January 9, 1997 - MPR’s Bill Wareham reports on Minnesota Twins release of stadium proposal. State lawmakers now know it will cost upwards of $200 million to ensure the Twins remain in Minnesota. The team announced it would contribute $83 million of the estimated $350 million needed to build a new ballpark. Though the public would have to come up with the rest, it would get something no other community has…a 49% ownership interest in the team.
January 9, 1997 - Women in the Directors Chair, an annual film festival, is underway at the Walker Art Center is Minneapolis. The series includes films by female directors from Minnesota, movies made by girls between 7-and-19, and local premieres. Julie Swenson's film, The Fairy Gardener, shows tomorrow evening at the Walker. Swenson started making The Fairy Gardener a few years ago in New York. She now lives in the Twin Cities. The Fairy Gardener -- shot in one day -- is a very short film, with narration only at the beginning and end, with lyrical oboe music in between. I sat down with Swenson and a copy of her film yesterday. Twin Cities filmmaker Julie Swenson. The short film The Fairy Gard
January 10, 1997 - WX INFO Minnesota Public Radio's own Marcie Tveidt is on a West Coast vacation. That is, she was supposed to be on vacation, but she took the Empire Builder train and, when we last heard from her, was somewhere is the middle of North Dakota's winter weather. Minnesota Public Radio's Marcie Tveidt, reporting from Stanley, North Dakota. Sun 28-MAY 21:10:04 MPR NewsPro Archive - Wed 04/11/2001
January 10, 1997 - MPR’s Gretchen Lehmann reports on the growing number of women involved in the sport of dog sled racing. Women are out in record numbers as mushers, braving sub-zero temperatures to experience the thrill of rushing through the woods on a sled pulled by a team of dogs.
January 10, 1997 - In technology news today, pagers go wild, IBM admits email troubles with its internet service. And, a peek at the future of Apple with Steve Jobs back on the ship.
January 10, 1997 - With the resurgence of the Hennepin Avenue theater district in Minneapolis and the strength of the Ordway theater in St. Paul, broadway-style entertainment in the twin cities would appear to be healthier than ever. But some wonder whether the local appetite for broadway is big enough to support the three major broadway venues in town. While there's agreement on both sides of the river that the local music theater industry needs a metro strategy, officials haven't been able to work out the details. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts reports.
January 10, 1997 - The state's non-profit sector is hoping to gain the ear of state lawmakers this session as they work through welfare reform. As Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports, as services cutbacks occur and restrictions tighten...non-profits are bracing for an even BIGGER role in maintaining the social welfare of the state's people. As the state legislature shapes major policy for the next two years in this budget session, leaders of various non-profit organizations want to be at the table. Various complex issues such as welfare reform affect non-profits since THEY are often on the front line.... providing services as diverse as health CARE, education, transportation and welfare. In the case of WELFARE reform...many non-profits expect to be fulfilling f
January 13, 1997 - As part of a series on poverty, MPR’s John Biewen looks at the growth of so-called 'fringe banks'…pawnbrokers and check-cashing shops. A growing number of low-income Americans are relying on 'fringe banks' in place of traditional banking services.
January 13, 1997 - As part of a series on poverty, MPR’s John Biewen reports that while the Minnesota legislature passed regulations in 1996 designed to control interest rates so pawn customers wouldn't have to pay ten or fifteen times the rates charged for credit card loans, some of the state's pawnshops are using a loophole in the law to charge more than 200%.
January 13, 1997 - Governor Carlson's allies today floated the idea of increasing the state's cigarette tax to pay for a new Twins Stadium. Senate Republican leader Dean Johnson says the Governor is interested in adding ten cents to the price of a pack of cigarettes... But as Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports, the idea isn't going over very well at the Capitol: The cigarette tax for the Twins is the very definition of a political trial balloon. Nobody has actually to endorsed the idea, but the Governor's staff says Carlson does find the idea "intriguing," Senate Republican leader Dean Johnson was the one who brought the subject up. He says the Legislature should consider the idea -- although he stopped short of actually proposing it.