February 4, 1998 - Yet another Twins stadium package has emerged at the Capitol. Senator Roy Terwilliger introduced a bill, yesterday, that would fund a 270 million dollar outdoor stadium. The private sector would have to raise a third of the money, the rest of the money would come from the taxes raised by player's salaries. In addition Twins owner Carl Pohlad would turn over the team to a charitable foundation which would sell stock to the public. Lobbyist and former State Senator Kevin Chandler has been following the activity at the Legislature this Session. He says this bill will have a tough road to hoe.
February 4, 1998 - Tracy Moos is the owner of an unusual property that's for sale in Saint Paul. She had a hard time finding a buyer for her work-of-art, a shoe-covered home...but now has two bidders lined up. HOWEVER, she is still holding out for her dream....someone to turn the place into a museum. She bought the house after her husband, Malcolm Moos, the former University of Minnesota president, died. Moos gave me a tour and told me how the building came to be part of an "Outside Art" exhibit in 1996.
February 5, 1998 - As the tobacco trial continues here in Minnesota, Attorney General Skip Humphrey is headed to Washington today to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on civil liability as it relates to the National Tobacco Settlement. Despite a lot of fanfare last year when the settlement was announced, no national settlement bill has been introduced in Congress yet. Joining us now with an update on where things stand in Washington is Minneapolis Representative Martin Sabo.
February 5, 1998 - Baseball commentator Kevin Hennessey reviews the Chuck Knoblauch trade. The Twins second baseman and four-time All-Star was traded to the New York Yankees for $3 million and four minor-league players.
February 5, 1998 - Money-back fertility programs: Lorna talks with bioethicist Jeffrey Kahn from the University of Minnesota and Dr. Theodore Nagel from Reproductive Health Associates.
February 5, 1998 - Over the last few years, technology used to search the bottom of oceans, lakes and rivers has progressed dramatically. One of the main tools of underwater archaeologiests and treasure hunters is called Sidescan Sonar. A vessel will tow the machine on a cable, and it sends back pictures to a computer on board the ship. Like a medical ultrasound machine, Sidescan Sonar takes pictures with sound waves. Marty Wilcox with Marine Sonic Technology says Sidescan Sonar's images keep getting better.
February 6, 1998 - Lou Bellamy, Penumbra's artistic director, says his theater has outgrown its current home in the Hallie Q. Brown/Martin Luther King Center and is looking to be a part of African American arts complex in St. Paul.
February 9, 1998 - For decades, the rule was you couldn't win against big tobacco. The companies had deep pockets to wage legal battles. Juries and judges consistently blamed smokers for their own use of cigarettes and the harm they caused. Then, in 1994, a friend of Mississippi Attorney General Michael Moore came up with a new idea. If a state sued for money it paid out in medical bills for cigarette smokers, the companies might be found responsible. The tobacco companies could not claim that a state smoked a cigarette. In a new book about how the states took on the tobacco companies, The People Vs Big Tobacco, the authors follow both sides of the story that lead to the trial here in Minnesota. Co-author Adam Levy says its been difficult for individual smokers to make headway against tobacco companies.
February 9, 1998 - A House committee today will consider a bill that would make it more difficult for Minnesota cities to use public subsidies to attract businesses. The bill would penalize communities that use tax breaks or other financial incentives to lure companies away from their neighbors. We talk to DFLer John Hottinger, Senate author of the bill.
February 9, 1998 - MPR’s Dan Olson reports on Next Innovations, a Minneapolis organization that trains young non-profit employees business and leadership skills….and possibly the next generation of non-profit managers.