March 19, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio’s Catherine Winter looks at Challenge Incarceration Program, a Minnesota juvenile boot camp in Willow River. Supporters say strict discipline and hard work will knock some sense into criminals. But research seems to indicate that boot camps don’t work, don’t save money, and they don’t rehabilitate criminals.
March 20, 1997 - On this first day of spring, Mainstreet Radio’s Mark Steil presents some stories from the winter of '97…and shares words from winter's past in the works of Laura Ingalls Wilder and O.E. Rolvaag.
March 21, 1997 - Midday discusses the results of the basic skills tests given to Minnesota eighth-graders. Guests Mike Tillmann, who coordinates graduation standards for the Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning; and State Representative Becky Kelso, chair of the K-12 Education Finance Division, give their perspectives on the test numbers and answer listener call-in questions.
March 24, 1997 - Midday’s Gary Eichten talks with Minnesota Public Radio producer and film expert Stephanie Curtis, the "Movie Maven" about the Academy Award nominees for the 69th Academy Awards. Curtis details nominees and the process behind nominating process. Program also includes call-in questions and commentary from listeners.
March 24, 1997 - MPR’s Karen Louise Boothe reports that hundreds of people rallied at the State Capitol on behalf of a bill that would restore the cuts in benefits to legal immigrants in the new federal welfare reform law.
March 25, 1997 - With the Minnesota Gophers Basketball team appearance in 1997 NCAA Tournament’s Final Four, Midday discusses intercollegiate athletics and Gopher teams with guest Mark Dienhart, University of Minnesota Men's Athletic Director. Program also includes listeners call-in questions.
March 26, 1997 - Midday discusses the U. S. economy with author and well-known economist Lester Thurow, a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Topics include interest rates, inflation, stock market, health care, labor market, and monetary policy. Thurow also answers listener call-in questions.
March 28, 1997 - A Midday broadcast presentation of playwright Arthur Miller, appearing at the Guthrie Theater's "Global Voices" lecture series. Miller talks with Guthrie’s Joe Dowling about playwriting. At time of lecture, Miller’s play The Price, was having a run at the Guthrie.
March 31, 1997 - Midday discusses basketball and baseball with Minnesota Public Radio's sports commentator Howard Sinker and reporter Bill Wareham. The focus is on on the Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s basketball season and the upcoming season for the Minnesota Twins.
April 2, 1997 - MPR’s Bob Potter interviews Donald Schwert, a geologist at North State University, about the dynamics of Red River that make it prone to flooding.