May 28, 2001 - Most Minnesota hunters take to the fields in the fall, hoping to bag a deer, ducks, pheasants or grouse. But a growing number of hunters are heading for the woods in the spring in search of the wild turkey. Wild turkeys once inhabited only extreme southeastern Minnesota, but with human help their range has expanded far beyond what most experts thought possible just a few years ago. Mainstreet Radios Dan Gunderson reports.
May 29, 2001 -
May 30, 2001 - Medtronic says it will spend more than three and a half BILLION dollars to get into the diabetes (die-ah-BEE-tees) treatment business. The Fridley-based medical device giant is buying "MiniMed, Incorporated," a maker of insulin pumps and glucose monitors AND the much smaller -- "Medical Research Group," which is developing an implantable insulin system. Medtronic says with the two Los Angeles-based companies it can begin serving the enormous and rapidly-growing diabetes market. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports...
June 1, 2001 - As populations decline in rural areas, providing access to medical care becomes more difficult. Medical providers attending a rural technology conference this week in Fargo had a chance to see how technology can improve access and quality of care. Mainstreet Radios Dan Gunderson reports.
June 1, 2001 - The Minnesota Nurses' Association is getting ready to present contract proposals from 7 Twin Cities hospitals to 5500 nurses over the next two days. While the bargaining units for the hospitals and the union seem optimistic that the rank and file membership will approve the agreements, some nurses are expressing disappointment. Since the hospitals and union started contract talks in February, nurses have been asking for better working conditions and higher pay. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
June 1, 2001 - A scheduled strike by registered nurses at 7 Twin Cities Hospitals is now off after a long night of negotiations. Officials with the Minnesota Nurses Association and 7 Twin Cities hospitals have averted a strike, at least for now. A spokewsoman with the Minnesota Nurses Association says they're delaying their strike plans for most of the hospitals until 5:30 Sunday morning so the nurses can review the new contract proposals from the hospitals and schedule votes for tomorrow. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
June 4, 2001 - The Mayo Clinic is latest major employer to announce changes in employee retirement benefits as the baby boom generation prepares to exit the workforce. The changes scheduled to go into effect over the next two years, target the current pension plan and post-retirement medical benefits. Minnesota Public Radio's Erin Galbally reports:
June 5, 2001 - Officials with the Minnesota Nurses Associaiton and Allina Health Systems say they'll meet again today to "explore options" regarding the recount of votes by nurses at Abbott Northwestern Hospital and the Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis. The union says it conducted 3 recounts of the ratification of the vote on Sunday and would only say the tally "was in doubt." The union did recounts at two other hospitals as well and say they turned up no discrepencies. Meanwhile, 15-hundred nurses from two Fairview Hospitals continue to walk picket lines. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
June 5, 2001 - Nurses at two Minneapolis hospitals will remain on the job even though they may have rejected a contract proposal last weekend by a single vote. Officials with the Minnesota Nurses Association say they discovered a voting mixup only after telling Allina Health System that nurses at Abbott Northwestern Hospital and the Phillips Eye Institute had ratified the contract. And by then -- from a legal standpoint -- it was too late to correct the mistake. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
June 6, 2001 -