NewsNight Minnesota; 4064; NewsNight Minnesota Episode from 12/19/1996; SD-Base

Tonight on NEWSNIGHT green chairs on the White House lawn. A Minnesota idea gets national attention. A controversial past and uncertain future. Why Dennis Banks thinks he can get Leonard Peltier pardoned. Well holiday music hot jazz for the cold winter nights and parental ratings for TV. Too little too late. It's NEWSNIGHT for Thursday December 19th. The newscast rated G. For great. I am Kathy Werther and welcome to NEWSNIGHT. I'll begin with a summary of the day's news Caen stone has that. Thanks Cathy WCCO TV is facing a sex discrimination lawsuit by two women when a current and one a former employee Rebecca Backman and Beth sensei WCCO and CBS bar women from getting into the management on the technical staff. They also say that male workers and managers make sexually demeaning and profane comments WCCO management is not commenting until they see the lawsuit. Governor Carlson says that Minneapolis officials and legislators are lacking the leadership necessary to build a new ballpark for the Minnesota Twins and Carlson says

he's not even sure which lawmaker could sponsor a stadium builder in the upcoming session. Not a problem to the handful of protesters who demonstrated outside today's meeting of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. Members of the group kids first say that the state has more important priorities than a stadium during the commission meeting. Minnesota Vikings general manager Roger Hendrick said that the Vikings Metrodome lease is hurting that team financially and that's part of the reason that the team hasn't yet been able to sign quarterback Brad Johnson to a long term contract. The Vikings want a hundred and fifty million dollars in renovations to the stadium. If they are to stay put. About 4000 Minnesota kids with disabilities could lose their federal benefits. That was the concern Senator Paul Wellstone raised at the state capitol today. The feds are in the process of rewriting benefits laws based on the Welfare Reform Act that went through Congress. Well Stone says that it looks like 4000 Minnesota kids will be cut from SSI rolls and that would also make them ineligible for state medical assistance. The final rewrites of the welfare regulations should be done

in early January. A couple of big stories coming out of Minneapolis today and there Sharon Sayles Belton says that she's not sure that she'd take the job of secretary of Housing and Urban Development if President Clinton offers a two or Americas reportedly one of four candidates on the short list to replace Henry Cisneros if sales Belton leaves. Jackie Cherry homes city council president takes over as acting mayor. And labor unrest in the Minneapolis Police Department is leaving residents feeling a little less safe. Fifty eight police officers have quit the emergency response unit that's the city's version of the SWAT teams. They remain on active duty in their regular jobs. The officers say that too much work poor equipment and not enough staffing make the high risk extra duty too dangerous. Six officers remain on E.R. you watch through January 1st Deputy Police Chief Bill Jones says they're working on solving the officer's complaints. And a judge has decided not to put a temporary injunction on logging a stand of pines in the Superior National Forest. The group Earth

protector wanted the injunction to stop the logging of old growth red and white pine on the tract of land called little Alfie. It's near the boundary waters. Tony paid $200000 to thin out the stand of trees and used the timber for his sawmill in ore. But for more than a week protesters have closed off the road and they've prevented loggers from getting anywhere near the trees. Several environmental groups and vehicle which had come to a temporary agreement yesterday but earth protector decided to go to court anyway. Minneapolis politician John Barrow's is not giving up his quest to have the results of last fall's election thrown out there as lost the September primary by 104 votes to Linda Higgins. But only after his picture was wrongly printed in The Star Tribune on the day of the election not next to a story about fraud which had nothing to do with him. DEROSE went to the Supreme Court to have the election thrown out but the court told him to go to the state Senate. DEROSE has now done that and he's asking for an investigation into what effect the Star-Tribune error had on the election. Senate leadership has not yet decided what committee if

any will do such an investigation. And that is a rundown of the day's news Kathleen. Back to you. All right thank you Ken. Want to know whether a particular TV program is suitable for your kids. The TV industry the commercial TV industry we should say has come out with a new system to help. It looks like this TV Why. Good for kids of any age. TV The seven. Good for kids over the age of 7 TV 14. Only kids 14 and older should be allowed to watch TV just like movies with a G rating it's good for all audiences. TV PGD again just like the movie rating and TV M for mature audiences only you know this would be for the likes of NYPD Blue shows like that. Even before it was officially announced this new system had critics. Dr. David Walsh is one of them. He's a Minneapolis psychologist and head of the National Institute on Media and the family based right here in the Twin Cities always a pleasure thank you very much to see you. Clarify or muddy the waters for parents who want to try to make decisions in terms of TV watching for their kids.

