January 28, 1998 - The first witness in Minnesota's tobacco trial says nicotine is an addictive drug, and a cigarette is the most efficient way to deliver nicotine to smokers. Doctor Richard Hurt's testimony is key to the state's contention that tobacco companies manipulated nicotine content to make cigarettes more addictive, and suppressed information about the health risks of smoking. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
January 28, 1998 - A Minnesota house committee has delayed action on a bill to restrict automatic teller machine surcharges. The bill authored by house banking chair Irv Anderson would ban surcharging by banks that own more than 2 ATMs, but it places no restrictions on surcharges by convenience stores and other retailers that own ATMs. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin has more. The ATM surcharge came in for lots of criticism at the house financial institutions and insurance committee hearing. The fees have provoked a number of bills to reign them in.
January 28, 1998 - President Clinton tried to lay controversy aside last night as he delivered his State of the Union Address in the face of swirling allegations he had an affair with a White House intern. The president's speech was greeted cordially if not warmly by Democrats and Republicans on both sides of the aisle in Minnesota's Congressional delegation. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts reports.
January 28, 1998 - Mass transit trains for the Twin Cities will be in the spotlight today (WED) at the state capitol. Committees in both the House and Senate plan to consider light rail and commuter rail projects, and a coalition of interest groups are announcing their support for a bill to raise the gas tax and put some of the money into mass transit -- possibly, RAIL mass transit. Urban lawmakers say they think this may the year for rail transit at the Capitol... but as Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports, they've been optimistic before: The Twin Cities have been on the verge of building a rail system for YEARS... in 1988, then-Hennepin County Commissioner John Derus was SURE a Minneapolis light rail system was just around the corner:
January 28, 1998 - The first day of testimony begins today in Minnesota's tobacco trial. The State will call a Mayo clinic researcher as its first witness. Dr Richard Hurt is expected to testify about nicotine and addiction. Minnesota public radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports.
January 28, 1998 - MPR’s Bob Potter talks with Robert Lavenda, anthropologist at Saint Cloud State University and an expert on town festivals in Minnesota, about the origins of the carnival legend.
January 29, 1998 - MPR's Mary Stucky reports on folks at the Science Museum of Minnesota hoping to broaden public understanding of what Mozart called the "king of instruments." They'll do this through a special organ festival of concerts, exhibits, and tours sponsored in part by Minnesota Public Radio.
January 29, 1998 - President Clinton spoke at rallies in Champaign, Illinois and La Crosse, Wisconsin yesterday in an effort to focus the nation on the agenda he laid out in his State of the Union speech. Rather than unveiling new initiatives or giving more detail on his plans, the President used the rallies to reiterate his proposals and try to build enthusiasm for them. He recieved a rousing welcome in La Crosse. Minnesota Public Radios Brent Wolfe reports.
January 29, 1998 - At a ceremony today, two of the largest low-income housing providers in Minnesota signed an agreement to work together on promoting fair housing. Officials with the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development office say they're targeting housing discrimination in a part of the state often overlooked: the rural communities. Minnesota Public Radio's Gretchen Lehmann (lay-mun) reports. The Schoolview Manor apartment complex sits in the center of Big Lake. It houses many of the disabled and elderly residents in this town of just over 2,000 people. The complex was chosen for today's announcement because offi
January 30, 1998 - Tobacco attorneys will cross examine a Mayo Clinic physician today in Minnesota's trial. Internal memos released yesterday paint a picture of an industry that capitalized on a smoker's craving for nicotine even though tobacco companies knew smoking caused lung cancer 40 years ago. They also show the industry led a campaign to reassure smokers that smoking wasn't harmful. Minnesota public radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports: The papers reveal how British American Tobacco or batco scientists in the 1950's visited numerous individual researchers in the U-S and Canada to find out what they knew about smoking and cancer. From those meetings BATCO concluded smoking caused lung cancer. That was 1958... 36 years before a group of tobacco company C-E-O's testified before congress that smoking was not addictive and did not cause cancer.