April 26, 1999 - To close out the millennium, Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered presents a look back at Minnesota life in 1900 via a 12-part series, entitled “A Minnesota Century.” In this segment, the story of Maude Baumann and her family's pioneer trek through the state in 1900.
April 19, 1999 - The Minnesota House has approved 70 million dollars in tax relief for farmers. If the Senate approves the bill and Governor Ventura signs it, the checks would be in the mail as early as June. But that might not be soon enough for some farmers struggling to get their crops in the ground on time. Farm mediatior Carol Kobberman works with farmers who are having problems with their lenders. She's been inundated this spring by farmers who have NO money to buy seed and fertilizer because they can't get an operating loan from their bank.
April 15, 1999 - The Human Rights group AMinnesotaesty International is increasing its presence in Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania to document war crimes and monitor treatment of Kosovar refugees. AMinnesotaesty-International USA executive director Bill Schulz is in Minneapolis for the group's annual meeting.
April 15, 1999 - The Minnesota Twins end a three-game stand in Detroit tonight. So far the teams have split the series at a game a piece. With a little over a week of play under their belts, the Twins have 3 victories and 5 losses on their record. We figured now is a good time to check in with baseball analyst Kevin Hennessy to rate how the Twins are doing.
April 12, 1999 - Tonight the congregation of Redeemer Missionary Baptist Church in Minneapolis will kick off a public fundraiser to help restore the sanctuary they've called home since 1988. The church is among the few remaining prairie school churches in the country. It was designed by architects William Gray Purcell and George Feick Junior in 1909. The architectural style was inspired by straight lines and simple forms of the midwestern landscape. Today, the church sits in a neighborhood that has weathered some tough times, but appears to be on the upswing. The church is just a few feet from Interstate 35 and the drone of traffic outside the building is pretty constant. The church is weather-worn, its paint is peeling, its windows are broken. But it's still a well-preserved example of classic prairie school design. Curator Jennifer Olivarez with the Minneapolis Institute of Arts gave me a tour of the church.
April 7, 1999 - Behind the scenes, the Science Museum of Minnesota is awash in dollies, crates, and styrofoam packing material. Throughout 1999, museum curators and volunteers will pack hundreds of thousands of fossils and priceless objects to be shipped to a new home located along the Mississippi River in St. Paul. Most visitors won't notice a big change in the exhibit since museum curators are starting with items that are not currently on display. The exception though is the dinosaur exhibit. Already an 82-foot diplodocus and 30-foot triceratops stand headless. Paleontologist Andy Redline is directing the science museum's dinosaur move.
March 29, 1999 - To close out the millennium, Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered presents a look back at Minnesota life in 1900 via a 12-part series, entitled “A Minnesota Century.” In this segment…the story of Lincoln Fey.
March 22, 1999 - St. John's University in Collegeville unveiled the first page of an equisite handwritten Bible today at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It will take six years to finish the new St. John's bible commissioned at a cost of about $3 million dollars. The University calls it a Bible for the 21st century. It's a Roman Catholic text based on the widely used "New Revised Standard Version." Queen Elizabeth's calligrapher, Donald Jackson, will oversee the massive project and its team of international calligraphers. He says the new St. John's Bible will still use a traditional text...but it will be coupled with non-traditional images likely to appeal to today's readers.
March 18, 1999 - Almost every American has a photographic record of important moments in life. But what do these pictures, videotapes and home movies tell us about our selves and our families? Do they represent truth or do they disguise reality? Independent filmmaker and author Michelle Citron says they do both. Citron says to understand the messages behind the images... we need to challenge ourselves to look a bit closer at those endless videos of children's birthday parties and family vacations. Citron says like most American families, she has had ample opportunity to do just that.
March 17, 1999 - A profile of St. Paul composer Eric Stokes, who died in a car accident at the age of 68. Includes a portion of Composer’s Voice interview with Stokes. In a career spanning decades, Stokes wrote music built on classic American melodies which was performed by orchestras around the country. He began teaching at the University of Minnesota in 1961 where he founded the University's electronic music laboratory, and the contemporary ensemble First Minnesota Moving and Storage Warehouse Band. Stokes believed in an American rather than a European esthetic of music. Late in his career he experimented with found sounds including moving ice, seed pods, scissors and glass.