June 6, 1997 - Midday presents the MPR/Soundprint documentary Working Nights. MPR’s Stephen Smith looks at health and science behind the experience of people who work nights.
June 26, 1997 - Midday host Gary Eichten discusses U.S. Supreme Court ruling on assisted suicide with guest Dr. Steven Miles, associate professor at the University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics. Miles provides reaction on the court decision that individuals don’t have right to physician-assisted suicide and details various state laws. Listeners call in with questions.
July 2, 1997 - One of Minnesota's top health officials is threatening to quit, if lawmakers don't approve an executive pay increase by the end of August. State epidemiologist Michael Osterholm says the pay dispute has severely limited the health department's recruitment program AND is ruining morale. Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson reports: Osterholm says he has nothing to gain from the executive pay bill. His 96-thousand dollar salary was approved two years ago through a special legislative exemption after lawmakers heard that Osterholm was being courted by other health departments and private employers. But Osterholm says few of his lesser-known colleagues have any hope for a special exemption...instead their salaries are tied to their department's executive pay.
July 3, 1997 - Aitkin Democratic U.S.Senator Paul Wellstone finished the two-day Minnesota leg of his nationwide poverty tour. Earlier this week, he toured poverty stricken neighborhoods of south Minneapolis and then it was off to Aitkin County, where Wellstone says poverty might be more HIDDEN but is no less severe. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe travelled with Wellstone, and has this report. In Minnesota, those who live their lives on the social and economic edge can sometimes escape the gaze of community leaders, elected officials...and even neighbors. The invisibility of rural poverty is perhaps partly due to the fact that when SOME think of poverty...the mind's eye is averted to the depression era imagery captured by photographer, dorthea lange. The gaunt faces that haunt her black and white stills are what we of
July 9, 1997 - Midday discusses the lawsuits against tobacco companies with Minnesota Attorney General Skip Humphrey. Listeners call in with questions.
July 10, 1997 - Midday discusses issue over health care and public sector salaries with guests Michael Osterholm, member of the Minnesota Department of Health; and former State Senator Gene Merriam, who is now chief financial officer of ECM Publishers. The two share their views on topic and answer listener call-in questions.
July 23, 1997 - Two food cooperatives in the Twin Cities are teaching young children healthy food choices and organic farming. The project includes classroom instruction about growing food and field trips to organic grain and vegetable farms near the metropolitan area. A group of homeless inner-city children recently toured a small farm in Wright County. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... (Sound) About 30 children from the Learning Center school in Minneapolis explore the fields at River Bend Farm near Delano. They push single-file up and down the rows of radishes and wheat, trying hard to avoid ste
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 22, 1997 - One hundred years ago, the "Minnesota Hospital for Indigent Crippled and Deformed Children" opened in Saint Paul. The hospital was the brainchild of Doctor Arthur Gillette, an orthopaedic surgeon who believed the state had a duty to care for children with disabilities. Today, the hospital is privately owned and has a different name....Gillette Children's Specialty Health Care...but its mission remains the same. Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson spoke recently with some people who spent literally years of their lives at Gillette. Their memories of pain, pleasure and personal triumph are still vivid.
August 28, 1997 - Most corporations give money to charities, and many support social service agencies that work in poor, inner-city neighborhoods. But few large companies are *located* in troubled urban areas. Two major employers in Minneapolis have resisted moving to the suburbs, and are stepping up their efforts to save the inner-city neighborhood that surrounds them. Minnesota Public Radio's John Biewen reports.