May 27, 1986 - MPR’s Kate Moos talks with St. Paul’s Ann Bancroft about her expedition to the South Pole. Bancroft recounts the challenges of being in the Arctic.
May 31, 1986 - MPR’s Mark Steil presents "Chanarambie Township: Sections 17, 18, 19, and 20," a documentary that explores how farmers in a four-square mile area of Murray County view the farm crisis...where land prices dropped, interest rates went up, and farmers were caught in the middle.
June 16, 1986 - MPR’s Tom Meersman reports on graduation of Minnesota police candidates. Of the group, one is a Native American woman; another, the first Hmong police officer.
July 17, 1986 - MPR’s Mark Steil looks back to the month of July in 1936, when Minnesota suffered through an oppressive heat wave. Steil interviews residents in southern Minnesota that endured the extreme temperatures.
August 8, 1986 - MPR’s Mark Steil reports on massive hailstorm that pounded farmland in Lincoln County. Steil interviews famers about the damage from softball-sized hail.
August 21, 1986 - MPR’s Jim Bickal interviews various individuals on preparations for another Minnesota State Fair opening. Tasks include everthing from spraying painting the Space Needle to acquiring unglazed plates for smashing in the Midway.
August 29, 1986 - MPR’s Bill Catlin reports on disagreements over potential use of gay lifestyle panels in Minneapolis schools, a curriculum designed by educator Polly Kellogg. The latest debate involves different policies on curriculum submitted by Minneapolis School District.
October 3, 1986 - MPR’s Tom Meersman presents a five-part series “People Without Countries,” a collection of reports about life in Thailand refugee camps.
October 7, 1986 - As part of a five-part series “People Without Countries,” MPR’s Tom Meersman reports on Hmong refugees In Thailand. Meersman visits Ban Vinai Refugee Camp where highland people, especially Hmong, fled communist rule in Laos.
November 7, 1986 - MPR’s Bill Catlin reports on Community United Against Violence, a group formed to draw attention to the recent string of 11 gay murders in the Twin Cities. The group will be organizing activity to heighten awareness of violence, especially violence against homosexuals. Yesterday's announcement comes at a time of heightened tension between some leaders of the gay community and police. There have been complaints that the police aren't doing enough to solve unsolved gay murder cases.