April 28, 1999 - Senate DFL leaders say they'll cut deeper into income tax rates than they originally proposed last week. The plan announced Tuesday cuts car tab fees and the lower two income tax rates. DFLers says the proposal is aimed at the middle class, but House Republicans scoff at the package, which is still about a billion dollars less than their plan.
April 28, 1999 - AT&T says US West is illegally preventing customers from transferring business to US West's competitors for in-state long distance calls. The charges and counter-charges are the latest dispute to erupt as deregulation reshapes the telecommunications industry.
April 29, 1999 - Tales of torture and abuse are the stuff of nightmares: this weekend a such a story is being retold, but this has, if not a happy, at least a hopeful, ending. The Macalester College theater department is presenting the world premiere of "Return to Kanburi" a remarkable story of how Eric Lomax, a British soldier tortured in by the Japanese during World War 2, found one of the men responsible decades later, and forgave him.
April 29, 1999 - Students who aren't making acceptable academic progress in Saint Paul public schools could soon be prevented from moving on to the next grade. The district's new superintendent, Pat Harvey, says she wants to end social promotion as part of a new district accountability plan.
April 29, 1999 - Minnesota lawmakers would be able to accept a cup of coffee or a cookie from a lobbyist, under legislation that passed the Senate yesterday. The Senate voted 42-to-19 for a bill relaxing the total ban on lobbyists gifts. But House Speaker Steve Sviggum says he won't let the provision pass the House.
April 29, 1999 - Minnesota schools, like schools around the country, have seen a rash of copy-cat bomb threats since last week's shooting in Littleton, Colorado. Today schools in Apple Valley, Mapleton and Robbinsdale evacuated buildings. Every incident, so far, has turned out to be a hoax. Children, Families and Learning Commissioner Christine Jax blames the media for giving kids the idea.
April 29, 1999 - An ambitious plan to market Lake Superior Lamprey for the dinner table in Portugal has fallen through because of Mercury contamination in the fish.
April 29, 1999 - A report by the Minnesota Department of Transportation says the reroute of highway 55 in Minneapolis will NOT disturb sites sacred to Native Americans. Min-DOT says construction of the much disputed highway can go ahead this summer. Members of the Mendota Dakota, a native American community whose ancestors lived in the area, disagree with the report's findings and say they'll continue to oppose the highway.
April 29, 1999 - The exodus of thousands of people from Kosovo has put refugee relief agenices into high gear. Most are working under the Office of the United Nations High Commmsioner for Refugees, the UN agency that has the mandate to assist and protect the world's 13-point-two-million refugees. The Minneapolis -based American Refugee Committee is no exception. And while the ARC is active in the latest Balkan conflict, this relatively obscure agency has experience in earlier conflicts in the Balkans and around the world.
April 30, 1999 - It's twenty past six and we'll wind up this Friday's All Things Considered with the Word of Mouth arts roundup and Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts.