March 9, 1999 - Property owners who don't want to rent to low income tennants are asking lawmakers to exempt them from Minnesota's Human Rights Act. Right now, it's a violation of state law if a landlord refuses to rent to people because they use federal Section 8 housing vouchers.
March 9, 1999 - The 1996 Telecommunications Act is changing the service map in small Minnesota cities and towns. The legislation's goal is to foster more competition in the telephone industry. While wide-spread competition for local service has not materialized yet, ownership changes are already affecting many Minnesota communities. One major phone company is pulling out of the state and another is selling a large number of its local exchanges.
March 10, 1999 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman presents a series titled “This Is Home: The Hmong in Minnesota.” In this part, Nyman looks at how the centuries-old tradition of Hmong hand stitching is a practice becoming less useful as Hmong women create new lives in the U.S.
March 10, 1999 - Governor Ventura today endorsed Fairmont Businessman Terry Anderson in a special election in State Senate District 26. Anderson is running under the Reform Party banner, and this will be the first test of the party's electoral appeal since Ventura's victory last fall.
March 10, 1999 - In October 1997, a group which called itself a gang killed 18-year-old William Booth. Since then Grand Rapids police have used special anti-gang laws to counter what they say is the threat of youth gangs. However, local teenagers say the real result is they're being harassed.
March 10, 1999 - University of Minnesota officials are meeting with the National Collegiate Athletic Association to develop a plan for investigating academic fraud allegations involving the U of M men's basketball team. A copyright story in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press this morning reports a former U of M staff member's allegations that she wrote research papers and homework assignments for at least twenty basketball players over several years.
March 10, 1999 - Voters in Hennepin County's third district will choose between an array of candidates in a primary election next Tuesday. The candidates are vying for the seat vacated by Commissioner Mark Andrew.
March 11, 1999 - Howard Sinker, MPR sports commentator; and Jay Weiner, MPR sports commentator, discuss the allegations of academic fraud in the University of Minnesota basketball program. MPR reporters William Wilcoxen and Tim Pugmire contribute reports. Basketball coach, Clem Haskins, discusses big-time athletics in the University setting.
March 11, 1999 - University of Minnesota administrators and students are trying to make sense of the academic fraud allegations against four men's basketball players. U of M officials declared the players ineligible for today's NCAA tournament game, and an internal investigation is pending. University Regents tried conducting business as usual, and reserved comment about the scandal. But around the campus, students freely shared their opinions, and few are defending the accused players.
March 11, 1999 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman presents a series titled “This Is Home: The Hmong in Minnesota.” In this part, Nyman reports on an increasing number of Hmong Americans returning to visit their homeland of Laos…or Thailand, where refugee camps became home for thousands after the war ended in 1975 and Laos became a communist country.