July 17, 1997 - There's a yo-yo craze going on up on the Iron Range. Today kids from all over the range competed in the Iron Range Yo Yo Tournament, braving adverse weather conditions to do their Loop-De-Loops and Around-the-Worlds. It's fun now, but it started as a science project in Hibbing. Washington Elementary science teacher Mike Misbauer began using the yo-yo to teach. He helped the kids start a yo-yo club.
July 17, 1997 - capitol Members of a Senate K-12 Budget commitee heard testimony today from school officials representing flood-stricken communities who said their school must be re-built soon if students are to succeed. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports: In small and medium sized communities...civic life revolves around the schools. And for communities like, ADA, the loss of a school building because of the Spring flooding and subsequent storms...the loss is about MUCh more than simply a BUILDING. School Superintendent Don Vallenga told committee members, the estimated cost of a new school is about 11-million dollars. The FEDS will pay about nin-million of it, but he's asking the state for the rest Vallenga says loca
July 17, 1997 - Writer William Ayers begins his latest book in a Chicago courtroom, where a juvenile is being prosecuted for murder. He ends it by quoting Artistotle's reminder that no rule is absolute. In "A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court", Ayers charts the lives of kids in Chicago's juvenile justice system, which he says for the most part treats crime and punishments as absolute, with no allowances for circumstances when it comes to poor black and Latino kids. In the end, Ayers' point is that it doesn't make sense to treat kids as adults, and we certainly shouldn't be prosecuting children as adults, even so-called super predators.
July 18, 1997 - Midday discussion about Minnesota’s other state bird…mosquitos. Studio guests are Dave Noetzel, professor emeritus and extension entomologist at the University of Minnesota; and Jim Stark, public affair coordinator for the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District. Listeners call in with questions about the pest.
July 18, 1997 - Midday features a special report on teen curfews, with a follow up discussion with guests Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman in the St. Paul studios; and in MPR's Collegeville bureau, Sherry Smolik, coordinator of the St. Cloud Area Violence Prevention Council. The guests also answer listener call-in questions.
July 18, 1997 - When Hamlet gave his famous acting class to the players, telling them to speak the speech and to not saw the air, the actors didn't have to deal with planes overhead. But they might have had to fend off bugs and noisy kids and candy wrapper crinkling. Food for thought as the Twin Cities welcomes a new incarnation of Shakespeare in the Park, which is currently producing "Much Ado About Nothing" at Minnehaha Park. Intern Joe Fryer put on the DEET and talked with actors and the audience.
July 18, 1997 - Art crawlers hungry for some new work may consider stopping by an abandoned soap factory in Minneapolis this weekend. The Teen Art Council at the Walker Art Center has put together what it calls "a teen curated teen art show" containing the work of more than than 70 young artists from around the metro area. The show's curators say visitors who tend to dismiss teen artists might be in for a surprise. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts has more.
July 21, 1997 - Midday discusses urban sprawl. Is there a role for the government to conduct land use planning to control urban development? Should statewide land use plans be prepared? Guests are former Republican State Senator Fritz Knaak of White Bear Lake and Lee Ronning of the Land Stewardship Project. Listeners call in with questions.
July 21, 1997 - MPR's Mary Losure files this story about the North Shore's fishing families and the environmental catastrophes that destroyed their way of life. In the 1930's, Lake Superior supported a thriving commercial fishing industry. Now, on a lake holding one tenth of the world's fresh water, only a handful of commercial fishermen and women remain.
July 21, 1997 - More than 600 pre-school children are attending Learning Readiness classes this summer in St. Paul, twice the enrollment of last summer. Learning Readiness is a statewide initiative to help prepare four and five year old children for kindergarten. The St. Paul district expanded its program this summer, targeting low-income children who have not been in other early childhood programs and those with limited English skills. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.