March 16, 1999 - A bill toughening Minnesotas drunk-driving law has been moving through the Minnesota House. 1998 saw an increase in alcohol-related highway deaths, and the bills proponents say lowering the blood-alcohol limit from point-one-oh to point-oh-eight would save lives. State highway patrol officers, meanwhile, say drunk drivers are one of their most persistent challenges. The patrol spent last week training new recruits in the art and craft of detecting drunks.
March 16, 1999 - Minnesota lawmakers are considering comprehensive campaign finance reform for the first time in five years. Legislation headed to the House floor is designed to plug loopholes in Minnesota law, but critics say it will allow more corporate money to influence politics. And some legislators say it's time to stop tweaking the system, and move to publicly-funded campaigns as other states have done.
March 16, 1999 - The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld the State's practice of confiscating vehicles from repeat DWI offenders as a way to get drunk drivers off the road. The law took effect last year and is part of a national trend to further stiffen the penalties for drunk drivers.
March 16, 1999 - The Metropolian Airports Commission is warning people who fly in and out of the Twin Cities international airport that this summer could be a difficult one. Large scale construction on roadways and parking ramps will likely cause major delays for travellers. It's all part of a two billion dollar project that will unfold over the next few years to ensure the airport will be big enough and modern enough to serve Minnesota for the next twenty years.
March 17, 1999 - A profile of St. Paul composer Eric Stokes, who died in a car accident at the age of 68. Report includes a portion of Composer’s Voice 1993 interview with Stokes.
March 17, 1999 - US and Canadian wildlife officials are preparing to significantly reduce the population of snow geese. The estimated six million geese are destroying their nesting habitat in northern Canada. Hunters are being called on to shoot more geese in an extended spring season.
March 17, 1999 - Legislation banning the use of underwater video cameras for fishing is headed to the Senate floor, following an 8-to-5 vote today in the Environment and Natural Resources Committee. Supporters say the cameras change the nature of the sport, and put pressure on limited fishing resources, but manufacturers say the state is trying to put them out of business without any evidence the cameras are dangerous.
March 17, 1999 - Governor Ventura told economically distressed farmers in southwest Minnesota today he'll try to help them but could not offer any guarantees. Ventura and the farmers meet at the Jim Joens farm near the town of Wilmont.
March 17, 1999 - A bill that would have toughened the state's drunk driving law appears dead for the session. That is, unless it's authors--taken by surprise today when their bill failed to pass a house committee--can find a way to REVIVE it.
March 17, 1999 - Minneapolis officials have given Dayton Hudson Corporation a green light to build an office tower on Nicollet Mall. Last night's city council approval came after the corporation agreed to include neighbors in designing its Target headquarters building to fit in with the pedestrian mall.