Truth to Tell

TTT May 13: SubterraneanTwinCities

Wed, 13 May 2009 11:00:00 +0000

Down, down, down. Jules Verne and 20,000 Leagues Under the City he's not, but geologist, caver and author GREG BRICK reveals in his book, Subterranean Twin Cities, a multi-level world never seen by most, some of it naturally formed, some of it carved and created by humans to service our consumption and our waste...most of it dark, wet, and dangerous. Some, especially youngsters have died in collapses and closings. We rarely or never meet up with our neighbors, the insects and rodents residing below in numbers that would blow our minds, feeding on human detritus, might even be seen as part of the human ecology. We walk and drive above it all every day. TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN explore with Greg Brick the underworld of our cities and state and talk about why public access to those inner sanctums has been cut short by security and safety concerns even as the caves and tunnels contain some important geology and serious history of the area. Don’t try this at home—read the book instead! (it smells better) we are admonished by publishers University of Minnesota Press. GUESTS: • GREG BRICK - Author, Geologist and sometimes cave explorer.

TTT MAY 6: CENTRAL CORRIDOR UPDATE [Simulcast truncated]

Wed, 06 May 2009 11:00:00 +0000

[PLEASE NOTE: This is a truncated program simulcast on television live from St. Paul Neighborhood Network where our audio connection was unreliable a fair share of the time. Please bear with us.] After a half-dozen years or more of public scrutiny and controversy over community demands for constituent services along the light rail corridor soon to break asphalt in St. Paul and Minneapolis, many of those communities' continue to voice frustrations with decision-makers treating transit-dependent populations as second in line for the resources necessary to make the revamping of this umbilical cord between the two downtowns actually serve them. Coalitions of groups have seen themselves marginalized in a billion-dollar process that promises much but guarantees far less as the state and Metropolitan Council vie for federal transit funds, argue over local and state matches required for completion and, especially the important issues of sufficient station stops, business loss mitigation along University Avenue during construction, and the loss of parking to accommodate small retailers, among other. TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN talk with several community leaders deeply engaged in advisory committees and other efforts trying to affect ivory tower decisions that separate political leaders from neighborhood representatives. GUESTS: • ANNE WHITE - Chair, District Councils Collaborative of St. Paul & Minneapolis (DCC); member, Central Corridor Advisory Committee (CCAC); • VERONICA BURT - Community Organizer, Aurora-St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corp; • VIC ROSENTHAL - Executive Director, Jewish Community Action; member, Campaign to Add Transit Stops Along Central Corridor; • LARRY PETERSON - Attorney; Executive Committee, University Avenue Business Assn • MILFORD JOHNSON - Community Stabilization Project (CSP), St. Paul

TTT#0917-PositiveAging: Living It Up to the End

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:00:00 +0000

POSITIVE AGING: Living it Up to the End News reports and magazines are full of stories and warnings and worries over the approaching boomer bubble of boomers over 60 years of age, the puzzling spike in cases of dementias and disorders, i.e., Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and related disabling brain function. You'd think that any of us have half a chance to live out our lives with any sense of robust abandon and engaging work and play alike. Yes, almost all of us have had family members or friends afflicted with such disorders, but a major movement has been under way for years urging us to stop accepting our last 20, 30 years as death-in-waiting. Positive Aging takes in a wide swath of affirmative living, mental and physical engagement of everything life has to offer, including lifelong learning, satisfying sex, and a wide variety of active mental and physical contributions to our communities, our families, our children and grandchildren. TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN talk with authors, scholars, advocates and promoters Dr. Peter Whitehouse and Connie Goldman about staying alive all the way out. GUESTS: • CONNIE GOLDMAN - positive aging advocate, activist and author of The Ageless Spirit: Reflections on Living Life to the Fullest in Mid-life and the Years Beyond; Connie Goldman is a former MPR and NPR reporter/commentator, doyenne of arts and aging on All Things Considered. • DR. PETER WHITEHOUSE - geriatric neurologist, cognitive neuroscientist, and "global" bioethicist; author, The Myth of Alzheimer's. Dr. Whitehouse spoke at The Marsh Fitness Center in Minnetonka Wednesday and Thursday in Mayo Auditorium on the University of Minnesota Campus delivering the Center for Spirituality and Healing’s annual Ruth Stricker Mind-Body Lecture.

TTT#0916-MINNEAPOLIS CHARTER AMENDMENTS: Changing City Governance

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:00:00 +0000

After over 100 years, the Minneapolis Charter Commission is submitting a package of major revisions, which, if passed by city voters in November, will radically change the way Minneapolis would be governed from then on. While some proposed amendments update the overall language of the charter itself, three proposals promise significant changes in how the city would be run, including 1) the creation of the office of City Administrator (replacing the currently appointed Coordinator's position); 2) eliminating altogether the Minneapolis Park Board and 3) the Board of Estimate and Taxation, rolling all those responsibilities into the City Council and Mayor's offices. TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN talk with supporting and opposing officials about the history of those bodies, the impact of their creation/elimination, and what citizens might expect in the wake of such radial change: Accountability? Efficiencies? Autonomy? Focus? Tune in and talk with our guests. How would you vote on this today? GUESTS: • CAM GORDON – Minneapolis Ward 2 City Councilmember • PAUL OSTROW - Minneapolis Ward 1 City Councilmember • ANNIE YOUNG – Minneapolis At-Large Park Board Commissioner • CAROL BECKER – President, Mpls. Board of Estimate and Taxation (Elected Member) • JIM BERNSTEIN*, Chair, Minneapolis Charter Commission

TTT April 15 CHARTER SCHOOLS:New Views and Choices

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:00:00 +0000

With years of service behind them now, Minnesota's charter schools get mixed reviews and uneven results in their governance, curriculum and results. Supporters maintain their view that these schools, while public, provide competitive choices – alternatives to the regular public system – for Minnesota families. Detractors say both statistics and data show that achievement is no better in charter schools, and, worse, have become agents of resegregation, focused as they often are on serving common ground groups – racial, ethnic, economic, geographic and intellectual. TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN talk with advocates and critics about the history, impact and operation of the state's charter schools and what policymakers are doing to adjust to the mixed record of charter school success. GUESTS: • EUGENE PICCOLO – Executive Director, Minnesota Association of Charter Schools • REP. LINDA SLOCUM – House K-12 Finance Committee, Author, Charter School reform bill • SCOTT CROONQUIST – Executive Director, Association of Metropolitan School Districts • TOM LUCE – Research Director, UofM's Institute on Race and Poverty

TTT APRIL 8: MENTAL HEALTH CUTS and SOMALI AUTISM

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:00:00 +0000

Mental health advocatesand service providers cringe at what budget cuts portend for their charges - as if the stigma of mental illness isn't enough to create political antipathy. Anyone who gets around these cities can see the fruits of mental illness in a wide variety of societal outcasts – rage, drug use, homelessness, and crimes for which their mental illness is no defense. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) released a lengthy study March 31 on the baffling and disproportionate rates of autism among Somali children in Minnesota. Can there be any doubt that environmental degradation throughout our life systems is ravaging the immune systems of our children. Asthma, autism, ADD and who knows what else are found in clusters across the Metro, but especially in core areas of our cities where immigrants are proving to be the clearest bellwether for the epidemic proportions of children's maladies. What is happening to these babies among Somali families? GUESTS MENTAL HEALTH BUDGETS AND THEIR IMPACTS • STATE SEN. LINDA BERGLIN, Chair of the SenateHealth and Human Services Budget Division of Finance •SUE ABDERHOLDEN, Executive Director, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness MN) •JOAN WHITE, Program Officer for PEOPLE INCORPORATED, a mental health delivery organization with homes and services provided to hundreds of mentally ill residents. SOMALI CHILDREN AND AUTISM •IDIL ABDULL- Parent Advocate and Co-founder, Somali-American Autism Foundation •ANNE HARRINGTON- Autism Consultant and Advocate; former Early Childhood teacher/evaluator, Minneapolis Public Schools; Mother of child with autism •SARAH THORSON, Supervisor, Minnesota Children with Special Health Needs, MINNESOTA DEPT. OF HEALTH •ABDI AYNTE- BBC America reporter; former Twin Cities reporter covering the Somali autism issue.

TTT APRIL 1: HOWARD ZINN and "VOICES OF A PEOPLE'S HISTORY"

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:00:00 +0000

APRIL 1: HOWARD ZINN and "VOICES OF A PEOPLE'S HISTORY" The history of the United States as taught in our schools is only half the story - and almost always told from the perspective of the conqueror - in this case, European immigrants - with little if anything said about the conquered - the indigenous peoples of this hemisphere who found their peaceful existence interrupted, their people enslaved and murdered to extinction, their cultures exterminated. HOWARD ZINN's A People's History of the United States sought to correct such half-truths and to fill in the very large vacuum in our understanding of the events that led to our current government's founding, establishment and pervasive culture. Voices of A People's History records the commentary and philosophy of those who sought and spoke truth to power in the centuries that followed. Co-authored with scholar Anthony Arnove, "Voices..." resurrects the seekers of justice from every walk - like that of Nez Perce Chief Joseph, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Eugene Debs, Frederick Douglass, and Columbus critic Bartolomé Las Casas, among other "Voices.." to be read and heard when Howard Zinn comes to town to oversee the dramatization of these historical characters at an event on behalf of the Nonviolent Peaceforce at St. Catherine's O'Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul April 6th at 7:00PM. Co-sponsored by KFAI. TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN talk with Howard Zinn and other guests about the role historical perspective plays in our self-perception and in the way we govern ourselves today. We'll hear a reading from scheduled performer** MICHAEL KIESOW MOORE and a song from Twin Cities' premier jazz vocalist PRUDENCE JOHNSON. GUESTS: HOWARD ZINN, Historian/Author of People's History of the United States and Voices of A People's History; PROF. DOUG ROSSINOW - Historian and Professor of History Metropolitan State University/ Author, Visions of Progress: The Left-Liberal Tradition in America; PRUDENCE JOHNSON - Twin Cities Jazz Vocalist; MICHAEL KIESOW MOORE - Twin Cities Poet/Essayist/Fiction-Writer/Teacher and Peace Activist • Performers will read/sing at Zinn's and Anthony Arnove's "VOICES OF A PEOPLE'S HISTORY" April 6th, St. Catherine **KFAI's own ANDY DRISCOLL will also read April 6th

