October 6, 1998 - Rod Grams, Minnesota Republican U.S. Senator, discusses his plan for phasing out social security with IRA style personal retirement accounts and welfare style federal safety net. The proposed bill is called “The Personal Security and Wealth and Retirement Act.” Grams also answers listener questions. Toward end of program, Virginia Reno, Director of Research for National Academy of Social Insurance, shares details on subject of Social Security reform.
October 7, 1998 - A Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center in Fergus Falls. In this first hour of program on Minnesota's wetlands and waterfowl, Rachel Reabe interviews Tim Bodeen, director of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center; Kevin Brennan, member of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife; and Dr. Jay Leitch, economist at North Dakota State University. The group discuss Minnesota's vanishing wetlands, actions being taken to protect them, and educating the public about the wetlands.
October 7, 1998 - A Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center in Fergus Falls. In this second hour of program on Minnesota's wetlands and waterfowl, Rachel Reabe hosts a discussion on hunting in the wetlands with Doug Wells, wildlife manager at the Fergus Falls office of Natural Resources; and Tom Brimhall, chairman of the local Ducks Unlimited. Reabe then interviews John House, wildlife artist, and winner of DNR duck stamp contest.
October 7, 1998 - With the opening of Minnesota’s sixty-day duck season, Mainstreet Radio's Dan Gunderson spent a few hours in a duck blind near Fergus Falls and filed this report. Minnesota has more waterfowl hunters than any place in the nation. Some 130,000 duck hunters are expected to shoot 800,000 ducks in two months.
October 7, 1998 - MPR’s Amy Radil reports on the gubernatorial candidates Skip Humphrey, Norm Coleman, and Jesse Ventura debating at Hibbing High School in the Iron Range. They tailored their messages to the audience by taking on subjects like tourism, recreation and education in northeast Minnesota and invoking the image of a favorite son.
October 8, 1998 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports that representatives from several Hmong organizations met with policy makers and elected officials to discuss ways to respond to a wave of violence in the Hmong community. The group hopes to craft a series of legislative proposals to present to lawmakers in next year's session.
October 9, 1998 - General election gubernatorial debate, sponsored by the Hibbing, Grand Rapids, Virginia and Cloquet Chamber of Commerce, and broadcast from Hibbing. Norm Coleman, Republican candidate; Skip Humphrey, DFL candidate; and Jesse Ventura, Reform candidate, participated in debate.
October 9, 1998 - Bob Meek, DFL commentator, and Nancy Longley, Republican commentator, provide analysis of the general election gubernatorial debate in Hibbing. Meek and Longley also answer listener questions.
October 12, 1998 - Joe Nathan, Director of the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute's Center for School Change, provides analysis of the AAUW Gubernatorial forum on education. Program also has an interview with Ellen Delaney, the new Minnesota "Teacher of the Year."
October 12, 1998 - Back in the mid-sixties, garage rock bands such as the Trashmen, the Castaways, the Del Counts, and the Gestures were churning out one hit after another. That era has been captured on a 2 CD set called "The Big Hits of Mid-America... The Soma Records Story," produced by Steve Wilson, local pop historian. MPR’s Chris Roberts interviews Wilson, as well as Trashmen guitarist Tony Andreason, to help us re-live the memories.