MPR News Features are news segments created for various long-form programming, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered, amongst others. Features run the gambit of interviews, reports, profiles, and coverage.
December 30, 1996 - Changes in federal law that take effect January first make it illegal to delay or deny an adoption based on race. Those who lobbied for the change say it will help speed the process of finding permanent homes for black children... by allowing white families to adopt them more easily. Critics say removing race as a factor in adoption is naive and misguided.
December 30, 1996 - A group of volunteers is working to help strengthen the spiritual and cultural foundation of male and female Native American jail inmates in Beltrami County. The group that sponsors the program is called the Northern Minnesota Religious Freedom Council. The volunteers who visit the jail are Native Americans themselves and include spiritual elders, a musician, a chemical dependency counselor and a story teller. The group was founded three years ago and is hoping to expand its program so volunteers can begin programs for Native inmates in neighboring counties.
December 31, 1996 - Officials at the Minnesota department of transportation say they'll fight in both the courts and the U.S congress to see a proposed 60 million dollar bridge built over the Saint Croix River near Stillwater. On Monday, the U.S. park service announced it would block the bridge, using the park service's authority under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
December 31, 1996 - The metal grates were already down this morning on a few restaurants in the basement of Town Square in downtown Saint Paul. The basement of the mall will be made over into state offices, part of a 2-and-a-half year, forty-million dollar makeover of Town Square and The World Trade Center. The Town Square basement wasn't a very glamorous lunchroom, but it was always busy around noon, and provided more than a few livelihoods.
January 1, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger visits Mille Lacs, and reports on the perplexing nature of ice fishing.
January 3, 1997 - Kent Nerburn, "January" and "Benediction" from "A Haunting Reverence."
January 4, 1997 - Faith Sullivan's latest book, "The Empress of One" was born out of frustration and rejection. Her best-selling novel The Cape Ann was printed by a New York publisher. But when Sullivan submitted the sequel to her story, it was roundly rejected by her publisher. That reaction plummented Faith Sullivan into a depression and into a writing block. But the encouragement of local Milkweed Editions publisher--Emilie Buchwald--prompted Sullivan to embark on a new project.
January 10, 1997 - Susan Carol Hauser's latest book is titled "Full Moon: Reflections on Turning 50," published by Papier Mache Press.
January 11, 1997 -
January 13, 1997 - The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on the state's anti-stalking law today.(MON) Most of those testifying want to see the law changed, making it easier for prosecutors. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports from the capitol: Legislators are attempting to shore up the state's 1993 law after a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling made it more DIFFICULT for prosecutors to convict those accused of stalking. Justices ruled it ONLY be applied to those who SPECIFICALLY intended to cause harm to their victims. But SUPPORTERS of the law say the legislature didn't intend for prosecutors to have to prove a stalker's motive, but only a GENERAL intent on the part of the perpetrator. They say, most stalkers do not intend their actions to be harmful...rather, they often unrealistically believe their actions will lead to a mend