NewsNight Minnesota; 5196; NewsNight Minnesota Episode from 08/06/1998; SD-Base

NEWSNIGHT Minnesota is a production of Can't you see all the stations of Minnesota Public Television. You are into the NEWSNIGHT I'm Lou harder than I can stand tonight Lou is going to take a look at what's next for the St. Paul School Board they decided last night to reopen their search for a new superintendent. We have the school board chair person live tonight. And Ken looks at the verdict handed down yesterday in the cop witch trial. Plus we'll find out what's in there. Once the way through to find out. Welcome to NEWSNIGHT Minnesota a statewide news and information program for thoughtful Minnesotans bringing context and depth to the region's most important stories. Tonight Minnesota is made possible in part with support of Blendon Foundation working to strengthen rural communities throughout Minnesota. The McKnight Foundation working to strengthen families and communities across Minnesota. Amber Well independent public radio stations statewide including the Duluth Minneapolis and calculate arts reporting on

NEWSNIGHT is courted by a grant from the Dayton foundation on behalf of Dayton's California target schools. Multiple investigations of Coke refinery have led the company's attorneys to ask for a delay in one of the lawsuits. The company is being sued by former employees who say they lost their jobs when they blew the whistle on the refinery for pollution practices. At the same time the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Environmental Protection Agency are pursuing a criminal lawsuit against Coke. Coke says they're asking for delay in this case because it's not fair for the defendants to appear before two courts at the same time. Lawyers for one of the whistleblowers argue that Coke is just trying to avoid bad publicity. Coke has a recent settlement with one of the former employees Mary Jean Coyne a retired Minnesota Supreme Court justice has died. Cohen was a graduate of the University of Minnesota 1955 governor Al-Queda appointed her to the Supreme Court in 1902. She was just the second woman to ascend to the state's highest court. She retired in

1996. Coyne died at her home in a Dyna. She was 71. It's time to get on the bus American Express is the first company to join with Metro transit to provide reduced. All you can ride bus passes for its 6000 employees. Now the program will allow American Express employees unlimited rides on the bus for $25 a month. About a third of the normal costs American Express will pay the difference directly to Metro Transit an amount close to 2 million dollars in the first year. OK those are the headlines our first big story tonight is the verdict reached late yesterday afternoon in the Capa case. After four days of deliberations a jury found buster and Eddie Jefferson guilty of the arson murder of five St. Paul children in the 1994 fire bombing was the result of street gang violence and the prosecution's case depended heavily on three admitted gang members hoping to reduce their own jail time by testifying against the Jefferson brothers. There's a bit to hash out here so we

have the prosecuting attorney assistant U.S. attorney Geoffrey Paulson. Paul Gustafson is a reporter for The Star Tribune who covered the case and I'm going to start with you Mr. Paulson. How do you know when a criminal is not lying to save his own skin. That's for the jury to decide. All we can do is try to cooperate what they say as most as best we can. And we did that in this case with physical evidence fingerprints testimony of non cooperating defendants and the jury reached the conclusion that it did based on all the evidence I was comfortable that includes what was the strongest evidence outside of the testimony of the three gang members saying that you know Lester ordered it. He was driving. Our case consisted of three prongs. Motive which was absolutely unquestioned Buster Jefferson had the motive to retaliate against Andrea Kopp ij. He knew that Andre Kopp IJ had cooperated with the police in an earlier murder investigation. Mr Jefferson had already had his gang members beat coppered

severely and that wasn't enough for Buster Jefferson. You wanted more. Second prong was opportunity. We showed that the alibi that Daddy Jefferson had was false. He was not at home that night as his parents claimed he was out at the scene participating in the fire bombing and the third element of our case was the confessions. The fact that both buster and Daddy had admitted to fellow gang members that they participated in this fatal arson. Paul you wrote that the jury was hung up most on the question of that dirty Jefferson. That was one of the things that hung him up because his father said I don't know about Buster but he was here that night. We we managed to contact one juror last night who was willing to speak with us and that sure did say that. That was one of the things the jury had to spend the most time working out. Yeah it's a tough case because there were not only just the murder charges against the two men for the

five children but there was a murder charge on another gang member that attempted murder charge there were drug charges all over the place with six defendants. A tough case to follow. As a reporter and a juror I think it's challenging for the jury certainly. Essentially what you had was six separate trials going on at the same time. You also had the fruits of a very lengthy investigation. You had many hours of telephone tapes that were referenced and you also had to just figure out the cast of characters and there were plenty of them. One of the things that I've seen happen in cases like this is that the prosecution throws so much because it's such a complicated case there are so many players as I was just saying is that the jury sometimes can get overwhelmed. How do you make a decision on what information you want to keep in there and you know keep it simple. Well we did have to make those calls. Bottom line though is we presented our evidence in about 16 trial days for the government and

that encompassed a five year drug conspiracy six murders two attempted murders and two serious woundings. We did make it as lean a case as possible with our best evidence in order to avoid overloading the jury. And as the verdict showed the jury was able to sift through the evidence very well. They acquitted one person and they acquitted on certain counts. Some of the remaining defendants they were able to differentiate quite well. Six outré gang apparently busted up by the prosecutions there were 21 indictments handed down last fall a lot of guilty pleas. But there always seems to be never seems to be a supply lack of supply of other people to take gangs place. And I pray that is true. And a colleague were talking today with some law enforcement people who are quite happy about the verdicts understandably. But you know they're they also know that there are more. They've got

thousands of gang members in the Twin Cities. This group probably was more violent than many but there's lots of other people out there who are capable of violence. The gang is busted up but I've got to think that there are some friends of Jefferson out there and if I'm Andrea Koppel just not sure I want to stay in town as a prosecutor who's handled cases like this before and sees how street gangs work. What would your advice be done. Well I'm out of position to advise Andre but I can tell you that the hardest thing about a case like this is getting people to come forward who have the information getting them to give it publicly because let's face it the last person that cooperated against the six outré gang had his house burned down and his five brothers and sisters killed. And you talk about the need to use cooperators in this case. That's why. The average person on the street is not willing to take those risks not willing to expose his or her family and his own life

to those measures. And so yes we're used cooperators they have something to gain. But they also have a lot to lose. All right thank you both very much. Are you trying to move up in the world.

Well tonight you have yet another chance to get one of the biggest and most prestigious jobs in St. Paul. It was supposed to have been filled last night didn't happen. The job superintendent of St. Paul Public Schools now it is to replace Of course Kerman Gaines who moved onto the private sector as of last night there were two finalists but both of their names were basically tossed out in the trash the search process is to start all over again. Now here is just a teeny weeny bit of how that meeting went. Last night we off so concluded that there was not a confident that Dr. Mary richness of our ethnic diversity and and the scale of it could be matched with ability not only to be sympathetic to and respond to but actually work with a man for an education for all of that we represent. It was not a confident that either candidate rose to that level.

That's just a part of it why are board members starting the search all over again and why weren't the other candidates good enough with a continued search taking possibly a year. What impact will this have on the kids. Joe Nathan director of the Center for school change. Mary Thornton Philips chair of the St. Paul School Board and a lot of street stored vice chair of the CERT advisory committee and a lot I want to start with you. We had a couple of people in there were finalists not exactly heavy hitters. What was wrong with them. Well actually they were capable people. He wasn't because something was deficient in their skills it was the broad range of experience that they just didn't have. Same Paul is in a very changing community our demographics are changing rapidly. We need somebody who has the ability to anticipate what the school district is going to need and they're experienced just did not cover those areas. Why did it take so late for this to get to that stage of what you're just saying why the two finest all these other people still start with something. They were just they were bad. These were the best and they didn't even match up right.

Well actually our process was was quite thorough and it took five months to get us to the point where there were finalists chosen for the two. We're going to get you in here. Oh if you want me to respond to the question about why so late it was because we felt that these were excellent candidates candidates. We had a track record on them. They had served as superintendent in more than one district and they've done very well. And we thought there was a possibility that they could do well here too. They seem to be articulate in their one on one interviews with the board and we were looking for them to not only talk about what they've done in the past but share with us a sense of what they expected to do in St. Paul. And so we would want them to have some sense of what our community was about and not to put a plan together with just a general idea of direction that would go and how they would go about it. And we didn't get very much of that. And so we kept looking for it and it wasn't there. Right now I'm sure you've been keeping up with this and some of the discussions that we're hearing is that it's a legal reasons that one cannot say we want a person of color and certainly that is not a statement that

is being driven by anyone. However from what I got from listening to the tapes of the meeting last night the desire was to have someone who has been around people of color or well you know rock stars of people of color they just want someone who's seen a person of color as well. Mediacom That's right we have kids in the St. Paul schools. I've known and respected Mary Thorne fellows for a couple of a couple decades now. I think that the school board wants people not just rubbed elbows I mean both people have rubbed elbows they've been around people of color I think the school district legitimately want someone who's been in a large complicated community I mean I said to somebody today I think there was a little bit like saying Can somebody who's run a mom and pop store organize a major urban area I think the answer is No. Or someone who's run my store a computer store run IBM So I think you're looking for someone who's really had solid record of accomplishment in helping to mobilize partnerships hoping to both inspire and

