February 12, 1998 - Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports on the 2,500 striking Honeywell workers who vote on a proposed contract, possibly ending their walkout now in its 11th day. The terms of the proposed settlement are not being made public but union officials say Honeywell modified what had been the company's final offer. Central to the negotiations since the first contract was rejected, has been the union's opposition to Honeywell putting together a separate compensation package for new employees. Such arrangements often called "Two Tier," contracts, have been dividing workforces for two decades in the United States.
February 12, 1998 - For more than a year, Minnesota environmentalists and the timber industry have been fighting over a small stand of pines in the Superior National Forest. The Little Alfie stand, as it's known, is only 100 acres---about the size of the state fairgrounds---but it represents much larger issues. Loggers in northern Minnesota worry Little Alfie is just the first attempt to make many of the state's off limits to logging, in the same way old growth trees in the west were protected to save the spotted owl. Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Losure reports.
February 12, 1998 - Laura Gurak, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric at the University of Minnesota, talks about one of the technological highlights of the Olympics, and what it says about modern modes of communication.
February 13, 1998 - Mainstreet Radio's Catherine Winter has this remembrance of Terry Wilkey, former Bovey police chief. Wilkey spent more than 30 years on the town's police force and the 800-some residents of Bovey all knew him. But his fame spread much farther; to the Twin Cities, even as far as Texas and North Carolina…because of Terry Wilkey, the writer.
February 13, 1998 - Minnesota's top trade technology trade groups are merging. One of the first joint efforts of the Minnesota Software Association and the High Technology Council is a campaign to lure highly sought after computer industry workers from the country's highest profile technology center, California's Silicon Valley. As Minnesota Public Radio's Todd Moe reports, the campaign is an effort to reverse a Minnesota brain drain.
February 16, 1998 - MPR's Martin Kaste previews the week ahead at the Legislature.
February 18, 1998 - Sponsors of the latest Twins stadium plan conceded defeat today at the State Capitol. State representative Loren Jennings withdrew his stadium bill from consideration, saying he had "nowhere near" the votes to pass it in committee or in the full House of Representatives. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste joins us from the capitol.
February 20, 1998 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on Canned Goods play and interviews playwright Silas Jones.
February 20, 1998 - At the Minnesota tobacco trial yesterday much of the testimony centered on whether a research group started by cigarette manufacturers in the 1950s was formed to find out about the health effects of smoking or to reassure smokers. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports.
February 23, 1998 - MPR's Amy Radil reports that Minnesota mushers are bringing dogsledding to a whole new audience…women seeking winter adventure. The Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon race in Duluth and Alaska's Iditarod have increased the sport's visibility. Now, mushing trips for novices are one way sled dog owners can educate people about the sport and pay their bills.