December 5, 1996 - State lawmakers opened a new chapter in public education six years ago by creating an alternative school structure for new and innovative learning programs. Minnesota's first charter school opened in 1992. Today, there are 19 schools with enrollment totaling 21-hundred students. State education officials are currently reviewing the progress of charter schools. The Department of Children, Families and Learning will present a report to the state legislature in January. Charter school advocates say they're creating a flexible and creative learning option for children, but some question whether the schools have enough money to succeed.
December 5, 1996 - Governor Carlson is calling for standardized zoning rules for hog farms and other livestock operations in Minnesota. Carlson says local governments' ability to pass ordinances blocking the construction of livestock farms is hurting the competitiveness of Minnesota's pork industry.
December 6, 1996 - Negotiations in the federal mediation of the Boundary Waters issue are taking some time off after 14 non-consecutive days of negotiations. After months of discussion it seems there are still large disagreements over basic issues. In fact, one of the participants, Bill Hansen, a second generation canoe outfitter, has proposed just sticking with the status quo.
December 6, 1996 - A new Minnesota museum honoring the late Senator and Vice-president Hubert Humphrey has opened in his adopted hometown of Waverly in Wright County. The fledgling museum hopes to compliment the state's other sources of Humphrey material - the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute and the Minnesota Historical Society. Organizers say they'll focus on Humphrey's rural roots, and try to educate young people about his place in history.
December 6, 1996 -
December 6, 1996 - Authorities have blocked off a portion of East Hennepin Avenue in the 3100 block because of a chlorine leak at a chemical company. Reports from the scene indicate a two block area around a pool supply company has been evacuated. The evacuation includes an apartment building. There are no reports of injuries. The area affected is just west of Highway 280.
December 7, 1996 - The historic Purcell-Cutts House in Minneapolis will be decorated for the holidays for the first time since it's restoration. The home remains one of the the most significant examples of Prairie School architecture in the country. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is offering hoilday tours of the Purcell-Cutts home. Visitors will have the opportunity to see how the home might have looked as the Purcell's celebrated Christmas in 1917.
December 11, 1996 - The first part of this story is directed at kids ... Kids, if your mom or dad is talking about buying a computer for Christmas, make sure you get them to promise to take care of it. You should make it clear that owning a computer is a big responsibility, and you know they're going to be asking you to show them how to work it. Now, for the adults in our audiences ... I asked Jon Gordon, host of Minnesota Public Radio's Future Tense, the best way to go about buying computer stuff during the holidays.
December 11, 1996 - Telemedicine...using special video-phone or satellite connections to link up doctors with colleagues in other cities ... has been around for years. It's mostly been used for medical conferences and consultations with specialists. But as Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson reports, some rural Minnesota physicians are experimenting with telemedicine in their emergency rooms to see if they can hand over some of their late-night and weekend emergencies to doctors in bigger hospitals.
December 11, 1996 - The city of Minneapolis is once again setting its sights on a section of Nicollet Mall for redevelopment, and as in the past, not everybody is happy with the plan. It's already been announced that Target stores Inc. plans to build a new headquarters on the mall. Now the city, along with a local contractor, want to raze a block along the south end of the mall to make way for a new Target store and office tower. But some tenants on the block don't want to leave and charge the city with bulldozing the plan through.