May 31, 1999 - This year marks the 100th anniversary of the VFW--the Veterans of Foreign Wars. It's an organization of veterans, for veterans. Its members visit VA hospitals and care centers and raise money for disabled vets. As Minnesota public radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports, the VFW is facing challenges that threaten its survival as it moves into its second century.
April 30, 1999 - Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said Minnesota's Supreme Court ruling on the Twins means the team can now focus on getting a new stadium built in the Twin Cities. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled unanimously yesterday the Attorney General CANNOT look through the Twins' private files to find out whether the team violated anti-trust laws when it threatened to move to North Carolina.
April 21, 1999 - U-S Attorney General Janet Reno said she wishes the nation could see the success of Minneapolis ' Hawthorne neighborhood to give americans hope as they mourn the tragedy in Colorado. Reno visited Minneapolis today to speak to several groups including the Hawthorne neighborhood and at a national symposium on improving public safety.
April 20, 1999 - The St Paul City Attorney's office WON'T bring misdemeanor charges against a police officer who drove a van into a crowd of Holidazzle parade spectators last Winter. Two people were killed; 10 were injured. St Paul investigated the case for Minneapolis to avoid a conflict of interest. As Minnesota public radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports, the lawsuits are far from over.
April 19, 1999 - Florida plowed 70-million dollars of tobacco settlement money into a program that in one year showed the largest drop in the state's teen smoking rate in nearly 20 years. A year ago, Minnesota settled its case with tobacco and six months later created an anti-smoking panel which is still in the formative stages of its work.
April 7, 1999 - The University of Minnesota says it'll know by the end of the week the full extent of damage done by animal rights activists who smashed microscopes and computers and freed more than 100 lab animals early Monday. The University says the vandalism could set back progress in research into Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, Cancer, Cerebral Palsy and other illnesses.
March 24, 1999 - The United States Supreme Court today ended one of Minnesota's most contentious disputes by ruling in favor of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe's right to spearfish and gillnet on the state's premier walleye lake, Lake Mille Lacs. By a vote of 5-to-4, the High Court ruled the Band has retained the right to hunt and fish, free from state regulation on 13-million acres of land it sold to the government more than 160 years ago. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports on this landmark decision.
March 23, 1999 - Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch is suing American Family Mutual Insurance for consumer fraud and deceptive advertising. Hatch says the Wisconsin-based company failed to fully reimburse customers for damage sustained by last year's storms.
March 23, 1999 - Minnesota is one of the few states in the nation with a seatbelt gag rule. That rule bans information about whether a person was wearing a seatbelt as evidence of fault in personal injury lawsuits or in lawsuits against automakers. Some opponents say the law is outdated and now penalizes as many people as it was designed to protect.
March 16, 1999 - The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld the State's practice of confiscating vehicles from repeat DWI offenders as a way to get drunk drivers off the road. The law took effect last year and is part of a national trend to further stiffen the penalties for drunk drivers.