TTT MAR 25: LOCAL GREEN-JOB POVERTY-KILLERS

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:00:00 +0000

LOCAL GREEN-JOB POVERTY-KILLERS Part of KFAI'S STRIVE TO THRIVE SERIES on POVERTY in MINNESOTA Poverty's ugly head continues to pester a culture claiming to be equal in all respects. Many Minnesotans believe "we're not as bad as other places." But thousands of Minnesota's children and families wallow in unnecessary poverty, hundreds homeless, unable to find work, to eat properly and to learn; Poverty's effects have been and can be even more devastating for all of us...if we look back and down and not ahead. But huge coalitions are forming nationally and locally toward lifting whole communities out of the mire and create sustainable and livable communities at the same time. TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN talk with one national and several Twin City movers and inspirations for building and rebuilding poverty-stricken communities with jobs and foresight. GUESTS: • ALEX TITTLE – Education Director, Summit Academy OIC, H.I.R.E. (Healthcare, Infrastructure, and Renewable Energy ) Minnesota Green Jobs Initiative • KAREN MONAHAN – Community Organizer, EJAM (Environmental Justice Advocates of MN) • JOHN HOTTINGER – former State Senate Majority Leader; Sierra Club and Blue/Green Alliance; Author, Legislative Commission to Eliminate Poverty in MN by 2020 Can't get us on the radio? Stream TTT live from KFAI's Home Page

TTT MARCH 18: ENCORE: CHOOSING OUR JUDGES: Elect or Select?

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:00:00 +0000

MARCH 18: ENCORE: CHOOSING OUR JUDGES: Elect or Select? SINCE AIRING THIS PROGRAM A YEAR AGO, a bill to place a Constitutional amendment before Minnesota voters in 2010 is being heard at the Legislature. The arguments for and against judicial appointments versus election remain before that body. Our program remains relevant to the current discussion. A 2002 US Supreme Court ruling had opened the door to a practice previously prohibited by Minnesota’s Canon of Judicial Ethics. Judicial candidates therefore may no longer be prevented from expressing opinions on issues that may come before the bench, perhaps in the process revealing a bias in favor of one side or another well before the facts are in and a ruling issued. Many legal types see this as turning the entire judicial branch of government into an expensive, nasty politically driven court system. Others insist that traditional elections open debate to reveal bias and make the judiciary more accountable. Former GOVERNOR AL QUIE is spearheading a drive to create a state Constitutional amendment advocates believe addresses both impartiality and electoral accountability – retention elections. TTT’s Andy Driscoll and Lynnell Mickelsen talk with Governor Quie and others about the pluses and minuses of a system that would place only previously incumbent judges before voters, but not directly elect newcomers. GUESTS: • FORMER GOVERNOR AL QUIE, Co-Chair, Minnesotans for Impartial Courts • STATE SEN. ANN REST, Chair, State and Local Government Operations and Oversight Committee; Chief Author, Retention Elections bill • PETER NICKITAS, Attorney and member, National Lawyers Guild-MN • MARK CHRONISTER, Director, Minnesotans for Impartial Courts

TTT MARCH 11: ELECTION REFORMS: More and Better Voting?

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:00:00 +0000

MARCH 11: ELECTION REFORMS: More and Better Voting? Minnesota's protracted US Senate contest has brought into sharp relief both the strengths – and some glaring weaknesses – in the state's electoral process, some of which discourage voter participation. What can we do to both streamline the system and enable maximum voter engagement and confidence? Furthermore, starting with this year's election, Minneapolis will implement an Instant Run-off Voting (Ranked Choice Voting) system that recently survived a court challenge and opened the door to placing a St. Paul version on that city's ballot this Fall. Is a state version more politically viable now – especially after at least three major elections were decided not by a majority of votes, but a plurality? TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN talk with advocates, watchdogs and policymakers about reform of election laws and procedures which may well have been designed to depress voter participation rather than encourage it and what makes sense if we truly seek a fully participatory democracy. GUESTS: • JEANNE MASSEY, Executive Director, FairVote Minnesota, prime movers behind IRV/RCV • KEESHA GASKINS, Executive Director, Minnesota League of Women Voters • MIKE DEAN, Executive Director, Minnesota Common Cause COMING APRIL 1: People's Historian HOWARD ZINN Can't get us on the radio? Stream TTT live from KFAI's Home Page

TTT MARCH 4: ONLINE JOURNALISTS–They Get No Respect!

