September 8, 1999 - The Minnesota Department of Public Safety reports the incidence of serious crime dropped 7 percent statewide last year. The Minnesota experience is part of a national trend that has seen crime levels fall steadily since the early nineties.
September 8, 1999 - This is a great time to be an ethanol producer. At least that's what many Minnesota producers of the corn based fuel are saying now that ethanol's chief rival in the gasoline business has stumbled and may be on its way out. Congress could play a major role in determining whether the midwest's favorite becomes the nation's gasoline additive of choice.
September 8, 1999 - The Minneapolis city council has passed an affordable housing policy some low-income housing advocates say will do nothing. During a raucous meeting, the council passed a measure yesterday afternoon to double city funding for affordable housing from the current five million dollars to 10 milllion dollars per year. But that's only a fifth of what a council-appointed task force had recommended to erase a city-wide shortage of 15,000 affordable housing units.
September 9, 1999 - MPR’s Michael Choo reports on a new Hmong-language radio program that premiered on WMIN Radio Rey in St. Paul. The variety show features Hmong music and news from both Laos and the Twin Cities region. Backers of the show say the estimated 75-thousand Hmong living in the metro area represent an under-served market with significant economic potential.
September 9, 1999 - A national organization opposed to racial preferences in colleges admissions is taking on the University of Minnesota. The Washington, D-C-based, Center for Equal Opportunity released a report today, charging the university unfairly admits minority students at the expense of white students. U of M officials are defending their admissions policies and call the report misleading.
September 9, 1999 - Jesse Ventura has very publicly kept lobbyists at arms length since becoming Governor, but he'll make an exception this evening. Ventura doesn't meet with lobbyists or accept their money, but he says he's not selling out by attending a fundraiser - which gets underway shortly at the Lexington in St. Paul - as a favor to his former campaign chair. The president of the watchdog group Common Cause Minnesota calls it the worst of politics-as-usual.
September 9, 1999 - Donald Blom has a history as a repeat sex offender against young girls. He was convicted five times in the seventies and eighties for sexually assaulting and in some cases kidnapping of girls ages 13 to 16 in the Twin Cities area. The longest continuous period he served in prison was four years after committing three sexual assualts in the 1980's. Criminal histories like Blom's are of particular interest to the group WATCH, which monitors felony-level sex crimes against women and children in Hennepin County. Executive Director Jacqueline Hauser says sentences have gotten tougher of late, but the changes came too late to protect Katie Poirier.
September 9, 1999 - Maps are constantly being re-written to reflect new political boundaries, and improved map making techniques. Blobby sketches jotted down by early explorers have given way to satellite photos that don't leave an inch of mystery. A new exhibit at the University of Minnesota celebrates the vast array of maps that serve as a timeline of sorts, charting human understanding of the world and universe. The Weisman exhibit also includes new maps, commissioned by artists. Curator Rob Silberman says he got the idea for a map show from current events.
September 9, 1999 - One of the more spectacular moves in soccer is the "header" where a player soars in the air to smack the ball into the net with well-placed nod of the head. In recent months there has been rising concern among soccer parents caused by reports heading may damage young brains. A study reported in this weeks Journal of the American Medical association found possible risk of chronic traumatic brain injury for amateur soccer players. The report concludes that due to the worldwide popularity of soccer the observbations could have important public health implications. Now a pair of Twin Cities soccer dads have come up with what they hope is an answer... a protective headband. But as Minnesota Public Radio's Mary Stucky reports there's disagreement over whether this kind of protection is really needed.
September 9, 1999 - What exactly prompted Donald Blom to confess to the kidnapping and killing of Katie Poirier is unclear. But after more than two months in prison, Blom gave a statement to authorities yesterday in which he confessed he kidnapped Poirier and said the human remains found on his property are hers. Blom's attorneys discouraged him from making the plea agreement, since he'll still likely face life in prison without parole. But Blom said he wants to get the matter behind him.