February 17, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio’s Dan Gunderson reports on pesticide misuse in Minnesota, and investigates how violations of the law are often not punished, and sometimes ignored.
February 21, 2003 - An attorney for Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco, or MPAAT told a Ramsey County judge that the organization has radically changed how its board operates and has boosted funding to help individual smokers quit. The changes were in response to Attorney General Mike Hatch and the judge's criticisms that the anti-smoking organization was rife with conflicts of interest and spent too much money on attempts to sway anti-smoking actions in buildings and workplaces. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports: MPAAT attorney Lew Remele told Judge Michael Fetsch that the anti-smoking organization has evolved and has taken to heart the court and the Attorney General's criticisms. Remele said MPAAT now flatly prohibits grants to current board officers, their family members or affiliated organizations. He also said MPAAT will restructure its board so it's not comprised solely of healthcare and anti-tobacco representatives. Remele said MPAAT will help individual smokers by setting up sites in health care centers to offer assistance; meet with labor unions to set up MPAAT sites in workplaces; and work specifically with groups that were targeted by tobacco companies including people of color.
March 6, 2003 - MPR’s Jeff Horwich reports on an old business with a new owner. The Renville Locker butchered meat under the same family ownership for 38 years in southwestern Minnesota. Over that time the population of the region has changed, and more change is on the way. There may be no better symbol of the shift than the new face behind the meat market counter.
March 7, 2003 - The state of Minnesota is expected to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal matching funds... if the legislature passes Governor Tim Pawlenty's proposed cuts to health care programs in the state's budget. Missing out on the federal dollars is the topic of an article in this week's edition of "The Business Journal." Scott Smith is the reporter who wrote the story. He says state health officials are trying to calculate how much federal money the state will lose.
March 10, 2003 - Many employers are dealing with gaps in their staff caused by the deployment of military reserves in preparation for war. Healthcare providers are especially sensitive because of an already crippling nurse shortage. They were competing with the military before the deployments. The reserves offer impressive signing bonuses to attract more nurses from the civilian sector. Minnesota Public Radio's Rob Schmitz reports. {Hospitals in Minnesota are currently short around 3000 nurses. According to the Minnesota Nurses Association, this number will jump to almost 8000 by 2020. Minnesota Nurses Association Executive Director Erin Murphy says a war would just exacerbate the crisis.
March 12, 2003 -
March 12, 2003 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it may take legal action against those who assist Americans in buying prescription medicines from Canada. The agency's new regulatory stance is still being defined, but the FDA says that facilitating the purchase of Canadian drugs may violate civil and criminal law. Marty Gates is co-chair of the Medicare Justice Coalition and a member of the Minnesota Senior Federation. She says drugs in the United States can cost up to 90 percent more than identical drugs in Canada. Gates says she was shocked by the FDA's announcement.
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March 19, 2003 -