July 6, 2004 - MPR's Jeff Horwich looks at the employment scene awaiting the state's new job seekers. After the struggles in a refugee camp and a 8,000-mile trip from Thailand, this wave of Hmong refugees will find a tight job market and a challenging U.S. economy.
June 16, 2004 - As part of the Mainstreet Radio series “Meth in Minnesota,” MPR’s Jeff Horwich reports on the expanding problem of meth abuse and transport throughout the state.
June 15, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio has compiled a series of stories on meth and the effect it is having on the state for the first half of a two-hour special report, “Methamphetamine Madness.” Methamphetamine is one of the most addictive, most abused and most readily available drugs in America. Experts are calling it an epidemic, and Minnesota is anything but sheltered from it.
March 31, 2004 - Richfield-based Best Buy says sales soared in its most recent quarter, capping off what it calls a "banner year". The electronics retailer reported earnings today (WEDS) for the end of its fiscal year. Despite the financial success, in the coming year Best Buy plans to cut jobs, trim costs wherever it can, and roll out a new image to customers. Analysts say it's part of a plan to keep plenty of distance between Best Buy and the world's biggest retailer -- Wal-Mart. Minnesota Public Radio's Jeff Horwich reports. (It was indeed a good year for Best Buy. After years of losing money at its struggling Musicland subsidiary, Best Buy dropped the music stores in June and saw profits jump more than 600 percent.
March 30, 2004 - Development is well behind schedule for a new national system to screen airplane passengers, known as "CAPPS II." The acronym stands for "Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening." Homeland security officials say it's a critical tool to prevent a repeat of 9-11. But airlines are reluctant to even help test it, citing concern about passenger privacy. Some experts see an emerging battle between security and civil liberties that can only be settled in the courts. Minnesota Public Radio's Jeff Horwich has the second in our two-part look at the stalled attempt to get CAPPS II off the ground.
March 29, 2004 - When the public learned this year that Northwest Airlines once gave passenger data to a government agency, it added heat to the national debate over a new airline passenger screening system. Testing and implementing the system is shaping up as one of the great homeland security challenges. In the first of a two-part series, Minnesota Public Radio's Jeff Horwich looks at why -- more than two years after 9-11 -- passenger screening has barely pulled away from the gate.
January 23, 2004 - 2003 was a year of major changes for Northwest Airlines. Some were forced upon the carrier, including a distant war and a respiratory disease that led many travelers to stay home. Others were part of a conscious effort to adapt to a changed industry, and many analysts say Northwest is now stronger than many of its competitors. Nonetheless, executives are still calling for the one change they say will make all the difference: wage cuts for employees. Minnesota Public Radio's Jeff Horwich reports. (Year-end figures from Northwest show a 240 million dollar profit. Airline officials, though, look at the numbers and see something quite different -- an operating loss of nearly 600 million dollars.
January 15, 2004 - MPR’s Jeff Horwich reports the number of home sales in the Twin Cities soared in 2003, setting a new record and topping the previous year's sales by more than 10 percent. Minnesota is already the top home-owning state in the nation, and realtors are preparing for more big years ahead.
January 12, 2004 -
January 9, 2004 -