June 17, 1999 - Olson faces a potentially long and complicated legal battle now that she's in custody. Leon Trawick, a Minneapolis defense attorney who worked on the high-profile Coppage trial, says the Minnesota phase of Olson's case is limited. The Ramsey County court is only responsible for making sure police have the right person in custody, that a valid California law was broken, and that she was in the area when the crime occured.
June 16, 1999 - Todd Gitlin is a professor of culture, journalism and sociology at New York University. He lived in San Francisco at the time the SLA was active, and has written numerous books on America's culture wars including The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage. I asked him to put the SLA in context.
June 16, 1999 - Today 34 indian tribes from across the country filed a lawsuit against the tobacco industry. The tribes are demanding big tobacco companies repay the cost of treating what they say are smoking-related illnesses. The tribes, mostly from the west and midwest filed suit in New Mexico, accusing the tobacco industry of deliberately targeting Indians. The Red Lake Band of Ojibwe is the only Minnesota Band included in the suit. Bobby Whitefeather, tribal chair of the Red Lake Band, says Native Americans are bringing their own suit because they don't know if they'll get a share of the national tobacco settlement.
June 16, 1999 - J.F Powers, One of Minnesota's most acclaimed authors died on Saturday at his home in Collegeville. He was 81 years old. Powers' first novel, "Morte D'Urban" won the national book award in 1962. In the following years, Powers published a collection of short stories, but it took him more than two decades to complete his next novel. Like most of Powers' work, that book, "Wheat that Springeth Green," explored the world of the priesthood. In 1988, just after the novel's publication, Powers told Minnesota Public Radio he'd never considered the priesthood himself.
June 15, 1999 - The Minnesota Department of Revenue is advising Governor Ventura against repealing the state inheritance tax because it wouldn't save taxpayers money. Ventura said at a farm forum yesterday he's considering repealing the tax as a way to help farmers.
June 14, 1999 - Developers on Block E in downtown Minneapolis may get several more months to secure a hotel as part of a major entertainment complex. Brookfield Properties told a council committee today it has a signed lease for an 18-screen movie theater, letters of intent from retailers and restaurants, but still needs a hotel. A council committee agreed to let the full council vote next week whether to grant the developers more time. Councilmember Lisa Goodman represents Loring park and part of downtown. She says although she'd prefer to see green space on the block across the street from the Target Center, the plan for an entertainment complex is moving forward.
June 11, 1999 - "Bridget Jones' Diary," the fictional daily musings of a 30-something British single woman has created a literary sensation. Millions of readers on both sides of the Atlantic have shared Bridget's despair over dieting, family and in particular her love life. Author Helen Fielding, now touring the U.S. to promote the paperback edition, says she didn't expect Bridget's story to strike such a chord with women everywhere. Many can relate to the kind of "doomed-to-fail" new year's resolutions Bridget lists on the first page of her diary.
June 1, 1999 - Pleasure travelers can expect to pay more for a plane ticket this summer. Continental raised its fares by 4 percent over memorial day weekend. Every major airline, including Twin Cities based Northwest, has followed suit. This is the third time U-S airlines have raised prices this year. Terry Trippler is an airline expert who runs the website onetravel-dot-com. He says that given the current market for airtravel, this latest fare increase is not surprising.
May 26, 1999 - More Minneapolis public school graduates will get a chance to attend college thanks to a major donor. Retired Medtronic executive Winston Wallin and his wife Maxine announced they are expanding their scholarship program from one high school to all of them. Wallin graduated from South High, and began offering scholarships to students there eight years ago. He says his earlier experience with the students who have already benefited from the program led him to expand it. Now more than 200 graduates will receive an average of ten thousand dollars to attend the Minnesota college or university of their choice
April 29, 1999 - Minnesota schools, like schools around the country, have seen a rash of copy-cat bomb threats since last week's shooting in Littleton, Colorado. Today schools in Apple Valley, Mapleton and Robbinsdale evacuated buildings. Every incident, so far, has turned out to be a hoax. Children, Families and Learning Commissioner Christine Jax blames the media for giving kids the idea.