June 29, 2000 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman details the experience of Hmong veterans and widows of veterans as they start their path to citizenship. The veterans are using a new law which exempts them from the English language requirement for naturalization. Still, it's not a free pass to become an American; rather one with other obstacles.
July 6, 2000 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman reports on how immigration officials and attorneys are trying to help untangle the confusion around the recently passed Hmong Veterans Naturalization Act. The act signed into law in late May 2000 eases citizenship requirements for those who served in Laos on behalf of the United States during the Vietnam War.
August 3, 2000 - Mainstreet Radio's Cara Hetland reports that farmers in Day County in northeastern South Dakota have spent the past eight years watching their farm fields become lakes. Day County is in an area known as the “prairie pot hole.” There's no drainage system for the sloughs now filled with water. Landowners who once grazed hundreds of head of cattle now see a new sight on their pastureland…fishing boats.
November 28, 2000 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Amy Klobuchar, Hennepin County Attorney, whose office is hosting a training conference for police patrol officers from around Hennepin County on training how to handle domestic violence calls. Officers often find it difficult to handle such calls because the family members involved often have conflicting views over what happened, and whether someone should be arrested.
December 19, 2000 - Susan Gaertner, Ramsey County attorney; and Ellen Ade, an advocate for victims of domestic violence at the St. Paul Intervention Project, discuss domestic violence, what causes it, and how the system handles domestic violence.
January 24, 2001 - MPR's Elizabeth Stawicki reports on that Minnesota's judiciary fared better than many other departments in Governor Jesse Ventura's budget plan. Still, the Governor's budget doesn't fully fund the state court system's major initiative for this legislative session, known as Crimnet. It is an integrated computer system that would allow law enforcement and courts from different jurisdictions to easily share information on criminals.
January 31, 2001 - Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz joins Midday’s Gary Eichten in the MPR studios to talk about the state of the judicial system in Minnesota. Focus of conversation is on how state court system is overwhelmed handling two million cases a year and the need for more funding. Justice Blatz also answers listener call-in questions.
February 19, 2001 - MPR's Andrew Haeg reports on a bill that would limit the governor and other constitutional officers from receiving money for outside work has passed its first major test. The House Governmental Operations Committee approved the bill, and will soon send it to a vote by the full House.
March 6, 2001 - Howard Orenstein, of Citizens for a Safer Minnesota; and Lynda Boudreau, Republican state representative, answer calls from listeners about gun laws.
April 25, 2001 - As part of Mainstreet Radio series Broken Trust: Civil Rights in Indian Country, MPR’s Tom Robertson reports on tribal sovereignty and the civil rights issues within reservation tribal courts.