Well I think I think the reason that there is this has become so controversial is that parents have been fairly clear in terms of what they want in recent surveys in fact we conducted a survey at the National Institute on Media in the family we conducted a survey this fall National PTA conducted a survey very very similar results. Parents are what parents are asking for is tell us the content. Tell us what's in a show in terms of language sex violence and then in terms of some positive things as well. And let us make the decision I think the problem that people have to worry about the system as it is currently proposed is that it is very similar to the movie rating system which About two thirds of American parents don't find acceptable because they don't know why a particular show is rated a certain way. Is it sex is that final and is language. So a lot of parents find themselves very surprised when they go to theater movies rated P.G. and they get to the theater they think it's appropriate for their kids and they're right in a middle of the movie. They're surprised it is a futile

exercise. Well I don't know I don't think it's a futile exercise I think. You know I think there are some really good things that are going on. One is that the conversation has been enjoined. I mean this story has been on the front page of newspapers across the country for weeks and weeks. Editorials in all the major newspapers have weighed in on the subject. And so I think there's something real positive about that is that the level of our awareness Cathy about how television affects us and especially how it affects kids is really growing. And that's a very very important first step to trust the movie in the TV industry though to actually rate their shows the way they should be rated. Well that's you know it's a very competitive industry and so the concern is even if they even if they don't kind of give in to some of the competitive pressures involved I think the public will always have a suspicion. And so there's actually three issues one is content versus age. The other is who's going to do it. And then the third one that really not many people are talking about which we should be talking about is how do these ratings

get arrived at. And that's a very very important thing we need to apply as much science as we can to this whole process to wring as much of the subjectivity and arbitrariness out of the whole process and I don't hear people talking about that we've been at the National Institute on Media in the family we've been working on a version for two years and we've gone through multiple iterations keep working with parents and testing it out to find out if it's valid and reliable Have you been asked for your input. Well I mean there are a number by the industry that. No the I mean we need to remember that the background to this was Congress passed a law and said that there have to be ratings. The president called the industry leaders to the White House and said now there will be a rating system. There is no choice because it's a law. Now do you want the government to do it or do you want to do it yourselves. And of course given that choice the industry said well we'll do it ourselves. There is a third alternative and that's private independent independent private and and involving parents I think that's another

important. Another important point. How are we going to know whether this is working or not. Well I think that I think one of the things that we should do everybody is talking about let's try this out for 10 months. And I think that's a good idea but in the process I think we should look at other options as well and let the public decide. I mean the ultimate consumers should really be deciding on what is most helpful. All right David Walsh thank you very much appreciate it. Very nice to see you. Well we're going to send it back over to Candy. Thanks Kathy. This is the time of year that presidents will often issue pardons or clemency to people in prison. And the American Indian Movement is hoping that this year will be the year for Leonard Peltier. You may be familiar with the story. Two FBI agents were shot and killed on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975. Leonard Peltier and two other Native Americans who were at the scene were later arrested. Bob Robb ado and Darryl Butler were found not guilty but in a separate trial Leonard Peltier was found guilty of aiding and abetting in the murders. Now at the trial the prosecution claimed Peltier was

actually the trigger man. But at an appeals hearing several years ago the prosecutor admitted he didn't know if Peltier committed the murders. Despite that the appeals court declined to order a new trial. Remember Peltier was convicted of aiding and abetting not the actual murders. So now Indian leaders are trying to obtain thousands of pages of old classified FBI documents to bolster their case. And tonight Dennis Banks one of the founders of the American Indian Movement is at the American Indian Center in Minneapolis arguing the case for executive clemency. I talked to banks yesterday and here's a bit of our conversation. Ten thousand pieces of information have been classified as national security they will not release them. Why in any murder case any murder case. You want information out to the public but not not the FBI and this case they don't want the people to know what happened what was going down at Oglala and they came to destroy us and that's what will reveal all this classified information. I've got a few pages of classified information that's been released so far. Do

