center. He says health care professionals know what help people need to quit smoking, and they need the authority to act on it:
June 27, 2000 - D-F-L Senate candidate Mark Dayton is taking a busload of Minnesota seniors to Canada later this week to buy cheaper medicine. The former state auditor wants to highlight what's becoming a key campaign issue in the Senate race - the high cost of prescription drugs in the U-S. But his publicity stunt has raised questions about whether Dayton is trying to buy votes by providing free transportation. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
June 29, 2000 - Striking hotel workers have voted overwhelmingly to approve the tentative contract agreement reached by union and hotel management negotiators yesterday (Wednesday). The vote ends the almost two-week old strike that disturbed operations at seven twin cities hotels and threatened to disrupt the Twin Cities largest-ever convention. After weeks of sometimes acrimonious negotiations and picketing, both the and the hotels management say they got what they wanted. Minnesota Public Radio's Andrew Haeg reports.
June 29, 2000 - Since DFL lawmaker Leslie Schumacher's (SHOE mah cur) 18 year old daughter was arrested late last week on drug charges, she has steadfastly denied any knowledge of her daughter's activities. But today (Thursday) an allegation surfaced came forward that she did in fact know of her daughter's involvement in the production of methanphetamine. Schumacher is up for re-election this fall. What effect her daughter's actions will have on her campaign may depend not only on what she does, but on what her political opponents do. Minnesota Public Radio's Marisa (Muh-REE-suh) Helms reports. {DFL Representative Leslie Schumacher was facing a a potentially tough political race in a central Minnesota house district targeted by republicans even BEFORE the arrest of her 18 year old daughter Jeana. The Sherburne County Attorney has charged Jeana Schumacher with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and child endangerment. The charges allegedly stem from activities in a building owned by Representative Schumacher in Santiago.
June 29, 2000 - In the opening scene of STORM RIDERS, the new novel by Craig Leslie, a young girl is missing. Later she is found dead and a young native Amercian boy from Alaska is suspected of drowning her. This scene and others in STORM RIDERS are lifted directly from Craig Leslie's life. STORM RIDERS is the authors semi-fictional account of his 15 years raising a young boy
June 30, 2000 - DNA technology helps solve crimes
July 3, 2000 - The Kenyan-Community-Abroad International Conference wrapped up today at Concordia University in St. Paul. The conference tackled two issues... the current political climate in Kenya and the country's growing AIDS crisis. HIV or full-blown AIDS infects almost 14 percent of the adult Kenyan population... one of the highest rates in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Moses Djenga helped organize the conference. He stresses that it's hard to underestimate the affect the AIDS virus has had on Kenya:
July 4, 2000 - The Fourth of July means fireworks, parades, and - in an election year - politicians. Minnesota candidates worked the crowds at parades around the state today . Many of them could be seen at one of the state's biggest parades in Forest Lake. The primary is ten weeks from today, and although voters may not be paying attention yet, that's not stopping the candidates in Minnesota's U-S Senate race. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
July 4, 2000 - The Independence Day holiday is the beginning of peak swimming season in Minnesota. But already a number of drownings have occurred. In the past two weeks, a 25-year-old St. Paul man drowned in Lake Phalen when he tried to retrieve a frisbee, a 23-year-old man drowned in Carver County's Lake Ann, a woman in her 40s was found submerged in a lagoon on Minneapolis' Lake of the Isles and a 14-year-old boy drowned when he tried to swim across the St. Croix River. Barb Pierce is a Water Safety Specialist with the Minneapolis Red Cross. She thinks the weather has played a role in the drownings.