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.
January 24, 1997 - The first case of a prostitute suing a customer under Minnesota's Civil Coercion law has been settled. We'll have a report.
January 25, 1997 - The St. Paul Winter Carnival is underway this weekend. To get in the spirit of winter-mania I decided to try a device relatively new to this area--a Norwegian kicksled. It looks like a dogsled but it runs on calories. About 70-thousand kicksleds are sold in Norway each year. Sue Bittken is an Interpretive Naturlist at the Lowry Nature Center. She says Americans call them kicksleds but Norweigens call them SPARKS.
January 26, 1997 - From Pro-wrestling to drag queens--TAPES ROLLING gives audiences a behind the scenes look at some pretty interesting places. The KTCA-TV show begins it's 4th season of video verite. Minnesota Public Radio's Greta Cunningham turned the tables on the producers of TAPES ROLLING and rolled some tape on them.
January 26, 1997 - The beautiful people are going home and the Park City, Utah movie theatres are empty this morning as the Sundance Film Festival ends. The ten-day festival is a showcase for independent film makers.
January 27, 1997 - Could the placement of the furnishings in your home or the color of the wallpaper in your workplace be effecting your life? Practitioners of Feng Shui (FUNG-SHWAY).... an ancient Asian practice becoming popular in the U.S. .... believe the physical structures that surround us do make a difference. They will come to your house or business to make suggestions on how to fill these spaces with positive "chi" (chee), or life energy. The suggestions could involve painting a wall a different color or removing an object filled with negative "chi." In this morning's "Odd Jobs" segment, Minnesota Public Radio's Gretchen Lehmann (lay-mun) introduces us to Erin Rafael (Rah-fy-EL) a Feng Shui (FUNG-SHWAY) practitioner who trained in California and now practices in St. Cloud. | D-CART ITEM: 1011 | TIME: 3:26 | OUTCUE: "nat-chimes ringing"
January 27, 1997 - It seems everyone's a stargazer these days, with all the publicity given to Comet Hale-Bopp. The comet is expected to be visible over the next few months; after that, it's a safe bet most folks will put their telescopes back on the shelf and start concentrating on earthly things again. But Jim Wentworth won't.
January 28, 1997 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports that the battle lines that marked the fight over passage of Minnesota’s Human Rights Bill have not gone away. Roberts interviews numerous individuals on the law’s effect.
January 29, 1997 - MPR's Laura McCallum reports on the The Minnesota Twins nearing the end of a statewide road trip to more than 70 communities across the state. The Twins' Winter Caravan has been around for years as a way to thank fans and stir up support, but this year it's much larger than in the past…and with it concerns over the possibility of pitching a proposed new Twins stadium to captive student audiences during a school visit.
January 29, 1997 - Members of a Supreme Court task force on foster care and adoption told a senate committee today it's time to shine some light on the child protection system by opening child protection court hearings to the public. Those proceedings have traditionally been confidential and hidden from the public and the media. The task force began meeting more than a year ago to evaluate how Minnesota's judicial system handles foster care and adoption. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports: Task force members outlined a number of suggestions to improve the state's adoption and foster care system. The most controversial by far is opening child protection hearings to public view. Task force members say opening those hearings would lead to better accountability and credibility of the child protection system. Hennepin county's head of child and family services.
January 29, 1997 - The ANTI-smoking lobby at the state capitol believes THIS is the year to get the support needed to pass a bill designed to help keep cigarettes out of the hands of children. The bill gets a hearing tomorrow (today-thurs) in the House Commerce Committee. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports from the capitol: The bill establishes a system of licensing and compliance checks for retailers who sell tobacco and it provides for PENALITIES for stoes which sell tobacco to minors. The bill ALSO prohibits self-service tobacco displays in places accessible to minors. Under the legislation cities would not be preempted from passing local ordinances that are even MORE restrictive than state law.