July 26, 2000 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews WCCO meteorologist Paul Douglas, who says the massive storm system on July 25, 2000 was unusual in a number of ways. For one thing, it produced many more tornado warnings than usual in Minnesota.
July 19, 2000 - Governor Ventura has declared this "Soccer Week" in Minnesota. The largest soccer gathering in the world is underway in Blaine where more than 10,000 players are competing in the U.S.A. Cup youth soccer tournament. As part of the festivities tonight, the A-League Minnesota Thunder will play an exhibition game against the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer. Also making an appearance tonight is former U.S. World Cup and Olympic star Alexi Lalas. Lalas says it's obvious that soccer is popular among thousands of Minnesota kids, but he says the sport hasn't made a favorable impression yet on some Twin Cities media.
July 17, 2000 - General Mills' acquisition of Pillsbury is just the latest merger in a wave of corporate consolidation. Professor Lawrence White teaches Economics at New York University. He says unlike the 1980s, when most deals were an attempt to restructure a company's finances ... mergers today are often the result of new business opportunities.
July 14, 2000 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews Ojibwe activist and White Earth band member Winona LaDuke, who is running mate for Green Party presidential hopeful Ralph Nader. The two ran together on the Green Party ticket four years ago but weren't able to capture any electoral votes. LaDuke says this time around, she and Nader are planning a much more aggressive campaign.
July 14, 2000 - A Minnesota discus thrower is hoping the third time is the charm at the Olympic Track and Field trials in Sacramento this weekend. Kris Kuehl is the best woman discus thrower in the country. But in her two previous attempts to make the Olympic team, she came up short. Kuehl says she has an ideal body for throwing a discus; her arms and legs are very long and she uses them to her advantage in her pre-throw spin.
July 12, 2000 - Grant Dunstan set off last month for what he knew would be a long and difficult bike ride. But what he got was a whole lot worse than he expected. An impressive string of bad luck forced him to give up just two days into the 18-hundred mile trip from his home in Flagstaff, Arizona to his parents place in Virginia, Minnesota. Dunstan was riding to raise money for a friend who was paralyzed in a mountain biking accident last fall. He says the first leg of the trip was deceptively calm:
July 7, 2000 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews Alan Hunter, an animal geneticist, about G-E-N-E, the world's first cloned bovine... a three year-old Holstein bull who weighs about one ton. Gene is part of an exhibit at the Minnesota Zoo introducing visitors to the inner-workings of a typical family farm.
July 6, 2000 - Starting August First, when you renew your license or vehicle registration, you don't have to check a box to keep the state from selling your name to mailing lists. It may not seem like much of a change, but it's actually a major change in state policy. Currently, the Minnesota government makes 2-point-5 million dollars every year selling driver and vehicle information. Under the new system your name will only be sold if you check a box giving your permission. Brian Lamb, Director of Driver and Vehicle Services, says that the opt-in system brings the state in line with a 1999 federal law. It's not the same as some of the privacy bills that were before the legislature earlier this year, because everyone's information IS still available to certain people and organizations.
July 5, 2000 - When Qwest's buyout of US West was finalized last week, the new company agreed to give up long-distance service customers in the 14 states formerly served by US West. The federal government will not allow so-called baby bells, such as US West, to offer long distance service until they have competition to provide local service. The buyout gives Qwest a monopoly on local service in the 14 US West states, but the company wants to surrender that advantage so it can re-enter the long distance market. Lew Wilks, President of Internet and Multi-media markets at Qwest, says moving into the extremely competitive long distance market makes business sense.
July 4, 2000 - Dairy farmers across the region are protesting low milk prices today by dumping thousands of pounds of milk. The price of milk is less than 10 dollars for one-hundred pounds. Last September, farmers were getting six dollars more for the same amount. Mark Rohr has a 50 cow dairy operation in Bluffton, Minnesota. He says he hasn't seen prices this low for twenty two years.