May 7, 1997 - Midday presents a special "Voices of Minnesota" program featuring the accounts of three Minnesotans during the Holocaust of World War Two. MPR reporter Dan Olson's conversations include the experience of Lucy Smith of St. Paul, who spent her childhood hiding from Nazis in Poland; the recollections of Reider Dittman, who was sent to a concentration camp; and a description of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp by Twin Cities architect Leonard Parker.
May 5, 1997 - As part of the “Voices of Minnesota" series, this program features two interviews on personal stories of overcoming life struggles. MPR’s Laura McCallum speaks with Stanley Sahlstrom, retired educator. Sahlstrom focused his adult life in support of agriculture. MPR’s Dan Olson speaks with Giovanna "Mama D" D'Agostino, a philanthropist and restaurateur. Program ends with a call-in segment with Kathleen Maloney, the new executive director of the Minnesota Alliance for Arts in Education.
May 1, 1997 - The bodies of several serial murder victims have been found in Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis the past few years. The trial of a man charged with the murders is underway in Hennepin County District Court. All of the media coverage worries park supporters the public is getting the wrong message about park safety. An event Friday at Theodore Wirth is an attempt by the Park Board and residents to assure the public the parks are safe. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more.
April 25, 1997 - A fundraiser organized by Twin Cities radio stations brought a flood of donations this morning in Minneapolis. More than 20 semi-trailer trucks filled with soap, towels and other goods are headed for people in the Red River Valley affected by floodwaters. Organizers estimate money raised from the event will top half a million dollars. The money will be split by the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more. tape . . . sfx 9:00 help you unload? With the sun just peeking over the Minneapolis skyline organizers of the fundraiser got a hint of what they had created. A stream of vehicles grew into two lanes of traffic with volunteers racing to un
April 21, 1997 - Bonnie Wallace says the way things worked on the Fond du Lac reservation when she was a teenager there 30 years ago is the Bureau of Indian Affairs told boys they'd be auto mechanics and the girls would be hair dressers. Today on our Voices of Minnesota interview we hear Bonnie Wallace talk about education for American Indians. Wallace left the reservation as a young adult. Now, she's back as chair of the board for the tribal college. She talked recently with Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson about attitudes toward American Indians when she was growing up.
April 21, 1997 - Bonnie Wallace says the way things worked on the Fond du Lac reservation when she was a teenager there 30 years ago is the Bureau of Indian Affairs told boys they'd be auto mechanics and the girls would be hair dressers. Today on our Voices of Minnesota interview we hear Bonnie Wallace talk about education for American Indians. Wallace left the reservation as a young adult. Now, she's back as chair of the board for the tribal college. She talked recently with Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson about attitudes toward American Indians when she was growing up.
April 18, 1997 - Elect Met Council - 5:00 / DO / ME / MD
April 18, 1997 - A civics quiz question: What is Minnesota's third largest level of government? You pass if you answered the Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities. The 16 member Met Council's budget, $291 million this year, is third in size behind Hennepin County and the state of Minnesota. Next question: name the Metropolitan Council member who represents you? Name not on the tip of your tongue? Proponents of electing rather than appointing council members say that would change if a bill before lawmakers is approved this session. But others say an elected council means another layer of campaign fundraising and advertising. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more.
April 9, 1997 - All the talk about bringing America's school students' test results up to the level of those in Japan and other countries is putting a lot of pressure on kids and teachers. The pressure to learn more at an earlier age causes some to worry kids will burn out and lose interest in learning. But that doesn't seem to be happening. An education expert says a bigger concern is not all kids have an equal opportunity to learn because of disparaties in education funding. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson visited a Hopkins school and has more. It's been 40 years since Jack Anderson was a 4th grader, and his memory is foggy on what his parochial and public school teachers in Brainerd demanded that he learn. He knows with a certainty, however, that he is asking a great deal more of his 25 students. tape . . . the exposure they get in school, the techno
April 8, 1997 - Homicides tend to get all the media attention, but community organizers say so-called nuisance crimes are every bit as destructive to a neighborhood. Tonight in Minneapolis at Plymouth Congregational Church a group of residents will ask public prosecutors to follow the model of community oriented policing. The residents want city attorneys assigned to specific neighborhoods to prosecute drug dealers, prostitutes and others who bring crime to communities. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports.