July 26, 2000 - MPR’s Tim Post reports on how residents of Granite Falls spent the day cleaning up and assessing damage after a tornado ripped through town on Tuesday night. Hundreds of homes were pulverized on the westside of town. Post talked with homeowners as they were allowed back into damaged areas of town to collect personal items.
July 26, 2000 - Mainstreet Radio’s Mark Steil reports on tornado that struck Granite Falls, Minnesota. Steil gets firsthand accounts of the storm. The tornado is the latest disaster for a city which has seen floods and job losses in the last few years.
August 25, 2000 - Before the homemade bread-and-butter pickles, patchwork quilts and gooseberry jams are exhibited at the Minnesota State Fair, some stiff competition has already taken place at the county level. For northern Minnesota resident Dorothy Coyle, Fair time is the time to harvest blue ribbons.
August 29, 2000 - MPR’s Brandt Williams gets a tour of “The Electric Bus,” a portable sampler of Seattle's 240 million dollar interactive museum called the Experience Music Project. Inside the exhibit visitors can get a history lesson or play around with some high-tech toys.
August 31, 2000 - MPR’s William Wilcoxen reports how the race to succeed the retiring Bruce Vento has turned into the state's hottest House race. The tradition of political discourse at the State Fair continued as DFL and Independence Party candidates for the 4th Congressional District seat debated at the Minnesota Public Radio booth.
September 6, 2000 - MPR’s Tim Pugmire reports on the opening of more than a dozen new charter schools in Minnesota, bringing the state's total to 64. This year's batch of schools includes some that are targeting specific racial and ethnic groups -- an approach that worries some education leaders.
October 13, 2000 - Hundreds of mourners came to St. Paul to pay a final tribute to Bruce Vento, who passed away on October 10th, 2000. The former school teacher and twelve-term Congressman was hailed as a champion of the environment, the working class, and the needy. Vento died at the age of 60 from a rare form of lung cancer, as a result of exposure to asbestos.
November 6, 2000 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews Yer Moua, a Hmong woman about her concerns and views as a voter. Speaking through her daughter, Mai Ning Moua, Yer said that although this will be her first U.S. election, this wont be her first time in a voting booth.
November 10, 2000 - Mainstreet Radio’s Mark Steil presents a special report on The Armistice Day Blizzard. Steil talks with meteorologist Paul Douglas on how the storm formed and interviews numerous survivors who recollect on their experiences in the infamous storm.
November 10, 2000 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill profiles Frank Kutka and his farm near Mahtowa, about an hour south of Duluth. Kutka is experimenting with corn from all over the world to create a variety that will grow up north. His work is attracting attention around the country, and experts are hoping it may result in new crops that will help marginal farms.