January 22, 2001 - Cell phones should only be used in emergencies. Casual or business conversations should be written up.
January 17, 2001 - The Minnesota Wild has a chance to even the score tonight in a rematch with the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Xcel Energy Center. On Monday, the Blue Jackets shut out the Wild, extending the team's losing streak to 3 games in a row. Despite recent problems, the Wild has a lot to celebrate halfway through its first season. The team has enjoyed a nine game unbeaten streak at home and goalie Manny Fernandez has had 3 shutouts. With Fernandez's help, the Wild has had brief moments where it looked more like a Stanley Cup contender than an expansion team. Fernandez comes to Minnesota from Canada, where he began playing hockey at age two. But he says an illness nearly forced him to scrap his budding career.
January 12, 2001 -
January 11, 2001 - It's the quintessential teenage fantasy -- join a rock band, become famous, make a lot of money. Throw in a tragic plane crash and a troup of witty European actors and you have the makings of experimental theater RIPE for the Walker Art Center's annual "Out There" festival. Tonight marks the North American debut for the English-German ensemble, called Gob Squad. Their name refers to a type of schooling fish-- Gob-- that cares for its ailing members. At least that's what the performers say, prefering to ignore the other meaning's of the word which are British slang for both mouth and spit. The Gob Squad's play "Safe", opening at the Southern Theater, has been touring Europe for the past two years. The troup's Simon Will and Sean Patten say "Safe" is part theater, part plane disaster and part rock concert.
January 10, 2001 - Stargazing just got a whole lot better at the University of Minnesota. Today the school received a $5 million gift from Hubbard Broadcasting that will allow it to buy time on the world's largest binocular telescope being built in Arizona. Chair of the Astronomy Department Leonard Kuhi (Kooee) says the telescope will have better resolution than the Hubble space telescope.
January 4, 2001 - Natural gas prices have hit a record high. The Minnesota Commerce Department says the cost of natural gas climbed 58-percent between December and January. The spike in prices has prompted many Minnesotans to seek help in paying their heating bills. Kim Rezek is with the Department of Economic Security's Energy Assistance Program. She says there's been a dramatic increase in the number of people applying for energy assistance.
January 3, 2001 - The Minnesota Wild hockey team is on a surprising tear. The Wild has a six-game unbeaten streak going into tonight's game against the Atlanta Thrashers at the Xcel Energy Center. Ross Bernstein is Editor of Minnesota Hockey Journal. He says even though a few of those games ended in ties, the Wild appear to be holding up well against some tough competitors.
January 2, 2001 - Two Minneapolis lawyers are at Angola Prison in Louisianna today, preparing for the release of their client --death row inmate Albert Ronnie Burrell. Steve Pincus and Chuck Lloyd have been working on Burrell's case pro bono since 1991. Burrell was sentenced to death in 1987 for the shooting deaths of an elderly couple. Today, a judge granted Burrell a new trial and the state dismissed the charges agaist him, allowing him to walk free. I spoke with Chuck Lloyd on his way to the prison earlier this afternoon. He says when he read the transcript of Burrell's original trial, it didn't seem to hold together:
January 2, 2001 - Winona Knits announced today it's closing eleven of its twelve retail stores across the country. The company began in the 1970s as an outgrowth of Winona Knitting Mills and sells high-end sweaters, mittens and other apparel. Stores in six states will close but the company will keep its namesake store in Winona. CEO Pete Woodsworth says the closings allow Winona Knits to focus on its internet and catalog divisions:
December 29, 2000 - Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen have crossed more than one-third of Antarctica in their attempt to become the first women to traverse the continent under their own power; and they join Lorna Benson to discuss the trip so far.