February 7, 1997 - MPR’s Chris Roberts profile sisters Julia and Irina Elkina, one of Russia's more prominent duo-piano teams. The immigrated to Minnesota, and now call Minneapolis their home. One advantage they may have over other piano duos, is they also happen to be identical twins.
February 7, 1997 - A reading by Robert Treuer, "the Tree Farm," part of the Voices from the Heartland series.
February 10, 1997 - Midday looks at drunk driving and the proposal to reduce the legal blood alcohol limit for driving to .08 with Steve Simon, University of Minnesota law professor and director of the MN Criminal Justice System DWI Task Force; and Lynn Goughler, public liaison and legislative chair of the organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
February 10, 1997 - Leaders of the Star Tribune newspaper had their day at the Capitol when they appeared before the Senate Elections Law Committee. They explained how a photograph of failed Minneapolis Senate candidate John Derus appeared next to an article about charity fraud. Derus says the mistake, which was published the day of the primary last September, cost him the election against Senator Linda Higgins. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports.
February 10, 1997 - Minneapolis officials are considering opening up the city's private trash hauling contract to competitive bids for the first time in 25 years. At least one council member thinks the city could save several million dollars a year by seeking other bidders. The consortium of haulers that now handles the waste admits the city might be able to save some money -- but contends small haulers would likely go out of business in the process. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Wareham reports.
February 10, 1997 - Minnesota storyteller, playwright and actor Kevin Kling says his storytelling is from personal experience. The stories use humor because Kling says humor is a solvent that helps us accept the difficulty of our lives. In our Voices of Minnesota interview, Kevin Kling talks about storytelling. Riding the 21A bus line between St. Paul and Minneapolis was the source for one of Kling's best known works. "Fear and Loving" is a new collection of Kling stories about growing up. He was recently on stage at the Jungle Theatre in Minneapolis playing one of the leads in "Waiting for Godot". Kling was born in Missouri and grew up in the Twin Cities suburbs of Brooklyn Center and Maple Grove. Minnesota Public Radio's John Rabe talked with Kling about his work.
February 10, 1997 - Today the jury decided that O-J Simpson must pay $25-million dollars in compensatory damages for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. In most basic terms, they decided what amount of money equals Simpson's crime. We've been making comparisons like this for thousands of years, according to Jack Weatherford, who sees bad and good in the process. Weatherford teaches anthropology at Macalester College in Saint Paul, and his latest book is "The History of Money." Minnesota Public Radio's John Rabe and senior economics editor Chris Farrell talked with Weatherford about his book, which starts in the kingdom of Lydia somewhere around 635-B.C.
February 10, 1997 - Master potter Richard Bresnahan wages a one-man campaign from his central Minnesota studio to tout the beauty and usefulness of clay pottery. Today in our Odd Jobs segment, we talk to the Collegeville potter who designed and built the nation's largest wood-fired kiln at Saint John's University, and the pottery studio on the edge of campus. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum visited Bresnahan in his earth-toned studio rich with the smell of indiginous clays, where he was starting his day preparing slip, the watery clay mixture vital for throwing good pots.
February 10, 1997 - Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life is planning a rally tomorrow at the state capitol to protest a medical procedure sometimes referred to as "partial-birth abortions." Banning the relatively rare abortion procedure is an MCCL priority this year, but some lawmakers say they're not as concerned about MCCL's priorities as they used to be. MCCL lost a powerful ally when House Speaker Irv Anderson was toppled last month, and that's translated into a loss of clout at the Capitol. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports.
February 10, 1997 - Storyteller and playwright Kevin Kling talks with MPR'S John Rabe about life in Minnesota as material for his work.