November 6, 2000 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews Yer Moua, a Hmong woman about her concerns and views as a voter. Speaking through her daughter, Mai Ning Moua, Yer said that although this will be her first U.S. election, this wont be her first time in a voting booth.
October 25, 2000 - In what may be a discovery of national significance, archeologists have found over 100 prehistoric charcoal drawings in western Wisconsin. The pictures on the walls of the three chamber sandstone caves depict birds, deer, geometric shapes and human bowhunters. Some of these types of designs have never been seen before. Archaeologist Ernie Boszhardt, with the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, says it's the most comprehensive rock art collection of any one site on this region:
October 23, 2000 - In two weeks, Minneapolis voters will decide whether to approve $110-million dollars for a new Central Library. The current building, located between Hennepin and Nicollet Avenues, was built in 1961 and is already packed with more than two and a half million books, magazines tapes and videos, most of which are locked away from the public, accessible only through a librarian. Last week the library began offering tours of its extensive "stacks" collection to let the public see some of its hidden treasures. Officials say the hour-and-a-half tours are not linked to the upcoming vote for a new library.
October 20, 2000 - David Sturrock, an Associate Professor at Southwest State University in Marshall, Minnesota, says Minnesota is not alone this year in defying its usual voting patterns.
October 17, 2000 - The final presidential debate will go on as scheduled despite the sudden death of the Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan. We asked two local political analysts how the town hall style debate, with questions from audience members, will affect the candidates. Democrat Sara Stoesz expects Gore to thrive in the format: Republican Tom Horner expects that Bush will do better tonight than in either of the earlier face-offs.
October 16, 2000 - MNDOT ramp study project manager Mike Sobolewski says the first known case of ramp metering occurred in 1963 on the Eisenhower Expressway in Chicago.
October 16, 2000 - Gus Hall, the American Communist Party leader and frequent presidential candidate has died. He was 90 years old. Hall was born Arvo Gustav Hallberg in Virginia on Minnesota's Iron Range. Both his parents were immigrants from Finland. Hall joined the local Communist club when he was fourteen because his father was the head of the group. He told Minnesota Public Radio in an interview several years ago... his support for socialism and unions started in northern Minnesota lumber camps. Workers there, he said, were paid a dollar a day and were virtual prisoners in the isolated, tar-paper-shack encampments.
October 12, 2000 - President Clinton is calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East after Israeli helicopter gunships attacked Palestinian targets today in retaliation for the beating deaths of two Israeli soldiers. One man who believes peace is still possible in the Middle East is David Malone, President of the International Peace Academy. He is in the Twin Cities today to speak at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs about peace making around the globe. Malone says it will probably be a few more days before the violence stops.
October 11, 2000 - The Midwest has some of the hottest political contests in the nation, which could drive record numbers of the region's voters to the polls in November. Elsewhere in the country, despite the tight presidential contest, voter turnout probably won't top the 1996 numbers when the President Clinton had a clear lead over challenger Bob Dole. Clare Nolan, a reporter for the online political magazine Stateline-dot-org wrote about voter turnout and the mood in the Midwest for the latest issue. She says that Gore and Bush set the agenda for Senate races in Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska and Minnesota.
October 11, 2000 - The Bush campaign was effective last week in lowering expectations for their candidate. Minnesota Republican Tom Horner says tonight the burden on George W. Bush is higher. Horner says Bush needs to project more confidence in this debate.