April 7, 1998 - Ken Morris, president of the State Board of Education, discusses education and state's "Profile of Learning" graduation standards. Morris also answers listener questions.
April 7, 1998 - On this Midday, a broadcast of Theodore Shaw, associate director and counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund speaking at Annual National Conference of Education Writers Association, held in San Francisco. Shaw states the anti-affirmative action movement has misrepresented Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy.
April 7, 1998 - MPR's Mary Losure talked to kids at an afterschool daycare program for a child's eye view of the severe storm and tornado that hit St. Peter, Minnesota.
April 7, 1998 - Feedlots have been among the most contentious issues at the legislature this session, and lawmakers say they need more information before deciding whether to pass a moratorium on new ones. They've asked the legislative auditor to review the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's oversight of feedlots. News reports have raised questions about the make-up of the MPCA, as well as the number of permits that have been granted. Roger Brooks is with the legislative auditor's office. He says of all the issues the legislature works on, only a handful sift to the top and merit this kind of investigation: Roger Brooks is with the legislative auditor's office.
April 7, 1998 - St. Paul-based Green Tree Financial is being sold to an Indiana insurance company. Conseco (kahn SAY co) will buy Green Tree for about $7.6 billion if stockholders and federal regulators give their approval. The deal is seen as a way for Green Tree to expand its loan business for consumer products. Green Tree's founder Larry Coss, once America's highest paid corporate executive, will stay on as head of the company. Coss says he expects the deal means Green Tree will hire more employees. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports. The 23-year-old Green Tree Financial got its start selling mobile home mortages. It's one of the country's fastest growing and most profitable consumer loan businesses. Green Tree's profits have come down but business is growing, Coss says, because c
April 7, 1998 - Tobacco companies have reluctantly turned over a much fought-over cache of documents the State says shows the industry's deepest, darkest secrets. Now the files are in the hands of State and Blue Cross Blue Shield attorneys who plan to use them as ammunition in Minnesota's lawsuit against the tobacco industry. Tobacco company staff wheeled more than 100 boxes of confidential files into the state's minneapolis lawfirm to an audience of onlookers, lawyers and reporters. (sfx...squeaky wheels, boxes being thrown down etc) The tobacco industry fought hard to keep these files secret; they climbed a ladder of appeals to the U-S Supreme Court--and lost. Right now, these files are subject to protective order and aren't
April 7, 1998 - Light rail transit advocates are closer to winning legislative approval for an LRT line in Minneapolis. Lawmakers trying to iron out Minnesota House and Senate spending differences are being told the operating cost of bus and rail service along Hiawatha Avenue are about the same. Advocates say answering the operating cost question is a big step toward convincing lawmakers and the governor that LRT from downtown Minneapolis to the airport is feasible. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports. The agreement reached in a legislative conference committee gets at the long running controversy over what is cheaper to operate - bus or LRT. Minnesota Department of Transporation director of intergovernmental policy Bill Schrieber says his agency and the Metro
April 7, 1998 - In sports, the Minnesota Twins play the Toronto Blue Jays tonight at the Metrodome and the Minnesota Timberwolves are at home tonight against the Miami Heat. Starting next summer there might be a new team added to the professional sports schedule in Minnesota. The Timberwolves and the NBA are considering whether to bring a WNBA franchise to town. The WNBA is the women's professional basketball league that started play last summer. Joining me now to discuss that is MPR sports commentator Jay Weiner.
April 8, 1998 - Joseph Daly, law professor at Hamline University, discusses progression of the tobacco trial in Minnesota. Daly outlines lawsuit that the State of Minnesota and Blue Cross have filed against the tobacco industry. Daly also answers listener questions.
April 8, 1998 - Abortion issues are likely to come up in both houses of the state legislature today. A legislative conference committee has passed a Health and Human Services spending bill with money for lots of health and social services programs. But the bill does not include two controversial abortion provisions a majority of house members have demanded . Minnesota Public Radio's Eric Jansen reports from the state capitol.