As a decades long staple to the listening audience, Morning Edition combines a host program in St. Paul and NPR hosts in Washington and Los Angeles, bringing news from overnight and information throughout the state and world. Programming includes reports and interviews.
July 3, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger visits the central Minnesota town of Crosby, which is having a comeback of sorts…from prospering former mining town to bustling “antique” town. Those windows now contain 40 antique stores. Locals are hoping the recovery expands to other businesses for community.
August 7, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Rachel Reabe visits the Great Lakes School of Log Building, where students learn the basics of log construction by doing it. The only full time, year round log building school in the country operates out of the woods near Ely in northeastern Minnesota.
August 13, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports that a state park campground built among Indian burial mounds is being moved and reopened in a new location. Almost immediately after the campground at Mille Lacs Kathio State Park was constructed in the 1960s, it was learned the campsites were situated in a Mdewakanton Dakota cemetery dating back to the 1600s. Years later, efforts to right a wrong are being completed as the campground is relocated off the Native sacred ground.
August 23, 1996 - MPR's John Bischoff reports on a security force of 350 people canvassing the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, prepared to quell any disturbance and maintain...if not peace, at least a semblance of public order.
October 18, 1996 - MPR’s Lorna Benson profiles Pua Xiong, a first-year resident who works at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul. Xiong describes how her quest for a medical degree has forced her to confront a multitude of cultural barriers.
November 19, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports on new children’s comic book which highlights the history of the Mille Lacs Ojibwe Band. The book, "A Hero's Voice," looks at broken treaties, important figures in Ojibwe history, and the spiritual tie between the tribe and the lake.
December 4, 1996 - The Minnesota Twins say their financial losses continued to mount in 1996, reinforcing the need for a new ballpark. Team officials revealed their latest figures while renewing their pitch for a stadium before the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission.
December 16, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Catherine Winter reports from a Grand Rapids food bank. While some charities around Minnesota are doing well during the holiday season, many food shelves in rural Minnesota and North Dakota are struggling to feed all the hungry people asking for help.
January 9, 1997 - MPR’s Bill Wareham reports on Minnesota Twins release of stadium proposal. State lawmakers now know it will cost upwards of $200 million to ensure the Twins remain in Minnesota. The team announced it would contribute $83 million of the estimated $350 million needed to build a new ballpark. Though the public would have to come up with the rest, it would get something no other community has…a 49% ownership interest in the team.
January 13, 1997 - As part of a series on poverty, MPR’s John Biewen looks at the growth of so-called 'fringe banks'…pawnbrokers and check-cashing shops. A growing number of low-income Americans are relying on 'fringe banks' in place of traditional banking services.