November 18, 2003 - A 16-billion dollar deal announced yesterday willcreate the second-largest business insurer in the country. Travelers PropertyCasualty Corporation is combining with the Saint Paul Companies Incorporated.The joint venture should be worth about 107-Billion dollars. Jeff Horwich ofMinnesota Public Radio reports.
November 18, 2003 - Congress is nearly finished with a bill that would add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare and increase the role of private insurers in the program. House and Senate negotiators announced over the weekend that they had reached initial agreement on the 400 billion dollar measure. One of the criticisms of the bill is that it does too little to control the cost of presciption drugs. While it does make it easier for generic copies of brand-name drugs to get approval, it leaves in effect the current ban on the importation of lower-cost prescription drugs from other industrialized countries. The bill would allow Americans to buy drugs from Canada, but only if the FDA certifies that the drugs are safe... which the FDA has said it won't do. Minnesota Republican Congressman Gil Gutknecht favors the importation of prescription drugs and authored a House bill that would allow importation from 25 countries. He joins us now.
November 18, 2003 -
October 31, 2003 - Small businesses in Minnesota that started-up in the mid 90s.... and have survived since then... have common traits... according to a survey done by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. The department surveyed almost 17-hundred small businesses. Joining us with the details is that Matt Kramer... Commissioner of the Department of Employment and Economic Development.
October 31, 2003 -
October 30, 2003 - The referendum in Duluth is just one of 72 that will be on ballots around the state this coming Tuesday. Warren Grantham (GRAN-thum), executive director of the Minnesota Education League, is encouraging voters to scrutinize the details of a referendum before deciding how to vote on it. Warren Granthum joins us now by phone. That is Warren Grantham (GRAN-thum), executive director of the Minnesota Education League. If you have opinions on this issue, you can air them on our web site. Look for the "Your Voice" icon at Minnesota Public Radio dot org. Or you can call the listener comment line, 651-290-1080.
October 30, 2003 -
October 29, 2003 - Congresswoman Betty McCollum is back in the US, after a trip to Iraq. During her visit, a wave of coordinated attacks took place, some targeting the Red Cross headquarters in Baghdad, killing more than 35 people. She also visited Mosul (MOE-zul), in northern Iraq, where she and other members of her delegation with the House International Relations committee met with members of the 101st Airborne Division. Joining us on the line from Washington, D.C. is Democratic Congreswoman Betty McCollum. That is Democratic Congreswoman Betty McCollum.
October 29, 2003 - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says it will conduct test netting this fall on Lake Pepin and other parts of the Mississippi River. They'll be looking for Asian Carp after a commercial fisherman pulled a 23-pound bighead carp out of the lake last week, marking the first time the invasive species has been confirmed in Minnesota waters. The bighead is related to the silver carp, which has made news because it can reach 110 pounds and jump several feet into the air. Both species have been moving north in the Mississippi and its tributaries since the 1980s, after they were imported by Arkansas fish farmers and were either released or escaped. Duane Chapman is a fisheries biologist for the US Geological Survey in Columbia, Missouri... a state which has been dealing with Asian carp for more than a decade. Duane Chapman is a fisheries biologist for the US Geological Survey in Columbia, Missouri.
October 29, 2003 - The Hennepin County Board has passed a report recommending changes in the way Minnesota restores voting rights for convicted felons. Under state law, felons can vote again after they've served their sentences and completed probation. But the board report suggests that the system is not working as well as it should, and many convicted felons who are eligible to vote again may not know it. Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin pushed for the board to consider this issue and was on the work group that wrote the report. He joins us now. That is Hennepin County Comissioner Peter McLaughlin. You'll more on this subject during our special series next week "Whose Democracy Is It?"