September 10, 1999 - A Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from KNBJ studios in Bemidji. In this second hour of program, host Rachel Reabe discusses education in Minnesota and the supply of teachers for Minnesota schools with guests Joe Nathan, of the Humphrey Institute's Center for School Change; Dr. Rollie Morud, superintendent of the Bemidji School District; and Dave Larkin, Dean of the Education Department at Bemidji State University.
September 10, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio's Cara Hetland reports on teacher raiding, which is becoming a common practice as the nation faces a teacher shortage. In Minnesota, competition between districts means the best staff is often going to the highest bidder.
September 13, 1999 - Sports commentator Howard Sinker describes the experience of watching/listening to Minnesota Twins pitcher Eric Milton throw a no-hitter on September 11th, 1999 against the Anaheim Angels.
September 15, 1999 - 1937 was a year of turmoil across the world, as the seeds of World War II began germinating. Yet the rampant nationalism which pushed Hitler, Franco and Mussolini atop the political forefront in Europe, was in evidence in other parts of the world. In the Caribbean, on the island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the Dominican leader General Trujillo ordered the massacre of Haitian immigrants. Thousands of Haitians fled across the border back to Haiti, but many died under the hail of bullets, stones and machete blows. Novelist Edwidge Danticat, who was born in Haiti, says she has been haunted by the story of the massacre. She set her latest book "The Farming of Bones" in the midst of the turmoil in part because so few people, including many Haitians, know about what happened.
September 15, 1999 - Some sundry characters are the heart of Minnesota author Lorna Landvik's new novel. The Tall Pine Polka is set in a fictitious Minnesota town that is home to an eccentric group of neighbors. The characters often gather at a local coffee shop for what they call the Tall Pine Polka, a night of food, company, and heavenly coffee. But, as Landvik explains, it's a particular kind of coffee shop.
September 15, 1999 - Guthrie Theater officials say they are cautiously optimistic about their expansion proposal following a discussion with Minneapolis City Council members. The Guthrie wants to use land currently considered one of the best ballfields in the city to build a new three theater complex. The land is owned by the Minneapolis Park Board which says it wants a facilty that's at least as good in return for the land. Guthrie Artistic Director Joe Dowling told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr he hopes the proposal has something for everyone.
September 21, 1999 - MPR’s Lorna Benson talks with nature photographer Jim Brandenburg about the the Boundary Waters after the massive blowdown. Brandenburg discusses the unknown long-term effects to the forest and animals.
September 22, 1999 - The topic of criminals under ten is disscussed with Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner and David Sanders, director of Children & Family Services in Hennepin County.
September 23, 1999 - Shakespeare wrote all of his works without the use of a dictionary. Such a thing simply didn't exist in Elizabethan England. The dictionary as we know it is a relatively new invention, and the grandest of them all, the Oxford English Dictionary was only completed 72 years ago. Author Simon Winchester researched the creation of the OED for his book "The Professor and the Madman". He told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr when the project started in the 1850's with the audacious aim of listing every single word in the English language.
September 27, 1999 - As the Minnesota Literacy Summit gets underway in Minneapolis, a talk about the ways kids learn to read with Rosemary Miller, conference co-chair and coordinator of early literacy programs at the University of Minnesota.