October 17, 2001 - Audio excerpts from Midday program with Minneapolis mayoral candidates.
October 16, 2001 - St. Paul's two mayoral candidates today butted heads over taxes, affordable housing and stadium subsidies. Senator Randy Kelly and City Council member Jay Benanav -- both DFLers -- appeared on MPR's Midday program with Gary Eichten. One caller wanted the candidate's opinions on two contentious city issues. One, was about a specific plan for an express bus connecting St. Paul to Minneapolis, and the other, what should be done about the Gopher State Ethanol plant. Jay Benanav thought both projects were flawed:
October 12, 2001 - The CEO of Minnesota-based Carlson Companies told Congress today the travel industry is suffering huge losses as a result of the September 11th attacks. Marilyn Carlson Nelson spoke before a Senate Tourism Subcommittee. She said in the past month her family's travel and hospitality business has lost 35 percent of its revenue. Carlson asked Congress to consider grants, government-backed loans and federal spending to stimulate personal and corporate travel. Specifically, any taxpayer who schedules a trip or travels between now and the end of the year would be eligible for a five hundred dollar credit:
October 10, 2001 - MPR’s Tasha Rosenfeld interviews American-born Iranian poet Susan Atefat Peckham about the country Iran and Peckham's first book "That Kind of Sleep." Peckham reads from book.
October 9, 2001 - Minnesota law enforcement officials and businesses have stepped up security since the bombings of Afghanistan began Sunday. The Mall of America has increased parking restrictions. At the airport, bombproof garbage cans have been moved in front of doors to prevent cars from driving into the terminal...and police have stopped and searched trucks entering downtown Minneapolis. U-S Attorney for Minnesota Tom Heffelfinger is charged with finding ways to prevent future attacks while balancing the rights of citizens during searches. He says people are not being targeted because of their ethnic background or religion.
October 8, 2001 - Attorney General John Ashcroft warned U.S. law enforcement authorities and Americans today to be on heightened vigilance for terrorism and to report anything suspicious. Local police, banks, oil and gas firms, shipping companies and nuclear facilities have all been put on the highest state of alert. Minnesota Congressman Jim Oberstar is the ranking Democrat on the Transportation Committee in the House. He says it will be challenging to monitor all of the nation's waterways, roads, bridges and rails.
October 2, 2001 - Scientists from around the world are at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter this week for the 37th Nobel Conference. The conference got underway today with presentations by Nobel laureates and other scholars, who are discussing the contributions science has made over the past century... and what's left to be discovered in the next. They're also celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize. Conference director Tim Robinson says there are five nobel laureates on hand to explain their work.
September 28, 2001 - Contract talks between the state and its two largest employee unions will likely continue at least into tomorrow. The two sides are at odds over several issues-- the biggest ones are wages and health insurance. Nearly 30-thousand members of AFSCME and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees could walk off their jobs Monday if no agreement is reached. In Apple Valley, officials at the Minnesota Zoo are preparing for a possible strike. The zoo will close to the public if workers walk off the job-- but someone will still need to care for the animals. Zoo Director Lee Ehmke says he can't predict how many zoo workers would strike.
September 27, 2001 - President Bush visited Chicago's O'Hare Airport today where he urged Americans to get back in the air. Seeking to soothe a nation left anxious about air travel, the President outlined a broad strategy for tightening aviation security, including temporarily sending National Guard troops to major airports. Governor Jesse Ventura announced he would move quickly to dispatch Minnesota troops to the Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport. Democratic Senator Mark Dayton sent a letter to Bush earlier this week suggesting the National Guard idea. He says he's not sure if the President took his advice OR if he had already planned on using the troops at airports, but Dayton says he's pleased with Bush's decision.
September 26, 2001 - President Bush will meet with airline workers in Chicago tomorrow, and is expected to reveal his plans for increasing airline security. Bush's proposal will likely include strengthened cockpit doors and sky marshals on board commercial jets. Minnesota's congressional delegation is also weighing in on how to keep our skies safe. Democratic Senator Mark Dayton wants to bring troops from the army national guard and army reserve into all major airports for the next 120 days. Meanwhile, Republican Representative Mark Kennedy sits on the House aviation subcommittee, which will craft a bill next week with its recommendations. Kennedy wants to use state troopers as sky marshals. He says the troopers would be the best way to get marshals on flights soon.