March 23, 2010 - Twins catcher Joe Mauer officially signs a new $184 million contract with the Minnesota Twins, keeping him in a Twins uniform for another eight years The team and Mauer announced they had agreed to terms that will make the All-Star catcher one of the highest paid players in the game.
March 26, 2010 - On this Midday program, a collection of reports in which MPR News explores how changing our food culture could help cure obesity.
March 29, 2010 - As part of MPR's Youth Radio Series, Youth Radio reporter Iman Fears shares her experience in U.S. Senate Youth Program, which leads to meeting officials in Washington D.C., including Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, and President Barack Obama.
March 30, 2010 - MPR’s Chris Roberts talks with members of Jelloslave, a Minneapolis band that takes the cello where quartets and concertos don't usually go. Their CD "Purple Orange" is highlighted.
April 2, 2010 - Doug Grow, longtime sportswriter and author of We're Gonna Win, Twins!, joins Midday’s Gary Eichten to talk about the history of the Minnesota Twins. Grow is a longtime Star Tribune sportswriter and columnist, who now writes for MinnPost.
April 3, 2010 - The Minnesota Twins christened Target Field with an 8-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. The exhibition game gave Twins players and staff a chance to get used to their new digs.
April 7, 2010 - The Guthrie Theater will open it's next season with a world premier adaptation of Louise Erdrich's bestselling novel "The Master Butcher's Singing Club. Critically acclaimed when it came out in 2003, Erdrich's novel "The Master Butcher's Singing Club" is the saga of people living in a small North Dakota town between the two world wars. The Guthrie production will bring together an all-star creative team. The script is by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Norman. The play will be directed by the internationally acclaimed Francesca Zambello. She directed the Guthrie's musical adaptation of "Little House on the Prairie." In a statement released by the Guthrie Artistic Director Joe Dowling said "To have the opportunity to produce a new play based on a novel by a significant Minnesota author like Louise Erdrich is particularly gratifying." The production will open in September.
April 8, 2010 - Nick Hayes, professor of history at Saint John's University in Collegeville, joins Midday in the studio to talk about his memoir "And One Fine Morning: Memories of My Father." The book traces his family origins and his father's story, including his father's experience growing up Catholic in Protestant Minneapolis.
April 8, 2010 - The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis will present the world premier of a theatrical adaptation of a novel by Minnesota author Louise Erdrich. The critically acclaimed novel - "The Master Butcher's Singing Club" - follows people living in a small town in North Dakota between the two world wars. Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Marsha Borman wrote the script for the production, which will be directed by Francesca Zumbello. Guthrie Artistic Director Joe Dowling says he expects a lavish production. Marsha Norman has done a beautiful job in not just creating the characters from the book and creating thems on the stage, but also giving the narrative a very strong through line. There will be music in it of course, because it is "The Master Butcher's Singing Club." There will be songs, various different songs, both German and some American songs. Dowling says Erdrich, who lives in Minneapolis, has been very involved in the project. The play will open the Guthrie's 2010-2011 season in September.
April 9, 2010 - MPR’s Euan Kerr travels to Target Field, the new home of the Minnesota Twins, with two baseball fans wanting to “grade” the ballpark. Accessibility is a major design element of the new facility and these baseball fans utilizing wheelchairs are particularly pleased about the new Twins ballpark.