April 3, 2001 - Private providers of family planning services today (TUESDAY) said they could lose signficant funding if legislation approved by a key House committee becomes law. Last week, the Health and Human Services committee voted to shift state family planning grants from non-profit groups to cities and counties. Opponents say the move is a veiled attack on groups that provide abortions. But supporters say the switch simply gives taxpayers oversight into how the money is used. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports. {NARRATION: The state health department estimates private family planning groups currently receive roughly 3 million dollars a year in state grants. But amendments tacked onto the omnibus health care financing bill would strip those funds from private non-profits and pass them to local governments to provide the same services. Ray Martin is the director of Healthy Start, an adolescent health care organization which receives a yearly 100-thousand dollar grant. He says continuing the funding for non-profit providers will pay off in the long run.
April 3, 2001 - The Minnesota Department of Agriculture announced today it has formed an inter-agency task force to coordinate state and federal efforts to prevent Mad Cow Disease. The highly contagious disease, which is also called BSE, wastes the brains of cattle and can be transfered to humans. The state agriculture department's Meat Inspection supervisor Kevin Elfering says Minnesota has ALREADY been taking precautions to make sure the disease doesn't infect the state's livestock:
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April 4, 2001 - Advocates pitched state lawmakers yesterday on the notion of at least considering legalizing marijuana for medical use. They told members of the Senate Transportation and Public Safety Budget Division the illegal drug has beneficial uses to treat certain illnesses. They want the state to spend 100 thousand dollars to conduct further research on the drug. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
April 4, 2001 - Here in Minnesota, a new non-profit is helping foreign doctors learn new techniques to treat people with HIV. This year, PlanetAide is sponsoring four doctors from Ecuador who have been meeting with Minnesota AIDS specialists, talking to people who are HIV-positive and gathering information to use in their own clinics. Dr. Lilly Marquez, an Ob-Gyn from Guayaquil, (Gway-ah-keel) Ecaudor has been in Minneapolis since late January. She says there are very few AIDS drugs in Ecuador.
April 6, 2001 - The Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco is kicking off a 5 and a half million dollar advertising campaign to raise public awareness about the dangers of secondhand smoke. The organization says most Americans don't know that secondhand smoke has severe health effects for non-smokers. Anti-tobacco activists say this type of advertising discourages people from smoking. But even the Minnesota group gears up its latest effort, House Republicans are eyeing another pot of anti-smoking money they say could be better spent elsewhere. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
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April 11, 2001 - Democrats in the Minnesota Senate say they want to spend about 600-million dollars more than Governor Ventura's budget on education, transportation and health care, and about 400-million dollars more than House Republicans. Senate D-F-L'ers revealed their spending priorities today WEDNESDAY, setting the stage for the end-of-session negotiations between the three players in Minnesota's tripartisan government. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
April 12, 2001 - The State Supreme Court is forcing Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota to reconsider its plans for a massive anti-smoking campaign. The insurer proposed the campaign to spend down a surplus it ran up because of its 1998 settlement with the tobacco industry. The court didn't rule on the merits of the plan itself, but said the commerce commissioner had the authority to reject it. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports:
April 13, 2001 - Many Granite Falls residents will take time off from the sandbag lines this weekend to celebrate the Easter holiday. Bruce Kenzel is the Pastor of Granite Falls Lutheran Church. He says his congregation will be ready for the break after a long bittersweet week: