April 24, 1996 -
April 24, 1996 - State senator Skip Finn will resign. The Cass Lake DFLer awaits sentencing on charges related to taking money from a tribal insurance fund he set up for the Leech Lake Band of Chippewa. But no sooner did legislative leaders close the book on one legislative ethics case, they re-opened another.
April 24, 1996 - With spring weather finally moving in, the air is filled with chirping birds... buzzing bees... and -- the chest-rattling thumps of car stereos. As Minnesota Public Radio's John Biewen found out, young men with big woofers in their backseats spend the winter pining for spring, and the chance to share their 'bumps' with the rest of us.
April 24, 1996 - Florence Township has asked a Ramsey County District Judge to suspend the search for an alternative nuclear waste storage site. Northern States Power has chosen two possible locations to store radioactive waste from its Prairie Island Nuclear plant. Both sites are in Florence Township.
April 26, 1996 - MPR’s Dan Gunderson profiles poet David Mason and his long form narrative poem, "The Country I Remember."
April 29, 1996 - Many Americans are worried about the stability of their jobs, and with good reason. In the wake of massive corporate layoffs, the New York Times reports employees are being laid off at a high rate, and the competition for the remaining good jobs is growing. Fifteen years ago the nation's mining industry, particularly those companies on the Iron Range, suffered big staff cuts in an effort to become more efficient and more competitive with companies in other countries. Minnesota Public Radio's Marianne Combs has this report on how business decisions changed the lives of thousands of workers.
April 30, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Catherine Winter reports on efforts of a restorative justice program in Bemidji. Winter talks with criminal justice officials about the approach to better connect criminals to understanding and addressing their unlawful acts beyond the sole consequence of incarceration.
May 1, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Rachel Reabe visits the Cass Lake-Bena School District in northern Minnesota and has this report on alternative education programs. Reabe interviews students and educators about ALC’s benefits to some.
May 1, 1996 - The era of genetic engineering begins this spring for Minnesota's largest cash crop. Some farmers will plant corn that contains a built-in pesticide, a gene deadly to the european corn borer. The new corn is expected to account for about 1% of the nations crop this year... buts thats expected to grow rapidly in coming years. Insects are very resilient, and researchers worry the borer will develop a resistance to the new corn...possibly in as little as five years. If that happens it would destroy years of research into one of the most effective tools ever developed to fight the pest.
May 2, 1996 - No simple slogan has emerged yet, characterizing the issues of the 1996 presidential campaign. Back in 1992 it was about "The Economy Stupid!" But as Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports, a group of policy makers, pundits, journalists and community leaders is attempting to define the issues this campaign season.