Created in 1987, Mainstreet Radio held a mission of reporting specifically from rural Minnesota to all of Minnesota. With an introductory staff of Rachel Reabe, Leif Enger, and John Biewen, the group developed both long and short form news features as part of MPR Journal and Morning Edition broadcasts. As the years progressed, Mainstreet Radio expanded both in reporter contributions and programming, with memorable work from the likes of Mark Steil and Catherine Winter, amongst others. Beginning in the 1990s, Mainstreet Radio presented a monthly two-hour special, focusing on issues outside the Twin Cities metro. The varied Mainstreet Radio programming ran into the mid-2000s.
Mainstreet Radio presented a breadth of topics, providing an avenue for individuals from all walks of life to be heard. These efforts garnered numerous journalistic awards, including 65 national and regional awards in its first 10 years (1987-97).
Award-winning material in “special programs,” “series,” or “documentary” categories include Meth in Minnesota; Against the Grain; Dancing on Beat: Portrait of a Reservation Family; After the Flood; An Education in Diversity; Rekindling the Spirit: The Rebirth of American Indian Spirituality; Wilderness Truce: Ely 10 Years Later; Making the Grade: Rural schools the work; The Rural School Challenge; Broken Trust: Civil Rights in Indian Country; Gold: New Prospects on the Iron Range; and Articles of Faith.
Award-winning material in the category of “reporting” include Frog Music; Pumpkinland; Four Winds Treatment Center; Deer Hunting Weekend; Border Check for Poachers; Mille Lacs Fishing Launch; Loon Habitat; House Call Doctor; Geritol Frolics; Cartwright's Calendar; Ice-Fishing on Mille Lacs; Mercury Fillets; and A Place for the Wolf.
March 4, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Rachel Reabe reports on various citizen police academies starting up throughout the state. Reabe interviews citizens and law enforcement officials about the purpose and results of experience.
March 26, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger profiles Wahkon, a small community at the south end of Lake Mille Lacs, where there is an authentic small-town renewal driven by a combination of optimism and fear.
April 3, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger visits Northwest Technical College in Detroit Lakes, where a vocational program has become one of the best in the country…for neon benders, the people who create those ribbons of light. A resurgence of popularity in neon has sparked a demand for more benders.
April 10, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Catherine Winter reports on the Bovey Police Department, which may cease to exist due to financial costs for the small city. Bovey is located on the northern edge of the Iron Range in Minnesota and there is an open debate in town on if that will be trouble for the town.
April 15, 1996 - Many people say small government is better because its more accessible and can act quickly to solve problems, but local government has its own problems. Mark Steil of Mainstreet Radio highlights an example of that in the southern Minnesota town of Kasota, where quarrels with the city council and mayor might be every bit as nasty as those found in Washington D.C., turning neighbor against neighbor and leaving scars which can last years.
April 22, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Mark Steil reports that some citizens in southeast Minnesota are upset the Department of Natural Resources has spent a million dollars to buy a farm bordering the Mississippi River. DNR officials counter the land is worth protecting, calling it a scenic treasure state residents will be able to enjoy forever.
April 30, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Catherine Winter reports on efforts of a restorative justice program in Bemidji. Winter talks with criminal justice officials about the approach to better connect criminals to understanding and addressing their unlawful acts beyond the sole consequence of incarceration.
May 1, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Rachel Reabe visits the Cass Lake-Bena School District in northern Minnesota and has this report on alternative education programs. Reabe interviews students and educators about ALC’s benefits to some.
May 15, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Catherine Winter caught up with the Rolling Plains Gallery as it made a stop on Minnesota's Iron Range. The mobile art gallery has paintings bolted to the inside of a semi trailer. The Plains Art Museum in Fargo saw it as a unique solution to the problem of art galleries being few and far between in rural Minnesota, where residents don't often get to see works by professional artists.
May 17, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger takes a walking audio tour of The Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post. Enger talks with Joyce Wedll, the museum manager about the purposes of museum for both tribal members and tourists.