challenge teachers when necessary helping to save the business community you know folks. We can't do it alone. There are some things we have to do and I think the school board frankly was very wise in saying and made a tough decision I mean it would be easy to say all right we spend all this money we've got these people let's pick one of them. I think it was a wise decision last night. Right now some people are of the belief that. Now that no one was chosen. The second time around you're almost forced to make a decision because if you let it go a third time everybody's going to hate you you feeling more pressure now that you know I don't I feel very much better position now. First of all because when we started out we started late. We know now that we want a superintendent and we will be early in the cycle. Most of these openings come towards the end of the year so that beginning in January. Individuals know that there are openings and they will start applying. We didn't get started until later than that because of the late resignation. Also we start out in a better position because we are more competitive.

The cap has been removed from salary and also asked how much that played into it was when you started the search. You could only pay how much. One hundred fourteen thousand dollars OK and then during that search it's now a hundred ninety one thousand. Oh no no no. OK. That is part I know why you have them one night at 1000 Lloyd and at our request did a study and what they came up with was between one hundred thirty five thousand one hundred ninety one thousand but that varies with the size of the district. But now we think of ourselves as a very large district. But we talk about Houston and in Los Angeles Those are huge districts and that's where the 191 thousand comes we're not looking at one night at 1000 Absolutely not. But you're able to pay more now than you were in the beginning yes. Yes. And but you're not saying just because you pay more you're going to find someone even better. I think that we can be more attractive to people who have experiences that we're looking for. We can be more competitive. I think we will get someone better. Part of me want to be upset with the National School Boards Association they came up with all these names in the first place.

And I certainly got some money out of it. I mean how did they go through this whole process and all of a sudden and I heard some of what you were saying last night and you said talking soundbites as persons to perfect it I don't think this is a situation in catch all that stuff and why were those names my name should have been in there. Why don't they take. I mean it's seems like it is a lot of money they were talking with that was spent and yes St. Paul doesn't have any major problems right now. And as Lattimer pointed to last night we don't have any you know a crisis management and in the way I want to that's bad because now you've got maybe too much time when you have to just find another person whenever we take it or you don't know. Our school board is very serious about getting the best possible person to fill this position so that we can meet some of the challenges we have a great number of things we do well but we have a number of challenges where we need strong leadership visionary leadership and we're going to look for it and get it right. Alone you want to go. Sure I think the other thing to say is that part of this process really did include a lot of input from the community and the broad based community. All of those individuals and organizations said they are

committed to continuing from where we left off last evening that we are still willing to be part of this process that is different for consulting process. All right. Joe I was just going to say Lou that I'm talking people around the country for the last couple of weeks and I'm confident that Mary is right that there are a number of people who not now are attracted who are not previously attracted to it and I think we can look at some hiring some different people to help us identify those folks but there are some terrific people around the country who are now or now interested the other thing is I think that we now have the chance to do some thinking about what kind of districts that we want and to match the kinds of directions that we want to move in with the kinds of persons that we want. And Carol Johnson is working out in Minneapolis now people say why do you always have to go out of the country and look harder for people around Twin Cities because I know the concern is wanting someone who knows all. Sure we didn't go all over the country they don't talk to Gaines we just went right into an office that was already at 360. Yeah and how do you move down the hall. That's what we did and he stayed in this position for seven years. But it doesn't always work that way. So you have to work

with what you have. And we had an excellent person at that time was interested in being superintendent. We're not in that position at this time. All right. Thank you all very much and have a job till 7 this is the only place where you can see this coming. That's right you can see from the outside you can't see it from inside in the public areas of the building. You can only see it from right here and you can't come to that. Phone calls and e-mails we love them. So give us a call at to 2.9 14:30 or send us an e-mail CTCA news at TTC eight dot org. Plenty of calls rolled in this past week. Monday night we featured for the same last rose update on the farm crisis and it struck a personal chord with some of you.

