March 22, 2005 - A local coalition of human rights advocates are calling on Minnesota police departments to stop using stun guns.
March 22, 2005 - A coalition of Minnesota human rights activists say tasers are too dangerous. They're urging some Metro - area police departments to stop using the stun guns. The coalition includes the University of Minnesota human rights program, the Center for Victims of Torture, and AMinnesotaesty International. They say stun gun use should be suspended until more independent safety research can be done, and until there are strict, uniform guidelines governing use of stun guns. A coalition letter to police chiefs in Minneapolis , St. Paul, and Roseville, says more than 74 people in the U.S. have died after being stunned by tasers. St. Paul police spokesman Paul Schnell says the chief is aware of the concerns, but the department will continue using tasers.
March 25, 2005 - MPR’s Julie Siple interviews members of Minneapolis band Savage Aural Hotbed. The group discusses their “home’made” instruments, performance, and “The Rate of Mass Displacement is Momentum” show.
March 25, 2005 - An MPR Special Report, titled “What Happened in Red Lake?”, details the chronology of the shooting at Red Lake, what's known about the student who killed nine people and himself, and what makes this sovereign Indian community different from other communities. The special also examines the shooting within the context of other school shootings.
April 14, 2005 - MPR’s Karl Gehrke reports on the end of the Minneapolis chamber group Prospect Park Players. Gehrke interviews Prospect Park Artistic Director William Eddins and composer Randall Davidson about the seven year run of of the classical group.
April 15, 2005 - When the nominees gather tomorrow night to hear the winners of the Minnesota Book Awards, they'll have several things in common. Many of the nominees have spent time at a writers retreat at a little-known campus just outside Red Wing. The Anderson Center is the largest artist residence in Minnesota, and the writers who have been there say it changed their lives and their work.
April 16, 2005 - There are two confirmed cases of tuberculosis and four suspected cases among Hmong refugees who recently resettled in Minnesota. State health officials say all of the patients are being treated. Several T-B cases were identified in the newly-arriving refugee population in January, prompting the federal government to slow the resettlement. New screening procedures are in place to identify and treat any TB cases before refugees enter the United States. Ann O'Fallon is the refugee coordinator for the state Department of Health. She says no other major health problems have been identified. She also says children, who make up about half of the refugee population, are doing well.
April 16, 2005 - About 15- to 17-hundred more Hmong refugees are expected in Minnesota as part of a massive resettlement from Thailand. But the resettlement process remains slow because of tuberculosis cases identified earlier this year among the refugees. Two confirmed cases and four suspected cases were identified in Minnesota. Ann O'Fallon, the refugee coordinator for the state Department of Health, says all of those patients are being treated. The Centers for Disease Control began a more intensive screening process to treat the refugees before they enter the United States, causing the slowdown in resettlement. O'Fallon says the delay has been difficult.
April 17, 2005 - The winners of the 17th annual Minnesota Book Awards include a Macalester College anthropology professor and a former investigative reporter whose father was a bank robber. Minnesota Public Radio's Phil Picardi has more.
April 20, 2005 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann interviews Rick Linsk, reporter at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, about Vang Pao Foundation. The non-profit foundation named for General Vang Pao, a leader in the Hmong community, faces a law suit from the office of State Attorney General Mike Hatch. The suit alleges that the Vang Pao Foundation engaged in questionable spending, and bypassed state charity laws.