December 5, 2001 - Legislative leaders have started highlighting their proposals to fix the state's nearly 2-billion dollar budget shortfall announced yesterday. Caucus leaders spoke today at the Association of Minnesota Counties' Annual Conference in St. Paul. They say they will wait for Governor Ventura to outline a plan that could help balance the budget, but started making recommendations which include raising taxes and cutting services. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports.
December 11, 2001 - The Minneapolis-based American Refugee Committee is launching a program to combat the spread of tuberculosis in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan. A team of health experts just completed a tour of the camps to assess the need for drugs and diagnostic equipment. A-R-C executive director Joe Bock led the trip. He says conditions in the camps were worse than he expected:
December 11, 2001 - A Defense Department study shows Gulf War veterans are nearly twice as likely to develop Lou Gehrigs Disease- or ALS- as other military personnel. Department of Veterans affairs continue research on the connection between other illnesses and the Gulf War and increase research into ALS in search of a cause, treatment and cure. Moorhead native Kevin Shores believes he is suffering from a gulf war illness. He says The new research, which included nearly 2.5 million military personnel, is one of the largest epidemiological studies ever conducted and offers the most conclusive evidence to date linking Gulf War veterans to a disease. Still, researchers don't know why these veterans were more likely to get sick. Kevin Shores has gulf war sydrome
December 11, 2001 - A Massachussets congressman is proposing legislation that would crack down on Web sites that sell cigarettes to minors. This is Future Tense for December 11th, I'm Jon Gordon. The bill would require companies to verify a buyer's age on Web sites and again when the cigarettes are delivered. A new study by the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina counts more than 88 companies in 23 states using the Web to sell discount cigarettes online. Kurt Pribisl is the study's author. ((q/a)) Tobacoo control policy expert Kurt Pribisl of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A companion study, co-authored by Pribisl, found that 2 percent of 17,000 California high schoolers surveyed have attempted to by cigarettes over the Internet.
December 12, 2001 - Nearly a week after Sun Country Airlines laid off virtually all of its 900 employees, many of them attended a series of job counselling sessions run by public officials in Bloomington earlier today . Minnesota Public Radio's Kaomi Goetz reports.
December 13, 2001 - The St. Paul Companies announced yesterday it would stop offering medical malpractice insurance. The announcement came as part of a broad cost-cutting initiative that included hundreds of layoffs. The decision to end medical malpractice insurance dealt a blow to many long-term care providers in Minnesota and across the country. For many nursing homes in the state, the St. Paul was the last company to offer insurance at reasonable rates. Minnesota Public Radio's Andrew Haeg reports.
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.
December 19, 2001 - A Hazelden Foundation report says Minnesotans between the ages of 12 and 25 rank among the highest in the nation in illegal drug use, binge drinking and tobacco use. Researchers say the report shows more young Minneotans are engaging in risky behavior. They say the findings prove the state needs to improve its alcohol, drug and tobacco prevention programs ....even as some state lawmakers are urging that funds earmarked for anti-tobacco education be diverted to solve the state's budget woes. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
December 19, 2001 - As Tom reported, the Hazelden survey may be used by some Minnesota legislators as evidence that youth smoking prevention programs, paid for by the tobacco settlement, are not working. Republican Phil Krinkie of Shoreview would like the Legislature to consider using tobacco settlement money to help cover the state's two billion dollar shortfall.... and he's on the line now. Also joining us is State Health Commissioner, Jan Malcolm.
December 20, 2001 - MPR’s Laura McCallum reports on a legislative commission vote on the divisive issue of same-sex domestic partner benefits. The panel voted 7-to-5 to let the House and Senate decide for themselves whether to provide coverage for the same-sex partners of legislators and their staffs. The discussion foreshadows a larger debate in the upcoming session, with some lawmakers saying they'll vote to reject two union contracts that include the coverage.