I saw your program last night regarding the farming crisis and I just want to tell you that my family my parents experienced the 1970s and 80s farm crisis and close time they were told to get bigger and bigger. They were promised that things would be great for them and I just want you to know that that them losing their farm before and that affected myself and all of my brothers and sisters I come from a family of 12 and we all worked hard on that farm will never I will never get over them losing that farm. We're going to keep up our coverage of farm issues on NEWSNIGHT. This year's problem is far from over. Switching gears we apparently have some sticklers for language in our audience. Someone called Hartman's English teacher I would like to say in regard to her all over the news men and women on it who told me

it has a very. Hammer I've never heard him make a mistake. He formed it well and second too late. Bravo will have an annular good manic or go any way you will you quit dancing over there. OK like you need a bigger ego than he already has and finally tonight's sharp criticism upon you to stop these practices that you're employing you show and television interviews insight to news coverage you music and things of interest to people with a mind if you don't stop doing you know you're unlikely to have just a terrible influence on the local network. It's time to start doing the terrible thing where

I think you should bring it to a stop right now and get it back into the mainstream like everybody else. OK we'll try to work on that. We want you to work on giving us a call not that much work related to your 9 14:30 remember area code now 6 5 1 and so there is a long distance charge for folks in greater Minnesota but it doesn't cost a dime if you're hooked up to e-mail you can always contact us die by directing your message to Katy CA news at Katy CA dot org Lou. Again Mrs. Light see my English teacher in seventh grade Detroit Michigan thank you very much from time to time on NEWSNIGHT we'd like to ask the age old question age old question what's in there. Tonight we want to know what's in the dome at the state capitol Patty Hagman and J.D. Preston boldly went where few have ever gone or even allowed to go. Here is what's in there.

Now this is a view that's familiar to millions of Minnesotans because you can actually come up here just a private individual citizen might run well under under the guidance of the historical society you have to be led by the hand and come under appropriate escort. Right that's how we got this cast Gilbert the guy the architect who designed the Capitol but was a St. Paul architect and the Capitol put him on the map and it's got a Don't you see the Capitol Louisiana is like a seven story office tower cam we got a dome to be a town and that was one of his major concerns is how to build the stone it's not around spherical ball it's sort of like an egg it's been you lot get it vertically and then you put a lantern right on top and the lantern is waiting and I would want to question him so cast decided he better figure out how to hold that up there so we don't doesn't fall down. So that's where the cone comes in. Well actually there are two domes and a comb two domes and at home I don't like to use it don't. Well I think we should go up and see the stone dome on the outside and inside you can see.

On the inside the dome the other two layers above that. Where exactly are you going to go someplace where I want to go. What is this from the straight up just steps. Well this is the top of the column. Here we are above the inner dome. This is the dome that the public would see the bottom of when they come for a tour. This is the top of that dome this is the top of that that above us is the

Kong which supports the latter. The thing that you can't see from the outside or the inside. People are down there below us in the rotunda looking up right now and they can see the chandelier up at the top of the dome. From the inside and for Selectric winter which is which will lower that chandelier all the way down to the floor no kidding. There's a world of difference structurally between a cone and a dome the dome is like a. If we want to have an analogy in two dimensions is like an arc and a cone is like a triangle an arc doesn't want to have one point sitting on the top of it but a triangle that's just fine. It's built to support something. And that's what we see at the top is a lantern. In fact the stairway here looks like it's sitting on this dome and it's suspended by steel from the top of the cone. So then the outer dome the one that we all think of in our minds when we think of the state capitol that's on the outside. That's right it's a self-supporting marble.

And with with a brick backer. So this is the outer don't. That's right. The we're picking up through an access hatch through the cone right now. And so above us is the interior surface of the dome that everyone sees when they're outside of the building. It's a fairly it's a somewhat thinner shell it's maybe a 24 inches thick. The outer surface is marble and inner surfaces of brick and the guy at the top of the cone here has a waterproof membrane in fact cask Gilbert designed the cone to take away any water that might leak through the outer dome. That was a problem for hundreds of years and his solution was to use a comb not just to support the lantern but to take away any water that my lake through the ice to see the light from the dormers and if you like there's actually a little bit of reserve here. BTW this last stairs that is the final spiral stair you go up before you get onto the platform of the lantern and there's a little house up there we call the periscope and you step out on that you're one hundred and

eighty five feet above the ground outside. This is it this is the tough part. Go up there. It really can rub your eyes nose. Wow ain't that interesting. BURBANK So that out of the Navy weather forecasts tomorrow. Showers and thunderstorms in the eastern two thirds of the state. Partly cloudy in the West highs from the 70s to the middle 80s OK. We are done. I parked my car in the Harvard yard. Let me get a big screw trying to say that. NEWSNIGHT Minnesota is made possible in part to support a bland Foundation

working to strengthen rural communities throughout Minnesota. The Nick Knight Foundation working to strengthen families and communities across Minnesota. Campers 12 independent public radio stations statewide including Kay UMD Duluth Katy young Minneapolis and play QALY know arts reporting on NEWSNIGHT is supported by a grant from the Dayton Hudson foundation on behalf of Dayton's Richmond California and Target stores.