August 2, 2004 - Minneapolis City Council members Don Samuels and Dean Zimmerman talk about their ideas to prevent crime in Minneapolis. The guests also answer listener questions.
August 5, 2004 - Jim Farrell and Jeanne Weigum have a discussion of the smoking bans already in place as well as those being considered for bars and restaurants throughout Minnesota.
August 19, 2004 - President George W. Bush is in Crawford, Texas, today, resting after a bus tour that took him through Wisconsin and Minnesota. The president made a campaign stop yesterday just across the St. Croix River in Hudson, Wisconsin, followed by a rally at the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul. He repeated many of the campaign's familiar themes on the economy and the war in Iraq. But he also opened the dialogue slightly by inviting audience members to pepper him with questions.
August 19, 2004 - A group of Hmong refugees who left St. Paul in June arrived in Washington, D.C. on August 19th, 2004, many of them on foot. Some walked the entire 1100 miles journey; others joined en route. MPR’s David Molpus talks with two involved in march.
August 24, 2004 - In April of 1971, John Kerry gave a speech before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations about war crimes that other soldiers serving in Vietnam allegedly committed. That testimony is the focus of a Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad that claims Kerry "dishonored his country and more importantly the people he served with." On this Talk of Minnesota, Midday plays the ad alongside Kerry's testimony, and opens the phone lines to get listeners' reaction.
August 25, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio's Cara Hetland reports on Ralph Nader’s visit to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In a speech, Nader says the only way to change government is to get involved. He talked for more than two hours criticizing corporate greed, the Bush administration, and the war in Iraq. Nader says historically the nation's best laws have been a reaction to citizen outrage.
August 26, 2004 - In a live Midday broadcast from the Minnesota State Fair, Susan Gaertner, district attorney for Ramsey County; and Amy Klobuchar, district attorney for Hennepin County, discuss trends and issues in Minnesota law enforcement.
August 26, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio’s Bob Reha reports that while schools aren't open yet, report cards are being released nonetheless. The reports won't go to students, but to their schools.
August 31, 2004 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill reports that Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson is supporting the city's annual gay pride festival in a proclamation thanking those in the LGBTQ community for their contributions to city.
September 1, 2004 - Officials in Minneapolis and St. Paul are resistant to a request by Governor Tim Pawlenty to repeal or change laws in those cities prohibiting police officers from asking about a person's immigration status. Pawlenty sent a letter urging the cities to change the laws because he says they compromise security. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes reports.