July 26, 2000 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews WCCO meteorologist Paul Douglas, who says the massive storm system on July 25, 2000 was unusual in a number of ways. For one thing, it produced many more tornado warnings than usual in Minnesota.
July 26, 2000 - The Department of Natural Resources is investigating the deaths of about 60 mallards and wood ducks on Carrolton Pond in Apple Valley. The birds began washing up on shore on July first. Joe Marcino is the DNR pathologist trying to find out what killed the ducks. He says the final test results aren't in yet, but it looks like the deaths were caused by a type of botulism common to birds.
July 25, 2000 - The Minneapolis Police Department is well prepared for this week's protests. Rick Odenthal trains departments like Minneapolis to handle protests for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He says that a good police response is one that doesn't attract much media attention.
July 14, 2000 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews Ojibwe activist and White Earth band member Winona LaDuke, who is running mate for Green Party presidential hopeful Ralph Nader. The two ran together on the Green Party ticket four years ago but weren't able to capture any electoral votes. LaDuke says this time around, she and Nader are planning a much more aggressive campaign.
July 13, 2000 - Minnesota native Steve Holman will compete in the 1500-meter race at the Olympic track trials tomorrow in Sacramento. In the past eight years, Holman has logged some of the fastest 1500-meter times in the country but he has consistently failed to perform in major races. Last year, he ended the disappointing streak with a win at U.S. outdoor track and field championships. Now he is heading into the trials barely one-month after recovering from a stress fracture. But Holman says having captured the national title last year gives him the extra confidence he will to win in Sacramento.
July 12, 2000 - Minneapolis ad-man Bill Hillsman has agreed to run Presidential- hopeful Ralph Nader's media campaign. Hillsman gained reknown as the creator of popular television advertisements for Governor Jesse Ventura and Senator Paul Wellstone. Hillsman says the first phase of the campaign will be targeted at getting Nader included in the Presidential debates:
July 11, 2000 - Commercial actors who have been on strike for over two months took their dispute today to the Minneapolis offices of a major advertiser. About 60 picketers showed up at the downtown offices of AT&T carrying signs, including ones that read "Reach out and pay someone." The national commercial actor's strike is no closer to resolution than when it began on May first. Tim Ogren is the Assisstant Executive Director of the Twin Cities American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Union. He says the union targeted AT&T because the company has such a large advertising budget:
July 10, 2000 -
July 10, 2000 - President Clinton has commuted the sentence of a Minneapolis woman who was convicted of drug related offenses ten years ago. Serena Nunn was drawn into a drug ring by her boyfriend, who was the son of Plukey Duke, one of the Cities' most notorious drug lords. Nunn was convicted of aiding and abetting her boyfriend in his attempt to distribute cocaine and of possesing about 10 grams of crack and cocaine herself. Under the federal minimum guidelines she was sentenced to 14 years in prision. U-S District Judge David Doty sentenced Nunn. He wrote a letter to the President supporting the commutation of her sentence. He says that an error in Nunn's case meant he was forced to hand down an especially harsh sentence:
July 7, 2000 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews Alan Hunter, an animal geneticist, about G-E-N-E, the world's first cloned bovine... a three year-old Holstein bull who weighs about one ton. Gene is part of an exhibit at the Minnesota Zoo introducing visitors to the inner-workings of a typical family farm.