December 31, 2001 - The major stock indexes ended lower today, capping a down year for Wall Street. The Dow finished with a seven percent decline for the year, while the Nasdaq is down 21 percent from where it began last January. As for Minnesota stocks, some outperformed their competitors nationally, while others took quite a beating. U of M Carlson School strategic management professor Alfred Marcus says Minnesota food companies and discount retailers fared the best this year.
December 26, 2001 - Another sold out crowd will greet the Minnesota Wild when they host the N-H-L's top team, the Detroit Red Wings tonight at Xcel Energy Center. Wild center Jim Dowd enters the game another year older after celebrating his 33rd birthday yesterday. This is Dowd's 11th NHL season, and his second with the Wild. The New Jersey native says despite being one of the oldest players on the team, he doesn't feel like a veteran yet.
December 10, 2001 - All Things Considered’s Lorna Benson talks with Minnesota explorer Ann Bancroft. At this time a year ago explorer Ann Bancroft was on the polar plateau of Antarctica, pulling a 250-pound sled with teammate Liv Arneson. The pair became the first women in history to cross the continent on skis.
December 7, 2001 - Minnesota Musher Keith Aili (EYE-lee) is headed to Alaska tonight for a rookie orientation leading up to the 2002 Iditarod Sled Dog Marathon. The 27-year-old almost didn't sign-up for the race because he hadn't raised enough money to register. But last week the Minnesota Wild Hockey team kicked in the last $20-thousand to help him qualify. Aili has been mushing competively for about nine years. While he's won several events in the lower 48, he isn't trying to WIN the Iditerod...he just wants to get some experience on the course and hopefully finish the race. Aili says he's dreamed of being a musher since he was 13 years old.
December 6, 2001 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews Minneapolis artist Aldo Moroni, who was selected to craft Minnesota's ornament for the Christmas tree in the White House. The resulting creation? An ice fishing house, of course.
December 5, 2001 - Three decades after the Swedish pop group ABBA first started toping charts, the group's songs became the basis of a musical "Mama Mia". MPR’s Lorna Benson talks with songwriter Björn Ulvaeus, who says he told musical producer Judy Cramer she could do whatever she wanted. He said he gave the project his blessing on one condition…don’t change the lyrics.
December 3, 2001 - Three Minnesotans will be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame tonight: Warroad native Dave Christian, Paul Johnson of West St. Paul and Minneapolis native Mike Ramsey. Ramsey was on the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team that upset the Soviet Union and went on to win the gold medal. He played in the NHL for 18 seasons and is currently an assistant coach with the Minnesota Wild. Mike Ramsey says he hasn't written his induction speech yet, but he'll probably talk about his former U of M and Olympic coach Herb Brooks. Ramsey first played for Brooks when he was 17 and says he immediately became the coach's whipping boy.
November 28, 2001 - All Things Considered’s Lorna Benson talks with Steven Wagner, one of three St. Cloud professors who released results from a St. Cloud State University poll that shows Governor Ventura's approval rating has dropped sharply. 44% of respondents rated Ventura's overall performance as "excellent" or "pretty good." That's down from 63% the year prior.
November 22, 2001 - The Minnesota Wild is a young team and they are figuring out what they are good at doing and what kind of team they will become.
November 20, 2001 - All Things Considered’s Lorna Benson interviews John Wodele, communications director for Governor Ventura, about projected state budget shortfall. Finance Commissioner Pam Wheelock says the projected budget shortfall could be as high as one billion dollars when the revenue forecast is announced. The Ventura administration is asking state agencies to plan for budget cuts of up to 10%.