March 6, 2003 - MPR’s Jeff Horwich reports on an old business with a new owner. The Renville Locker butchered meat under the same family ownership for 38 years in southwestern Minnesota. Over that time the population of the region has changed, and more change is on the way. There may be no better symbol of the shift than the new face behind the meat market counter.
March 31, 2003 - MPR’s Tim Pugmire reports that Phalen Lake Elementary, a St. Paul school, is launching new enrichment program that focuses on Hmong language and culture. The school will also offer students the option of a Spanish program.
April 7, 2003 - MPR’ Brandt Williams reports on a Sunday evening worship service held in the State Theater in Minneapolis, where Black leaders told the crowd of nearly 500 that African Americans still face high rates of unemployment, poverty and health problems. They expressed hope that through church and community collaboration, those problems can be solved.
May 7, 2003 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on U.S. Ambassador to Laos visiting Minnesota to promote the start of normal trade relations with the communist country. The visit sparked protests, organized primarily by Hmong veterans who sided with the United States during the Vietnam War, but who were driven out when the U.S. withdrew its support. They say opening relations with Laos only rewards a brutal regime.
May 14, 2003 - MPR’s Nikki Tundel speaks with Erich Mische, the state director for U.S. Senator Norm Coleman, about a St. Paul high school student facing deportation. Tchisou Tho was scheduled for deportation just 22 days before he would have become the first in his family to graduate from high school, but won a delay that will allow him to graduate with his classmates in June.
June 13, 2003 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Peter Rogness, the bishop of the St. Paul Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, about a Hmong pastor from St. Paul who is one of three men being detained in Laos.
June 21, 2003 - Jazz Image’s Leigh Kamman interviews Minnesotan Butch Thompson, a renowned American jazz pianist and clarinetist. Thompson discusses his group and playing at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
July 8, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio’s Erin Galbally looks into divorce in the Hmong communtity. Some Hmong say it's allowing women in particular to escape difficult marriages. But traditionalists worry about the long-term impact of the new trend on Hmong culture.
July 9, 2003 - An Evangelical Lutheran Bishop says the prayers of people throughout the nation were answered following today's release of a St. Paul Hmong American pastor from a Lao jail. Authorities released Rev. Naw-Karl Mua and two journalists following intense diplomatic pressure by the French, Belgian and U.S. governments; and reportedly a payment of nearly $2500 from Mua's wife to Lao authorities.
July 23, 2003 - MPR’s Nikki Tundel interviews Michele Garnett McKenzie, director of the Refugee and Immigrant Program at Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, about newly released figures show Minnesota's largest minority groups are making significant economic strides. McKenzie says over the last few decades the state has become a magnet for the county's newest residents.