October 20, 2003 - A Twin Cities speech by Al Franken, author of "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right". He spoke at an event sponsored by Ruminator Books in St. Paul.
October 20, 2003 - One man's train is another man's paperback. Little Canada resident Paul Lareau says he couldn't live in a world without books. And he's making sure no one else has to either. The 61-year-old computer analyst, and former librarian, is part of a growing international movement called BookCrossing. The group's members place books in public places in hopes that others will pick them up, give them a read, and then leave them for someone else to enjoy. Over the last few months, Lareau has released more than 3000 books into the world -- abandoning them everywhere from coffee shops to roadside rest stops. He says the goal of the BookCrossing movement is to create a free book exchange of infinite proportions.
October 21, 2003 - MPR Classical host, Mindy Ratner talks with Israeli-American violinist Itzhak Perlman while he is in St. Paul to play at the Shubert Club, his first Minnesota concert in over a decade. Perlman discusses how even after four decades as a top international performer, the music still moves him.
October 21, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio's Bob Kelleher looks back to 1978, when two lawyers drafted an historic compromise that still guides activities in the Boundary Waters today. Report includes various interviews and speech excerpts.
October 21, 2003 - In the days after Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone's death in 2002’, politicians from across the political spectrum said they would help build a memorial to him at a St. Paul community center. Congress appropriated nearly nine-million dollars to build the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building on the site of Neighborhood House on St. Paul's West Side.
October 23, 2003 - In her latest book "Where No Gods Came," Minnesota author Sheila O'Connor tells the story of 12-year-old Faina McCoy, who is sent to Minneapolis to live with the alcoholic mother who abandoned her years ago. Feeling alone in a strange neighborhood, Faina discovers she's responsible for taking care of her chronically ill mother.
October 23, 2003 - A year after the plane crash that killed Paul Wellstone and seven others, some Minnesotans are keeping his memory alive with bumper stickers, yard signs and more personalized memorials. Some of those who continue to display Wellstone campaign signs, says having them around comforts them. One of Wellstone's son says he and his brother welcome the support which David Wellstone says speaks to his father's legacy. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports...
October 24, 2003 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is backing off reports that it doesn't plan to sue any cities and states that set up plans to import prescription drugs from foreign countries. The report first appeared this morning (Fri) in the Boston Globe and was inititally hailed by officials from Minnesota and other places that have prescription importation plans in the works. By this afternoon, though, the FDA would only say it won't consider any legal action until plans for importation are in place. Minnesota's human services commissioner says the state intends to move forward with the plan no matter what the FDA does. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
October 24, 2003 - No one's ever performed the entire “Piece Symphonique,” composed by Jean Langlais. MPR’s Chris Julin reports that is changing, with a world premier in Minnesota. The composer's widow is a concert organist and she has performances in Duluth and Minneapolis of the work.
October 24, 2003 - One year ago tomorrow (SATURDAY) the Minnesota and national political worlds were thrown into shock and confusion when Senator Paul Wellstone, his wife, daughter, and five others were killed in plane crash eleven days before the election. His supporters, his admirers, and those who came to rely on his voice in the Senate say they're still grappling with the loss -- and fighting to advance his agenda. But Wellstone was also a polarizing figure during his political career. He never won election to the Senate with more than 50-percent of the vote. And many of his critics said he was better at giving speeches than at passing bills. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo has this look at Wellstone's political legacy.