Created in 1987, Mainstreet Radio held a mission of reporting specifically from rural Minnesota to all of Minnesota. With an introductory staff of Rachel Reabe, Leif Enger, and John Biewen, the group developed both long and short form news features as part of MPR Journal and Morning Edition broadcasts. As the years progressed, Mainstreet Radio expanded both in reporter contributions and programming, with memorable work from the likes of Mark Steil and Catherine Winter, amongst others. Beginning in the 1990s, Mainstreet Radio presented a monthly two-hour special, focusing on issues outside the Twin Cities metro. The varied Mainstreet Radio programming ran into the mid-2000s.
Mainstreet Radio presented a breadth of topics, providing an avenue for individuals from all walks of life to be heard. These efforts garnered numerous journalistic awards, including 65 national and regional awards in its first 10 years (1987-97).
Award-winning material in “special programs,” “series,” or “documentary” categories include Meth in Minnesota; Against the Grain; Dancing on Beat: Portrait of a Reservation Family; After the Flood; An Education in Diversity; Rekindling the Spirit: The Rebirth of American Indian Spirituality; Wilderness Truce: Ely 10 Years Later; Making the Grade: Rural schools the work; The Rural School Challenge; Broken Trust: Civil Rights in Indian Country; Gold: New Prospects on the Iron Range; and Articles of Faith.
Award-winning material in the category of “reporting” include Frog Music; Pumpkinland; Four Winds Treatment Center; Deer Hunting Weekend; Border Check for Poachers; Mille Lacs Fishing Launch; Loon Habitat; House Call Doctor; Geritol Frolics; Cartwright's Calendar; Ice-Fishing on Mille Lacs; Mercury Fillets; and A Place for the Wolf.
March 1, 2004 - 15 years after state officials signed gaming compacts with Minnesota's Indian tribes, 18 casinos have been built. They generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, far more than anyone imagined they would. The state of Minnesota gets only a small sliver of that money and it's used to regulate the casinos.
March 8, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports on need for fundraisers for people who don't have insurance. Sometimes even those with insurance need help. It seems the higher medical costs rise the more fundraisers there are for people who can't pay all their bills. Dinners, raffles and auctions are a few of the ways people donate money.
March 18, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio’s Annie Baxter reports on a Long Prairie radio program that is reaching out to the town's burgeoning Hispanic population.
April 18, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio’s Dan Gunderson reports that searchers found the body of Dru Sjodin in a ditch northwest of Crookston on Saturday, April 17th. The 22-year-old University of North Dakota Student had been missing since November 2003. Police believe she was taken from a Grand Forks mall parking lot by a convicted sex offender.
April 19, 2004 - As part of the series “Keeping Track of Sex Offenders,” Mainstreet Radio’s Dan Gunderson reports on the debate over effectiveness of the Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool.
April 20, 2004 - As part of the series “Keeping Track of Sex Offenders,” Mainstreet Radio’s Erin Galbally reports on the success of a probation program that monitors sex offenders, which includes lower caseloads for probation officers.
April 21, 2004 - As part of the series “Keeping Track of Sex Offenders,” Mainstreet Radio’s Erin Galbally reports on sex offender ‘wound therapy’ programs in Minnesota.
April 22, 2004 - As part of the series “Keeping Track of Sex Offenders,” Mainstreet Radio’s Dan Gunderson reports that probation officers are overwhelmed with their growing workload.
April 23, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports on JOBZ (Job Opportunity Building Zones), a Minnesota jobs program. What Governor Tim Pawlenty calls the "mother of all economic incentives" has landed its first big out-of-state prize for rural Minnesota. A South Dakota company says Minnesota's JOBZ program played an important role in its decision to expand to Luverne…but despite Pawlenty's enthusiasm, officials with Total Card, Inc. say JOBZ was not the most important factor.
April 25, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio's Tom Robertson reports that about 1500 people gathered at a resort near Nisswa Saturday for the funeral of Dru Sjodin. The 22-year-old University of North Dakota college student was found dead near Crookston last weekend, five months after she was abducted from a Grand Forks, North Dakota parking lot. The funeral service was a chance for mourners to say goodbye to Dru, and to celebrate her life.