June 18, 1998 - William Cooper, Republican Party Chairman and Twin City Federal CEO, previews the state convention and the issues Republicans will be addressing in this year's campaigns. Cooper also answers listener questions. Program begins with a report on the upcoming GOP convention.
June 5, 1998 - About three thousand loyal Democrats are gathering in St. Cloud today (FRI) to kick off their state convention. Over the next three days, delegates will pick their favorite candidates for this fall's state-wide races, from the governor on down to state auditor. But with five of the six gubernatorial candidates saying they'll stay in the race with or without the party's endorsement, this year's state convention is in danger of becoming irrelevant. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: Volunteers for the ]gubernatorial candidates engaged in a "lawn sign war" in St. Cloud yesterday, getting ready for this year's DFL convention. The Humphrey and Freeman camps were especially competitive, jockeying for the best sight lines in and around the St. Cloud State University hockey arena. John Youngdahl runs the Mike Freeman campaign:
June 5, 1998 - Gary Eichten continues broadcast from the DFL State Convention in St. Cloud, and talks with some of the gubernatorial candidates, MPR political commentators Bob Meek, Tom Horner, Sarah Stoesz, and Sarah Janacek. Also includes various reporting on floor from MPR reporters Mark Zdechlik, Martin Kaste, and Karen Louise Boothe.
June 4, 1998 - (for THURS M.E.) Vice President Al Gore helped raise $70 thousand dollars for the DFL with a twenty-minute stump speech in Minneapolis yesterday (WED). The money is meant for DFL members of the Minnesota House, who are jittery about their prospects in November. House Republicans are planning to go all out in their campaign to take the majority, and as a result, 1998 promises to be the most expensive election season in the history of the state House. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: Vice President Gore's speech was his standard pep-talk for the local troops -- at one point, a bored member of his security detail was mouthing the words by heart. But the crowd of House DFLers and lobbyists seemed to get a kick out of it:
June 3, 1998 - If today were election day, Minnesotans would pick Attorney General Skip Humphrey to be their next Governor. That's assuming a race between Humphrey and the current Republican front-runner, Norm Coleman -- one of several possible match-ups tested on voters in a new poll by MPR, the Pioneer Press and KARE-11. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste has more: In this poll, Skip Humphrey looks strong on a number of fronts. Paired off in a hypothetical race against Republican front-runner Norm Coleman, Humphrey comes out on top, 46 percent to 30. Humphrey has to win the DFL nomination before he faces a Republican... but things are looking good for him, there, too: in a survey of likely primary voters, all other DFLers trail Humphrey by at least 19 percentage points. The Humphrey campaign chairman, Vance Opperman, says Democrats have concluded that Humphrey is the one who can lead their party back to the governor's mansion:
May 29, 1998 - [NOTE CORRECTED DCART NUMBER For Friday ATC] With three weeks to go before the Republican state convention, St. Paul mayor Norm Coleman says he's "optimistic" he's going to get the party's endorsement for Governor. But the Coleman campaign is careful not to declare victory too soon: campaign manager Chris Georgacas says he thinks the other two Republican front-runners, Joanne Benson and Allen Quist, may join forces. A socially-conservative, outstate coalition could be enough to stop the Coleman campaign in its tracks. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste takes a closer look at the race for the Republican endorsement: ((convention sfx, Coleman's voice in distance: "Hi, I'm N
May 26, 1998 - Critics unleashed a new round of attacks today on Attorney General Skip Humphrey for letting private lawyers earn half a billion dollars from the state's tobacco lawsuit. Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen Quist says not only is the law firm's $566 Million dollar fee too big, it's also ILLEGAL under Minnesota statutes. But a non-partisan law professor says Quist does NOT have much of a case against Humphrey. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste has the story: Allen Quist never liked Skip Humphrey's tobacco lawsuit. He thinks the lawsuit is the wrong way to fight youth smoking, and he doesn't like the state's contingency-fee arrangement with the private
May 22, 1998 - The Minnesota Thunder, the state's only pro soccer club, plays its home-opener tomorrow night (SAT). The team has started the season with a 4-and-2 winning streak on the road, and team managers are hoping that will translate into profits -- something the team has not yet seen in its 8-year history. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: ((BANG of ball hitting chainlink, cheers, followed by predictable soccer practice soundbed)) Attacker Amos Magee is on a hot streak -- he's scored five goals in his last four games, something akin to a baseball player getting a hit every time he walks up to the plate. During team practice at the National Sports Center soccer stadium in Blaine, Magee's coach and teammates treat him as the star of the moment... but the St Paul native is careful not to crow:
May 20, 1998 - Steve Young, a former dean of the Hamline University law school says it's unethical for the Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi Law Firm to charge $560 Million dollars for its work on the state's recently-settled tobacco lawsuit. Young filed a complaint with the Lawyers' Professional Responsibility Board, alleging that the size of the fee violates professional rules.
May 18, 1998 - Some state legislators and business leaders predict the "Year 2000 Bug" could have dire effects on the state. A special panel of legislators met today (MON) to evaluate the state's preparations for the bug, which is the result of a calendar shorthand that tricks many computers into confusing the year 2000 with 1900. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: The ad hoc panel of legislators is eager to make sure Minnesota business leaders are taking the Year 2000 Bug seriously -- to that end, it invited national expert David Hall to outline what he sees as the potentially catastrophic result of all those computer clocks cranking over to zero-zero. Hall estimates at least 400 million clock-based microprocessors will have unpredictable problems because of the bug, and will compromise everything from databases to prisons: ((State of CA almost released a violent felon who just last year