March 14, 2002 - The Minnesota Zoo is celebrating a major breakthrough in a decade-long attempt to artificially inseminate a clouded leopard. Researchers don't know if the procedure they performed earlier this week will result in leopard cubs, but they are happy to have even completed it. Clouded leopards are extremely hard to breed. The males tend to have low sperm counts and the females have erratic heat cycles. So a few months ago, researchers decided to use a norplant implant to shut down the reproductive system of a seven-year-old clouded leopard female, named Kuala. They then started her system back up by using hormonal injections to stimulate ovulation. That finally occured earlier this week and tropics zoologist Beth Jo Schoeberl (SHOW-burl) says researchers immediately sedated the cat and made a surgical incision directly in her uterus to inseminate her.
March 14, 2002 - The Minnesota House has spent most of the day debating budget-cutting bills. The bills are part of so-called "phase two," the Legislature's attempt to plug the remaining 439-million dollar projected hole in the state's two-year budget. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum joins me now from the Capitol with an update. How far along are House members with this plan? Just about done - today passed four of five budget-cutting bills most controversial - and the bulk of the cuts are in health and human services bill - nearly 62-million dollars this biennium - repeals the expansion of health insurance for children - reduces eligibility for general assistance and general assistance medical care programs - low-income adults - many Democrats - including Representative Tom Huntley of Duluth - criticized the cuts in the bill... "This bill goes specifically after our most needy citizens - those in regional treatment centers, those with mental illness, and balances the budget on their backs."
March 14, 2002 - That's Dr. Jack Lake, Director of the Liver Transplant Program at Fairview-University Medical Center.
March 15, 2002 - Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered that a special bile found in large quantities in the gall bladders of black bears can reduce damage caused by strokes and possibly other brain afflictions. Black bear gall bladder is enriched in urso-dioxy-cholic acid. Humans have the acid as well, although in very small quantities. Professor of Medicine, Dr. Clifford Steer, says the acid basically protects brain cells. He says the study confirmed what some ancient cultures already knew about black bear bile.
March 15, 2002 - A group of Twin Cities business and government leaders gathered last night to promote an approach to economic development based on industry clusters. The idea is to improve the state's economic vitality by nurturing industries that already have a concentration in Minnesota, such as medical technology. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports.
March 15, 2002 - Iron Range Steelworkers are pushing Congress to help the Steel industry provide promised health and pension benefits. This week a U.S. Senate Committee heard the latest plea from steel companies for a bailout of what's called legacy costs - the costs of providing health insurance to a retired work force. Thousands of older Northeast Minnesotans are losing those benefits in the aftermath of LTV Steel's bankruptcy. Thousands more wonder if they might be next. Mainstreet Radio's Bob Kelleher reports:
March 25, 2002 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on push for bill focused on addressing mental health crisis incidents. The mayor of Minneapolis joined state lawmakers and mental health advocates at the Capitol to support a bill to make it easier for police officers to commit someone having a mental health crisis. They say the bill will help prevent tragedies. Two weeks ago, an apparently delusional Minneapolis man was shot and killed after confronting police with a machete. Some in the mental health field say with funds dwindling, there's no place to bring people in crisis. Report includes comments from Mindy Greiling, state representative and author of bill; R.T. Rybak, mayor of Minneapolis; Greg Hestness, Minneapolis deputy police chief; John Trepp, member of Friends of Barbara Schneider; and Sue Aberholden, executive director of National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
March 25, 2002 - The mayor of Minneapolis joined state lawmakers and mental health advocates at the Capitol today to support a bill to make it easier for police officers to commit someone having a mental health crisis. They say the bill will help prevent tragedies. Two weeks ago, an apparently delusional Minneapolis man was shot and killed after confronting police with a machete. But some in the mental health field say with funds dwindling, there's no place to bring people in crisis. MPR’s Art Hughes presents this report on gathering.
March 26, 2002 - 1:20 Dr. Austin Smith Center for Genome Research at the University of Edinburgh important for the progress of embryonic stem cell research:
March 26, 2002 -