June 21, 1999 - Wheat, corn and other grains may be the staff of life at the world's dinner table but when it comes to international trade they're more often the stuff of strife. U.S. farmers struggling to stay afloat financially see exports as the answer to their problems. But they're locked out of some of the worlds most lucrative markets. Trade barriers are one reason Minnesota farmers say they're in a crisis, and many have used government aid and creative financing to balance the books.
June 22, 1999 - As Minnesota logs month after month of historically low unemployment, the jobless rate in the twin cities hovers at even lower levels. The metropolitan area has consistently posted the lowest unemployment rate among major cities since August of 1997. Last month it was just one-point-six percent. As Bill Catlin reports, the low unemployment rate is changing the balance of power between companies and workers.
June 22, 1999 - A lot of people in North Minneapolis are hoping the good times have finally begun to roll. The city is demolishing rundown public housing to make way for new market rate homes. There's a plan to clean up the riverfront. And a few months ago, the area won federal designation as an Empowerment Zone, allowing people interested in doing business there to apply for grants and credits.
June 22, 1999 - The debate continues over building a new baseball stadium in downtown St. Paul. Last night, Mayor Norm Coleman hosted his second community forum on bringing the Minnesota Twins across the river. The event was more orderly than the mayor's first attempt at presenting his ballpark proposal. That discussion -- late last week -- was disrupted when opponents interrupted several speakers. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports this time the process may have been more civil, but the two sides are as far apart as ever.
June 22, 1999 - Nick O'Hara is superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is working on both the Moose Lake and the Waseca cases. I asked him about the links between the two crimes.
June 22, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports that the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe are looking ahead at a future without gaming. Like many Indian tribes, the Mille Lacs Ojibwe got an enormous boost from gaming in the 1990s. Its two casinos brought in millions of dollars annually, and hundreds of new jobs. Now the Band is trying to broaden its economy.
June 22, 1999 - The first official week of summer is also the first week of summer school for thousands of kids in the twin cities. In St. Paul, summer school is mandatory for some students who did poorly on state tests. Only a little more than half of all registerd students showed up for the first day of class yesterday. Cy Yusten is an assistant superintendant for the St. Paul Schools. He says the idea that school is back in session sometimes takes a few days to sink in.
June 22, 1999 - The Carlton County sheriff says the man suspected of kidnapping Katie Poirier was in Moose Lake without his family when the 19-year-old was apparently taken from a convenience store there last month. Sheriff Dave Seboe also said this afternoon that the suspect has changed his looks considerably since the abduction, cutting his hair and growing a beard. The man remains in the Carlton County jail, awaiting formal charges. While his arraignment was delayed, authorities continue looking into the suspects past to determine whether he should be considered a suspect in another Minnesota crime.
June 22, 1999 - Carlton County authorities have until noon to charge a 52-year-old Richfield man in connection with the disappearance of Katie Poirer. The man's arrest has re-energized the search to find the 19-year-old Barnum woman who was apparently kidnapped last month from a Moose Lake convenience store. On Monday the Carlton County Sheriff's Department organized volunteers to search land surrounding the suspect's vacation home east of Moose Lake.
June 23, 1999 - Governor Jesse Ventura is in Washington, D.C. through tomorrow to lobby Clinton administration officials and members of Congress on behalf of Minnesota farmers. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik is in the nation's capitol with the governor and has this report.