July 9, 2001 - About 1,700 bikers pedaled out of St. Paul this morning, on their way to Chicago, and to raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for AIDS related charities. The sixth annual Heartland AIDS ride will cover 530 miles in six days. Dan Pallotta is the founder of Pallotta teamworks, the company that produces the Heartland Aids ride and six others around the world. He says participation in some of the rides has slipped recently because people think new AIDS treatments have solved the problem.
July 3, 2001 - The Minnesota Lynx will try to get their game back on track tonight when they play host to Sacramento at Target Center. The Lynx lost games over the weekend to Cleveland and Houston giving them a record of 5-and-7 so far this season. Sports Reporter Cara Labrie follows the Lynx for the Pioneer Press. She says the Lynx are not doing as poorly as it may look to casual followers.
June 29, 2001 - The drawn out budget debate has taken a toll on lawmakers. Republican Representative Dan McElroy has put in long hours this past month with working groups on the Omnibus Jobs and Economic Development Finance Bill and the tax bill. He says the pace this past week has been amazing:
June 29, 2001 - Lawmakers plan to work through the night to send the remaining budget bills to the Governors desk by tomorrow's deadline. The long hours of negotiation have taken a toll on everyone from lawmakers to staff to lobbyists and the reporters who cover it all. DFL senator Deanna Wiener says this past week has been especially frustrating:
June 28, 2001 - House and Senate negotiators reached agreement on the eight.seven billion dollar K-12 education bill today. One of the most controversial elements of the bill is a provision that prevents school boards from approving contracts they can't afford. Charlie Kyte is the director of the Association of School Administrators. He says lawmakers were able to come to find a good compromise on a difficult issue:
June 28, 2001 - The House and Senate today overwhelmingly passed a 760(M) million dollar tax bill that includes broad property-tax reforms. Ventura plans to sign the bill tomorrow. The tax bill was the biggest sticking point in the legislative budget impasse but work at the capitol is far from over. Lawmakers still haven't finished four major spending bills and the Department of Employee Relations has already begun shutting down some government services. Julien Carter is overseeing the shutdown process. He says he's watching action at the Capitol closely as he proceeds with shutdown plans:
June 27, 2001 - For a closer look at what's included in the new tax bill, we called Dan Salomone, executive director of the Minnesota Taxpayers Association. He says the bill represents historic reform and is a victory for Governor Ventura:
June 26, 2001 - More than 1,300 nurses from two Twin Cities Fairview hosptials are preparing to return to work Friday. The nurses voted to approve a new contract yesterday after three weeks on strike. Colleagues from 11 other Twin Cities hospitals avoided a strike when they reached settlement agreements before June 3rd. Joanne Disch is the director of the Densford International Center for nursing leadership at the University of Minnesota. She says all the contracts are unique in how they approach the issue of staffing shortages.
June 25, 2001 -
June 21, 2001 - The Minnesota Department of Transportation advised road construction contractors today to start preparing to suspend work. The Department is overseeing about 142 projects around the state. Every one will be put on hold July 1st if the Legislature fails to pass a budget. Department of Transportation commissoner Elwin Tinklenberg says the Highway 100 project will be one of the most difficult to delay: