March 30, 1999 - This week some farmers will start preparing the fields for spring planting. Commodity prices, usually volatile, have been more so lately making the financial outlook for farmers shakier than it's been in years. This weekend thousands of high school and college students gathered in Brookings, South Dakota, for an agricultural exposition. As Minnesota Public Radio's Cara hetland reports the 'future farmers' have watched their parents deal with a volatile industry and seem to have learned some important lessons.
March 30, 1999 - For Tuesday A legislative change gives Governor Jesse Ventura a chance to put a new face on the Metropolitan Council by naming up to sixteen new members at once. The speculation is that he make announce the names as early as today. The council is in charge of such mundane metropolitan matters as treating sewage and making sure the buses run on time. But it is also has the power to regulate Twin Cities development. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson talked to three people who have ideas for how the reconstituted Council should do it's job.
March 30, 1999 - The House has approved a bill ending auto emissions testing on older cars in the Twin Cities.
March 30, 1999 - St. Peter residents spent the weekend in a mostly soleMinnesota remembrance of the tornado that tore through their town a year ago today. In the time since then, roofs and windows have been replaced and broken tree stumps have been pulled from the ground. The site where the city's Community Center once stood is now a vacant block and many other buildings---including over a hundred homes---have been torn down and carted away as trash. The city has long since tallied the loss in terms of numbers. But many homeowners in St. Peter regard their houses as much more than just shelter. In the last of a series of reports remembering the tornado, Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes looks at efforts to rebuild and preserve the historic buildings people as the heart of St. Peter.
March 30, 1999 - The Minnesota Senate has acted unilaterally to pass a compromise version of the tax rebate plan -- even though the HOUSE has not agreed to the compromise.
March 31, 1999 - Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura spent much of the day in East Grand Forks. The Governor heard about the destruction caused by the flood of 1997, and saw the rebuilding still underway. The Governor left a trail of one liners, and a ray of hope for residents looking for financial help from the state.
March 31, 1999 - Minnesota U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone and attorney general Mike Hatch held roundtables in Rochester, St. Paul, and Duluth today to push proposals that would give patients more abilitiy to fight their health maintenance organizations. The two Democrats say they're responding to horror stories of people who've been denied treatment or doctors who are paid not to refer patients to specialty care. However business groups contend the proposals will lead to higher health insurance costs and less coverage for people who need it.
March 31, 1999 - Much of the economic news of the last year or more has focused on financial turmoil in asia. Currency devaluations, recession, and other fall-out from the so-called Asian flu have had a direct impact on Minnesota workers and companies of all sizes. 3M, for example, cut its work force as problems in asia cut into profits. But officials with 3M and other observers say Asia appears to be stabilizing and may now be on the upswing.
March 31, 1999 - The Minnesota House has approved legislation to allow law enforcement agencies to sell confiscated weapons. A Senate committee considers the proposal today. Many rural law enforcement agencies say selling the guns would mean cash they need to operate. Opponents say the confiscated guns should be destroyed.
March 31, 1999 - Security was a little tighter at the state capitol today in the wake of yesterday's pie-attack on State Senator Carol Flynn. Flynn was knocked down outside the Senate chamber when a man protesting the Highway 55 re-route project allegedly threw a cream pie in her face. The incident followed a similar pie-assault on Governor Ventura last week, and some lobbyists and members of the public are worried that new security restrictions could hamper their easy access to elected officials.