April 7, 1999 - The Minnesota Twins opened their 1999 season with a win, defeating the Toronto Blue Jays 6-1 at the Metrodome. The victory comes amid low expectations for this year's team which includes a large number of rookies. 10 of the 25 names on team roster are new to Major League Baseball. MPR's Michael Khoo reports the lack of star power hasn't dampened fan enthusiasm.
April 7, 1999 - The Republican leadership of the Minnesota House suffered a setback yesterday when it failed to get enough votes to pass its first big spending bill. The legislation was supposed to make up for budget shortfalls in state spending on things like unanticipated legal bills, and Republican leaders assumed it would pass without difficulty. Instead, a group of dissident Republicans joined with Democrats to defeat the legislation, and some lawmakers say the vote undermines Speaker Steve Sviggum's control of the House.
April 7, 1999 - The folks in the Red River have learned to "never say never", but the risk of spring flooding in the Grand Forks area appears to be over. Today the national weather service said the Red River is dropping, and won't crest again. Kevin Dean of the Grand Forks Emergency Management Center says the revised forecast is a relief.
April 7, 1999 - The University of Minnesota says it'll know by the end of the week the full extent of damage done by animal rights activists who smashed microscopes and computers and freed more than 100 lab animals early Monday. The University says the vandalism could set back progress in research into Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, Cancer, Cerebral Palsy and other illnesses.
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April 8, 1999 - This afternoon President Clinton and Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji signed an aviation pact that'll significantly increase passenger and cargo flights between the two countries. Among the biggest beneficiaries of the trade agreement will be Twin Cities based Northwest Airlines.
April 8, 1999 - House Republicans say they want to make up for years of neglect in general education spending for Minnesota schools. Republican leaders announced today their plan to increase education spending by nearly one billion dollars over the next two years.
April 8, 1999 - A federal judge has blocked Northern States Power Company in a lawsuit seeking financial damages from the federal government, for not taking the utility's nuclear waste. NSP says the government was legally obligated to remove the waste from its Prairie Island nuclear power plant by January 1998. Observers say the judges decision is a major setback for the nuclear industry as Congress debates action on the nuclear waste issue.
April 8, 1999 - The prospects for light rail transit in the Twin Cities got a little dimmer after a key House committee vote today. The Republican-controlled House Transportation Finance Committee approved this year's comprehensive transportation funding bill WITHOUT including money for LRT. The House bill ignores Governor Ventura's request for $60 Million dollars to begin construction of an LRT line between Minneapolis and Bloomington, but the project is still very much alive in the Senate.
April 8, 1999 - A new steel plant proposed for the Iron Range town of Nashwauk could create more than one thousand jobs and pump millions of dollars into Northeast Minnesota's economy. But the proposal comes with a huge start-up cost including Millions of dollars from the State of Minnesota.