February 17, 1998 - Minneapolis' new policing strategy called CODEFOR is exacerbating a long-standing problem: there's no more room in the jail to hold people arrested by police. A new jail called the Public Safety Facility is going to be built downtown next to Minneapolis City Hall. Hennepin County officials say it will help solve the space crunch but it won't be ready until 2001. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports.
February 10, 1998 - Minneapolis police say a minor marijuana violation in downtown Minneapolis last week led to the arrest of three people and confiscation of guns in the Phillips neighborhood. Police say the case is an example of how their new policing strategy, called CODEFOR, gets results. The question now is does the city attorney's office have enough people to bring the cases to court. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more.
February 9, 1998 - MPR’s Dan Olson reports on Next Innovations, a Minneapolis organization that trains young non-profit employees business and leadership skills….and possibly the next generation of non-profit managers.
February 6, 1998 - A new state report to be released this morning says all the studies of Twin Cities transit options done so far do not make a convincing case for the expensive proposals before lawmakers this session. The report from the Legislative Auditor raises questions about the predictions of car congestion on Twin Cities roadways. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more. The Legislative Auditor's report won't be public until it's released to lawmakers. State officials who've seen the document say the report finds that for all the analysis over the past 30 years, especially of light rail transit, crucial information has not been looked at. The report says there's no analysis of what taxpayers will get in the way of
February 2, 1998 - A new era of crime fighting begins this month in Minneapolis. It's similar to the strategy used by police in New York City where it's credited with double-digit decreases in crime rates. The plan supplies police with daily reports of crime hotspots so they can send officers there to investigate. The plan also relies on more extensive questioning of suspects. And that feature of the strategy worries some people. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more.
January 28, 1998 - A new plan is afoot to relieve commuter congestion on Minnesota's busiest roadway. Transportation planners are proposing a commuter bus system for Interstate 35W through Minneapolis, Richfield and Bloomington. The bus plan is an alternative to the one billion dollar 35W re-design floated a few years ago to relieve car congestion. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more. audio . . . sfx 42nd street overpass It's 5pm on a Friday afternoon and the illuminated brakelights make the four lanes of 35W through south Minneapolis look as though they are carpeted in red. Traffic is barely moving - with one exception. audio . . . bus whoosh
January 19, 1998 - Ten years after many predicted their demise, small towns are surviving, even thriving. A strong economy is helping. The ripple effect of the farm crisis, many thought, would hasten their end. What happened? And what are small towns like these days? We went back to Atwater to find out. Atwater, population 1000, is the little town near Willmar in west central Minnesota we visited a decade ago. Here's our follow-up report, Return to Atwater, from Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson.
January 15, 1998 - One of Minnesotanesota's most influential light rail transit skeptics has changed his mind. Metropolitan Council chairman Curt Johnson now believes the prospect of car congestion makes lrt a transit option. But there's no sign Johnson's views will break the transit funding stalemate at the state legislature.
January 12, 1998 - Attorney General Janet Reno says Minnesota needs to control the state's drug problem by putting offenders in prison and then treating their addiction. Reno told an audience in Minneapolis this morning not to become complacent because the homicide rate in Minneapolis is down.
January 12, 1998 - Attorney General Janet Reno meets today with people fighting crime in several Minneapolis neighborhoods. The public meeting at Abbott Northwestern Hospital comes as various interests in Minneapolis plan strategy for stemming the city's narcotics trade.