September 5, 2000 - One of the Wild West's most famous sharpshooters takes the stage at the Orpheum in Minneapolis tonight. Irving Berlin's Broadway musical "Annie Get Your Gun", first staged in 1946, is loosely based on the life of frontier sure-shot Phoebe Anne Oakley Moses, who traveled with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show from 1885 to 1901. Actress Marilu Henner, who plays the title character, says it is the best role she's had since her days as Elaine on the T.V. series "Taxi". She admires Annie Oakleys spirited approach to life:
September 1, 2000 - Good news for workers in the Twin Cities... vacant jobs outnumber unemployed workers two-to-one. A new study by the Metro Workforce Investment Board and the Minnesota Department of Economic Security says that during the second quarter of 2000, the metro area had more than 64-thousand unfilled jobs. Minnesota Workforce Center System economist Todd Graham says that the vacancies are not in all occupations across the board:
August 31, 2000 - The Minnesota Vikings will open their season this Sunday against the Chicago Bears at the Metrodome. On paper the Vikes had a less than stellar preseason, with one win and three losses. But editor Jeff Agrest with Pro Football Weekly in Chicago doesn't put much stock in those numbers. He says team got a lot of impressive play out of rookie quarterback Dante Culpepper. Agrest says even his critics were impressed.
August 31, 2000 - Former Olympic speedskater, Charles Leighton, died this week at a St. Louis Park hospital. Leighton was the first Minneapolis man to qualify for the Olympics in speedskating. But that Olympics in 1940 was cancelled because of World War Two. The year before, Leighton won the North American senior men's championship. In 1990, he was inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame at the National Sports Center in Blaine. Fellow speedskater Kenny Bartholomew was a friend of Leighton's who grew up competing with him on the frozen lakes of Minneapolis.
August 31, 2000 - A redevelopment plan for Minneapolis's long-stagnant Block E is one big step closer to reality. Yesterday, the block's developer, McCaffery Interests of Chicago, agreed to lease terms with GameWorks to anchor the 38-thousand sqare foot entertainment complex and 4-star hotel. Today was the deadline to have an anchor tennant signed, or McCaffery would have risked losing 58-million dollars in funding. Groundbreaking is now set for mid October. Gameworks is a restaurant and interactive games chain owned by Dreamworks SKG, founded by Steven Spielberg. Star Tribune Trends Editor Neil Justin, says its like a big arcade for adults.
August 30, 2000 - Industry watchers say Sun Country Airlines has a narrow window of opportunity to gain a foothold in the highly competitive battle for airline passengers loyalty. Terry Trippler publishes 1travel.com, a website for budget-conscious travelers. Trippler says he expected better second quarter financial numbers from Sun Country.
August 30, 2000 -
August 29, 2000 - If you have more frequent flyer miles than you can possibly use or you never seem to accumulate enough for a free ticket, Northwest Airlines now has a new option for customers. The airline will now let passengers use their extra miles to buy books, wine and lots of other retail products. Northwest is one of six carriers to join with the e-commerce company, milepoint.com, which offers links to more than 100 retailers that accept frequent flier miles as cash. Northwest spokeswoman Mary Beth Schubert says the web retail site is easy to use.
August 28, 2000 - When it opened 22 years ago, the Minnesota Zoo was on the cutting edge of design. The exhibits were spacious. Herd animals could roam on acres of park land. And indoor species could perch in jungle trees or lounge in wading pools. But by today's standards, the Minnesota Zoo is outdated. At least that's what new zoo director, Lee Ehmke thinks. Ehmke, who started his job today, comes from the Bronx Zoo in New York where he drew rave reviews for designing a $50 million dollar Congo Gorilla Forest. He says while the Minnesota Zoo could use a facelift, it is still well respected throughout the world.
August 25, 2000 - A new poll finds Mark Dayton leading the pack of DFL US Senate candidates. Dayton was favored by 27 percent of likely primary voters responding to the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, KARE11, and Minnesota Public Radio poll. Mike Ciresi had 18-percent, Jerry Janezich had 17-percent and Rebecca Yanisch had 13-percent. About one-fourth of the respondents were undecided. MPR political analyst Chris Gilbert says Dayton's nine point lead is not massive, given the poll's five point margin of error. But he says in a crowded field it's good to have any lead.