April 21, 1998 - Yesterday, a Chicago jury ruled that two of the nation's most militant anti-abortion groups violated anti-racketeering laws by staging protests that used fear and violence to shut down two abortion clinics. Last weekend in the Twin Cities, protesters staged a violent demonstration in order to prevent a group of neo-Nazis from holding a press conference. The nature of political protests have changed over the past 30 years according to Jeffrey Broadbent, a professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota. He says compared to the 1960's, today's protests are considered a more legitimate way of participating in democracy...but they also carry a greater potential for violence.
April 21, 1998 - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources plans to set fire to Itasca State Park this week. The fire will burn about 35-hundred acres making it the largest controlled fire in the park's history. It's intended to clear the area of undergrowth and reduce the risk of wildfires in the future. Fire planes, helicopters and about 90 firefighters will monitor the burn. Jean Bergerson is with the Interagency Fire Center. She joins me now from Brainerd.
April 21, 1998 - Off the field, forces who are trying to keep the Twins from moving to another state won a victory after Ramsey County District Judge Margaret Marrinan ruled that Minnesota Attorney General Skip Humphrey can proceed with his investigation of Major League Baseball.
April 20, 1998 -
April 20, 1998 - Author Paul Gruchow is one the winners in this year's Minnesota Book Awards. Gruchow won the top honor, known as the Flanagan Prize, for his book of essays entitled "Boundary Waters: The Grace of the Wild." Twenty-one prizes were handed out Friday night. This is the second award that Gruchow has won. He joins us now by phone.
April 1, 1998 - In his new book Slaves in the Family Edward Ball tells a quintessentially American story. It begins in 1698 when Ball's ancestor, Elias Ball leftEngland for South Carolina to claim his inheiritance: a small rice plantation and twenty slaves. The author follows the story of the Ball family and the story of the Ball plantation slaves and their descendants. Ball started his research with records from his ancestor's plantation... and used them to track down the living kin of the slaves that worked the land. He told Minnesota Public Radio's Perry Finelli how the slave descendants reacted when he made contact with them.
March 31, 1998 - MPR’s Perry Finelli interviews Greg Aune, choral director at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, as he describes the scene after tornado hit the town. Like other parts of town, Gustavus Adolphus College was severely damaged, including the chapel...which lost its 137-foot spire. Aune says the campus has been transformed.
March 30, 1998 -
March 30, 1998 - MPR’s Art Hughes and Lynette Nyman describe the scene in St. Peter after a tornado went through the town, destroying much of it.
March 19, 1998 - National Football League commissioner Paul Tagliabue has cleared the way for novelist Tom Clancy to own the Minnesota Vikings. Nine of ten current Vikings owners accepted Clancy's surprise bid of slightly more than 200-million dollars in early February. But, team President Roger Headrick says he had the right to match Clancy's offer. Minnesota Public Radio's Perry Finelli reports... In a much-anticipated 18-page opinion, Tagliabue ruled team president and co-owner Roger Headrick had the right to match Clancy's bid ONLY if some of the current owners committed to being part of Clancy's group. Some of the owners had said they wanted to join Clancy. But, today's ruling prevents that. Tagliabue says Headrick also gave up the so-called "right of first refusal" when all ten agreed to sell the club.