January 27, 1997 - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wants to increase the cost of a fishing license. The DNR says the quality of fishing in Minnesota is at stake. but the chairman of a key legislative committee and some fishing groups says if the DNR wants to raise fees it must agree to be more accountable. Minnesota Public Radio’s Dan Gunderson reports.
January 27, 1997 - THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES'S MONOPOLY INTERNET PROVIDER HAS LAUNCHED A SERVICE ON TO CENSOR SITES THAT BREACH 'LOCAL MORAL VALUES AND TRADITIONS.' THE MOVE FOLLOWS REPEATED CALLS TO REGULATE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET IN THE CONSERVATIVE GULF REGION, WHERE MOST WOMEN ARE VEILED, MAGAZINE PICTURES REVEALING CLEAVAGE OR BARE LEGS ARE BLACKED OUT AND QUE
January 27, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio's Catherine Winter reports from Embarrass, where several dozen people spend time in sleeping in snow shelters to test everything from sleeping bags to cell phones. Temperatures in northern Minnesota provide perfect weather for camping…if you want to find out how your camping gear performs in the bitter cold.
January 27, 1997 - VOICES OF MINNESOTA interview with Rick Stafford for Monday, Jan 27, l997. Stafford says he is a political peon - willing to take on any task for his party. His willingness won him the job of chair of the DFL party in l993 - a job he held for over two years. The openly gay Stafford has the AIDS virus and health problems caused him to leave the job in l995. Today on our Voices of Minnesota interview we will will hear from the 44-year-old political activist. Stafford grew up in the southern Minnesota town of New Richland, and graduated from Mankato State University. For ten years he owned the West Concord newspaper. Stafford told Minnesota Public Radio's Karen Louise Boothe a childhood physical disability and the death of his father when Stafford was six taught him lifelong lessons.
January 28, 1997 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports that the battle lines that marked the fight over passage of Minnesota’s Human Rights Bill have not gone away. Roberts interviews numerous individuals on the law’s effect.
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.