July 13, 1999 - The Saint Paul school district's new leader is shaking up her administration and turning up the heat on schools to perform. Superintendent Pat Harvey says the reorganization will get her closer to the schools and better define the lines of accountability. By summer's end, she also plans to place the district's lowest performing schools on notice that test scores and attendance must improve.
July 14, 1999 - MPR’s Leif Enger reports on Federal Emergency Management teams fanning out across northeasten Minnesota, gathering information to build a case for federal aid to communities in the BWCA area.
July 14, 1999 - Dakota Indians held a ceremony today on an old pioneer farm in Falcon Heights near the State Fairgrounds. The Gibbs farm has long been a historic site, but today's ceremony marked an expansion of the Jane Gibbs' story, to include her relationship with the nearby Dakota indians. Gibbs was born in New York, but at the age of 6 she was kidnapped by missionaries who brought her to Minnesota. The missionaries worked near Lake Harriet and there Jane met Dakota indian children, many of whom became her friends. Priscilla Farnham is the executive director of the Ramsey County Historical Society. She says when Jane grew up and became a pioneer farm wife, she rekindled her friendship with the Dakota.
July 14, 1999 - U.S. Forest Service officials are expected to announce soon whether they'll allow further use of chainsaws and low-flying aircraft in the storm damaged Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Both have been authorized during the initial search and rescue effort in the area, but sawyer crews have nearly completed their exploration of tree-choked portages.
July 15, 1999 - The Grand Opening of the new Science Museum of Minnesota adjacent to the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul is just five months away. Construction crews and museum employees are busy finishing the building and installing exhibits. Members of the media got a chance, yesterday, to see inside the building.
July 15, 1999 - Thirty years ago when Minneapolis was clearing land for downtown office buildings and parking lots it seemed like science fiction to predict that people would one day want to live downtown. But that's what is happening. Young professionals and an aging population of empty nesters are fueling housing demand in neighborhoods around downtown. One result is the cheap housing many low income residents rely on is disappearing.
July 15, 1999 - MPR’s Brent Wolfe reports on Minnesota's Habitat for Humanity chapters dedicating their 500th house…this one in Winona. The non-profit group uses volunteer labor and donated materials to build homes for low income families.
July 16, 1999 - Governor Jesse Ventura reiterated familiar themes during his "Lunch with the Governor" broadcast from the St. Cloud State University campus today.
July 16, 1999 - MPR’s Tom Robertson reports from Bemidji, where a severe windstorms that ripped through northern Minnesota in July 1995, leaving destruction in Itasca State Park with thousands of lost trees. Park officials say the destruction is now bringing new life.
July 22, 1999 - MPR’s Dan Gunderson reports on the history of tribal government in Minnesota, and its potential changes.