July 2, 1998 - Bob Walker, the President of Handgun Control, Inc and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, discusses gun laws debate both nationally and in Minnesota. Topics include licensing, gun use by children, and gun legislation. Walker also answers listener questions.
August 17, 1998 - Michael Ciresi, lead attorney in the Minnesota tobacco trial, speaking at the annual meeting of the Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association in Alexandria. In a keynote address, Ciresi speaks about his experiences.
August 18, 1998 - Michael Scandrett, executive director of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans and former Director of the MN Health Care Commission, and Lee Greenfield, state representative and Chairman of the House Health and Human Services Finance Division, discuss MinnesotaCare, HMO's, Medicare and Medicaid, prescription costs, and employer health benefits. Scandrett and Greenfield also answer listener question.
August 18, 1998 - Dr. Robert Butler, founding Director of the National Institute on Aging, gerontologist and medical ethicist, speaking at the AARP National convention in Minneapolis. Butler’s speech was titled "End of Life Decision Making."
August 21, 1998 - An MPR Special presenting interviews with all seven major party gubernatorial candidates on health care, followed by listener reaction to the candidates. Program begins with brief reports on the various candidates.
August 27, 1998 - Along with cancelling hundreds of flights, as of eleven last (WED) night, Northwest Airlines also stopped taking any additional cargo shipments, putting many Minnesota businesses in a bind but it seems those businesses are making do. Minnesota Public Radio's John Rabe reports.
August 31, 1998 - Throughout this election season, Minnesota Public Radio is examining some of the campaign advertising for the state's gubernatorial candidates. A little more than two weeks before the September primary, DFL'er Mark Dayton has greatly outspent his opponents on TV spots - some of the candidates haven't even run ads yet. Although the candidates are largely avoiding personal attacks, analysts say the political parties are running the nastier ads. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.
August 31, 1998 - Doctors at the Mayo Clinic are warning that a popular dietary supplement, 5 Hydroxy Tryptophan or 5-HTP, may contain a contaminant suspected in a rare blood disease. And late today, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed the Mayo findings. The study, published in the September issue of "Nature Medicine," reports that Mayo doctors have found the same contaminant in off-the-shelf brands of 5-HTP that they found in a batch of the L-Tryptophan dietary supplement that killed 30 people in 1989. Minnesota Public Radio's Brent Wolfe reports from Rochester.
September 1, 1998 - State Fair veterinarian Dr. Mike Byoorklin works the barns at the fairgrounds, treating sick or injured animals.
September 9, 1998 - The five gubernatorial candidates running in the D-F-L primary debated the issues on the Minnesota News Network last night. They weren't allowed to mention Republican candidate Norm Coleman, so they criticized frontrunner Skip Humphrey on his tax cut plan, abortion and stadium funding. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports... The five agree on many issues - they support tax cuts, more spending on education and health care, and the need to end Northwest Airlines' dominance in Minnesota. They oppose using taxpayer dollars for a new Twins stadium. But in a competitive five-way race, they need to distinguish themselves from their primary opponents without bloodying each other an