August 22, 2001 - E-P-A officials are outlining a plan to clean-up asbestos-contaminated property in Northeast Minneapolis at a neighborhood meeting tonight. The contamination was caused by asbestos fibers in vermiculite ore. The E-P-A expects to spend more than one-million dollars to complete the clean-up. The agency hasn't set a deadline for homeowners to request an assesment of their property... But neighborhood activist Kevin Reich is worried E-P-A officials will leave before all of the affected residents have had a chance to come forward:
August 23, 2001 - The Minnesota Zoo has closed down its popular sheep and goat barn because of a contagious virus. The virus, sometimes called orf, causes pimples, blisters and scabs- much like chicken pox- primarily around an animals mouth and eyes. Jim Rasmussen is the Zoo Veterinarian. I asked him how the sheep contracted the virus:
August 23, 2001 - A study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine shows intra-uterine birth control devices are much safer than previously thought. In the 1980's, a Minnesota law firm led a legal battle against the makers of an I-U-D called the Dalkon Shield... which caused pelvic infections that made many women sterile. The Dalkon shield was taken off the market in the early 1980's...and I-U-D use plummeted in the United States. David Hubacher is an epidemiologist at Family Health International and lead author of the study. He says his research on women in Mexico-- where modern I-U-D's are popular-- shows the devices don't pose an increase risk of infection:
August 27, 2001 - Two months after lawmakers barely averted a government shutdown, the state is now facing another potential shutdown because of a labor dispute. About 30-thousand state employees vote this week on whether to walk off the job in mid-September. If members of the state's two largest public employee unions reject the state's latest contract offer, it would be the first state employee strike in twenty years - and the largest ever. Union representatives say a strike appears imminent, and state officials are preparing for the possibility. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
August 27, 2001 -
August 27, 2001 - A new study of Minnesota teenagers shows one-in-ten girls and one-in-twenty boys have experienced date rape or date violence. The data was compiled from surveys more than 80-thousand of the state's ninth and twelfth graders filled out in 1998. Lead author Diann Ackard says the numbers are alarming and researchers are not sure why they are so high:
August 27, 2001 - MPR’s Kaomi Goetz reports on how some Hmong face cultural hurdles to mental health care. A murder case of a Hmong immigrant that stabbed to death two of her children illustrates a larger problem confronting the Hmong community…how to recognize and effectively treat mental illness.
August 29, 2001 - A new survey shows a small drop in teen smoking in Minnesota. The "Target Market" anti-smoking campaign wanted to see IF and TO WHAT EXTENT its efforts had made an impact. Minnesota Public Radio's Patty Marsicano reports:
August 29, 2001 - The Mayo Clinic is preparing to test an experimental Alzheimer's vaccine. Researchers hope the vaccine will stimulate the body's immune system to fight the disease, which causes memory loss, dementia and eventually, death. Dr. Ronald Peterson is director of Mayo's Alzheimer Disease Center. He says the vaccine represents a new strategy for treating Alzheimers patients:
August 30, 2001 - MPR’s Tom Scheck reports that officials with the Minnesota State Fair have implemented some additional safety measures in the livestock and poultry barns to ensure the health of the animals and fairgoers. Each year, thousands of people walk through the animal barns. Fair officials want to make sure that no illnesses are spread through that interaction.