January 10, 1997 - MPR’s Gretchen Lehmann reports on the growing number of women involved in the sport of dog sled racing. Women are out in record numbers as mushers, braving sub-zero temperatures to experience the thrill of rushing through the woods on a sled pulled by a team of dogs.
January 11, 1997 -
January 13, 1997 - As part of a series on poverty, MPR’s John Biewen looks at the growth of so-called 'fringe banks'…pawnbrokers and check-cashing shops. A growing number of low-income Americans are relying on 'fringe banks' in place of traditional banking services.
January 13, 1997 - As part of a series on poverty, MPR’s John Biewen reports that while the Minnesota legislature passed regulations in 1996 designed to control interest rates so pawn customers wouldn't have to pay ten or fifteen times the rates charged for credit card loans, some of the state's pawnshops are using a loophole in the law to charge more than 200%.
January 14, 1997 - Midday’s Gary Eichten discusses crime, criminal defense, punishment, and crime prevention with newly-appointed Hennepin County Chief Public Defender William McGee. Program includes listener call-in questions.
January 14, 1997 - As part of a series on poverty, MPR’s John Biewen looks at the "rent-to-own" industry and issues regarding interest rates.
January 15, 1997 - MPR’s John Rabe interviews local composer Paul Siskind about his composition “Fantasy-Variations.” The piece started off as a music school assignment, and sat on the shelf for a few years. Now the Minnesota Orchestra, under Eiji Oue, will give the world premiere performance of Siskind's “Fantasy-variations : on a fragment by Schoenberg.”
January 15, 1997 - As part of a series on poverty, MPR’s Stephen Smith reports on low-income housing.
January 16, 1997 - MPR’s John Rabe calls various students (MPR employees' kids) at home to see if they are reading, per Governor Carlson’s guidance, who ordered kids to read books today and report back on their reading in school tomorrow.
January 16, 1997 - If you think you have it bad in winter, Greg Rhode has a tale for you. Storms literally buried his home. Rhode says that he lives at the end of a cul-de-sac, on the other side of a wide beet field -- conditions that seem to dump snow right on their house.