July 15, 1980 - MPR’s Tom Meersman reports on English as a Second Language (ESL) school programs in the Twin Cities. Teachers work with refugee students from varied background languages, including Hmong, Cambodian, Thai, Laotian, and Vietnamese.
November 10, 1980 - A storm chronology of the Lake Superior gale storm on November 10, 1975, that sank the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a massive iron ore carrier.
December 7, 1980 - MPR’s Mark Johnson interviews Charles Johnson, a Macalester professor, about the history and current situation of the Hmong people. Johnson also discusses his project of collected Hmong traditional folk stories translated in English for ESL studies.
March 23, 1981 - MPR’s Tom Meersman reports on the housing challenges — practical, cultural, governmental, and social — that refugee families face after arriving in Minneapolis. Substandard housing is among the most problematic of them all.
April 3, 1981 - MPR’s Bob Potter reports on Minnesota State Capital commitee discussion of gay rights bill in effort to add sexual orientation to the list of protected statuses in the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
June 15, 1981 - MPR’s Lee Axdahl reports from Roseville, where a tornado struck the afternoon of June 14, 1981. Storm caused multiple damage and injuries.
June 15, 1981 - MPR’s Dale Connelly interviews Peggy Hawkins, who witnessed the tornado that struck Roseville. Hawkins was in the parking lot of Target as storm struck, and describes a destructive scene.
June 15, 1981 - MPR’s Rich Dietman describes the scene in south Minneapolis in the aftermath of a tornado passing over Lake St. & Chicago Ave.
June 15, 1981 - MPR’s Linda Peinovich interviews meteorologist John Graff, who describes the path and destruction of tornado that struck areas of Twin Cities on June 14, 1981. Graff notes it was a singular tornado that made a straight line through the metro.
January 20, 1982 - MPR’s Gary Eichten talks with Les Coleman of the National Weather Service about record-breaking snowfall in the Twin Cities. Following interview, Eichten checks in with MPR’s Nancy Fushan on conditions and problems caused by storm.