November 23, 1998 - (FOR MONDAY MORNING EDITION) When crimes are committed in Minnesota, physical evidence is often sent to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's crime lab in St. Paul. It's the only one of its kind in the state, and BCA officials say the lab's location in the Twin Cities makes it inconvenient and expensive for northern law enforcement officers. As Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Robertson reports from Bemidji, the agency is considering a satellite crime lab in northern Minnesota...
November 23, 1998 - Duluth teachers vote Tuesday whether to accept a new contract. The Independent District 709 board approved the agreement Sunday, but board members worry how to pay for it. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Kelleher reports...
November 24, 1998 - MPR’s Kathryn Herzog presents a Mainstreet Radio report on the lack of crop diversity on many modern Minnesota farms. Some farmers and agronomists are looking for ways to bring the diversity back.
November 24, 1998 - Speaker-designate Steve Sviggum named the 28 new chairmen of the Minnesota House legislative committees today (TUES). The chairmen have a lot of say over which bills get a hearing, and they'll set the new tone for the new Republican majority. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste has more.
November 24, 1998 - The Minnesota Supreme Court is considering a new rule that would let trial judges bar some people who represent themselves from suing. The high court held a public hearing on the proposed rule this afternoon. Minnesota Public Radio's Eric Jansen reports: An advisory commitee that (meets annually to) reviews courtroom rules says frivolous lawsuits often tie up precious court time. The committee is recommending a new rule to cut down on those suits. Under the proposal (ed) rule, litigants without lawyers could be barred if they have brought and lost three cases in the past five years. David Herr, a court reporter for the panel presented the recom
November 24, 1998 - St. Paul writer Patricia Hampl has received another big honor--She's won a Pushcart Prize for one of her short stories. Hampl is better known for her memoirs A Romantic Education and Virgin Time and her two volumes of poetry. In 1990 she received a McArthur Genius grant. The prize-winning story called "The Bill Collector's Vacation" originally appeared in the literary journal Ploughshares last fall. The Pushcart anthologies pull together the best stories, poems and essays published by small presses in a given year. Hampl says winning a Pushcart means a lot more people may actually read her story: Patricia Hampl's story "The Bill Collector's Vacation."
November 25, 1998 - Vin Weber, former Republican Minnesota Congressman, talks about how Congress behaves and how and why this incivility behavior evolved. Weber also answers listener questions.
November 25, 1998 - Mae Schunk, Lieutenant Governor-elect, talks about her ideas to improve education, and her plans as Minnesota's next Lieutenant Governor. Schunk also answers listener questions.
November 25, 1998 - Mainstreet Radio's Gretchen Lehmann profiles the Kensington Runestone…and the debate over the authenticity that has has waged on for one hundred years.
November 25, 1998 - A group of Twin Cities high school students is launching an advertising campaign designed to convince kids not to smoke. Students from Mounds Park Academy in St. Paul hope their message will get through to young people since it's coming from their peers. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports... A dozen or so students developed a poster in twelve different languages, a web site and a P-S-A for TV. In the video, children dressed in career clothes - a doctor, a construction worker, a dancer - are happily playing, until a pack of cigarettes crashes down in their midst... (nat - kids laughing, screech of cig pack, sound of heartbeat)