September 1, 1999 - The attorney for the man accused of kidnapping three-year-old Jessica Swanson will try to get key evidence thrown out. Last Wednesday, Dale Jenson alledgedly confessed to killing Jessica and led police to a gully where they found skeletal remains. Mary Wingfield is the public defender assigned to Jensen's case. She says the confession was illegally obtained because during Jenson's first interview with the F-B-I his interogator brushed aside repeated requests for a lawyer--in violation of his constitutional rights.
August 30, 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 of Rhoda Emery, a young woman who thought she would never make it as a schoolteacher, but ended up dedicating 50 years to the profession.
August 24, 1999 - Several recent public disturbances have the Minneapolis City Council reconsidering special late-night closing times for some downtown bars. Councilmember Joe Biernat is asking the council to look at whether two early morning brawls might not have happened if bars were forced to shut down a few hours earlier. With a "late night license" downtown bars can stay open until three am as long as they stop serving alcohol at one. Biernat sponsored the late night license a few years ago, but says the program didn't work out as he hoped.
August 10, 1999 - Supporters of a new St. Paul ballpark plan to send area civic leaders on tours of several new retro-style ballparks hoping they'll come back ready to drum up enthusiasm for the local proposal. Mayor Norm Coleman's staff is considering trips to Jacob's Field in Cleveland, Camden Yards in Baltimore and Coors Field in Denver. The cheer leaders have their work cut out for them. Polls have consistently shown Minnesotans are overwhelmingly against building a new baseball stadium. Ed Schiappa, a professor of communication studies at the University of Minnesota, has written a book on the stadium debate in Minnesota. He says this lastest push isn't likely to fare much better than the last one.
July 30, 1999 - A number of severe storms are moving through the state at this hour. Tony Zaleski is a forecaster with the national weather service. He says the storms have been damaging and are expected to grow stronger as they move towards the Twin Cities.
July 28, 1999 - Tomorrow is the one-year anniversery of the disappearance of Julie Holmquist. Holmquist is the teenager who vanished while rollerblading near her small town of Hallock, Minnesota. Her body was found in a shallow pond three weeks later. The case has still not been solved. Ray Hunt is the Kittson county Sheriff in charge of Holmquist's case. He says he's optomistic her killer can be found.
July 27, 1999 - The St. Paul School district is dropping its lawsuit against the state of Minnesota claiming lawmakers were not providing enough funding to meet the specific needs of St. Paul students. More than half the district's students are eligible for free and reduced lunch and many do not speak English. The agreement comes after a series of mediation sessions that began after Governor Ventura was elected last November. Mary Thorthon Phillips is Chairwoman of the St. Paul School Board. She says the district was able to find some common ground with the Ventura administration.
July 26, 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 a profile of the Mayo brothers.
July 13, 1999 - Baseball analyst Kevin Hennessy talks about the Minnesota Twins, who at the All-Star break are in last place in their division and have the third worst record in the American League. Despite that, Hennessy says the Twins have done much better than he thought they would in 1999, especially considering the young pitching staff.
July 9, 1999 - 90 thousand fans are expected to pack the Rosebowl Stadium for the Women's world cup soccer final tomorrow. The U-S will play China in a match-up that is likely to be extremely close. China has two of the best offensive players in the tournament, but if past games are any indication, they will have trouble getting the ball past US goalkeeper Briana Scurry. Scurry is a Minnesota native, who honed her soccer skills on the Anoka High School team. Dave Tank was her coach at Anoka. He says he's not surprised Scurry has come this far.