August 5, 1997 - Midday provides an update on the Twins ballpark situation, and a chance to hear comments and suggestions from Minnesota Public Radio listeners. Guest Jay Weiner, sports reporter at the Star Tribune; and MPR's reporter Bill Wareham provide details and analysis of the stadium debate.
September 4, 1997 - MPR's Martin Kaste reports that Minnesota Indian tribes are reacting skeptically to suggestions they use their casino revenues to help pay for a new Twins stadium. The co-chairman of the Legislature's special stadium finance task force met with the chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in an attempt to get Indian money for a possible stadium financing package... but at least one Indian official in St. Paul says state politicians are "crazy" to think they can convince tribes to pay for the stadium when Minnesota taxpayers won't.
September 16, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio’s Mark Steil reports on workers at Oak Hills Living Center, a New Ulm nursing home in southwest Minnesota, who unionized several years ago and currently are locked in a bitter strike with management. They want higher pay, but government Medicaid policies and other regulations make that a difficult goal to reach.
October 6, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio’s Mark Steil revisits the southern Minnesota town of Good Thunder and takes a look at the continuing economic development struggles on Main Street. With the state’s economic boom in the 1990s, officials would love to bring some of those jobs to their town, but that just hasn't happened.
October 9, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger takes a look back to 1989, when 500 union supporters rioted in the northern border town of International Falls. The city's largest employer, Boise Cascade, was building a huge expansion of their papermill…and bringing in thousands of non-union workers to do it. The town was divided: while local businesses boomed like never before, union workers and their families felt betrayed.
October 22, 1997 - They're still a rare sight in most of the state, but timber wolves are making a comeback in Minnesota. Held strictly to northeastern forests a few decades ago, wolves are now spreading west and south…toward St. Cloud, Grand Forks, and Elk River. Mainstreet Radio's Leif Enger reports on biologists using satellite technology to forecast where wolves will show up next.
November 6, 1997 - Midday features a Mainstreet Radio special about deer hunting, broadcast from Bemidji. A huge number of Minnesotans participate in this annual event. In the second hour of program, host Rachel Reabe talks with Bemidji hunters Kevin, Brett and Corey; and psychologist Dr. Dwight Phelps on the culture of deer hunting. Reabe also interviews Jean Bergerson about women deer hunters.
November 6, 1997 - Midday features a Mainstreet Radio special about deer hunting, broadcast from Bemidji. A huge number of Minnesotans participate in this annual event. In the first hour of program, host Rachel Reabe talks with guests Jim Bryant, regional wildlife supervisor with Minnesota DNR; and Joe Wood, executive director of the MN Deer Association about the hunting regulations, management of season, and environmental impacts. Program closes with James Baden, editor of Mille Lacs Messenger, providing a commentary from the non-hunter perspective.
January 27, 1998 - MPR’s Karen Louise Boothe profiles Jesse “The Body” Ventura, who is jumping back into the political ring with his decision to run for governor on a Reform Party ticket. It's hard to pin a label on Ventura. He's not your typical politician.
January 29, 1998 - MPR's Mary Stucky reports on folks at the Science Museum of Minnesota hoping to broaden public understanding of what Mozart called the "king of instruments." They'll do this through a special organ festival of concerts, exhibits, and tours sponsored in part by Minnesota Public Radio.