June 2, 1999 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews writer Elva Trevino Hart, who recollects on the six years of her childhood in Minnesota watching her brothers, sisters, and parents work long days in the fields near Moorhead. In her new book "Barefoot Heart: Stories of a Migrant Child", Trevino Hart details her family's annual journey north from a small town in Texas.
June 2, 1999 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews a local Hmong artist about his desire to protect and foster Hmong cultural arts as an avenue for next generation in the Hmong community, both abroad and in the United States.
May 31, 1999 - To close out the millennium, Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered presents a look back at Minnesota life in 1900 via a 12-part series, entitled “A Minnesota Century.” This segment profiles the Merritt brothers and their Minnesota ore discovery.
May 28, 1999 - Thousands of Minnesotans are heading to a lakeshore cabin this Memorial Day weekend. If you're one of them, aside from the boating and picnicing, chances are you may be doing a little yardwork. But before you get winded mowing that acre of lawn, you might want to look over a new book put out by the Department of Natural Resources filled with suggestions on how to develop an environmentally friendly lakeshore frontage. DNR Nongame Wildlife Supervisor Carrol Henderson co-wrote "Lakescaping for Wildlife and Water Quality.
May 26, 1999 - With his stack of vetoes behind him, Governor Ventura has launched his national promotional tour for his autobiography "I Ain't Got Time To Bleed". This evening he'll appear on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum joins me now from the NBC studios where taping will get underway in a little while.
May 25, 1999 - After three years of national welfare reform, we know fewer Americans are getting benefits, but we have little other information on how they fare when the checks stop coming. Today, an amendment by US Senator Paul Wellstone to require federal tracking of welfare recipients failed by just one vote. Wellstone says he offered the amendment because states need to make sure people going off welfare aren't falling into poverty.
May 24, 1999 - University of Minnesota officials are still trying to determine if allegations of a cover-up by athletic officials are true. An investigation is underway, but results are not expected for several weeks. Micheal Messner is a Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at the University of Southern California. He says if the charges are true, the U-of-M will be among a growing number of schools facing this problem.
May 21, 1999 - There is more bad press for the University of Minnesota men's athletic department. A report in today's Star Tribune says between 1993 and 1997, UofM athletics officials repeatedly intervened in assault and criminal sexual conduct investigations against athletes, and kept the cases from being submitted to prosecuters. University President Mark Yudof says if the allegations are true, the University won't tollerate it.
May 7, 1999 - For the most part, BEARS have a bad reputation among humans...and a recent bear attack in Wisconsin only adds to that general disdain. On Monday, a bear attacked a Cameron man in his backyard after he tried to rescue his poodle from the bear's jaws. The man suffered puncture wounds and claw marks. The dog has not been found. But for former Minnesotan Jack Becklund, bears are not unpredictable, dangerous creatures. Becklund recounts his unusually friendly experiences with black bears in his new book "Summers With the Bears: Six Seasons in the North Woods."
April 30, 1999 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews German poet Ursula Duba about her book "Tales From a Child of the Enemy." They also discuss the impact of war and atrocities on youth, and what’s happening to Serbian and Kosovar children.