January 8, 2001 - Acclaimed local photographer Wing Young Huie is being recognized at the Ordway Center with a U.S. Bank Sally Ordway Irvine Award for his installation of "Lake Street USA." Huie spent four years taking photographs on and around Lake Street which were then blown up and displayed outdoors on storefronts, bus shelters and buildings. MPR’s Mary Stucky met with Huie as he began installing these enormous portraits, and filed this report.
April 4, 2001 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer talks with Lucky Rosenbloom, son of longtime Saint Paul icon Tiger Jack Rosenbloom, who may have a street named after him. The St. Paul city council is expected to approve a measure that would co-name a short stretch of Dale Street "Mr. and Mrs. Tiger Jack Street."
April 24, 2001 - As part of Mainstreet Radio series Broken Trust: Civil Rights in Indian Country, MPR’s Jeff Horwich reports that as a new generation of Indians comes of age, a long-standing genetic cut-off point for Indian people may be closely linked to the future of Indian nations and cultures.
May 23, 2001 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on the results of Minnesota’s U.S. census figures. Highlights include the state’s population is older than it was ten years ago; Minnesotan's are much more likely to own their homes than residents in the rest of the nation; and the dramatic increase in the state's Hispanic population is made up largely of people of Mexican heritage.
July 10, 2001 - MPR’s Andrew Haeg reports that the continuing decline of small agricultural communities in the Great Plains is fueling a search for ways to keep people from moving away. Increasingly, rather than looking to federal or state governments for aid, townspeople are trying to save themselves.
July 10, 2001 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports that The Minneapolis City Council is struggling to figure out the city's next step in light of tax reform that substantially limits future money for a popular neighborhood development program, Neighborhood Revitalization Program. Neighborhood activists are also not sure whether to try for a referendum in November to make up the funding that was cut.
August 14, 2001 - Mainstreet Radio's Laurel Druley reports on housing struggles some migrant workers find themselves in while working in the southern Minnesota town of Plainview. Four months out of the year, the population of 3,190 grows by more than 200 residents. Migrant workers come to town to can peas and corn at Lakeside Foods. But while the work is there, housing is not, leaving many temporary workers searching for a place to call home.
August 16, 2001 - Mainstreet Radio's Jeff Horwich reports on Larry Hosch, a young mayor finding his feet. For eight months, one of the country's youngest mayors has been settling into his job in the central Minnesota town of St. Joseph. Hosch admits he isn't steeped in the politics and local relationships that have shaped the town. To some that means a fresh viewpoint; to others it's the regrettable end of an era.
November 28, 2001 - MPR’s Jeff Horwich presents a Mainstreet Radio series looking at the growing role of Spanish in the Minnesota work place. Horwich spent an evening with one rural Minnesota police officer helping his department relate to the town's changing population.
December 6, 2001 - An analysis by the Associated Press shows that St. Paul has the highest level of segregation among cities with large Asian populations. While the AP's segregation index doesn't distinguish among the various Asian populations, experts agree the highly-concentrated living patterns of St. Paul's Hmong citizens boosts the city's segregation rating.