April 23, 1997 - Author and columnist Molly Ivins is guest speaker for this Frank Premack Memorial Lecture at University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute. Ivins talks the meanness of contemporary politics.
April 28, 1997 - David Parker started with an interest in child labor in the United States, tracking kids in the many jobs they do here, from State Fair booths to fast food restaurants. But as photographer and physician, Parker found his focus shifting overseas, and he's compiled a photo essay documenting the far worse conditions for working kids in the Third World. Children reportedly make up 11-percent of the workforce in some Asian countries, 17-percent in Africa, and maybe 25-percent in Latin America. David Parker is a photographer and physician with the Minnesota Health Department. His photos of child labor have been displayed at the U.S.Capitol and Department of Labor, and will be published this summer in a book called "Stolen Dreams".
April 29, 1997 - Midday looks at the President's Summit on America's Future, which calls upon volunteers to help America’s young people. Host Gary Eichten talks with Jim Kielsmeier, president of the National Youth Leadership Council, who is in Philadelphia for the summit. Program includes listener call-in questions.
April 29, 1997 - MPR’s Karen-Louise Boothe reports on members of the Minnesota House debating for more than two hours the merits DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act), a measure banning same-sex marriage. The roll call vote was preceeded by more than two hours of sometimes very personal and emotional testimony. In the end, representatives voted overwhelmingly to keep it as amended to the omnibus health and human services bill.
April 29, 1997 - State lawmakers on the House and Senate tax committees will be discuss proposals for financing a new Twins stadium…and It's a critical day for stadium supporters, because with less than three weeks left in the legislative session, they still have no politically viable plan to pay for a new ballpark.
April 30, 1997 - Midday focuses on the discussion at the state Legislature about the future of a new baseball stadium for the Minnesota Twins. Host Gary Eichten speaks with MPR reporter Bill Wareham, who presents a summary of the various proposals and audio clips of committee debate. Ideas presented include gambling revenue options, cheaper alternatives to a stadium, buying a team, selling Metrodome to teams for $1.00, and buying season tickets.
May 5, 1997 - One of the most widely debated issues in the modern workplace is whether employers should offer domestic partner benefits. In Minnesota, local governments which have sought to include unmarried, same-sex partners in their health insurance plans have run into legal roadblocks. But in the private sector, where the competition is growing for talented workers, more companies and organizations are finding domestic partner benefit packages make good business sense.
May 9, 1997 - Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton gives a preview of her appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman." Letterman brought in the mayor, Kirby Puckett, and residents of Minneapolis as part of a running thematic series on his show of highlighting various cities across the country.
May 9, 1997 - Midday discusses issues facing the state legislature in the final days of the session with Minnesota Public Radio's political commentators DFLer Bob Meek and Republican Tom Horner. Topics include transportation, stadium debate, property taxes, surplus, and education. Listeners call in with questions.
May 13, 1997 - With a threat of a Governor's veto, both houses of the Minnesota Legislature have passed a bill increasing the state's minimum wage. A bill passed the House last week differs at the bottom-line with the measure which passed in the Senate today. But Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports conferees are expected to quickly iron out their differences: The Senate bill increases the state wage to the federal level, from 4.25 and hour to 5.15 an hour. The house version, increases it above the federal level, to 5.40 and hour. Conferees are expected to go with the lower of the two.