July 17, 1997 - Writer William Ayers begins his latest book in a Chicago courtroom, where a juvenile is being prosecuted for murder. He ends it by quoting Artistotle's reminder that no rule is absolute. In "A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court", Ayers charts the lives of kids in Chicago's juvenile justice system, which he says for the most part treats crime and punishments as absolute, with no allowances for circumstances when it comes to poor black and Latino kids. In the end, Ayers' point is that it doesn't make sense to treat kids as adults, and we certainly shouldn't be prosecuting children as adults, even so-called super predators.
July 18, 1997 - When Hamlet gave his famous acting class to the players, telling them to speak the speech and to not saw the air, the actors didn't have to deal with planes overhead. But they might have had to fend off bugs and noisy kids and candy wrapper crinkling. Food for thought as the Twin Cities welcomes a new incarnation of Shakespeare in the Park, which is currently producing "Much Ado About Nothing" at Minnehaha Park. Intern Joe Fryer put on the DEET and talked with actors and the audience.
July 18, 1997 - Art crawlers hungry for some new work may consider stopping by an abandoned soap factory in Minneapolis this weekend. The Teen Art Council at the Walker Art Center has put together what it calls "a teen curated teen art show" containing the work of more than than 70 young artists from around the metro area. The show's curators say visitors who tend to dismiss teen artists might be in for a surprise. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts has more.
July 21, 1997 - MPR's Mary Losure files this story about the North Shore's fishing families and the environmental catastrophes that destroyed their way of life. In the 1930's, Lake Superior supported a thriving commercial fishing industry. Now, on a lake holding one tenth of the world's fresh water, only a handful of commercial fishermen and women remain.
July 24, 1997 - A new record label in Minneapolis is hoping to become the home of traditional Scandanavian music in North America. Founders of Northside records say the traditional folk music and fiddle tunes of Sweden, Norway and Finland are becoming the hottest thing going in world music circles. The resurgence is being fueled by young Scandanavian musicians. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts reports.
July 28, 1997 - Gary Sudduth, the 44-year-old president of the Minneapolis Urban League died today. Sudduth... who is believed to have had a history of heart problems, collapsed while working out at the Northside YMCA. Friends and co-workers call Sudduth a far-sighted civil rights leader who understood the battle against racism is a long-term struggle.
August 9, 1997 - In sports news: The Minnesota Twins have stepped up pressure on lawmakers in the team's bid to get a new stadium. The Twins said yesterday they've hired a national company to help pursue options in case the Twins don't get a new ballpark. The other Twins news this week came from owner Carl Pohlad. He says he likes the idea of publicly selling shares in his team. But Major League baseball would first have to approve the plan. Pohlad says the team could sell voting and non-voting shares, but he says he would keep his voting stake. The Twins open a four-game series with the New York Yankees tonight as they begin the big celebration honoring the 1987 World Series championship team.
August 20, 1997 - Its been almost six months since Phillip Bither came from the Flynn Theater for the performing arts in Burlington Vermont to be curator of Performing Arts at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. He knew that replacing his predecessor John Killacky was going to be a huge challenge, and one of the reasons he has kept such a low profile so far is because he has been hard at work preparing his first season. Now he is ready... promising a series of cutting edge music, performace art and dance featuring such well known as the Wooster Group and the Sun Ra Arkestra as well as those less well known in the U.S. such as the Teatro Tinglado puppets from mexico and the DV* Physical Theater from Britain. I spoke with Bither this afternoon and asked how the performers he might bring to the Walker might be different from those John Killacky presented.
August 20, 1997 - Giant wood and metal structures are sprouting up in a field near Taylors Falls where corn grew just two years ago. Franconia Sculpture park is primarily an artists refuge, but the sculptors who are building the huge artworks hope the public will drop by and get a better understanding of what they do. Minnesota Public Radio's Marcy Tveidt reports.
August 24, 1997 - Move over Shirley Temple, step aside Fred Astaire--several nationally acclaimed tap dancers are shuffeling into the Twin Cities this weekend for the Tappin' In the Twin Cities Festival. You're listenting to 18-year old St. Paul dance sensation Tyheesha Collins. She's a featured dancer in this weekend's festival. I met her between classes at the Hennepin Center for the Arts in Minneapolis . Tyheesha says she started tapping when she was two years old. Her six year old cousin was taking tap and little Tyheesha used to get in trouble for stealing her cousins tap shoes.