June 20, 1990 - A presentation of the MPR documentary "Season of Discontent: Migrants in the Red River Valley," which highlights Hispanic migrant farm workers who work the sugar beet fields.
June 20, 1990 - MPR’s Tom Meersman looks at the recent concerns of zebra mussel appearances in the Great Lakes. The species was confirmed in the Duluth/Superior Harbor in 1989. There is a fear of the negative impact it will have on Lake Superior’s local ecosystem, businesses, and municipalities.
June 26, 1990 - MPR’s Bill Wareham reports on St. Paul City Council passage of ordinance banning discrimination against homosexuals in employment, housing, education, and public services. Wareham interviews advocates and opponents of the measure.
June 26, 1990 - Gays and lesbians in St. Paul have gone without legal protection from discrimination since 1978, when voters repealed homosexual rights legislation that had been in effect for four years. And though the new measure easily won the approval of a council majority the specter of that defeat was raised by council member Roger Goswitz’s lone dissent. The group Citizens Alert says it will collect the 5200 signatures needed to put the measure on a general election ballot, but may not do it this year.
June 30, 1990 - Poet, author, playwright, actress and civil rights activist Maya Angelou speaks at the third Nancy Hank Lecture on Arts and Public Policy. Angelou’s address is on the importance of art.
July 5, 1990 - In 1987 the Twin Cities Archdiocese informed a group called “Dignity” that it could no longer lease space in the church-run Newman Center on the University of Minnesota campus.
July 9, 1990 - On this hour of Midday, Michael Steinberg, artistic director of the Minnesota Orchestra Sommerfest; and his wife Jorja Fleezanis, a concertmaster, take listener's questions about Sommerfest in Minneapolis.
July 10, 1990 - MPR’s Chris Roberts looks at the collaboration between U.S. West Communications and EAGLE (Employee Association of Gay and Lesbians). The company has started gay and lesbian awareness and resource programs in an effort to create a more open workplace. Roberts interviews members from both organizations.
July 16, 1990 - American anthropologist and author Jack Weatherford describes his book Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World.
July 17, 1990 - MPR’s Kitty Eisele profiles local writer Patricia Hampl, who has been awarded the MacArthur Award Fellowship. It is the latest honor bestowed on the author of numerous well-regarded works, including A Romantic Education and Spillville.