September 25, 1997 - Minneapolis officials are relieved the city's murder rate is down. But people in the city's most crime infested neighborhoods are taking little comfort. The protesters at the mayoral debate earlier this week where tempers flared and the mayor's police security guard fired at a man suspected of assault are from the Phillips neighborhood. Some Phillips residents say the streets are still open drug markets with sellers and buyers doing a brisk business. Residents complain gunfire is rampant and police don't show up fast enough when residents call 911 to report drug dealing. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports.
September 25, 1997 - MPR’s Chris Roberts interviews Bob Hest and Steve Kramer, two ex-members of the experimental group The Wallets. Hest and Kramer discuss their new career of merging music into advertising campaigns.
September 25, 1997 - The Stroh Brewery Company told 365 workers this afternoon it's shutting down its St. Paul brewery November 24th. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports.
October 2, 1997 - The Timberwolves players are presenting a united front today, after the long-awaited announcement about Garnett's historic contract, but at least one onlooker says it has great potential to divide the ranks. Andrew Zimbalist is a professor of economics at Smith College. His latest book, "Sports, Jobs and Taxes" is due out next week. Zimbalist explains that, first, there are only twelve guys on a basketball team, compared to 25 for baseball and 45 for football, meaning you can spend more on each one. The second is an end-run around the salary cap called the Larry Bird exception.
October 9, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger takes a look back to 1989, when 500 union supporters rioted in the northern border town of International Falls. The city's largest employer, Boise Cascade, was building a huge expansion of their papermill…and bringing in thousands of non-union workers to do it. The town was divided: while local businesses boomed like never before, union workers and their families felt betrayed.
October 14, 1997 - Midday guest Andrew Tobias, a personal finance writer, talks about his book My Vast Fortune. Tobias wrote the best-selling book The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need, and beginning in the fall, is the host of a public television series Beyond Wall Street. Listeners call in with questions.
October 17, 1997 - Midday examines the quality of new home construction in Minnesota, including how to determine good quality and how to deal with faulty construction with guests Dean Flackey, the president of the Builders Association of the Twin Cities and contractor with Lifestyle Homes; and Scott Borchert, of the State Commerce Department, which oversees building contractors. Listeners call in with questions.
October 30, 1997 - As part of a collection of profile reports on candidates for Minneapolis mayor, MPR’s Dan Olson looks at incumbent Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton and her political tenure in the city.
November 7, 1997 - Midday offers another program in the continuing "Voices of Minnesota" interview series, featuring conversations with Andre Lewis of the Honeywell Foundation; Win Wallin of Medtronic; and Dominique Serrand of Theatre de la Jeune Lune.
November 14, 1997 - MPR’s Martin Kaste reports that in the aftermath of the Minnesota lawmakers' vote to defeat the Twins stadium bill (voting 84 to 47 against the package), Governor Arne Carlson has offered a eulogy of sorts, seeing it as the "last, best hope" to keep the baseball team in Minnesota.