November 1, 2000 - Voters from across the state will decide the fate of more than fifty school referendum proposals when they head to the polls next week. School districts are asking for more money for everything from day to day operations to brand new facilities. Minnesota Public Radio's Erin Galbally reports from Rochester. On November 7th Rochester schools will ask for tax payer support to save them from a projected multi million dollar deficit. Rochester is hardly an anomaly this election cycle. Faced with dwindling enrollment, the Blooming Prairie School District plans to ask for more money... and in Lakeville approval of a school referendum will mean five million dollars more for the district for the next seven years. Northern Minnesota's Greenway school district says without referendum money its schools could go bankrupt. Back in Rochester schools are looking for an annual infusion of ten million dollars for the next ten years. School Board Member Lori Jonason says like referendum proposals in Farmington and Crookston schools need the money to avoid massive cuts. Jonason:
November 2, 2000 - Employers are bracing for another round of double digit increases in the cost of health care premiums. Next year's projected increase will mark the fourth year premium costs have swelled between 10 and 20 percent. Some companies are starting to pass the extra cost on to their employees. In St. Cloud, about 1600 fridgidare workers are on strike, in part because the raise management was offering didn't cover the extra cost employees were asked to pay in insurance premiums. Carolyn Jones is the director of health care and transportation policy at the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. She says there are two main reasons health care costs are climbing:
November 2, 2000 -
November 2, 2000 - Northeast Minnesota is being targeted not only by the presidential campaigns, but also by the leading state candidates for U-S Senate. Rod Grams and Mark Dayton both stumped hard in Duluth today, five days before the elections. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports: {t's clear Republican Rod Grams considers Minnesota's arrowhead important to his re-election chances. Grams is a regular visitor and has pushed popular local issues including protections for the motorized recreation dear to many in this region.}
November 2, 2000 - Throughout this campaign, candidates for the U S Senate in Minnesota have campaigned on the issue of a "Patient's Bill of Rights." In this age of managed care, politicians have tapped into consumers concern that health care decisions will be decided solely by an HMO rather than a doctor. The three U-S Senate Candidates all agree that a national "patients bill of rights" needs to be established, but they disagree on the specifics. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
November 2, 2000 - If you've been paying attention at all to this year's senate campaign, you've been hearing quit a bit of talk about taxes. And much of the discussion has been about what should be done with projected mutli-trillion dollar federal surplus. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports on what the three major party candidates are saying about taxes in general and SPECIFICALLY how their proposing to spend the surplus.
November 3, 2000 - The three major candidate for US Senate fanned out across the state today to get out the vote and pick up last-minute support before next Tuesday's election. We begin our coverage of the Senate race with Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo who spent the day with DFLer Mark Dayton.
November 3, 2000 - The "Citizens' Ad Police" were on patrol again this week, critiquing some of the campaign ads blanketing the airwaves. M-P-R ad analyst Dean Alger gathered a group of six Twin Cities residents to watch the latest ads in hotly-contested Congressional races, and a few commercials for Independence Party candidates. In the last of our series of Ad Watches for campaign 2000, Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
November 6, 2000 - Questions on social security dominated the final debate between Minnesota's three major U.S. Senate candidates, Republican Rod Grams, Independence party candidate James Gibson and D-F-Ler Mark Dayton. With just a day to go before the elections, the atmosphere among the candidates at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul was spirited and sometimes tense, with an unusually rowdy audience adding to the mix. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports.
November 6, 2000 - MPR’s Tim Post reports on the 1,600 Frigidaire who workers have been on strike for about a week, claiming a recent contract proposal from the company includes a pay raise that doesn't keep pace with insurance premium increases. Strikes of this size are rare in central Minnesota where organized labor has never had a strong presence, but some say unions are on the upswing in this part of the state.