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:00:00 +0000

MARCH 4: ONLINE JOURNALISTS–They Get No Respect! Minnesota House. Majority Leader Tony Sertich continues to fight equal access for all media to the floor and in committee meetings/hearings. TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN discuss the role and importance of New Media (online journalism) in providing professional, informed journalism, but also to challenge the Majority Leader's assertion that allowing online journalists onto the House floor opens a Pandora's box of bloggers and cameras into an already chaotic arena. We discuss the practical flaws in Rep. Sertich's reasoning, given the reality of applications for floor access, etc. This is not a question of practicality, but of principle. The principle is embedded in the First Amendment, in the Rule itself (stating flatly that ALL accredited media MUST be allowed in), and based on the ethics of equal treatment under laws and rules governing access to public institutions. The dispute may narrow to the meaning and definition of "accredited," but who does the accrediting? In this day and age, "accredited" can apply to an ever-widening range of media resources. GUESTS: • REP. JEFF HAYDEN, Vice Chair Minnesota House Rules and Legislative Administration Committee • PAUL SCHMELZER, Editor, Minnesota Independent • SHAWN TOWLE, Editor/Publisher, Checks&Balances.com • MARY TURCK, Editor, Twin Cities Daily Planet • ART HUGHES, Board Member, Society of Professional Journalists Minnesota • MARTY OWINGS, TruthToTell Correspondent and Editor, (My)RadioFreeNation.com Can't get us on the radio? Stream TTT live from KFAI's Home Page

FEB 25: POWER PLAY OVER THE GREENWAY: Green Ways to Up the Voltage?

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:00:00 +0000

FEB 25: POWER PLAY OVER THE GREENWAY: Green Ways to Up the Voltage? Minneapolis' Midtown Greenway converted a rail bed below 29th Street through the core of the city's south side to bike trails and walking paths with an eye to eventually putting a transit rail line from Uptown to the River, connecting it to the regional rail system. Now XCEL ENERGY wants to plunk down a major power substation near Hiawatha and run a high-voltage powerline down and over the Greenway, crisscrossing the trail several times. The neighborhoods are up in arms, despite conceding the need for additional electricity to the area. Bury it, say the neighbors. Too expensive, says Xcel. TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN explore the issues and conflicts plaguing the debate between large power users like Allina, Abbott-Northwestern Hospital and Wells Fargo Bank who can't afford summer brownouts against a new green vision for power generation promoted by area advocates. We talk with a panel of principals of varying perspectives. *UPDATE: Xcel bowed out of this program at the 11th hour. So we couldn't query their reps about why they're pushing such a traditional power source.* GUESTS: • PETER MCLAUGHLIN, Hennepin County Commissioner/Chair, North American Water Office; • BILL ZIEGLER, President/CEO, Little Earth of United Tribes; • TIM SPRINGER, Executive Director, Midtown Greenway Coalition; • JULIA EAGLES, Program Manager, Phillips Community Energy Cooperative; • CAROL OVERLAND, Attorney/Green Energy Advocate; BLOG: Legalectric

TTT FEB 18: SINGLE-PAYER HEALTHCARE: Are We There Yet?

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:00:00 +0000

FEB 18: SINGLE-PAYER HEALTHCARE: Are We There Yet? For the umpteenth successive Legislative session a bill consolidating all Minnesota health insurance into a single public source and making coverage mandatory for all residents. It's rarely ever found its way out of committee. But wait! This new bill carries more authors and co-authors and is moving through committees at a pace no other bill of its kind has over the many years this idea has floated about at the Capitol. Why is that? Why have those traditionally resisting such change as too radical and politically nonviable been so willing to climb on board the newly minted Minnesota Health Plan this particular session. Have years of pressure finally taken hold? Do the dollars and dimes in this recessionary time suddenly add up to wise investment in our health care system and no longer the fear-mongering socialization of medicine? TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN talk with citizen and organizational advocates, legislative sponsors and at least one opponent of placing healthcare funding in the hands of the public. GUESTS: • SEN. MARY OLSON, Committees: Finance - Health and Human Services Budget Division and Commerce and Consumer Protection. EMAIL • KIP SULLIVAN, Author of "The Health Care Mess", In These Times Blogger, and Long-time Single-Payer Expert and Advocate. • DR. MORRISON HODGES, Retired Cardiologist, former Director of Cardiology for Hennepin County Medical Center, co-founder, Hennepin Faculty Associates, Member, Physicians for a National Health Program Dr. Hodgesis available for talks on the history of healthcare and insurance. EMAIL • DAN MCGRATH, Executive Director - TAKE ACTION MINNESOTA • TTT Correspondent MARTIN OWINGS, with a live report on progress on the Minnesota Health Plan from the Capitol Hearing rooms; Blogger at RADIO FREE NATION ADDITIONAL LINKS - more information: Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition. Stream TTT live from KFAI's Home Page.

