April 7, 1999 -
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.
April 8, 1999 - This has not been edited! The University of Minnesota now says damage done by animal rights activists who broke into a university research facility earlier this week could extend into the millions of dollars. The Animal Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for the break-in, which freed more than one hundred lab animals and destroyed computers, microscopes, and other lab equipment. As the investigation continues, activists on both sides of the issue are speaking up.
April 9, 1999 - The Minnesota Gang Strike Force is seeking $6 million dollars from the state legislature to continue its work into the year 2000. Attorney General Mike Hatch is also seeking broad new gang prosecution powers. In its first year the force was responsible for 129 convictions and the seizure of drugs, money and firearms around the state. But activists have raised questions about the tactics used to identify gang members, and whether the strikeforce's work justifies its expense.
April 9, 1999 - Top officials from the Red Lake Reservation, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Bureau of Indian Affairs met this afternoon to sign a historic agreement to restore the depleted walleye population on Red Lake.
April 9, 1999 - After serving 28 months in federal prison, former White Earth Tribal Chairman Darrell "Chip" Wadena is back home on the reservation. Convicted in 1996 of 15 felony counts including conspiracy, theft and embezzlement of tribal funds, Wadena still contends he did nothing wrong. He now says he plans to seek the White Earth chairmanship again in 2000.