July 27, 1997 - MPR’s Laura McCallum reports outside All God’s Children’s Metropolitan Church, where picketers from Fred Phelps anti-gay group were met by hundreds of gay rights supporters. Attenddees at service included four of the DFL gubernatorial candidates.
July 31, 1997 - MPR’s Perry Finelli talks with Becky Rom, of the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness; and Mike Forsman, St. Louis County Commissioner about BWCA legislation in Congress and the mediation process.
August 1, 1997 - Midday presents converations with former Governor and Agriculture Secretary Orville Freeman and the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Vessey, as part of the continuing "Voices of Minnesota" series, with reporter Dan Olson.
August 5, 1997 - Midday provides an update on the Twins ballpark situation, and a chance to hear comments and suggestions from Minnesota Public Radio listeners. Guest Jay Weiner, sports reporter at the Star Tribune; and MPR's reporter Bill Wareham provide details and analysis of the stadium debate.
August 8, 1997 - Michael Osterholm, state epidemiologist, answer listener questions about infectious diseases, bacteria and antibiotics, encephalitis, and much more. This was Osterholm’s last appearance on Midday. At end of program, he and Eichten share an appreciation of the other. [Please note program is joined “in progress”, and beginning of hour is not present]
August 27, 1997 - Two provisions in a major spending bill in the US Senate would deal a serious blow to the sovereignty of Native American tribes. The first would force tribes to waive their sovereign immunity from civil lawsuits or lose 767-million dollars in Federal funding. The second would deny tribes Federal money if tribal members' average income is above a certain level. Some say it's part of a strategy to eventually dismantle tribal protections. The proposals apparently face stiff opposition in the Senate and a Presidential veto threat. But if they were to pass, Federal Judge Jack Tunheim doesn't think they'd survive in the judiciary. The measures are riders on a 13-billion dollar bill paying for the National Endowment for the Arts and parklands acquisition, and are supported by a Senator who has an old axe to grind, according to Henry Buffalo.
August 28, 1997 - The legislative task force considering state funding of a new Twin Cities baseball stadium heard testimony yesterday about several possible ways to pay for such a stadium. Most proposals involve using money from some form of gambling. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen has more.
September 4, 1997 - MPR's Martin Kaste reports that Minnesota Indian tribes are reacting skeptically to suggestions they use their casino revenues to help pay for a new Twins stadium. The co-chairman of the Legislature's special stadium finance task force met with the chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in an attempt to get Indian money for a possible stadium financing package... but at least one Indian official in St. Paul says state politicians are "crazy" to think they can convince tribes to pay for the stadium when Minnesota taxpayers won't.
September 5, 1997 - Midday presents a report by Dan Olson about the prospects for a Light Rail Transit line in the Twin Cities, followed by a discussion of the transit issue with guests Nacho Diaz, Transportation Planning Director for the Metropolitan Coucil, and Ken Stevens, Director of the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority. Listeners call in with questions. (program ends early due to special coverage)
September 5, 1997 - Here's today's news quiz. What costs nearly as much as a new baseball stadium and goes ding-ding? Times up. It's LRT, of course - light rail transit. Just when you thought it's safe to consign LRT to the attic of public policy debate, out it comes. On the drawing board is a Hiawatha Avenue 'transit way'. LRT boosters want to build a line from the University of Minnesota, run it by a new ball park, past the existing Metrodome, through downtown Minneapolis, then out to the airport and the Mall of America along Hiawatha AVenue. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more. tape . . . bus Buses - you remember buses - those big vehicles seldom seen anymore because of all the route cutbacks - buses, at the ver