January 28, 1997 - State education officials say they want more students out of classrooms learning about life in the real world. The Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning is preparing to launch a 23-million dollar school-to-work project. It's aimed at creating new educational experiences relevant to life and work...and giving students the skills needed to enter the workforce. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... --------------------------------------------------------- | D-CART ITEM: 0626 | TIME: 6:05 | OUTCUE: s.o.c. --------------------------------------------------------- It's an ageold problem...and an age old childhood excuse... students lose interest in learning when the subject seems irrelavant. The school-to-work movement tries to spark interest
January 29, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio’s Mark Steil looks at turnover issues at meatpacking plants in Minnesota. The average worker in the meatpacking industry only stays on the job for a few months. The job is so difficult, dangerous and some might argue downright nasty that many plants hire the equivalent of a new work force each year. That creates problems for towns which host a meatpacking factory, with school enrollments changing constantly and short term housing stretched to the limit.
January 29, 1997 - Minnesota teenager's have a much higher rate of vehicle accidents than other drivers. State officials say the young drivers need more training. So, beginning the first of February, Minnesotan's 18 or younger will need to wait six months between getting their permit and their drivers license. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports. There's no waiting period for Minnesota fifteen year olds right now. The minute they get their permit and reach their 16th birthday, they can head for the nearest testing site and try for their license. Wayne Jerrow, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety says the new law requires a six month waiting period in an attempt to give the teens more experience. tape . . . the purpose is to give the young adults more practice time, and practice with their parents, with less risk.
January 29, 1997 - MPR's Laura McCallum reports on the The Minnesota Twins nearing the end of a statewide road trip to more than 70 communities across the state. The Twins' Winter Caravan has been around for years as a way to thank fans and stir up support, but this year it's much larger than in the past…and with it concerns over the possibility of pitching a proposed new Twins stadium to captive student audiences during a school visit.
January 29, 1997 - The ANTI-smoking lobby at the state capitol believes THIS is the year to get the support needed to pass a bill designed to help keep cigarettes out of the hands of children. The bill gets a hearing tomorrow (today-thurs) in the House Commerce Committee. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports from the capitol: The bill establishes a system of licensing and compliance checks for retailers who sell tobacco and it provides for PENALITIES for stoes which sell tobacco to minors. The bill ALSO prohibits self-service tobacco displays in places accessible to minors. Under the legislation cities would not be preempted from passing local ordinances that are even MORE restrictive than state law.
January 31, 1997 - MPR's Mark Zdechlik reports on how the Minnesota Twins tried to generate some excitement after a long week of defending their proposal for a new stadium against mounting criticism. The team unveiled an architect's model of the retractable roof ball park it hopes to build in downtown Minneapolis.
January 31, 1997 - Currently about 20-percent of the state's nearly 8,000 physicians are women. But those numbers are expected to more than double in the next few years. That's because women are now attending the U of M Medical School at almost the same rate as men. .And before long, this gender parity in the classroom will begin showing up in the doctor's office. As Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson reports, some female patients can hardly wait.
January 31, 1997 - Many Minnesota school districts are wondering how to make up for missed "snow days." There's a lot of winter still to come, and while it's common for schools to build two or three extra days into the educational calendar, two or three extra WEEKs are another matter. Leif Enger of Mainstreet Radio reports. Any school superintendent will tell you, you can't win. Call off school on a stormy day, and parents will complain the weather's
January 31, 1997 - Lawmakers will be lobbied on the bus this morning by mayors from several Twin Cities communities who want more money for transit and cleaning up polluted ground. The bus tour grows out of discussions among central city and suburban mayors who want a united front in lobbying for some of their interests. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports. Lawmakers will board the bus at the state capitol for a relatively short ride to one of the first sites - several acres of St. Paul land dominated by a huge mound of polluted soil. St. Paul mayor Norm Coleman says a priority among several cities is money to help clean up sites which can be used for development.
January 31, 1997 - Larger-than-life puppets and the magical realism of writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez come together in the latest production of "In the Heart of the Beast" Mask and Puppet Theater in Minneapolis. "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" tells the tale of a broken, elderly man with wings who mysteriously appears in a coastal village and causes an uproar. While the story sounds more like an ancient legend, the production's creators believe it resonates in modern times. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts has a closer look.