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.
February 10, 1997 - Minnesota storyteller, playwright and actor Kevin Kling says his storytelling is from personal experience. The stories use humor because Kling says humor is a solvent that helps us accept the difficulty of our lives. Today on our Voices of Minnesota interview, Kevin Kling talks about storytelling. Riding the 21A bus line between St. Paul and Minneapolis was the source for one of Kling's best known works. "Fear and Loving" is a new collection of Kling stories about growing up. He was recently on stage at the Jungle Theatre in Minneapolis playing one of the leads in "Waiting for Gadot". Kling was born in Missouri and grew up in the Twin Cities suburbs of Brooklyn Center and Maple Grove.
February 11, 1997 - As of last month, the U.S. government no longer views drug addiction or alcoholism as disabilities for purposes of government assistance. Congress passed a law last year that cut off disability benefits for more than 200,000 chemically dependent people. The payments came under attack after reports that some recipients used government checks to buy drugs and alcohol. But some social service workers say ending the disability payments will make many former recipients homeless. Minnesota Public Radio's John Biewen reports.
February 11, 1997 - A quickly growing company nestled in the tiny northwestern Minnesota town of Carlstad is quickly getting an international reputation for it unique product. The company's called "Mattracks." They make something that can transform a standard four wheel drive pick up truck into an all terrain machine capable of driving through almost anything. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.
February 13, 1997 - As many as one-hundred Native Americans and their Tribal leaders from across the state met with state lawmakers (today) at the Capitol. Although it's not unusual for native-specific issues to make their way into state policy...Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports...the day was, nevertheless, a PRECEDENT-SETTING one: Each day there's a house or senate floor session...an invocation by a sworn state chaplain is offered. NEVER before has that chaplain been a native american spiritural leader. That is, until NOW. 58-year old Thomas Stillday Junior has become the Senate's first American Indian Chaplain...he's a spiritual elder from the Red Lake Band of Chippewa. After delivering a traditional Indian prayer during a peace pipe ceremony o
February 14, 1997 - In this age dominated by electronic communication, many people say telling and listening to stories, is a meaningful way to connect with other people. They say storytelling is a simple pleasure in an often hectic world.
February 14, 1997 - Of course today is Valentine's Day, and love seems to be in the air. If you'd like to continue your celebration into tomorrow night, you might want to check out the Walker Art Center's 4th Annual LOVE BASH. This year the show features performers all over the age of 40. This fact is the inspiration behind the show's title--"Mid-life Love Bash!" Leslie Ball hosts this ecletic evening. She proudly reveals she is over 40--42 to be exact. She says she's happier in this new decade and also has a new outlook on love.
February 14, 1997 - Strike the flint of holocaust revisionism, the belief the holocaust never happened, against the steel of the free speech rights guaranteed by the first amendment, and you set off the sparks that fly in the Illusion Theater's latest production. "Denial" is a play written by former Minneapolis resident and Jerome Fellowship winner Peter Sagal to explore his own Jewish identity and the limitations of the First Amendment.
February 14, 1997 - When commentator Gary Eustice drives to and from work, each day's commute provides a new and unique story, all he has to do, is look.
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February 18, 1997 - Many people are pretty sick of winter by now. But at least one group will be sorry to see it end. The "Courage Alpine Ski Program" has changed the lives of many disabled people who used to dread winter. Minnesota Public Radio's Kathleen Hallinan takes a look at the nearly 30 year old program that started in southeastern Minnesota.