September 7, 1999 - Jodi Carlson shed tears of joy last May as she watched the Minnesota Legislature overturn a gubernatorial veto for the first time in 17 years. It was a triumph for the Bemidji native, who has used a wheel chair ever since a 1995 accident. She spent weeks at the Capital convincing lawmakers to amend a law preventing her from suing a car manufacturer over an alleged defective seat-belt. But Carlson's legal battle is not over.
July 29, 1999 - Before Jesse "The Body" Ventura even thought about flinging a boa around his neck and entering the wrestling ring, the notorious Baron Von Raschke was goose-stepping and plowing his way through opponents around the globe. Now an elder statesman of wrestling, Baron Von Raschke -- better known to friends and family as Jim Raschke -- lives in the tiny northern Minnesota hamlet of Lake George. He recently spoke with Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Robertson about his career; his disappointment with today's wrestling industry; and his thoughts on having a former colleague in the governor's mansion.
July 23, 1999 - For more than 60 years, the six Ojibwe Indian Bands that make up the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe have been governed by a constitution imposed by the federal government. Now the tribe is considering a draft constitution of its own making. But the document is taking harsh criticism, and some are worried that it would do more harm than good. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Robertson has the story, the second in a two-part series on the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
July 16, 1999 - MPR’s Tom Robertson reports from Bemidji, where a severe windstorms that ripped through northern Minnesota in July 1995, leaving destruction in Itasca State Park with thousands of lost trees. Park officials say the destruction is now bringing new life.
June 16, 1999 - A tribal ordinance aimed at relieving chronic unemployment on the Leech Lake Reservation has ignited a firestorm of controversy. The Tribal Emplyment Rights Ordinance--- or TERO --- charges contractors a fee to work on the reservation... and requires them to hire tribal members for their work crews. Some in the non-Indian community say the TERO is unfair, and claim the tribe is overstepping its bounds.
June 1, 1999 - There's an old saying about when you are up to your knees in alligators, it is sometimes hard to remember the original object was to drain the swamp. There are people in Northern Minnesota who can legitimately use the saying in regard to tens of thousands of acres of land which have been a political football for almost a century, ever since settlers tried to drain it. But as Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Robertson reports from Bemidji, it seems there could be a resolution in sight of the future of the so-called consolidated conservation lands.
May 20, 1999 - Low income people enrolled in Minnesota's public health care programs are having an increasingly difficult time getting access to dental care. MNCare and other medical assistance programs don't fully reemburse dentists for treating patients on public assistance. Such patients are finding it increasingly difficult to find dentists willing to treat them, especially in rural areas. The Health and Human Services Omnibus Bill just approved by the Minnesota Legislature directs nearly $3.2 million dollars toward the problem, but some say it's only a band-aid for an issue that's reaching crisis proportions.
May 3, 1999 - On this segment of Mainstreet Radio’s Rural Diversity series, Tom Robertson looks at Minnesota's 'hidden' population -- rural minorities.
May 3, 1999 - Midday presents a Mainstreet Radio special report "Hidden Rainbow: The Changing Face of Minnesota." Program presents a series of reports on the state's growing minority population in outstate Minnesota.
April 9, 1999 - After serving 28 months in federal prison, former White Earth Tribal Chairman Darrell "Chip" Wadena is back home on the reservation. Convicted in 1996 of 15 felony counts including conspiracy, theft and embezzlement of tribal funds, Wadena still contends he did nothing wrong. He now says he plans to seek the White Earth chairmanship again in 2000.