February 5, 1998 - The economic crisis in Asia probably seems remote to many Minnesotans, but in many ways, Minnesota and Asia are joined at the wallet. According to rough estimates, Minnesota agricultural exports to Asia in 1996, amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars. Minnesota manufacturers exported more than 2.6 Billion dollars worth of goods to Japan, China and other Asian countries. The exports go to countries now in the midst of economic turmoil from slowing economies, business bankruptcies and unemployment. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin has this look at the symptoms of the Asian economic Flu in Minnesota.
February 5, 1998 - Baseball commentator Kevin Hennessey reviews the Chuck Knoblauch trade. The Twins second baseman and four-time All-Star was traded to the New York Yankees for $3 million and four minor-league players.
February 6, 1998 - MPR’s news director, Bill Buzenberg, moved to the Twin Cities from the East Coast just before Christmas. Weather-wise, he says, this was not what he was expecting. Frankly, he’s disappointed with the ‘tundra.”
February 6, 1998 - note host back announce When the Iowa septuplets were born last November, many experts in reproductive medicine reacted with mixed feelings. The mother, Bobbi McCaughey, got pregnant using a powerful fertility drug that stimulated her ovaries so much that she produced seven babies. Some infertility specialists say that the chance of multiple births--and other risks with infertility medicine--might be lower if not for a long-standing ban on federal support for human embryo research. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephen Smith reports: To find out more about our series, "The Fertility Ra
February 6, 1998 - A new state report to be released this morning says all the studies of Twin Cities transit options done so far do not make a convincing case for the expensive proposals before lawmakers this session. The report from the Legislative Auditor raises questions about the predictions of car congestion on Twin Cities roadways. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more. The Legislative Auditor's report won't be public until it's released to lawmakers. State officials who've seen the document say the report finds that for all the analysis over the past 30 years, especially of light rail transit, crucial information has not been looked at. The report says there's no analysis of what taxpayers will get in the way of
February 6, 1998 - Lou Bellamy, Penumbra's artistic director, says his theater has outgrown its current home in the Hallie Q. Brown/Martin Luther King Center and is looking to be a part of African American arts complex in St. Paul.
February 6, 1998 - use this edited version Republican gubernatorial candidates made their pitch for the environmentalist vote last night (THURS). State Senator Roy Terwilliger and former State Representative Allen Quist took questions from the League of Conservation Voters, a group that's trying to get all the candidates on the record on issues ranging from nuclear waste storage to wetlands. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: If last night's League of Conservation Voters forum is any indication, urban sprawl and the transportation problems that go with it has become a top-priority issue for Minnesota environmentalists. The audience peppered the candidates with questions about land use planning, mass transit and gridlock -- and the two Republicans offered some surprising
February 9, 1998 - Minnesota's tobacco trial enters its third week today, with more questioning of a spokesman for the tobacco industry's trade association. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.
February 9, 1998 - House Republicans today (MON) announced they want to use the money generated by the state's tobacco lawsuit for state-wide tax relief. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin kaste reports the lawmakers aren't waiting to see how the trial ends to consider how to spend the money the state MIGHT win.
February 9, 1998 - For decades, the rule was you couldn't win against big tobacco. The companies had deep pockets to wage legal battles. Juries and judges consistently blamed smokers for their own use of cigarettes and the harm they caused. Then, in 1994, a friend of Mississippi Attorney General Michael Moore came up with a new idea. If a state sued for money it paid out in medical bills for cigarette smokers, the companies might be found responsible. The tobacco companies could not claim that a state smoked a cigarette. In a new book about how the states took on the tobacco companies, The People Vs Big Tobacco, the authors follow both sides of the story that lead to the trial here in Minnesota. Co-author Adam Levy says its been difficult for individual smokers to make headway against tobacco companies.