April 27, 1999 - Janet Yellen, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, addresses the Minnesota Meeting. Yellen's speech was titled, "The Baby Boom Retires: How the Coming 'Age Wave' Will Transform America and the World--And What We Can Do About it Now." Minnesota Meeting is a non-profit corporation which hosts a wide range of public speakers. It is managed by the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.
April 27, 1999 - Minnesota's new welfare system has been in place for a year and a half now. The program has helped welfare recipients wade through obstacles to finding jobs, medical care, transportation and child care, but for many families, it still falls short. The Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches is trying to fill that gap. The council has already recruited more than 2000 volunteers to serve as mentors to families on welfare. Many of the volunteers have been involved in a 30-week pilot program that ran this past year. The council will officially launch the program at a town meeting tonight and try to recruit three-thousand more mentors. Reverend Gary Ry-er-son, the president of the council says the volunteers provide a unique form of support to families moving off welfare.
April 28, 1999 - Teachers, parents and students throughout Minnesota are waiting today for results of this year's 8th grade basic standards tests. The tests measure minimum skills in reading and math and are a requirement for high school graduation. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports Minnesota school districts have spent a lot of time and money the past year to raise scores..
April 29, 1999 - Tales of torture and abuse are the stuff of nightmares: this weekend a such a story is being retold, but this has, if not a happy, at least a hopeful, ending. The Macalester College theater department is presenting the world premiere of "Return to Kanburi" a remarkable story of how Eric Lomax, a British soldier tortured in by the Japanese during World War 2, found one of the men responsible decades later, and forgave him.
April 29, 1999 - Students who aren't making acceptable academic progress in Saint Paul public schools could soon be prevented from moving on to the next grade. The district's new superintendent, Pat Harvey, says she wants to end social promotion as part of a new district accountability plan.
April 30, 1999 - The April edition of Voices of Minnesota celebrates the 100th birthday of jazz musician Duke Ellington. MPR's Dan Olson interviews Macalester College music professor Robert Leigh Morris and Terry Gross interviews Duke Ellington's son Mercer.
April 30, 1999 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews German poet Ursula Duba about her book "Tales From a Child of the Enemy." They also discuss the impact of war and atrocities on youth, and what’s happening to Serbian and Kosovar children.
April 30, 1999 - The Minnesota House has approved a tax relief package worth $3.3 Billion dollars over two years -- potentially the largest tax cut in state history. House Republicans say the bill is just a "down-payment" on the tax relief promises they made during the election -- but Senate Democrats say Republicans have gone too far.
April 30, 1999 - MPR’s Elizabeth Stawicki reports on Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig’s comments that Minnesota's Supreme Court ruling on the Minnesota Twins means the team can now focus on getting a new stadium built in the Twin Cities.
May 1, 1999 - American RadioWorks presents the documentary “The Forgotten 14 Million,” which explores why both government and the free market are failing the most vulnerable young Americans.