March 19, 2003 -
March 17, 2003 - As the United States prepares for a possible war with Iraq, one University of Minnesota professor says leaders should consider the conflict's effect on the environment. Colin Kahl says that the environmental destruction resulting from a war with Iraq could lead to larger problems in the long run.
March 12, 2003 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it may take legal action against those who assist Americans in buying prescription medicines from Canada. The agency's new regulatory stance is still being defined, but the FDA says that facilitating the purchase of Canadian drugs may violate civil and criminal law. Marty Gates is co-chair of the Medicare Justice Coalition and a member of the Minnesota Senior Federation. She says drugs in the United States can cost up to 90 percent more than identical drugs in Canada. Gates says she was shocked by the FDA's announcement.
March 12, 2003 - The state Department of Natural Resources announced permanent protection this week for an area it's calling a great natural treasure. Pine Bend Bluffs is located between Highway 52 and the Mississippi River in Inver Grove Heights and includes more than 150 acres of oak savanna and prairie. The protected land has been designated a "Scientific and Natural Area," which offers the highest level of state protection but allows for passive activities like hiking and bird watching. Al Singer, the DNR Metro Greenways Program Manager, led the effort to buy the land. He says it took almost three years to put the deal together.
February 5, 2003 -
January 27, 2003 - Officials say it will probably take weeks to clean up 100-thousand gallons of crude oil that spilled from a pipeline Friday night in Superior, Wisconsin. Most of the oil was captured by the ditches and retention ponds at the Enbridge Energy Terminal, but 19,000 gallons made its way onto the frozen Nemadji River. Steve Lee supervises the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Emergency Response Team. Lee says transporting oil by pipeline is much safer than moving it on trucks or barges. But, he says, when a pipeline has a problem, the repercussions are large. Lee says that, luckily, a two-foot sheet of ice over the river stopped the oil from getting into the water.
January 20, 2003 - The Minnesota State Capitol was the backdrop for several of today's Martin Luther King Junior Day ceremonies. The Capitol building is often the site of many official state celebrations. But the building is notable in its own right. A new book showcases the Capitol's architect Cass Gilbert, who designed the building in 1905. Gilbert used St. Peter's Basilica in Rome as the model for Minnesota's vast capitol dome. He also drew on his experiences studying and traveling in Europe to design the U. S. Supreme Court Building and the Woolworth Building in New York City. Minnesota historian Paul Clifford Larson examines Gilbert's European influences in his new book "Cass Gilbert Abroad: The Young Architect's European Tour. " Larson says Gilbert tried to cover a lot of ground on his first European trip.
January 15, 2003 - Minnesota state agencies, non-profits and universities are looking at ways to trim their budgets to deal with Governor Pawlenty's proposed budget cuts. The Governor yesterday released his plan to eliminate a projected 356-Million dollar deficit in the last half of fiscal year 2003. Pawlenty wants to use one-time money, and make cuts to state agencies, programs and higher education. This is just the first round of budget cuts. In the next fiscal year, Minnesota is facing a projected 4-point-2 Billion dollar deficit. While the Governor is busy trying to balance the state's finances--his actions are having an effect on many Minnesota institutions. The University of Minnesota is facing a cut of 25-Million dollars in state funding. Christine Maziar (may -tsar) is the executive vice president and provost for the U of M. She says the proposed cuts are a big blow to the University:
January 15, 2003 - A U-S District judge in Seattle ruled the federal government's attempts to deport people to Somalia illegal. The historic decision not only continues a ban on deportations to the East African country, it also certifies a nationwide class of Somali petitioners. This new class-action status allows all Somalis, not just the individual plaintiffs, to be represented in the deportation litigation. The Seattle ruling relied heavily on an order issued by a federal judge in Minneapolis last March that declared the United States cannot deport people to a country that has no government capable of receiving them. Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, and human rights advocates say those returned to the country face torture and death. Kevin Magnuson is an attorney on Minnesota's Somali deportation case. He says the decision to give Somalis class status is a major milestone.
December 30, 2002 - Minnesota researchers are developing what could become the state's next cash crop. Russ Gesch is a research plant physiologist at the U-S-D-A Agricultural Research Service in Morris, and one of only a handful of people across the country working to create a domesticated version of the cuphea (coo-fee-ah) plant. The seeds of the cuphea produce a type of oil that's used in hundreds of everyday items, from toothpaste to detergent. Gesch says American companies now import coconut and palm oils to manufacture such household products. He believes the cuphea plant could eliminate the country's foreign dependence and shift business to the Midwest.