Over the decades, MPR has presented the many different perspectives of Minnesota politics and politicians. This collection is home to a multitude speeches, interviews and debates on the issues of the day. Important topics of civil rights, environment, crime, budget, legislation, and campaigns are addressed.
Click on link to these well-known figures to see audio segments directly related to them: Michele Bachmann Arne Carlson Keith Ellison Hubert Humphrey Amy Klobuchar Eugene McCarthy Walter Mondale Tim Pawlenty R.T. Rybak Jesse Ventura Paul Wellstone
November 14, 1997 - MPR’s Martin Kaste reports that in the aftermath of the Minnesota lawmakers' vote to defeat the Twins stadium bill (voting 84 to 47 against the package), Governor Arne Carlson has offered a eulogy of sorts, seeing it as the "last, best hope" to keep the baseball team in Minnesota.
November 21, 1997 - Minnesota’s U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone joins Midday to talk about his completed "Poverty Tour" and his possible campaign for president. Wellstone also answer listener questions about issues before the U.S. Congress.
January 2, 1998 - Midday presents the January edition of MPR’s Voices of Minnesota series, featuring interviews with three outgoing Minneapolis City Council members, who have nearly 70 years of experience between them: Alice Rainville, Walt Dziedzic, and Dennis Schulstad.
January 2, 1998 -
January 3, 1998 - A Minnesota lawmaker is flying to North Carolina on Sunday to take a closer look at what may be the future home of the Minnesota Twins. A North Carolina businessman is negotiating to buy the team... but State Representative Kevin Knight of Bloomington says he thinks the deal is a ploy to force the Minnesota Legislature to pay for a new baseball stadium. Knight told Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste that the trip to North Carolina will help him prepare for the NEXT stadium fight, when the Minnesota Legislature meets later this month.
January 6, 1998 - Twin Cities officials are doing their best to mix business with politics! It's their attempt to propose hosting the Democratic National Convention in the year two-thousand. As Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports, Twin Cities officials face a January 16th deadline and find themselves up against some stiff competition. A number of OTHER U.S. cities are making similar bids.
January 6, 1998 - A report released by the Governor shows crime is down in Minnesota and the state is a safer place to live.
January 12, 1998 - It's been twenty years since that man from Minnesota, Hubert H. Humphrey the Second, died at the age of 66 on a bitterly cold January 13th. The former Senator and Vice President was an unabashed liberal, proud of his work on legislation establishing civil rights, Medicare, and the Peace Corps - programs and policies still in place today. As Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports, historians say the anniversary of Humphrey's death is a chance to look back on his legacy.
January 13, 1998 - More than a hundred angry residents packed Richfield City Hall last night, taking city officials to task for clear-cutting two-hundred trees for a planned maintenance garage. The city council reversed its decision to build the garage at Veterans Park, but not before residents expressed outrage over the loss of trees, and the process.
January 17, 1998 - In sports news: It was a nail-bitter last night as the Minnesota Timberwolves edged Houston 116-to-115 last night in overtime. The Wolves have won four straight. The Wolves take on the Mavericks tonight in Dallas. Gametime is 7:30 p.m. Minnesota Vikings board chairman John Skoglund says there's an outside chance the team will not be sold -- because of the NFL's lucrative new television deals. And if the Vikings ownership group doesn't sell the team, Skoglund says Dennis Green probably would stay as head coach. Major league baseball and the Minnesota Twins are trying to block Attorney General Humphrey's antitrust investigation into the possible move of the Minnesota Twins to North Carolina. The actions were filed yesterday in state and federal courts.