January 29, 1999 - Even though Sunday's Superbowl game will be Viking-less , it will still be a special day for residents of International Falls. The town's favorite son, legendary football great Bronko Nagurski, will be named to sports commentator John Madden's All-Millenium Football Team. Nagurski played for the Chicago Bears in the 1930s and 40s and is considered one of the best to ever play the game. But as Tom Robertson reports from Bemidji, Nagurski never forgot his small town roots.
February 1, 1999 - Playwright, actor, and director, Lillian Garrett-Groag just had a unique experience at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis . Not only is she one of the few living writers to see her work performed on the Guthrie stage... her play depicts her own life-story. Garrett-Groag told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr "The Magic Fire" is a fictionalized account of her childhood in Argentina, as the daughter of European immigrants.
February 1, 1999 - The House Tax committee today backed a one-billion dollar income tax rebate, tossing out Governor Ventura's sales tax rebate plan. D-F-L'ers on the committee argued a sales tax rebate would benefit more Minnesotans, but Republicans say the bulk of the state's budget surplus came from income taxes, so the rebate should go back to income taxpayers.
February 1, 1999 - DFL leaders say many of their proposals came directly from farmers who attended ag rallies in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Sioux City, Iowa in recent weeks. Representative Doug Peterson says Minnesota is working in concert with four other Midwest states to implement many of the farmers recommendations which also include loosening loan restrictions and providing state support for farmer-owned processing and marketing facilities. But Peterson say reforming the pricing system will be the main push this session. In particular, he says the DFL wants to require processors to disclose the "real" worth of the contracts they sign with farmers.
February 1, 1999 - The new farm crisis was expected to be a major topic in the legislature this year but you wouldn't know it from Governor Ventura's budget proposal. Scores of Red River valley farmers have left the business and hog producers are suffering one of their worst price slumps ever. Ventura though only made a couple of suggestions to help farmers and those ideas aren't finding much support.
February 1, 1999 - Agriculture is taking a more prominent role in the congressional arena, with even a mention in the state of the union address. The attention underscores the seriousness of what some are calling a new crisis - worse than the 1980's. The Justice and Commerce departments are also addressing agricultural issues, and while farmers are pleased with all the attention they say action speaks louder than words.
February 1, 1999 - Republicans and DFLers aren't the only ones rethinking their strategies in the wake of Governor Jesse Ventura's upset victory last November. Thanks to Ventura's success, the Minnesota Reform Party is enjoying new visibility and hopes to capitalize on the governor's popularity.
February 1, 1999 - Governor Jesse Ventura has appointed a former police chief and FBI agent to head the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Unlike Ventura's previous DNR appointment, who resigned after key staffers quit in protest of his fishing and hunting violations, appointee Allen Garber is NOT an active hunter or fisher. He also lacks professional environmental experience.
February 3, 1999 - The Minnesota Supreme Court today hears arguments on whether the Attorney General's office can investigate whether the Twins threat to move to North Carolina violated anti-trust laws. Attorneys for the Twins and Major League Baseball say the investigation is pointless because Baseball is exempt from anti-trust laws.
February 3, 1999 - A lawyer for the Minnesota Twins asked the State Supreme Court today to block Attorney General Mike Hatch's investigation into whether the ball club broke anti-trust laws. The A-G's office wants to look into whether Major League Baseball conspired to keep other baseball teams from locating to Minnesota if the Twins made good on their threat to move to North Carolina.