August 30, 1999 - Coach Ventura returned to the football field today. The governor is beginning his fifth year volunteering as the conditioning coach for the Champlin Park Rebels. Last season, Ventura managed to keep up his duties, even as he campaigned for governor. The Rebels made it to the Class 5-A championship game, where they lost to Woodbury. Tim Herman is Champlin Park's head football coach. He says he was surprised Governor Ventura could set aside the time to come back this year.
August 30, 1999 - Rural Minnesota still lags behind the metro area when it comes to internet access. According to a new Minnesota Public Radio/Pioneer Press poll, 61-percent of metro residents compared with 47-percent of greater Minnesotans have access to the internet. Overall, 55-percent of state residents use the information super highway, a rate slightly higher than the national average. Bill Bomash, Information Technology Leader for the University of Minnesota's Extension Service has been trying to close the gap between Minnesota's metro and rural areas. He says cost is becoming less of a barrier.
August 30, 1999 - American Indians were the most undercounted ethnic group in the 1990 census. US Census officials say they missed more than 12 percent of Indians who live on reservations, compared with about one percent of the white population. With the 2000 census imminent, census officials travelled to Minnesota as part of the effort to make sure that doesn't happen again.
August 30, 1999 - St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman often cites new ballparks in Denver, Baltimore, and Cleveland as a models for his plan to build a new stadium for the Minnesota Twins. In an attempt to judge the economic and social impact of the new facilities, delegations from St. Paul have already visited Denver and Baltimore. Later this week, they expect to complete their ballpark tours with a pilgrimage to Jacobs Field in Cleveland.
August 30, 1999 - MPR’s Laura McCallum reports on a Minnesota Citizens Forum on the farm crisis held at the State Fair. A panel of elected officials from the federal, state and local levels talked about ways to help rural Minnesota survive, ranging from a government buyout of surplus commodities to more money for technology.
August 30, 1999 - Among the thousands of Minnesota State Fair workers are senior citizens. MPR’s Mark Zdechlik reports on these older workers and interviews numerous retired individuals about their reasons for taking on roles on the fairgrounds…and it’s not for the money. They reflect a growing number of older Americans choosing so-called post retirement employment.
August 30, 1999 - A federal appeals court is upholding a controversial Fargo ordinance which banned picketing in front of people's homes. The ruling comes after a years'-long fight in a case that pits the free speech rights of people who oppose legalized abortion against the rights of homeowners.
August 31, 1999 - Back in St. Paul, volunteers are collecting money for Olson's legal defense fund. Mary Sutton is an old friend who's serving on the committee. She says they've raised 22-thousand dollars so far.
August 31, 1999 - Minnesota schools are having an increasingly hard time hiring good principals. Superintendents say fewer people are applying for principal jobs, and many of those applicants lack the experience needed to meet the growing demands of the job. It's a nationwide trend that some predict is reaching crisis proportions.
August 31, 1999 - School starts tomorrow for most Minnesota school districts. Governor Ventura spoke at a rally today for the St. Paul public schools--a district which starts next week after the state fair closes. Ventura told the crowd of teachers that his own contribution to education is the time he devotes to voluteering as a conditioning coach at Champlin Park High School.