May 11, 2001 - < William Moyer, president of the Johnson Institute Foundation based in the Twin Cities. It's a think tank that promotes greater understanding of alcohol and drug addiction and recovery issues. 7:00 CT (8:00 ET, he's in D.C.) will call 6000. 202.974.4146 rm. 1001. PERRY NOTE: He went to the Rose Garden event where president Bush just named his drug czar today (5/10). He leans to the treatment and recover side of the drug war. Bush was thought to be on the interdiction and criminalization of users side, and in fact named a drug czar, John Walters at the event that also leans that way. Moyers went through his own alcohol recovery. He says he was totally surprised they invited him. He was one of 2 Minnesotans there. He says he expected the assembly to be decidedly interdiction oriented. But he was surprised by what happened. He says there were plenty of advocates for rehab and recover there, besides himself. He says the president himself talked about the need to reduce demand, and Walters did the same. Moyers went up to Bush after the event and told him who he was and that he is a recovering alcoholic. He says Bush looked him right in the eye and said that the two of them had something in common. Moyers says that the event, and that exchange really changed his view of the administration, and how they may approach the drug problem. He says the jury is still out. The administration has sent mixed signals. Ashcroft is pro-interdiction and criminalization. Defense secretary is NOT keen on using the military to interdict drugs (according to Moyers). Moyers hopes that Bush himself will talk about his own story (Bush's), and that Bush is in a position to de-politicize the drug war a bit. (sort of a nixon goes to china thing, that bush would seem to be the typical Republican who's tough on crime and very pro-interdiction and criminalization, and therefore can be more inclined to promote treatment and demand reduction). here's some wire copy of Bush's announcment yesterda
May 11, 2001 - Health experts who have fought the negative effects of tobacco use are now researching possibilities of reducing harm of tobacco.
May 3, 2001 - LaVelle Neal III, Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter who covers the Minnesota Twins INTRO: At the Twins game last night, almost 40 fans were thrown out because of unruly behavior. Some of the fans threw objects onto the field, including golf balls and coins at former Twin, Chuck Knoblauch (NAW-block). The game was stopped twice with the Twins eventually winning 4 to 2. Joining us on the line is LaVelle Neal, who covers the Twins for the Minneapolis STar Tribune.
April 12, 2001 - Greg Gust, meteorologist at the Grand Forks National Weather Service. Gives an outline of what the recent rain amounts were in that part of the state. Says less water as you travel north. Fargo, and Grand Forks are in better shape. Last night's rain storm wasn't quite as bad as feared. Next few days will be drizzly, cloudy, with sprinkles, but no major rain storms.
April 11, 2001 -
April 3, 2001 - In the first half of the 20th century, the union movement in Minneapolis grew with the city. Minneapolis was the flour milling capitol of the country, and OTHER industries that supported flour milling, like banking and machine tools were growing as well. Unions were trying organize the workers, but were opposed by a coalition of employers that came to be known as the Citizens Alliance. The story of how these employers blunted the union movement in Minneapolis is the subject of a new book titled "A Union Against Unions." Author William Millikan says at the turn of the century, employers in Minneapolis didn't really have to worry about unions. But in 1902, the Teamsters went on strike, and employers had to change.
April 3, 2001 - Lavell Neal, who covers the Minnesota Twins for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, sees a promising season for the team as the 2001 Major League Baseball season begins. Neal says the Twins have a lot of developing ballplayers that are starting to figure out their way around the league.
March 30, 2001 - The focus of the sports world will be on Metrodome in Minneapolis this weekend where the NCAA men's basketball Final Four will be held. The games, which begin tomorrow, will also draw the attention of gamblers. Chad Millman, author of "The Odds" says March Madness generates over 80 million dollars in sports betting every year in the state of Nevada.
March 19, 2001 - ********** LIVE INTRO AND BACK-ANNOUNCE ************ Driving by outdoor billboards, few of us see anything other than the advertisement. But Joni Johnson, an entrepreneur from Minneapolis, sees a raw material for her business. Her company, called Relan (ra-LON), recycles old billboards into colorful hand bags, and tote bags. Most billboards are made of vinyl. After their time as a billboard is over, the vinyl surface is dirty and wrinkled. For 2 years now, Joni's company has perfected the process of taking the material, and recycling it into fashionable bags. We joined Joni and her operations manager Jonathan Fitz at their warehouse where they cut the tennis-court-sized billboards into workable pieces. Joni says the HUGE images on a billboard make it difficult to describe her much smaller hand bags.
February 27, 2001 -