November 12, 1996 - The Justice Department estimates that more than 650-thousand young people are involved in gangs, and those gang members committed more than three thousand homicides in 1995. In Minnesota, authorities from the Governor to various police chiefs have announced new plans to attack what they call growing gang problems. Politicians, and popular culture, often paint gang members as irretrievable outlaws, who will only leave the gang in handcuffs or a body bag. But experts say most gang members eventually go straight.
November 13, 1996 - Members of the Sierra Club say the Saint Croix River should be closed to boat traffic from the Mississippi, in order to prevent the further spread of the exotic zebra mussel.
November 13, 1996 - Snowmobilers yesterday protested the National Park Service's proposal to close parts of Voyageurs national park this winter to protect wolves. And a renowned wolf biologist joined the protesters in questioning whether snowmobile use harms the wolf population. The Park Service presented its plan at a public meeting in St Paul.
November 15, 1996 - The words of longtime writer and political activist Meridel Le Sueur, who died yesterday at the age of 96. Le Seur objected to being called one of Minnesota's "treasures" -- that's a patriarchal term, she said -- but she was regarded that way. Meridel Le Sueur chronicled the suffering of women and families during the Great Depression. She was a blacklisted social activist, stuntwoman and - for a time - the voice of Betty Crocker.
November 16, 1996 -
November 18, 1996 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on the troubling year for the music industry, and the fallout among local labels. After years of double-digit growth, record sales have flattened out and the consumer base for music appears to be shrinking. Part of the problem is an explosion in the number of retail outlets that sell CDs and tapes, creating a situation in which supply far exceeds demand. As a result, distributors and record labels are getting huge numbers of returns, and some are even going out of business. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts has this report on the fallout among local labels. Roberts interviews Bob Feldman, Red House Records founder; Rob Simons, Rykodisc co-founder; Paul Stark, president of Twin/Tone Record Group; and John Michael, a Best Buy merchandise manager (who says music retailers need an industry-wide advertising campaign, similar to "Got Milk?").
November 18, 1996 -
November 19, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports on new children’s comic book which highlights the history of the Mille Lacs Ojibwe Band. The book, "A Hero's Voice," looks at broken treaties, important figures in Ojibwe history, and the spiritual tie between the tribe and the lake.
November 19, 1996 -
November 19, 1996 -