March 11, 1999 - The season is over for the gopher men's basketball team. Today in Seattle, they lost 63 to 75 to Gonzaga in the first round of the N-C-A-A tournament. University officials declared four gopher players ineligible today after allegations surfaced that they had cheated on their academics. The University is investigating the incident. We'll have more on that story in the next half hour. But on the court today, City Pages Sports reporter Britt Robson says the Gophers played out a respectable game.
March 9, 1999 - Matt Davis, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, says March 8th snowstorm set a record. The storm blanketed much of the Midwest and dumped 16 inches of snow in the Twin Cities.
March 1, 1999 - Governor Ventura hasn't ruled out a run for the White House in 2004. He joked about it during his National Press Club address last week where he was the toast of the town. Some suggested his future is on the national stage. Nancy Snow is a political scientist at New England College and the executive director of Common Cause in New Hampshire. She's been keeping tabs on the candidates hovering around New Hampshire for the 2000 race. We asked her what she thinks of Ventura's idea to sell merchandise to fund his political career, and whether he has what it takes to run for president.
February 26, 1999 - A Minnesota audience will be transported to the Alaskan wilds tomorrow night to experience the landscape and creatures of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A traveling show of music and photography called "Caribou Commons" is stopping in St. Paul to raise support for protecting the habitat of the porcupine caribou herd. Each year some 150-thousand Caribou migrate hundreds of miles from their wintering grounds in Canada to the Alaskan coastal plain. Environmentalists are fighting to protect the herd's calving ground from oil development. Yukon writer and photographer Ken Madsen created the Caribou Commons project.
February 25, 1999 - A bill repealing a residency requirements for city employees is on its way to Governor Ventura. The senate joined the house this morning in eliminating the power of cities to require new employees to live in the city where they work. St. Paul's residency requirement affected only 40 people, Minneapolis ' significantly more. Minneapolis City council president Jackie Cherryhomes says she's disappointed lawmakers have done away with the residency requirement, and Minneapolis will still try to provide incentives for employees to choose to live in the city.
February 24, 1999 - A Minneapolis judge has taken the rare step of ordering juror names to remain secret in a gang-related murder trial. It's the second time in state history a judge has decided there's a risk to jurors if their identities are known. The case involves 25 year old Keith Henderson of Minneapolis who's accused of killing a man who informed on fellow members of the Chicago-based Mickey Cobras gang. The state's first case with an anonymous jury was the Haaf murder trial in 1993. In that case, four gang members were convicted in connection with the murder of Minneapolis police officer Jerry Haaf. Arthur Martinez represented one of the defendants, Mwati "Pepi" McKenzie who was convicted of conspiracy and acquitted of murder. Martinez says there's no doubt having an anonymous jury affected his client's trial.
February 24, 1999 - Members of St. Paul's Irish community say Governor Ventura must apologize for his comments on "The Late Show with David Letterman" last night. The Governor took this swipe at St. Paul as he explained why he preferred Minneapolis , the city where he was born.
February 23, 1999 - There's not much relief on the horizon for farmers suffering from low prices. The United States Department of Agriculture projects export prices will remain low this year. Problems in global markets mean countries can't afford to buy American crops and livestock. Ed Lotterman, former agricultural economist for the Minneapolis federal reserve says the USDA report continues the trend of bad news for farmers.
February 23, 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.” This segment pieces together two sets of 100-year-old predictions of what Minneapolis and St. Paul would look like in the year 2000.
February 22, 1999 - Governor Ventura brought his particular brand of populism to a national political audience in Washington D.C. today. Ventura spoke to a sold-out crowd at the National Press Club. In a half-hour speech, he told the story of his surprise election, from the initial conference in his barn where he decided to run, to the shock of his victory last November. After his speech, Ventura answered reporters questions about whether other independent candidates who don't have his name recognition and celebrity status can do what he did.