TTT FEB 11: THE OBAMA ERA: PERCEPTIONS, EXPECTATIONS AND POLICIES

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:00:00 +0000

FEBRUARY 11: THE OBAMA ERA: PERCEPTIONS, EXPECTATIONS AND POLICIES Just what does this sea change in America's governance mean to us at home in Minnesota – especially in communities suffering under the twin sieges of economic disparity and discrimination - joblessness, homelessness, foreclosure, and debt – that lead to community instability? Do we have a right and responsibility to cheer Barack Obama's election as a sign of progress and hope while holding this new president, his administration, and the new majorities in Congress as well elected officials in our own backyards responsible and accountable for real change and common prosperity? What signs indicate things are really changing? What signs point to business as usual as the Obama agenda plays out in the coming economic stimulus, job creation and long-awaited equity in policies directing resources to education, health and health care, the environment, consumer protection, and financial gaps? TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN talk with community activists, scholars and political operatives from the many Twin Cities and Minnesota communities dealing with economic depression in the midst of optimism generated by President Obama's election to get their perceptions, expectations and policy analyses. GUESTS: • IRMA McCLAURIN, PhD - Associate VP, UofM, and Executive Director, Urban Research & Outreach/Engagement Center • PROF. TOM O'CONNELL - Political Scientist, Metropolitan State University; Chair, CivicMedia/Minnesota • NICK AL'AZIZ MUHAMMAD - St. Paul Coordinator, Obama Campaign; Hip Hop Artist (Gardens of Balance) - Hip Hop Get-Out-the-Vote • DAI THAO - Organizer, TakeAction Minnesota; Obama Campaign Hmong Get-Out-The-Vote • plus CALL-IN "MY.OBAMA COMMENTATORS DON HOLT and ANNE SARVER

TTT Feb 4 HEALTH DISPARITIES IN COMMUNITIES OF COLOR:

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:00:00 +0000

LIVE SPECIAL From the OPEN CITIES HEALTH FAIR at Wilder Foundation Headquarters in St. Paul: A BLACK HISTORY MONTH discussion: HEALTH DISPARITIES IN COMMUNITIES OF COLOR: Access or Responsibility? On first blush, it would be no surprise if we learned that access to good health and adequate health care would be less available within Twin Cities Area communities of color. Access to the resources for preventing illness and injury as well as acute care for sickness and trauma would seem to be less available among folks who live in poverty and that appears truer of African-Americans, Latinos, Asians and other New Americans. But is it? Are the resources actually plenty, but their actual uses meager? Why do so many people use emergency rooms and not doctors and clinics for care best received in less expensive settings? TTT'S ANDY DRISCOLL talks with community health professionals about the data and the reality of adequate care and accessibility among people with low incomes and a tradition of discrimination in many public services. Can patients be held more responsible for their care and conditions than we do? GUESTS: • MITCHELL DAVIS, JR., Director,OFFICE OF MINORITY & MULTICULTURAL HEALTH -MN Dept. of Health • ROXANNE TISDALE, Director of Health Disparities -OPEN CITIES HEALTH CENTER, St. Paul • AKHMIRI SEKHR-RA, Health Systems Navigator, Doula - CULTURAL WELLNESS CENTER, Minneapolis

TTT JAN 28-GLBT: What do Minnesota's Gays Want?

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:00:00 +0000

JANUARY 28 - GLBT: What do Minnesota's Gays Want? Not an easy question to ask for this legislative session. Some advocates are pushing hard for a marriage bill and have a raft of stellar legislative co-sponsors in both houses in their corner, BUT, other groups are concerned about backlash and want to eliminate discriminatory statutes one-by-one. Just what do Minnesota's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender activists want - and will division in the ranks fragment or dilute support for any one legislative agenda? TRUTH TO TELL seeks to bring issues often confined to directly affected constituencies and their media outlets to a more general audience. TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL & LYNNELL MICKELSEN talk with a variety of GLBT organizations and advocates about this legislative session's agenda around human rights issues and their differing approaches to ensuring equal treatment and recognition of same-sex families in housing, employment, health care, financial and estate matters. GUESTS:• STATE SENATOR JOHN MARTY - Author, SF 3880, Marriage and Family Protection Act; • LAURA SMIDZIK - Executive Director, PROJECT 515; • JOHN TOWNSEND - Co-Host, KFAI's "FRESH FRUIT" and writer on GLBT issues.; • AMY JOHNSON, Executive Director, OUTFRONT MINNESOTA, GLBT Advocacy Group Can't get us on the radio? Stream it from KFAI's Home Page. GLBT GRAPHIC by DJ-SLT.

