December 14, 2004 - MPR’s Lorna Benson reports on a panel discussion at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute designed to debunk misperceptions about immigrants. The panel of Twin Cities community leaders say they're discouraged by the attitudes of Minnesotans who are fed up with immigrants. A new study has found that many Minnesotans believe immigrants are a drain on public services and that they shun assimilation. The opinions were strongest among people living in the outer-ring suburbs.
December 10, 2004 - Recent elections have hinted at it, and now a new study backs up the notion that Minnesota's legendary progressive politics have changed. The report by the "Minnesota Community Project" found that many Minnesotans are deeply skeptical about state government and think the state wastes their hard-earned tax dollars on programs that don't benefit them personally. Instead, they want government to get back to the basics like roads and education. These views are strongest in the state's fastest growing counties - the so-called exurbs that make up the outermost ring of the Twin Cities suburbs. Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson reports.
November 24, 2004 - In the weeks since the election, we've been checking in with congregations around Minnesota to find out what parishioners in this state were thinking as they cast their ballots. The Bush campaign openly courted Conservative Evangelical Christians during the Presidential race, believing their votes could make the difference in an extremely close election. The strategy worked. Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson met recently with four members of the Albion Evangelical Free Church near Cokato and talked to them about why they voted the way they did.
November 3, 2004 - Supporters of Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry won a bitter victory in Minnesota. Democrats here got out the vote the way they'd hoped, using strategies that fell short in other battleground states. The implications are mixed. By winning Minnesota, Kerry may have boosted state Democratic races., but he could well have hurt his own chance to become the next president. Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson reports.
November 1, 2004 - Minnesota Democrats say their get-out-the-vote effort is the largest in state party history. DFLers estimate that at least ten-thousand volunteers are on the job every hour trying to get Democrats to the polls Tuesday. Party Chair Mike Erlandson says DFLers have been campaigning at this frenzied pace for the past week.
July 13, 2004 - Expectations have always been high for Joe Mauer. Long before the Twins chose the St. Paul native as their top draft pick in 2001, Mauer was considered a sports phenom. If his rookie season is any indication, the Minnesota Twins catcher will be rubbing elbows with the league's other top talents in a not-too-distant All-Star game.
June 1, 2004 - (For air on M.E. 6-1-04) The Pawlenty Administration is moving ahead with its plan to end long-term homelessness in Minnesota. Legislators this session didn't approve $20-million dollars for the proposal's first-phase. But the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency says 59 apartments are already being developed using money the agency has re-directed from its own budget. Over the next seven years, the administration hopes to build or refurbish 4000 apartments to house the state's most chronically homeless residents. Homeless advocates generally welcome the idea, but some wonder if it's targeting one group at the expense of another. Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson reports.
February 26, 2004 - MPR’s Lorna Benson profiles Liz Mc Elhinney and Siddiqi Ray, a lesbian couple in Minnesota who recently married in San Francisco, which began to grant marriage licenses to gay couples.
February 6, 2004 - A Roseville cancer clinic is reeling this week following its decision to end contracts with two large Minnesota insurers who had serious concerns about patient care at the facility. Parker Hughes Cancer Center has been under investigation by the insurers and state officials for months. The Star Tribune newspaper published a series of critical investigative stories about the clinic in December. Since then the clinic says it has notice a significant decline in new patients. Yesterday the clinic and its research institute laid off 89 people - a third of its staff. Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson reports.
December 22, 2003 - State officials are reporting an increase in the number of flu cases. Outbreaks are reported throughout the state and they appear to gaining ground in the Twin Cities, which hasn't tallied very many cases so far. The Minnesota Department of Health also announced today that relatively few children took advantage of free flu vaccinations, so the department is opening up the shots to all metro-area kids. Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson has our flu update.