May 22, 2002 - Tomorrow night, athletes, journalists and the public will discuss whether a bias exists in the coverage of women's athletics. The Minnesota News Council is holding a public forum to talk about concerns brought up by the Women's Athletics Advisory Council at the University of Minnesota. News Council Executive Director Gary Gilson says members of the U's Advisory Council approached him to talk about how local sports writers have covered three specific issues:
May 22, 2002 - Governor Ventura today vetoed more than a third of the bonding bill passed by lawmakers on Sunday. Ventura vetoed 116 projects totaling more than 300-million dollars, and said he won't release all of the funding for another three projects. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum joins me now from the Capitol with an update. Give us a rundown of some of the projects that the governor vetoed. Guthrie, Children's Theatre, all of the arts projects, nearly all of the projects for Mpls and St. Paul including Mpls Planetarium, St. Paul's Roy Wilkins Auditorium, renovation of governor's mansion, emergency radio system, St. Cloud convention center
May 9, 2002 - By tomorrow night, the Minnesota National Guard will be gone from Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. The Guard soldiers began patrolling the airport after President Bush requested more airport security following the September 11th terrorist attacks. The new transportation security administration has issued a directive requiring airports replace guard members with police officers. Jim Welna is director of Public Safety at the Metropolitan Airports Commission. He says the MAC will have enough police officers in place on Saturday, but will have trouble meeting the directive long term:
May 8, 2002 - (Innovative) The long-time publisher of the Daily Globe in Worthington, James Vance died yesterday. Considered an industry innovator, He left his mark on the paper as reporter, photographer and later publisher. In the early sixties, Vance introduced a new form of publishing. "Cold type" was the precursor to today's computer typesetting. (generated type.) Vance hired a young photographer named Jim Brandenburg. Brandenburg later went on to become an award-winning National Geographic photographer. Brandenburg was head of the photography department at the Globe for many years. He says Vance left a profound impression on him:
May 7, 2002 - Two investors are still considering buying Fingerhut one day after Federated Department Stores called off another potential sale. Former Fingerhut chief executive Ted Deikel and Eden Prairie wholesaler Tom Petters are discussing a possible bid for the catalog company, according to their spokeswoman. Yesterday, Federated ended negotiations with Peter Lytle's investor group -Business Development Group Acquisitions, Inc- or BDGA, and says it will begin to dismantle Fingerhut in the next 30 days. Sherry Chiger(CHI-ger)- the editorial director of Catalog Age magazine- tracks the financial health of catalog companies. She says a major reason negotiations between Federated and BDGA ended was because Moody's downgraded Fingerhut's credit status:
May 6, 2002 - The Minnesota Supreme Court is considering a case that could have wide implications for the use of DNA testing in court. The justices will decide whether the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension should continue to use a new DNA test, even though the company producing the test kits won't release certain data about them. Defense attorneys say that unless the information is made available for scientific peer review, there's no way to be sure the kits are reliable and accurate. Dave Peterson is the assistant laboratory director for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. He says federal guidelines on DNA testing have changed over the years and the BCA is simply following current standards:
May 3, 2002 - A two-day conference in Minneapolis is examining how cities and small towns across the midwest are dealing with racial diversity. The Building Inclusive Communities conference is an opportunity for civic leaders, law enforcement and human rights activists to discuss ways to make the midwest more welcoming to new immigrants. Conference goers are hearing first-hand immigrant stories, watching films and sharing individual experiences. Therese Gales directs the Education, Refugee & Immigrant Program at Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights. She says immigrants share stories about facing numerous challenges when trying to integrate into a new community.
May 1, 2002 - A new study shows living in the outer suburbs may be more dangerous than most people think, at least relative to central cities. University of Virginia professor William Lucy found that when you combine statistics on traffic deaths and homicide by strangers, residents in eight fringe counties of the Twin Cities were at greater risk of death than residents of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Lucy says people who live in the outer suburbs are driving more and faster:
April 30, 2002 - A pair of stubborn Ospreys nesting just north of Duluth are giving Minnesota Power officials quite a challenge. The company tried- but failed- to prevent the birds from returning to the same nest they built last year, right on top of a utility pole. Workers even built a specially constructed nesting platform only 15 feet from the original site. The company is worried the birds are in danger of being hurt or could disrupt service. Joanne Hanowski is a bird expert with the Natural Resources Reseach Institute in Duluth. She says she doesn't know why the Ospreys won't use the new platform:
April 25, 2002 - MPR’s Tasha Rosenfeld interviews Paul Ostrow, president of Minneapolis City Council, on lack of support on council to buy out of police chief’s contract. Minneapolis Police Chief Robert Olson will keep his job for now. City Council President Paul Ostrow says there isn't enough support on the council to buy out the two years remaining on the chief's contract. Last week, Mayor R.T. Rybak said he had lost confidence in Olson. Now, he says he will work with the chief if he needs to. Ostrow says dozens of Minneapolis residents have called the city to voice support for the chief. Ostrow also states that cost of buying out the contract was a big issue.