July 6, 2001 - MPR’s Kamoi Goetz profiles the 21st annual Hmong International Freedom Festival sports competition in St. Paul. 25,000 people are expected at the two-day festival which features a parade, food and souvenir booths, and sports competitions. Hmong youth from across the country will compete with Minnesota athletes in soccer, volleyball…and Takraw, a sport that blends aspects of both volleyball and soccer.
August 1, 2001 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports that new numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show same-sex households account for nearly one percent of all Minnesota couples. The 2000’ Census figures provide the agency's most accurate count yet of same-sex couples. Advocates and officials alike say the numbers still don't accurately track the true number of gays and lesbians, but are an important marker nonetheless.
August 1, 2001 - MPR’s Kaomi Goetz reports that some members of Minneapolis immigrant communities are asking whether they're getting undue scrutiny from city inspectors.
August 1, 2001 - U.S. Census figures released indicate the state's Hmong population grew almost 150% since the 1990 census, growing to nearly 42,000 residents. Some community leaders, though, think many Hmong people in Minnesota remain uncounted by the census. MPR’s Art Hughes interviews numerous individuals to get their reaction to government numbers.
August 6, 2001 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer talks with Kow Lee, a 29-year-old Hmong woman, about time limits attached to welfare and struggles for finding employment. Lee came to the U.S. 10 years ago, is divorced, and has 7 children ranging from ages 4 months to 9 years old. Speaking through an interpreter, Kow Lee says raising children in America is very hard.
August 15, 2001 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer speaks with Michael Yang, director of the Immigrant and Refugee Policy Coalition of Minnesota, about ceremony at Bethel College's Benson Hall where 730 Hmong Veterans and widows from Laos will become U.S. Citizens.
August 23, 2001 - On the first day of the 2001 Minnesota State Fair, MPR’s Lorna Benson joins City Pages Eater's Digest columnist Dara Moskowitz to check out food items making their Fair debut…from deep fried candy bars, to wilderness fish cakes and fried alligator legs.
August 27, 2001 - MPR’s Kaomi Goetz reports on how some Hmong face cultural hurdles to mental health care. A murder case of a Hmong immigrant that stabbed to death two of her children illustrates a larger problem confronting the Hmong community…how to recognize and effectively treat mental illness.
August 30, 2001 - MPR’s Tom Scheck reports that officials with the Minnesota State Fair have implemented some additional safety measures in the livestock and poultry barns to ensure the health of the animals and fairgoers. Each year, thousands of people walk through the animal barns. Fair officials want to make sure that no illnesses are spread through that interaction.
August 31, 2001 - In a broadcast from the MPR booth at Minnesota State Fair, Mainstreet Radio’s Rachel Reabe revisits the farmers of Chanarambie Township in Southwestern Minnesota.