December 31, 2003 - Just days before a last-ditch round of contract talks, the Mesaba Airlines pilots' union has sued the company. The union says Mesaba mishandled hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement funds. The company has acknowledged making mistakes and says it is correcting them. But company officials called the lawsuit unnecessary and a distraction. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports.
December 22, 2003 - The Twin Cities has a long history in the Mutual Fund industry. But now some are concerned that the industry is losing scale, not because of the Mutual Fund scandals, but for a variety of other reasons. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports.
December 17, 2003 - The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis says the national and regional economies will see modest expansion next year. The Minneapolis Fed predicts Minnesota will add jobs at a faster pace than the US, but the unemployment rate will also tick up slightly. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports.
December 16, 2003 - Minnesota's unemployment rate held steady at 4.6 percent for the third month in a row in November. Minnesota's economy also lost more than 7,000 jobs in November, with a big drop in local government employment. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports.
December 12, 2003 - Northwest Airlines has a Monday deadline to decide the fate of more than 30 regional jets flown by Mesaba Airlines. Northwest pays Mesaba to fly travelers from Northwest's hubs to mostly smaller cities in Minnesota and 29 other states and Canada. The issue of the regional jets complicates Mesaba's contract negotiations with its pilots union as a strike deadline looms less than a month away. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports.
November 18, 2003 - Minnesota's economy added 85 hundred jobs in October. That's the biggest gain since February of 2000. Still, the state's jobless rate held steady because the pace of layoffs and the length of unemployment remain serious problems. Even so, state officials say the state added an impressive number of jobs. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports.
October 22, 2003 - University of Minnesota officials say they're surprised that the U's largest union has gone on strike. Clerical workers represented by the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Local 3800 today begin a second day of picketing (Weds). Labor relations experts say the strike reflects the financial squeeze that a tough economy and rising health costs are putting on workers and employers alike. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports.
October 3, 2003 - Executives from Minnesota's manufacturing industry gave Governor Tim Pawlenty their wish-list for state government during three seperate roundtable discussions yesterday. The governor was looking for ideas on how to shore up an important part of Minnesota's economy. The high-paying sector has lost nearly 48 thousand jobs since the start of the recession in 2001. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports.
September 25, 2003 - Xcel Energy would refund a total of one million dollars to certain customers under a settlement agreement with two state agencies. The settlement comes about a year after the first accusations that Xcel employees falsified outage reporting to meet state reliability standards. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports.
September 12, 2003 - A federal judge has awarded control of the Mall of America to the four brothers who first proposed the idea. The Ghermezian (gher-MAY'-zee-un) brothers of Canada said they were misled and ignored by the mall's managing partner in a battle over ownership control of the megamall. But Simon Property Group says it will challenge the ruling. Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Catlin reports.