July 11, 2001 - Mainstreet Radios Dan Gunderson reports from Fergus Falls, where Artspace, a Minneapolis non-profit agency, is hoping to renovate the Hotel Kaddatz. The empty historic building is the organizations first attempt to create space for artists in rural areas. Artspace builds affordable space for artists to live and work. It has developed projects in the Twin Cities and Duluth, as well as several large cities across the country. It was the organization behind the much publicized moving of the Shubert Theater across downtown Minneapolis.
August 6, 2001 - Robert Spaethling isn't the first person to translate Mozart's letters, but he went to great lengths to be the most precise. The German professor chose 275 letters and postscripts written by Mozart over a span of 22 years. Spaethling tells MPR's Tom Crann it was especially difficult to translate the poems Mozart wrote, like one he sent to his mother in January of 1778.
August 7, 2001 - MPR’s Annie Feidt looks at the sport of disc golf as 350 of the top disc golfer's in the world are gather in the Twin Cities for the world championship tournament. The sport looks a lot like traditional golf, but instead of using a club to hit a ball, players throw frisbees up the fairway and into a catching device.
August 14, 2001 - Mainstreet Radio's Laurel Druley reports on housing struggles some migrant workers find themselves in while working in the southern Minnesota town of Plainview. Four months out of the year, the population of 3,190 grows by more than 200 residents. Migrant workers come to town to can peas and corn at Lakeside Foods. But while the work is there, housing is not, leaving many temporary workers searching for a place to call home.
August 14, 2001 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Jim Dreyer, a 37-year-old man from Michigan, as he prepares to swim across Lake Superior. The 62-mile swim will start in Grand Portage, on Minnesota's North Shore, and end at the F.J. McLain State Park on Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
August 14, 2001 - Mainstreet Public Radio's Tim Post reports on the “AVM Runestone,” a new stone find in Kensington. Members of the Kensington Runestone Research Team found a stone with what some say are runic carvings on its surface. The stone was found near where the original Kensington Runestone was unearthed over one hundred years ago.
August 16, 2001 - Mainstreet Radio's Jeff Horwich reports on Larry Hosch, a young mayor finding his feet. For eight months, one of the country's youngest mayors has been settling into his job in the central Minnesota town of St. Joseph. Hosch admits he isn't steeped in the politics and local relationships that have shaped the town. To some that means a fresh viewpoint; to others it's the regrettable end of an era.
August 24, 2001 - MPR’s Chris Julin reports on the public premiere of an underwater fishcam placed into the depths of Lake Superior. The camera provides a glimpse into the activity going on beneath the lake surface.
August 28, 2001 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Dave Kinney, a reporter with The Newark Star Ledger, about Governor Ventura’s appearance at a New Jersey political fundraiser. Ventura campaigned for Bill Schulter, a Republican state senator, who is running as a New Jersey gubernatorial candidate as an Independent.
September 7, 2001 - Cathy Wurzer visits St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, which is installing a 1927 Casavant pipe organ, one of the largest of its kind in the upper Midwest. The instrument was restored by Schantz Organ Company in Ohio. It has more than 7,000 original and restored pipes, the smallest the size of a pencil...the largest 32-feet high weighing over 1,000 pounds.