January 2, 1998 - Midday presents the January edition of MPR’s Voices of Minnesota series, featuring interviews with three outgoing Minneapolis City Council members, who have nearly 70 years of experience between them: Alice Rainville, Walt Dziedzic, and Dennis Schulstad.
January 9, 1998 - Author Ron Handberg talks about his latest book, Malice Intended.
January 11, 1998 - Master Storyteller Jim Stowell has been telling the stories of Minnesota for the past 30 years. The Great American History Theatre in St. Paul is celebrating Stowell's long career by hosting a JIM FEST.
January 14, 1998 - MPR’s Leif Enger reports on cold weather tourism on the Gun Flint Trail, and the debates of what exactly that should be. Report includes various interviews and commentary.
January 16, 1998 - Music, English, Drama and Religion scholars will gather at Stanford University to deconstruct the work of one of Minnesota's most famous sons, Bob Dylan. The conference is billed as "The First U.S. Bob Dylan Conference" and will focus on Dylan's art and cultural legacy. MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews Tino Markworth, organizer of conference.
January 24, 1998 - MPR’s Greta Cunningham interviews Minnesota musician Peter Ostroushko about his new album “Pilgrims on the Heart Road."
January 25, 1998 - Heartache and the minefields of dating are explored in Laura Zigman's humorous new novel ANIMAL HUSBANDRY. The premise of the book comes from a true scientific theory--the Coolidge Effect. This theory is based on the premise that bulls will only mate with a cow once--then they're off to seek a new cow. Zigman stumbled upon the theory as she flipped through science journals while nursing her broken heart. She jokes, if you bring things back to the animal kingdom--dating behavior makes sense. Zigman says her main character--Jane Goodall--is autobiographical.
January 27, 1998 - MPR's Cara Hetland reports from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where the Minnesota Twins are utilizing a caravan to hopefully draw crowds to ballpark as the team fights for a new stadium… while at the same time cutting team player payroll and dealing with talk of selling/moving team. Players admit it's tough to sell tickets for what may be a lame duck season.
January 27, 1998 - MPR’s Karen Louise Boothe profiles Jesse “The Body” Ventura, who is jumping back into the political ring with his decision to run for governor on a Reform Party ticket. It's hard to pin a label on Ventura. He's not your typical politician.
January 27, 1998 - The Minnesota Department of Transportation has finished testing an automated system for detecting and photographing traffic violations. Minnesota-DOT posted cameras at several intersections in St. Paul, Minneapolis and Bloomington, and used them to track red light runners. The system was also used to monitor the incidence of speeding in work zones and driving around railroad crossing gate arms. We talk with Bob Weinholzer, assistant commissioner at Minnesota-DOT, who prepared the report.