April 23, 2002 - Polygamy is illegal in Minnesota, yet activists in some immigrant groups in the Twin Cities say, while the practice is kept under wraps, it is relatively common. MPR’s Kaomi Goetz reports that younger members of the Hmong community are now trying to get the issue out into the open.
February 4, 2002 - Mee Moua, a Hmong woman in St. Paul, makes history when she's sworn in as the nation's first Hmong legislator. The Southeast Asian hill tribe people started arriving in the U.S. more than 20 years ago. Yet, for many Hmong, their true date of arrival in this country starts with this political moment.
December 27, 2001 - Like all American families, Hmong immigrants place hopes for the future on their youth, but school truancy remains a problem for some Asian American kids. MPR’s Kaomi Goetz looks into the issue and how some are addressing it.
December 12, 2001 - Nearly a week after Sun Country Airlines laid off virtually all of its 900 employees, many of them attended a series of job counselling sessions run by public officials in Bloomington earlier today . Minnesota Public Radio's Kaomi Goetz reports.
December 7, 2001 - In recent years housing developers have turned to niche marketing, building specific residences for specific types of people. Increasingly developers are focusing their attention on college students. They say students are willing to pay top dollar for housing that meets their expectations. Minnesota Public Radio's Kaomi Goetz reports.
November 23, 2001 - MPR’s Kaomi Goetz interviews Mark Browning Milner, a local musician who has taken known works and created a new sound by dramatically slowing down the notes. The result is Bozo Adagio, an ambient sound to create a calming effect.
November 22, 2001 - The cast of Mamma Mia serves turkey to the homeless on Thanksgiving.
October 10, 2001 - FBI agents wearing white moon suits and gas masks scoured the newspaper offices of two men whose exposure to anthrax has prompted heightened fear of bioterrorism across the country. The search turned up no further sign of anthrax in Robert Stevens' Florida office since traces were discovered on his computer keyboard. Stevens, a photo editor with the Sun tabloid newspaper, died last week of inhaled anthrax, a rare, particularly lethal form of the disease. Anthrax cases are rare in humans. The disease is much more commonly found in animals. Today, the University of Minnesota's Center for Animal Health and Food Safety is sponsering a teach-in on bio and agro-terrorism. Dr. Will Hueston (Houston) is the director of the Center. He says his veterinary students could play a key role in the fight against terrorism.
October 5, 2001 - National Guard troops begin their duty at the Twin Cities International Airport this morning. Their presence part of the federal government's new security plan to get people flying again. One part of that plan that was changed is to allow Sky caps to check-in bags at the curb. Sky caps thought they lost their jobs after the FAA eliminated the curbside baggage check-in service in a safety precaution following the recent terrorist attacks. The Skycaps at the Twin Cities airport were temporarily redeployed to other positions. But this week, twenty-eight skycaps are returning to their jobs, just as airline travel has started to pick up. Anthony Nunn is a Skycap for Northwest. He says he's glad to be back.
October 4, 2001 - Magda Saikali, in her 40s and orginally born in Egypt grew up in Minnesota and has been here over 30 years. She owns an international clothing shop in St. Paul and is a spokeswoman for Teaching and Learning Islam, an educational community outreach group. Muslim women in Minnesota say they've been targets of discrimination and backlash since the terrorist attacks on September 11th. Many women who practice Islam wear the heijab, or headscarf, to demonstrate their belief in modesty. This show of faith makes them easy to single out for personal harrrassment...and many Muslim women say they are afraid to leave their homes.