October 27, 1999 - The two democratic front-runners in the Presidential race, vice president Al Gore and former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley will hold their first debate tonight. The one hour "New Hampshire Town Meeting" will take place at Dartmouth College and audience members will get a chance to ask questions. You can hear the debate live on Minnesota Public Radio tonight, starting at 7. With a little more than a year to go before the election, politically active Minnesotans are starting align themselves with candidates. We invited two prominent democrats to tell us why their man should win. Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe is supporting Al Gore. Former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer favors Bill Bradley.
October 27, 1999 - Downtown St. Paul is buzzing with construction activity, as big office buildings and a new hockey arena go up. First to open will be the one hundred million dollar Lawson Commons. Some of the software company's eleven hundred headquarters staff have already started moving in to the new complex. Lawson's move comes as a reminder that Mayor Norm Coleman's proposal to raise the city sales tax to help pay for a new Twins stadium is not the FIRST time he has aroused controversy over the proper use of city funds.
October 28, 1999 - To close out the millennium, Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered presents a look back at Minnesota life in 1900 via a 12-part series, entitled “A Minnesota Century.” This segment is the the story the notorious outlaw Cole Younger.
October 28, 1999 - Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan paid his first visit to the home state of Jesse Ventura today, since announcing his switch to Ventura's Reform Party. Buchanan, who left the Republican Party on Monday, continues to be diplomatic toward the Governor, saying he respects Ventura's importance in the party. Still, Buchanan was unable to get a personal meeting with Ventura during this visit to Minnesota -- and his presence here has highlighted a growing rift inside the state Reform Party.
October 28, 1999 - Attornies delivered opening statements in Donald Blom's federal firearms trial. Blom, who is also facing first degree murder and kidnapping charges in state court in the disappeance of Katie Poirier, is accused of being a felon in possession of firearms. If found guilty in the federal case Blom faces a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years and could get life. Minnesota Public Radio's Patty Marsicano reports from the Federal Courthouse in Minneapolis .
October 28, 1999 - Next week, St. Paul voters will decide whether to approve Mayor Norm Coleman's plan to build a new Minnesota Twins ballpark in the city's downtown. Supporters and opponents argue back and forth on the economic impact a stadium could provide -- but both sides seem to agree the finances of Major League Baseball are in disarray, leaving small market teams like the Twins at a competitive disadvantage.
October 28, 1999 - Texas Governor George W. Bush takes his presidential campaign to Fargo Thursday - we'll broadcast his remarks on Midday at 11:00 a.m. and get some analysis from Chris Gilbert, Chair of the Political Science Department at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.
October 28, 1999 - Twin Cities based Imation is reporting sharply higher earnings in its latest quarter. Net income for the company nearly tripled, thanks to strong demand for its products ... and lower costs.
October 29, 1999 - The pro-stadium tax Yes! St. Paul campaign committee has released a television ad in support of Mayor Norm Coleman's plan for a new Minnesota Twins ballpark. But you won't see it unless the campaign mails a video tape directly to your home. Rather than blanket the metropolitan airwaves with its message, the organization is running a targeted campaign designed to reach undecided St. Paul voters.
October 29, 1999 - Two young men from Minnesota will start a year-long bicycle journey through Africa today.