TTT JAN 14: MPR & CENTRAL CORRIDOR

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:00:00 +0000

JANUARY 14: CENTRAL CORRIDOR: Is It Really Going to Kill MPR? Minnesota Public Radio, in the person of President/CEO Bill Kling has flooded the media with letters and announcements on MPR's airwaves that the Central CorridorMAP light rail alignment down Cedar Street MAP in St. Paul is going to rattle the studio walls and penetrate soundproofing with intolerable noise and vibration by its 12-foot proximity to his headquarters, built and expanded on with several millions of public dollars. Now that Mr. Kling threatens to sue and/or leave the city if the line stays on this path without "mitigation" has critics up in arms, not the least of which are Met Council, Ramsey County and St. Paul public officials insisting his complaint comes too late – whether they agree with the basic premise or not. Kling's history with public and private officials hasn't made it easy to accept his assertions that all of this is based on too little information early on and that revealing data garnered as late as April, 2008, proves his point. But where was he when all the arguments over alignment and specifications were published and debated for months on end over a five-year period? Kling says he started then. Others beg to differ. GUESTS: • MICHAEL NOBLE, Executive Director, Fresh Energy and Member, Mayor's Downtown Central Corridor Task Force • JOHN MILTON - author, "Time to Choose," and former Minnesota State Senator • DICK REES - Sound Engineer and KFAI Volunteer GUESTS - SCHEDULED BUT CANCELLED: • PETER BELL, Chair of Metropolitan Council • RAMSEY COUNTY COMMISSIONER JIM MCDONOUGH, Chair,

TTT JAN. 21: RETURNING FELONS

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:00:00 +0000

JANUARY 21: RETURNING FELONS: How Can We Repatriate Offenders? Millions of prisoners are released back into society each year and yet society often rejects them despite having paid their court-imposed debts. Is this not completely counterproductive - and costly? Why should returning felons not enjoy the full benefits of citizenship after living out their sentences? How can a civilized society believe anyone is irredeemable? TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN talk with a former felon active in re-entry issues and advocates for major change in creating a post-incarceration climate of productive citizenship and a crime-free life. GUESTS: • DANNY GIVENS – former felon, Men's advocate, African-American Men's Project and Northpoint Health Center, now studying for the ministry. • ROBERT HOPE, Workforce Development Manager, Goodwill Easter Seals ReEntry Services • SARAH LAGESON - Researcher, Council on Crime & Justice • RICH DEMMERS - Former Felon, Alternatives to Violence Project • DEAN ZIMMERMANN-former Mpls City Councilmember and recent Federal inmate Lobby to give everyone a

TTT/09 JAN 7: GOODBYE TO THE STAR TRIBUNE?

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:00:00 +0000

JANUARY 7: GOODBYE TO THE STAR TRIBUNE? - Workers and Management at Loggerheads WILL THEY OR WON'T THEY? The Star Tribune was threatening its workers with bankruptcy if deep concessions fail to take hold in the newsrooms, in the press room and on the trucks. (As of January 9, unions refused to concede) Many observers see Strib owner Avista Capital Partners heading for Chapter 11, or 7, either way. Then why concede up to 40% of your wages if the paper goes belly-up? And just why is an investment company trying to run a newspaper, anyway? TTT'S ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN (a former Guild writer herself) query Strib members of the Rank-and-File Newspaper Union Solidarity Committee [Newspaper Guild (editorial) and the Graphics Communications International Union-GCIU (pressmen and drivers)] about the latest battle over contracted wages and benefits. GUESTS: • CHRIS SERRES - Reporter and Newspaper Guild Representative on the Solidarity Committee • DAN GANLEY, retired 30-year veteran Pressroom Operator and GCIU member • DOUG RZESZUTEK, 30-year Pressroom Worker and GCIU Representative • STEVE PIETRZAK, 42-year Pressroom Worker and GCIU Representative (INVITED but not appearing): CHRIS HARTE, Publisher and/or NANCY BARNES, Editor/Sr. Vice President - Star Tribune)

Dec. 31: McCollumNewYear's

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:00:00 +0000

NEW YEAR'S EVE: CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW: Report from our Capitol Representatives We take this year-end opportunity to review the policies and politics of 2008 and their impact on Twin Cities residents – and the changes and expectations we can look for in 2009. Our newly re-elected core-city US representatives join us for a comprehensive conversation. GUESTS: • CONFIRMED: CONGRESSWOMAN BETTY McCOLLUM, (D-MN) 4th District • INVITED: CONGRESSMAN KEITH ELLISON, (D-MN) 5th District • Fellow journalists ARON KAHN and JIM LEINFELDER

DEC 24: ENCORE: CONVERSATION WITH MEL DUNCAN

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:00:00 +0000

ENCORE: A CONVERSATION WITH MEL DUNCAN We reprise our October conversation with MEL DUNCAN, whose commitment to and effective organizing around progressive politics and public policy, peace, justice and nonviolence date back 30 years. Mel Duncan was founding director of the Nonviolent Peaceforce, a consortium of some 93 member organizations around the world – recently stepped back from that role but not the organization nor its mission after almost ten years of global collaboration with local people in several countries, most recently Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Guatemala. ANDY DRISCOLL's October interview with Duncan and its message of peace, meditation and advocacy is repeated this Christmas Eve Day and Day 4 of Hanukkah. Happy Holidays to all.

