Materials created/edited/published by Archive team as an assigned project during remote work period in 2020
September 12, 2001 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on Minneapolis mayoral primary results. Political newcomer and internet consultant R.T. Rybak will face two-term incumbent Sharon Sayles Belton in the Minneapolis mayoral election in November. Rybak was the top vote-getter in a race that included two other viable challengers to Sayles Belton.
September 20, 2001 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on first public forum of Minneapolis mayoral candidates. Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton and challenger R.T. Rybak faced off on various city issues.
October 4, 2001 - MPR’s Elizabeth Stawicki reports on Minnesota Supreme considering fairness of jurors asking questions during trial. Typically, attorneys question witnesses during trials in Minnesota. But in Blue Earth County two years ago, a Mankato judge invited jurors to question the witnesses and even the man on trial. The State Supreme Court heard arguments about whether allowing jurors to ask questions violates a defendant's right to a fair trial.
October 10, 2001 - MPR’s Tasha Rosenfeld interviews American-born Iranian poet Susan Atefat Peckham about the country Iran and Peckham's first book "That Kind of Sleep." Peckham reads from book.
October 17, 2001 - Minneapolis mayoral candidates R.T. Rybak and Sharon Sayles Belton join host Gary Eichten in the studio on this Midday program. The candidates discuss various subjects, including community development, city budget, affordable housing, terrorism, and policing. They also answer listener questions.
October 17, 2001 - Audio excerpts from Midday program with Minneapolis mayoral candidates.
October 23, 2001 - MPR’s Art Hughes presents a profile of mayoral candidate R.T. Rybak. R.T. Rybak hopes to become the first challenger to unseat an incumbent Minneapolis mayor since 1977. Backers say the political newcomer has a gift for energizing people toward his causes. Critics, however, say Rybak's vision lacks specifics and his big-tent approach is so big that it includes conflicting ideals that can't be sustained over time. Report includes Rybak’s efforts on fighting jet noise in South Minneapolis, and bringing a Target store to downtown.
November 5, 2001 - MPR’s Art Hughes provides a summary report of Minneapolis mayoral debate at a Minnesota Public Radio forum. Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton forcefully fights for her political career in the final days before the election, squaring off against challenger R.T. Rybak. In debate, Sayles Belton questioned Rybak's promise to shun campaign donations by those with business interests in city hall. She also strongly defended her administration against Rybak's accusation that the city is mismanaged.
November 7, 2001 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer interview Wy Spano, co-editor of the newsletter Politics in Minnesota, about recent Minneapolis elections, and the big changes it represents. Minneapolis and St. Paul have both elected a new mayor. State Senator Randy Kelly apparently won the St. Paul mayor's race by about 400 votes. Unofficial results from all 119 precincts show Kelly beating St. Paul City Council member Jay Benanav. In Minneapolis, internet consultant R.T. Rybak overwhelmingly defeated Sayles Belton, even though the incumbent outspent her challenger three-to-one. In a surprise upset, one of Sayles Belton's staunchest allies on the city council, Jackie Cherryhomes, was also defeated. In total, when the city council meets in January, it will have seven new members.
November 7, 2001 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on how Minneapolis voters overwhelmingly picked challenger R.T. Rybak for mayor of Minneapolis. Rybak beat two-term incumbent Sharon Sayles Belton in mayoral election with 65 percent of the vote. He leads a pack of new faces on the city council that signals a significant change of direction. Hughes summarizes the two campaigns and outcome.