January 27, 1997 - Failed State Senate candidate John Derus asked a Senate panel today (Mon) for a second chance. Derus says the Star Tribune purposefully maligned his reputation during the Senate primary last fall, and he wants the election should be re-run. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: John Derus says when the Star Tribune printed his photo as part of an unrelated story about charity fraud on primary day last September, he assumed it was just a mistake. Now he believes it was an intentional act by what he calls a "rogue organization".
January 24, 1997 - Minesota's rural legislators say federal regulations and low prices are forcing the state's small and medium-sized dairy farms out of business. Lawmakers met this afternoon (Fri) to discuss what many call a looming crisis in the state's dairy industry; Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: Dallas Sams, the chairman of the Senate Agriculature Committee, says things are bleak for the dairy farmers in his home district in central Minnesota. He says a sudden drop in milk prices last fall and a simultaneous rise in the price of feed has pushed many producers to the edge of bankruptcy: ((2/48:59 I've heard from a lot of auctioneers that they're getting a lot of calls, and the rumor is around from a lot of farmers that if the price doesn't increase immediately, that they're not going to be around ne
January 23, 1997 - Midday looks at education funding in Minnesota. Studio guests are DFL Representative Becky Kelso of Shakopee, who is chair of the K-12 Budget Committee in the House; and Republican State Senator Gen Olson of Minnetrista, who is a member of the Senate K-12 Budget Division. Kelso and Olson share their views on funding and also answer listener questions.
January 21, 1997 - The state legislative auditor says the cost of special education is going up fast in Minnesota -- almost twice as fast as the cost of general K-12 schooling. The finding is part of a report released today (Tuesday) that has many legislators worried that special education may soon become too expensive for the state to bear... but as Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports, legislators aren't sure what to do about it: Minnesota schools spent 1-point-1 Billion (B) dollars on special education students in 1995... that's about 21 percent of their total budgets. On a student-by-student basis, that works out to about 12-thousand dollars a year. Non-special ed students cost less than 6 thousand dollars a year. The numbers are impressive, but not particularly surprising to the legislators who appropriate the money being spent. Senate K-12 Budget committee
January 16, 1997 - ((NO INTRO -- USE KLB's pkg as intro)) This is Martin Kaste. State legislators' reaction to the Governor's State of the State address was, on the whole, polite. There were a few instances of crude jokes and notes being passed among the DFL's backbenchers during the speech itself, but their leaders were more diplomatic. House Speaker Phil Carruthers praised what he called the Governor's "bipartisan spirit": ((In many ways his agenda is the same as ours.... similar agenda... welfare reform ... I think there's a termendous numbe of areas where there's going to be a lot of bipartisan cooperation. 0:22)) But the DFL leadership's conciliatory
January 13, 1997 - Governor Carlson's allies today floated the idea of increasing the state's cigarette tax to pay for a new Twins Stadium. Senate Republican leader Dean Johnson says the Governor is interested in adding ten cents to the price of a pack of cigarettes... But as Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports, the idea isn't going over very well at the Capitol: The cigarette tax for the Twins is the very definition of a political trial balloon. Nobody has actually to endorsed the idea, but the Governor's staff says Carlson does find the idea "intriguing," Senate Republican leader Dean Johnson was the one who brought the subject up. He says the Legislature should consider the idea -- although he stopped short of actually proposing it.
January 8, 1997 - Urban legislators say if nothing is done soon to reverse the decline of the mass transit in the Twin Cities, the system may soon become unsalvageable. They say they'll try to get more state money for mass transit this year, but the urban legislators' efforts are being hampered because they can't agree on a common strategy: Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: The chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, Minneapolis DFLer Carol Flynn, does not mince words when it comes to the future of public transit in the Twin Cities: 55:42 Oh I maintain it's in a crisis situation, that it in fact will not survive if we do not in fact find some better source of revenue.
December 12, 1996 - It's day three of Mark Yudof's campaign to become president of the University of Minnesota. Yudof has been running on an almost non-stop schedule of question-and-answer sessions with University groups... and observing him are the University Regents, who are preparing to vote on Friday whether to offer him the job.
December 5, 1996 - Governor Carlson is calling for standardized zoning rules for hog farms and other livestock operations in Minnesota. Carlson says local governments' ability to pass ordinances blocking the construction of livestock farms is hurting the competitiveness of Minnesota's pork industry.
July 17, 1996 -