January 26, 1999 - Critics on both sides of the Profile of Learning Debate are blasting a bill to scale back the new high school graduation rule. Legislators heard public testimony today on what will likely be the most devisive education issue of the session. Some accuse lawmakers of trying to retreat on a sound education reform. Others say the whole system should be dumped.
January 27, 1999 - Graduate students are trying to form a union at the University of Minnesota. Organizers say they've collected signatures from more than half of the eligible students, setting the stage for a unionization vote this spring. Supporters say a union would mean better pay and working conditions for teaching assistants and research assistants. But many graduate students oppose a union.
January 27, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio’s Amy Radil profiles Duluth musher John Stetson, who ran the 1999 Beargrease mid-distance race of 150 miles. He says he loves to race because it's the ultimate test for a musher and his or her dogs.
January 28, 1999 - Mark Yudof, President of University of Minnesota, talks about the future of the U and current issues.
January 28, 1999 - It's a strange scene -- 500 pairs of shoes piled on stage, dancers crawling out from under the heap, while a woman in a leopard print pillbox hat sits in a chair trying on pair after pair. This is "The Lives and Death of Cinderella" a performance work being presented this weekend at the College of St Catherine. Performance artist Laurie Van Wieren created the piece which reflects her quirky style which in the past has included everything from shoes and wigs to fireworks.
January 29, 1999 - Ted Mondale, Metropolitan Council Chair discusses plans for metropolitan government. Topics include Governor Ventura's plans to close the Metropolitan Council. Mondale also answers listener questions.
January 29, 1999 - Christine Jax, commissioner of Children, Families and Learning, discusses the Governor's education budget with the chairs of the House and Senate K-12 education committees - DFL Senate Chairman, Larry Pogemiller; and Republican House Chair, Alice Seagren. Jax, Pogemiller, and Seagren also answer listener questions.
February 1, 1999 - Playwright, actor, and director, Lillian Garrett-Groag just had a unique experience at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis . Not only is she one of the few living writers to see her work performed on the Guthrie stage... her play depicts her own life-story. Garrett-Groag told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr "The Magic Fire" is a fictionalized account of her childhood in Argentina, as the daughter of European immigrants.
February 1, 1999 - The House Tax committee today backed a one-billion dollar income tax rebate, tossing out Governor Ventura's sales tax rebate plan. D-F-L'ers on the committee argued a sales tax rebate would benefit more Minnesotans, but Republicans say the bulk of the state's budget surplus came from income taxes, so the rebate should go back to income taxpayers.
February 2, 1999 - Pat Harrison, project director of the Minnesota Student Survey, discusses the findings of the latest survey about teen sex, drugs, smoking and alcohol. Harrison is with the Department of Human Services. Harrison also answers listener questions.