TTT DEC 17: Utility Bills Redux

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:00:00 +0000

Why are hundreds of households going without heat or light right now when Minnesota's Cold Weather Rule preventing utility shutoffs during the winter months is in effect? TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN investigate the reasons utility companies feel they can flout the law. The real question is: why are shut-offs necessary? Is warm shelter a human right? We speak with consumer advocates, tenant advocates and home heating assistance agents to get to the bottom of the cold furnaces and dark rooms cropping up around the Twin Cities Metro and across Minnesota. GUESTS: • MURIEL DICKINSON - Customer Service Coordinator, Community Action Minneapolis PHONE: 612-335-5837 • SCOTT ZEMKE - Operations Director Community Action Partnership of Suburban Hennepin PHONE: Energy Assistance Intake: 952-930-3541 • ERIC HAUGE -Lead tenant Organizer, HOME Line, Nonprofit Minnesota statewide tenant advocacy organization. PHONE: Tenant Hotline: 612-728-5767. Main Office Number: 612-728-5770 • MATT EICHENLAUB - Attorney, HOME Line • CHERI HONKALA - National Organizer, Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign PHONE: (612) 821-2364 ADDITIONAL HELPLINKS: COMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIP OF RAMSEY/WASHINGTON COUNTIES • MINNESOTA LIHEAP RESOURCES • STATE ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM • REACH OUT FOR WARMTH.

DEC 10: JUSTICE AND THE RNC AFTERMATH

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:00:00 +0000

JUSTICE AND THE RNC AFTERMATH: Clearing the Courts...and Our Consciences NOW 900 WATTS STRONG: FM 90.3/Minneapolis-106.7/St. Paul and STREAMING LIVE AT KFAI.org Trials move at a snail's pace; charging officers fail to appear; postponements that put off resolution of disputed arrests. What sort of justice is this? What is the status of the umpteen charges leveled at Republican National Convention demonstrators and bystanders? TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN talk with lawyers, defendants and, perhaps, even judges in dissecting the body of cases and trials still under way three months after the fences came down and cops disrobed from their Darth Vader-like armor. GUESTS: • LARRY LEVENTHAL, Attorney representing RNC 8 defendant Max Specktor • GENA BERGLUND, Attorney representing RNC arrestees • MICHAEL FRIEDMAN - Executive Director,

TTT DEC 3: "SMART INVESTMENTS IN MINNESOTA'S STUDENTS"

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:00:00 +0000

DECEMBER 3: "SMART INVESTMENTS IN MINNESOTA'S STUDENTS" TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN talk with Growth & Justice senior staff about that organization's report and proposal for investments in Minnesota's public education system – "Smart Investments in Minnesota’s Students", contrasting and comparing its recommendations with those of the "New Minnesota Miracle" to erase the state's education funding deficit. We'll ask them how anything ambitious can be accomplished in a climate of contracting revenues and rising deficits. And we ask a key legislator and scholar how they think this might work in such a climate. GUESTS: • DANE SMITH - President, Growth & Justice • ANGIE EILERS - Senior Policy Director, Growth & Justice • REP. MINDY GREILING, Chair, Minnesota House K-12 Education Committee and author of the "New Minnesota Miracle" bill • NICOLA ALEXANDER - Associate Professor, UofM Education Policy & Administration, G&J "Smart Investments in Minnesota’s Students" Steering Committee member

ENCORE:CLASSROOM DISCRIMINATION: Through the Eyes of Peers

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:23:00 +0000

ENCORE:CLASSROOM DISCRIMINATION: Through the Eyes of Peers Originally aired November, 2007 We turned over our microphones to six 7th-graders (now 8th) from St. Paul-based Twin Cities Academy to explore their chosen topic of how their peers of color and gender may be treated differently than white students. TTT's Andy Driscoll and Lynnell Mickelsen step aside for Madeline Driscoll, Tessa Ferguson, Abby Ewen-Schofner, Anna Eastep, Emily Syverud and Ana Schaff to inquire as to why children of color are treated differently in elementary and secondary classrooms. GUESTS: • STATE REPRESENTATIVE CARLOS MARIANI, Executive Director, Minnesota Minority Education Project; • JEANNE NORDSTROM, Retired Teacher, Webster Magnet School, St. Paul; • NISSAN BROWN, Minneapolis student attending Edina High in The Choice Is Yours desegregation project.

Transportation Forum

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:00:00 +0000

LIVE from the WILDER CENTER: COMMUNITY SHARES TRANSPORTATION FORUM (NOTE: Technical Difficulties delayed the live radio airing of this program for some minutes. This Podcast is extracted from the audio portion of a concurrent television taping of the forum, but was truncated because KFAI's program schedule forced an end to the show. The final program is 48:30 in length.) Almost three years into its development, the Central Corridor Light Rail Project remains the Twin Cities' primary transportation development effort. Burning questions remain over issues pitting community and neighborhood services against the line's projected costs and our willingness to acquire the necessary funding to meet the transportation and housing needs and demands of neighborhoods adjacent to the Corridor. TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL moderates a discussion between two elected officials who also sit as members of the Central Corridor Management Committee of the Met Council and a panel of three Community Shares member organizational representatives. "Community Shares of Minnesota is a workplace giving organization that turns up the heat. On discrimination. On situations that reinforce poverty. On attitudes that look the other way at inequality." The public is invited to attend this forum LIVE from the Wilder Foundation's St. Paul Headquarters at University Ave. and Lexington Pkwy. GUESTS: • Ramsey County Commissioner TONI CARTER and Hennepin County Commissioner PETER MCLAUGHLIN with ANDREA LUBOV – Jewish Community Action SARAH MULLINS – ISAIAH; TIM MUNGAVAN – Executive Director, West Bank Community Development Corporation

