March 26, 1999 - Heading into this year's legislative session, many lawmakers declared relief for the state's struggling farmers a top priority. However, nearly three months into the session, no consensus has emerged on how to provide assistance. With spring planting only weeks away, no relief appears imminent in a marketplace where commodity prices remain low. Yesterday, more than one hundred farmers gathered at the state capitol to voice their concerns about worsening agricultural conditions and make their case for tax reforms.
March 26, 1999 - The White Earth Indian Reservation in northwestern Minnesota has long been plagued by high crime. Increased gang activity, violence and problems related to drug and alcohol abuse have frighted and frustrated tribal members. But reservation officials say a million dollar federal grant and a historic agreement with Mahnomen County has allowed the tribe, for the first time, to create its own police force.
March 29, 1999 - A Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from lobby of Nicollet Hotel in St Peter. Rachel Reabe hosts a discussion on efforts to re-build and preserve historic buildings with guests Judy Bell, of the St. Peter Heritage Preservation Commission; Charlie Nelson of the Minnesota Historical Society; and local residents.
March 29, 1999 - To close out the millennium, Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered presents a look back at Minnesota life in 1900 via a 12-part series, entitled “A Minnesota Century.” In this segment…the story of Lincoln Fey.
March 29, 1999 - Wells Fargo and Company says it plans to cut its workforce of 92 thousand by about 46 hundred people as a result of last year's merger with Minneapolis -based Norwest Bank. Many of cuts will be handled through attrition, however bank executives indicate some lay offs are also likely.
March 29, 1999 - Governor Ventura spent part of the weekend back on the campaign trail, barn-storming through south-central Minnesota in support of senate candidate Terry Anderson. Anderson is the Reform Party candidate in the special election in district 26, and the party's leaders consider this their first realistic chance at winning a legislative election. As Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports, the party wants to prove Ventura's upset victory in November was NOT an isolated event.
March 29, 1999 - Senate Democrats and House Republicans called on each other today to give in and break the deadlock over tax rebates before the Easter break. Each side accuses the other of being inflexible, and neither shows signs of giving in.
March 29, 1999 - Thousands of Minnesotans trace their ancestry, or their immediate past, to the region now subject to NATO airstrikes: Yugoslavia. Serbs and Serb- Americans in northeastern Minnesota say they feel betrayed by the U.S. military action, which has prompted frantic phonecalls to relatives overseas.
March 29, 1999 - Voters in Minnesota's largest county will pick a new commissioner tomorrow. The winner will replace Hennepin County commissioner Mark Andrew, a DFLer who resigned mid-term. The election pits Republican Peter Bell, who's favored by Governor Ventura, against DFLer Gail Dorfman, who's endorsed by Andrew.
March 29, 1999 - Governor Ventura and the Metropolitan Council want to set aside $25 million dollars a year for mass transit projects. They made the proposal at the Met Councils "State of the Region" address today.