March 13, 1996 - MPR’s Marianne Combs reports on ice fishing along and on Lake Superior during winter, when ice flows become fishing opportunities…but not without potential costs and risks to life.
March 20, 1996 - With many fish hatcheries planning to stop stocking Lake Trout in Lake Superior after 1996, MPR’s Marianne Combs reports on the status of fish species and concerns over the obstacles fish still face in repopulating the lake.
March 22, 1996 - There are many creation stories explaining how the Earth took its form and how civilizations came to be, including the massive waters of Lake Superior. People gathered at the Lake Superior Center in Duluth to hear the stories and myths of the Ojibwe culture…here's a sampling of what they heard.
March 26, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger profiles Wahkon, a small community at the south end of Lake Mille Lacs, where there is an authentic small-town renewal driven by a combination of optimism and fear.
April 3, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger visits Northwest Technical College in Detroit Lakes, where a vocational program has become one of the best in the country…for neon benders, the people who create those ribbons of light. A resurgence of popularity in neon has sparked a demand for more benders.
April 10, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Catherine Winter reports on the Bovey Police Department, which may cease to exist due to financial costs for the small city. Bovey is located on the northern edge of the Iron Range in Minnesota and there is an open debate in town on if that will be trouble for the town.
April 15, 1996 - Many people say small government is better because its more accessible and can act quickly to solve problems, but local government has its own problems. Mark Steil of Mainstreet Radio highlights an example of that in the southern Minnesota town of Kasota, where quarrels with the city council and mayor might be every bit as nasty as those found in Washington D.C., turning neighbor against neighbor and leaving scars which can last years.
April 22, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Mark Steil reports that some citizens in southeast Minnesota are upset the Department of Natural Resources has spent a million dollars to buy a farm bordering the Mississippi River. DNR officials counter the land is worth protecting, calling it a scenic treasure state residents will be able to enjoy forever.
April 30, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Catherine Winter reports on efforts of a restorative justice program in Bemidji. Winter talks with criminal justice officials about the approach to better connect criminals to understanding and addressing their unlawful acts beyond the sole consequence of incarceration.
May 1, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Rachel Reabe visits the Cass Lake-Bena School District in northern Minnesota and has this report on alternative education programs. Reabe interviews students and educators about ALC’s benefits to some.