FORECLOSURE TSUNAMI: Thousands More in the Streets?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:00:00 +0000

FORECLOSURE TSUNAMI: Thousands More in the Streets? Even as Washington ducks and dodges the real issues of the descending recession, bailing out criminally irresponsible banking enterprises with hundreds of billions of tax dollars, the detritus of their folly resides in some seven million foreclosures nationwide and thousands across Minnesota. Rural and city dwellers alike find their housing values tanking while interest rate rises and fraudulently issued mortgages are turning the American dream into the nightmare we should have seen coming. Has the American penchant for getting something for nothing once again come home to roost in the streets and pocketbooks of even the once-dominant middle class? Who's really responsible for this disastrous and despairing loss of simple shelter for so many of us? TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN explore the ways in which our need and desire for home-ownership and real estate investment as the core of our economy have collapsed under the weight of greed and incompetence. GUESTS: • JEFF CRUMP - Associate Professor, Housing Studies, UofM College of Design • ED NELSON - Marketing/Communications Manager, Minnesota Homeownership Center • CASSANDRA WESLEY - Foreclosure Counselor, City of Saint Paul Planning & Economic Development Housing Office (INFO: 651-266-6626) *RESOURCES FOR HOUSING TROUBLES* (see St. Paul's and Homeownership Center's above): – DON’T BORROW TROUBLE Minnesota – FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of MINNEAPOLIS FORECLOSURE RESOURCE CENTER

TTT's ElectionPostMortem

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:00:00 +0000

It's Over!! No matter the result - it's over Tuesday night – for the time being, and with the end of the interminable elction season comes relief - win, lose, or draw. TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN will bring to this hour the results, the cheering of wins, the weeping and gnashing of losses, and some analysis of who and what made the differences in the outcome of this historic exercise in democracy after what is likely the most rancorous raft of contests ever to hit the political stage. How well will we have seen the elections have been conducted? Will we have elected this nation's first African-American president? Will the state's first-term incumbent US senator be unseated by a comedian whose serious side surprised many? Will Minnesota help tip the Congressional balance more heavily to Democrats than once possible or expected? What about the State House? The School referenda? The Constitutional Amendment? The Judicial races? We'll have interviews from Election Night parties and reports from KFAI's field correspondents. GUESTS: • TOM O'CONNELL - Metro State Political Science Professor - and lifeline to several grassroots organizations who will give us their take on the results. • MIKE DEAN - Director of Common Cause Minnesota • MARK HALVORSON - Citizens for Election Integrity • JEANNE MASSEY - FairVote/Minnesota (Instant Runoff) • AHNDI FRIDELL - KFAI News Director • PAUL SCHMELZER - State Director/Managing Editor, Minnesota Independent • JIM LEINFELDER - Free-lance Media/News Producer

OCT 29: Arts & Environment Sales Tax Amendment & Secy of State MARK RITCHIE on Election Numbers

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:00:00 +0000

OCT 29: Arts & Environment Sales Tax Amendment & Secy of State MARK RITCHIE on Election Numbers 1) SHALL WE PLACE FUNDING MANDATES IN THE CONSTITUTION? A debate on the pluses and minuses of a proposed Constitutional amendment to raise the sales tax in favor of arts and environmental programs. The question goes deeper than adequate arts and environmental funding – and that’s the rub: is the Constitution the proper place for programmatic funding mandates? Or should advocates come down harder on legislators who ignore their issues? GUESTS: • KEN MARTIN, Campaign Manager, YES for MINNESOTA (proponents) • PAUL GILJE - Coordinator, CIVIC CAUCUS (opponents) • JOHN MILTON - former State Senator; Author, "Time to Choose." • JOHN HOTTINGER - former MN Senate Majority Leader • PATRICIA MITCHELL - CEO, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts • DENNIS ANDERSON - Outdoors Editor/Columnist, Star Tribune 2) Registration & Turnout will feature an update from Minnesota Secretary of State MARK RITCHIE on our record registration and, perhaps, expected all-time high voter turnout in this important, nay, critical, election year. Joining him is MIKE DEAN, Minnesota Director, Common Cause.

TTT#0843-MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOLS: COMPOSITION REFERENDUM

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:00:00 +0000

MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOLS: COMPOSITION REFERENDUM 1) Minneapolis Schools face two important ballot questions in November. This week, the ABC Amendment: whether or not to reconfigure the city’s school board from an all-at-large body to a combination of citywide and subdistrict directors. Friends are divided on these questions and we’ll talk with some of them: GUESTS: • REP. JIM DAVNIE, Author and advocate of the Minneapolis Schools ABC Amendment • JUDY FARMER, former Minneapolis School Board Chair- OPPONENT of school board reconfiguration • TOM MADDEN, Minneapolis School Board Podcasts are available for all archived Truth to Tell shows.