February 12, 1998 - In Minnesota's tobacco trial, the state today began building its case that smokers increase health care costs. The state and Blue Cross Blue Shield are seeking nearly 2-billion dollars to cover the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses over the past two decades. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.. Cancer expert Jon Samet testified today that smoking causes more than a dozen diseases, and those diseases result in higher health care costs. The Johns Hopkins epidemiologist said according to criteria established by the Surge
February 12, 1998 - Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports on the 2,500 striking Honeywell workers who vote on a proposed contract, possibly ending their walkout now in its 11th day. The terms of the proposed settlement are not being made public but union officials say Honeywell modified what had been the company's final offer. Central to the negotiations since the first contract was rejected, has been the union's opposition to Honeywell putting together a separate compensation package for new employees. Such arrangements often called "Two Tier," contracts, have been dividing workforces for two decades in the United States.
February 16, 1998 - Honeywell production and maintenance workers are back on the job today after approving a contract and ending a two week strike yesterday. The company backed down on a plan to pass along some of the costs of health care benefits to the workers, but the union swallowed the plan for lower pay and pensions for new employees. John Remington is a professor of Industrial Relations at the University of Minnesota. He says the union vote didn't really decide the issue, and expects it to pop up again during the next round of negotiations: John Remington is a professor of Industrial Relations at the University of Minnesota. Sun 28-MAY 12:21:30 MPR NewsPro Archive - Wed 04/11/2001
February 16, 1998 - The strike of 25 hundred Honeywell workers is over. Teamsters Local 1145 rank and file voted by a extraordinarily thin margin yesterday to accept Honeywell's latest contract offer. Many union memebrs are angry with the deal. They say their colleagues should have held out for a better contract. The first shifts reported back to work last night. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports...
February 19, 1998 - Jurors in Minnesota's tobacco trial today heard starkly differing views on whether smoking causes disease. A former tobacco company president testified the Surgeon General was "dead wrong" when he said smoking causes lung cancer, then the head of an industry-funded research group reluctantly agreed with the Surgeon General. The link between cigarettes and disease is key to the state's case that smoking leads to higher health care costs. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
February 24, 1998 - Next Tuesday night, Republicans and Democrats hold precinct caucuses to elect delegates to this summer's party conventions. This week, Minnesota Public Radio is profiling the candidates vying for their endorsement for Governor. Political reporter Eric Jansen prepared this profile of DFL candidate Ted Mondale: BackAnnounce: Our series of candidate profiles continues tomorrow morning on Morning Edition when Karen Boothe follows the Mike Freeman campaign. And at this time tomorrow evening, we'll hear about Republican Alan Quist.
February 25, 1998 - A fumigation company already under investigation for pesticide spraying which officials believe killed one man and injured three others in Minneapolis has agreed to move chemicals it was storing out of Minneapolis. Industrial Fumigants Company took the action at the urging of officials who recently discovered what they say were unsafe storage condictions. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.
February 26, 1998 - The central figure in Minnesota's high-profile tobacco trial is Ramsey County District Judge Kenneth Fitzpatrick, who determines the trial's pace and the evidence jurors will see. Observers now have a good sense of what effect his judicial style is having on the trial. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
February 27, 1998 - Next Tuesday night, Republicans and Democrats hold precinct caucuses to elect delegates to this summer's party conventions. This week, Minnesota Public Radio is profiling the candidates vying for their endorsement for Governor. State politics reporter Eric Jansen interviewed DFL candidate John Marty, a fourth-term state senator who lost a bid for governor four years ago. John Marty says a key difference between him and most (other) politicians is his refusal to take money from lobbyists and political action committees. He says that's why he can, as he puts it, fight the tough fights, like defeating plans to publicly finance a new ball park for the Mi
February 27, 1998 - The state has wrapped up a week of explaining to jurors how it came up with the 1-point-77 billion dollars it's seeking from tobacco companies in the Minnesota tobacco trial. Defense attorneys say it's seriously flawed. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports... The bulk of this week's testimony could easily be called the LEAST riveting of the trial - it included no intriguing industry documents, no discussion of what tobacco companies knew about health risks and when they knew it. But the minutia of statistical calculations is a vital com