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.
April 8, 1998 - Governor Arne Carlson has backed off his threat to veto a billion-dollar tax relief bill... for now. Carlson and legislative leaders reached a tentative deal last night (TUESDAY), but the truce is shaky. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: DFL leaders are trying to win Carlson's support for the tax relief plan by making a ten-percent increase in a program he likes -- one-time rebates for property taxpayers -- and by cutting out a few tax breaks he thinks are unnecessary, like a $20-million credit for higher education expenses. The Governor said those changes might be enough to earn the bill his signature... but he warned DFLers not to go through with a plan to earmark FUTURE state budget surplus monies to building pr
April 8, 1998 - Elementary grade students are back in school this week in Saint Peter. That's a small but important step on a long road to recovery for the tornado damaged school district. Middle school and high school students go back to classes next week, sharing the elementary buildings for the rest of the school year. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... (Sound of classroom chatter) At North Intermediate School in Saint Peter, sixth grade students are dissecting matter regurgitated by owls, looking for the small skeletons of rodents. The class is studying predators and scavangers in the animal world. The unsavory aspects of picking through the remains of an owl's meal is lost on these children, who've spent the past week picking through their scatt
April 8, 1998 - The plaintiffs in Minnesota's lawsuit against the tobacco industry today urged Congress to pass legislation regulating the industry - without big tobacco's approval. The nation's top four tobacco companies now say they will fight a proposed national agreement settling states' lawsuits. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports... Minnesota Attorney General Skip Humphrey says tobacco companies' support for a national settlement crumbled, because the industry didn't get the sweetheart deal it wanted. He urged Congress to approve even tougher legislation cracking down on the industry...
April 8, 1998 - Saint Paul city officials are negotiating with the state Senate to salvage state support for the Minnesota Wild hockey arena. The city had asked the state to contribute $65 million dollars for the arena, but the city is now considering a Senate offer that negotiators have characterized as "half a loaf." Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste joins us from the Capitol.