you think that you're going to find a smoking gun and you're looking for another 6000 pages or is that what's going to free you not only a smoking gun but smoking guns. I mean that that's what the classification of the national security all these papers are all about. They don't want the American movement to know that what their plan was to kill us. See the June the June 26 1975 incident was. What we believe to be a botched operation. And that that operation went bad when they started coming in are. And you know they sacrifice those two agents. That's what they did. Peltier has been in prison 20 years 17 years one by one finally the prosecutor admitted that they did not know who shot those agents when when when Prosecutor Cooke said we don't know who shot the agent I was in a courtroom then right here in St. Paul Minnesota and everybody was sat up the judge just sat up

and he said what do you mean you don't know 17 years ago you said Peltier was the sole shooter. You told the jury that he shot core and then Williams executed him. Now you tell us you don't know who shot these agents. It is the worst miscarriage of justice. In the 20th century. It will go down to Peltier spends another day in prison. It will go down as the worst the worst worst worst. I mean you're talking about the crime of the century right here. You're hoping that this tour will build some sort of popular pressure some sort of attention. Realistically do you think it's going to work or is a stove a few or no way. I think. I believe that Clinton is is leaning. Towards executive clemency and I hear anyone told you that. Well you know nobody has said banks he's leaning towards it but we know that he is.

We know that he is. Not he said he has not said yes he's done said no more importantly has not said no. And there have been the executive clemency has been on his desk for two and a half years and people have submitted for clemency after that application was made. He has rejected it he said no to that he's denied that. So we're our name Pelletier is an opera for clemency and we know that. We believe that he's leaning in that direction. Tonight stop in Minneapolis is part of a 10 state tour Poulter's critics by the way say of poll tear didn't shoot the agents you know those who did but won't say Kathleen. That's all from here back to you. All right thank you Kate good job. If you ever drive through South Minneapolis or if you've been to the IDSA center or the Walker Art Center lately chances are you've seen an Adirondack chair in a rather unique shade of green. Those chairs some regular sized some giant are part of the aptly named green chair project which is the brainchild

of artist Joel Sisson. The project and how it came to be has gotten a fair amount of media attention in the Twin Cities. And tonight it's the subject of a half hour documentary slash dramatic production airing right after NEWSNIGHT I'm Katie CA. The program is called second story man combines dramatic reenactment with interviews with the actual participants in the project. Here's a clip. Man I know you think so. Yes whatever. You don't have if you did. You're very.

Tricky here really. So there's a first time I met you last night but it was a this I know alternative people or anything like that. So when I came down here it's like people with green different color hair stuff I'm never seen over for because even when I grew up in a small town but every time we watch the new it was a city based news program and it always looked like black people were evil you know and doing all these bad things. So I never want to come through that was really scary. Well Joe Wilson is here with us now he's the originator of the green chair project. How would you describe this project. Joel It seems like it's half Arts Project jobs program half urban renewal

project. It seems like it's got all those components you know in the hardest part about it is describing it. You know it's it's just so simple in so many ways the way it mixes all those ingredients up that it's hard to pull out one section or another. That's why it's been hard to get funding over the years with a lot of it because it doesn't fit one part was if I designed your part. No. Well in some ways it wasn't the one design something was hard to make successful but it was a way to kind of group everything together you know the kind of the art of bringing it all together and seeing how we could make something work that was efficient and effective and kind of touch people and also mostly gave some opportunities for the young people in the neighborhood. You always always have high hopes for this project I mean you drive past the walker earth center there's this huge green Adirondack chair. Well I think my high hopes just kind of go from year to year the first year I ever did the project we had you know the chairs and Pleasant Avenue I guess that's it. It's as far as I could ever imagine it would have gone. And then the next year of kind of. Problems like still seen some of the guys I worked with out in the streets doing some of the.

