June 21, 2003 - Jazz Image’s Leigh Kamman interviews Minnesotan Butch Thompson, a renowned American jazz pianist and clarinetist. Thompson discusses his group and playing at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
June 23, 2003 - At age 17, Eustace Conway left home to live in a teepee he had designed. He lived off the land, hunting for meat, and gathering other things to eat from the forest. But Eustace wasn't living on the western frontier, set up his camp in North Carolina. And he did it in 1977, the year the first Star Wars movie was released. In time he created his own environmental training school, walked the Appalachian trail, and set a new world record for travelling from coast to coast on horseback. He drew followers like a magnet, but many of the people who grew close to him couldn't keep up with his hard-driving ethic, and extremely high standards. Writer Elizabeth Gilbert profiles Conway in her book "The Last American Man"
June 25, 2003 - MPR’s Marisa Helms reports from Buffalo Lake, a small town about 75 miles southwest of the Twin Cities, where an F2 tornado struck on June 24th. Helms speaks with residents as they start picking up the pieces from extensive damage left behind.
June 25, 2003 - Residents are assessing the damage and beginning the clean up in Buffalo Lake Minnesota. Tuesday night a tornado ripped through the small west central Minnesota town, damaging or destroying several businesses and homes. Governor Tim Pawlenty surveyed the damage early today. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports...
June 26, 2003 - Minnesota is often praised for its unusually vibrant arts and culture scene and during this hour. We hear a Voices of Minnesota interview with writer and publisher Emilie Buchwald, the winner of last year's McKnight Foundation Distinguished Artist award. Buchwald was a founder of Milkweed Editions, the influential literary press based in Minneapolis. But now, after decades in the business, Emilie Buchwald is retiring as publisher of Milkweed Editions and she is being honored at a reception Thursday at Open Book in Minneapolis, the literary arts building that she helped bring into being.
July 1, 2003 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill reports that people in Two Harbors are debating a painful choice. A developer wants to build a motel, shops, and condos on a key piece of real estate. Many local residents want to preserve their a favorite place for a quiet walk along Lake Superior, while others are questioning whether the city can afford what it'll take to keep the land, known as Lighthouse Point, as a park.
July 2, 2003 - The nation's largest private employer, Walmart, announced today it's expanding its anti-discrimination policy to protect gay and lesbian employees. The company said the change in policy was the right thing to do for its employees. The announcement comes in the wake of a number of developments concerning gay and lesbian rights, including a court decision in Canada that allows gay marriage and the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling against sodomy prohibitions. Phil Duran says Walmart's new policy is an important step for a large-scale retailer.
July 2, 2003 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer interviews R.T. Rybak, Mayor of Minneapolis, on hiring a new police chief. The city of Minneapolis is beginning the process of hiring a police chief to replace Robert Olson. Mayor Rybak says Olson is planning to retire when his term expires in January, and that City Coordinator John Moyer is now taking preliminary steps in the search for a new chief.
July 4, 2003 - From water towers to movie theatres to service stations--Minnesota is home to more than 15-hundred properties on the National Register of Historic Places. As you're driving along Minnesota's highways this Fourth of July weekend, you may want to keep an eye out for some of these places--and a new book can help you on your quest. Minneapolis writer Mary Ann Nord complied the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota. She says to book illuminates the variety of properties that have found their way on to the historic registry.
July 8, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio’s Erin Galbally looks into divorce in the Hmong communtity. Some Hmong say it's allowing women in particular to escape difficult marriages. But traditionalists worry about the long-term impact of the new trend on Hmong culture.