June 1, 2005 - All Things Considered’s Tom Cran talks with Mo Chang, the charter school liaison and special project coordinator for St. Paul Public Schools, about the closure of Wat Tham Krabok and what life was like in the camp. As a child, Chang lived in Thai refugee camps. In 2004, she was part of a group that traveled with St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly to learn more about life at Wat Tham Krabok.
July 19, 2005 - Kasit Piromya, Thailand's ambassador to the United States, visited with St. Paul mayor Randy Kelly and Twin Cities area business groups to talk about health care and the medical device industry. Ambassador Piromya says Minnesota medical products can help Thailand achieve some long-term goals.
September 30, 2005 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann talks with Abdisalam Adam, a community specialist with the St. Paul Public School district, about a group of teachers, librarians, parents and social service providers meeting to discuss some alternative curriculums that would more closely reflect the culture of the students in the room.
October 21, 2005 - The two candidates for mayor of Minneapolis debated public safety, economic development and affordable housing last night at the Minneapolis Urban League on the city's north side. Mayor R.T. Rybak and Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin disagreed on progress being made to diversify the city's police force. McLaughlin says Rybak is not meeting diversity standards set out by a federal mediation agreement. He says Rybak should be doing more to hire black, latino and asian officers.
October 26, 2005 - Minnesota will likely see more refugees from Somalia, Burma and Nepal in the coming year, while the number of Hmong refugees is expected to decline. That's according to resettlement organizations in the state. The groups made their projections after President Bush announced the United States would accept up to 70-thousand refugees between now and September 2006. Patti Hurd of Lutheran Social Services says her organization expects to help resettle about one-thousand refugees in the next year. Heard says they differ from other immigrants.
October 26, 2005 -
November 8, 2005 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports on how Wisconsin hunting officials are renewing their efforts to reach out to thousands of hunters from the Hmong community. This comes in the wake of the confrontation between Chai Vang and a group of Rice Lake hunters, which left six people dead.
November 9, 2005 - MPR's Stephanie Hemphill reports that a Wisconsin judge sentenced Chai Vang to six consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole for the shooting deaths of six hunters last fall.
February 27, 2006 - MPR’s William Wilcoxen reports on Teacher Quality Enrichment, a scholarship program that is helping diversify the ranks of the district's ESL teachers. St. Paul's public school district is trying to boost the number of immigrants teaching English as a second language.
April 28, 2006 - MPR's Marisa Helms reports on Neighborhood House, a St. Paul community center providing services for the growing numbers of immigrants and refugees in the metro area. Neighborhood House is celebrating the grand opening of its new building in St. Paul, which is named after Paul and Sheila Wellstone.