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.
January 30, 1998 - All Things Considered’s Chris Roberts reports on high school students participating in the annual Music Listening Contest. Whiz kids from all over the state gathered at Augsburg College in Minneapolis for the state finals. Roberts looks at how they prepared, what they've learned, and the rigors of the contest itself.
January 30, 1998 - MPR’s Lorna Benson walks around Rice Park with historian Paul Larson, who speaks about how the Winter Carnival is all about fortitude and making the best of what mother nature hurls our way.
February 2, 1998 - Opponents of so-called "factory farms" rallied at the state capital, calling for a two year moratorium on the expansion of large feedlots. They say new, concentrated livestock operations are polluting Minnesota's air and water, and squeezing out family-sized livestock farms. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports. Wearing "Stop Factory Farms" buttons and carrying signs with slogans like) "land of ten thousand hog lagoons" signs, the crowd of 150 voiced its support for the feedlot moratorium. Monica Cahout farms in Renville County, where some of t
February 2, 1998 - Many Minnesota 8th graders have been hitting the books hard in the last few weeks, preparing for statewide reading and math tests which start tomorrow. This is the first year every school in the state has to participate. Last year, about one third of all tested students failed, prompting a public outcry and pushing school districts to make changes. This year there's tremendous pressure for students and schools to perform well, but some are still questioning the value of the tests. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire checked in at one Minneapolis school where preparations are continuing at a furious pace.
February 2, 1998 - MPR’s Mary Stucky matches up the content of the State-of-the-State addresses through Governor Arne Carlson’s tenure. His speeches over the years reflect the changing fortunes of the state and ups and downs in Carlson’s relationship with state lawmakers.
February 3, 1998 - A chemical engineering professor is set to testify about the ingredients in cigarettes today at Minnesota's tobacco trial. Minnesota public radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports: The State's lead attorney is expected to call Channing Robertson--a Stanford University Chemical Engineering professor. Robertson has testified as an expert witness in a number of other trials including a southern California toxic waste case and lawsuits involving I-U-D birth control devices. Later in the week attorneys are expected to call to the stand Walker Merryman who directs the tobacco industry's public relations and lobbying group--The Tobacco Institute. Also set to testify--Bennett LeBow who heads Liggett tobacco Liggett has settled its case with the State of Minnesota but not
February 3, 1998 - The Twins stadium is alive again at the State Legislature…just two months after lawmakers killed it. The stadium's chief cheerleader this time around is State Senator and gubernatorial candidate Roy Terwilliger, who says he has a plan Minnesotans will like a lot better than anything the Twins proposed last year.