February 9, 1999 - Officials from the U-S Department of Agriculture met today with South Dakota pork producers to discuss an investigation into hog prices and marketing options. But The event did not give farmers any new information except how to read new market reports. In December, prices hit an all time low. The frustration with federal programs, current conditions and lack of solutions was evident at today's meeting.
February 9, 1999 - The Minnesota Department of Transportation estimates it will cost almost one-and-a-half billion dollars to bring commuter rail to the Twin Cities. Transportation officials briefed lawmakers today on the potential price tag. The system would use existing rail lines and has been touted as a way to reduce traffic congestion on Twin Cities freeways.
February 9, 1999 - Just 30 years ago, there wasn't a single tribal college in the United States, and for many Native Americans, education was seen as a means of assimilation and submission, rather than growth and opportunity. Going to college meant leaving the reservation, foregoing tradition and, in a sense, becoming white. Now, there are 32 tribal colleges nationwide, and the number is growing by about three a year. As Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Robertson reports from Bemidji, the Leech Lake Reservation's tribal college is creating an educational renaissance for Indians in northern Minnesota.
February 10, 1999 - High school students from Minneapolis and St. Paul are getting a crash course in African-American musical history this week at the Ordway Music Theater. About 100 teenagers who are probably more familiar with rap and hip hop spent a day learning about spirituals, civil rights songs, rhythm and blues, and singing songs that have played a central role in African-American experience.
February 10, 1999 - It's been two months since a Minneapolis Police van accelerated out of control into a crowd of Holidazzle parade watchers killing two people and injuring several others. Investigators found nothing wrong with the van. Minnesota Public Radio has learned tests conclusively showed the driver had NO alcohol in his blood at the time of the accident. Other tests apparantly found traces of medicine, but not enough to impair the police officer.
February 10, 1999 - On a bi-partisan vote, the House Education Policy Committee has approved legislation to repeal the controversial Profile of Learning. The bill scraps a ten-year-old, multi-million dollar plan for ensuring Minnesota high school graduates can apply the knowledge they've gained in the classroom. It also creates a new back-to-basics approach that lets local districts decide how to teach students.
February 10, 1999 - Governor Ventura had a more peaceful conversation today with Fred Grandy about welfare. Grandy is the head of Goodwill Industries International. The former Republican Congressman from Iowa now oversees a charity that serves two-hundred thousand people each year. Half of them are moving from welfare to work. Governor Ventura has been relatively silent about his views on welfare reform, and Grandy says that's exactly why he wanted meet with him.
February 10, 1999 - An encounter between Governor Ventura and a group of college students turned into a shouting match at the state capitol today.
February 10, 1999 - It's been a little over three years since the Bosnian war ended with the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement. But Yugolsavia's tension is far from over. Today brought another round of peace talks, this time between ethnic Albanians who want indepence for Kosovo and Serbs who want Kosovo to remain part of Yugoslavia. Throughout the war and the fragile peace of the past few years, many have pointed to the so-called "ancient ethnic hatreds" among Croats, Serbs and Muslims as the main reason for the conflict and the incredible attrocities committed on all sides. Former Balkans Bureau Chief for the New York Times, Roger Cohen, says that theory is far too simplistic. In his new book "Hearts Grown Brutal", Cohen says the war was not inevitable as some in the International community have suggested.
February 10, 1999 - Muslim leaders in Rochester say cultural insensitivity is prevalent among administration and faculty in the local public school district. A national Islamic group contacted the media after a Rochester Mayo High School teacher who works primarily with immigrants said two traditionally-dressed Muslim students looked like "terrorists".