Nasty stuff and knowing that there wasn't much out there for them and do meet spurred me on to think about you know how can we take it a step further because I know this is something that can work. How can we go further with it. How do you measure the success of the program. Well a lot of people say oh you must feel so good because you're doing so much for all the kids out there and I really don't know I mean I have to say it has like a residual effect. I remember some of my first bosses when I was younger and what they share with me I probably wouldn't have said it was so great when I was first experienced it but later on I think about it and I thought Well think back and think about doing some funky things with some guys in our neighborhood. Tonight's documentary of about 30 seconds left. How did you feel about how it turned out. Well at first I was really question questioning about that because it's a docu drama it's partly us and partly other other people portraying us and I would was hoping for more of a documentary style. But after seeing it done and it was a pretty good job on Ben Bowman's part but also what I saw is that they did go back out to that pretty much that same community and they touched some of the same lives and work with some kids all of a sudden they brought a

movie. The movie industry kind of into the crack neighborhood of this neighborhood that was like that. So it's kind of nice that it actually did some of the same things in a different way. Well Joel continued good luck to you. Thank you very much appreciate it. It was a little bit of Shirley Temple music. OK. OK. That was Twin Cities vocalist to Debbie Duncan. If you're in the mood for a little casual holiday cheer with a bit of a swing to it. There's only one place to go. The Dakota bar and grill that's where you can hear Debbie Duncan and pianist Dan shoon are. And that's where you NEWSNIGHT. Yo Yo Kim caught up with them a few weeks back for this delightful holiday treat non fattening even.

I know that every household has got their own particular favorite holiday music kind of in our household. We had the carpenters Christmas album and Fred Waring in the Pennsylvania that we played at that my father used to have parties during the holidays and. Dad always said that you know you can hear the parties. By the music that you play. And as the night progressed and went on the music was changed in the jazz we get. A little raunchy here people and their ties. Oh yeah a little later on even though you know ties are down here and. And then by the time we were listening to just booking blues I don't want I'm out of time. But.

Of Bela Bartok. So let us kind of stick around and set way so that nobody really knew we were there he would introduce us as people came in and I do my own thing and funny thing you know say good night Debbie and go up on the steps where nobody could see me. The case with our family my sisters would dance to the Nutcracker Suite that we would play on the hi fi and one of the boys would conduct the Hi-Fi and another one of the boys would be up on the stairs with a little kid in a popcorn popper which operated with a 60 watt bulb. If you took the top off of the popcorn popper it made a wonderful spotlight and we got to have this and we had a spotlight on that a while with that my little 4 year old sister

ballerinas. It's. A. It's. Dug up some little holiday repertoire. Have you got a favorite among

the things you dug up or maybe a tune with a message. Why pick this song. Because it's called the secret of Christmas. Because the message is not limited to just Christmas. It's about the attitude that. Attitude that we should have on a time which is the reason that I picked the tuna because it kind of leaves you thinking. Yeah. And it also made me think of what a great song. What a wonderful message. Oh oh oh oh.

Do you want more go to the Dakota Bar and Grill in St. Paul's bandannas Square on Sunday nights through January the 8th. It looks like that will be about the only hot place in

town the weather forecast for tomorrow. Highs will be in the single digits up north teens down south and mostly cloudy with a chance of light snow throughout this land of 10000 frozen lakes. Can't wait for winter at all but tomorrow night the best lawsuits of 1996. No kidding. Plus the outcome of today's meeting on how to protect Minnesota's white pines and of course politics. A lot of politics as all manic at 7:00 o'clock tomorrow night. Until then a little more music the same old Christmas concert from 1993. Just get any better than this. Enjoy and good night. NEWSNIGHT Minnesota is made possible by the contributors to the power of two campaigns

program fund with major grants from the Blanton Foundation and the Knight Foundation arts reporting on NEWSNIGHT Minnesota is made possible with grants from the National Endowment for the arts and from Target stores and Murphy through the Dayton Hudson foundation.