November 28, 2001 - All Things Considered’s Lorna Benson talks with Steven Wagner, one of three St. Cloud professors who released results from a St. Cloud State University poll that shows Governor Ventura's approval rating has dropped sharply. 44% of respondents rated Ventura's overall performance as "excellent" or "pretty good." That's down from 63% the year prior.
November 28, 2001 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer talks with Les Heitke, the mayor in Willmar, about snowstorm that stalled over that city and buried it in snow.
November 29, 2001 - Major League Baseball owners say they plan to move ahead with contraction and the fate of the Minnesota Twins is still unclear. The Twins are a big story in the Twin Cities, but we wondered how the baseball saga is playing in Fargo. Mainstreet Radio's Dan Gunderson hit the streets to find out.
November 29, 2001 - MPR’s Michael Khoo reports on new task force that will discuss various plans in building a new stadium for the Minnesota Twins. Financing options will be the main point of the meeting.
November 29, 2001 - MPR’s Laura McCallum reports that while it is too soon to tell if extending taxes to services will be a major component to Ventura's financial recommendations, he may revive his plan. The response to the idea from Legislature has not been favorable and they are being vocal about it.
November 30, 2001 - All Thing’s Considered’s Lorna Benson interviews Minnesota Twins third baseman Corey Koskie about the the effect of the unknown has on him and his family's financial security. The idea that Major League Baseball could contract the team weighs heavy on players.
November 30, 2001 - Could a new stadium keep the Minnesota Twins up and running? The team is being threatened with shut down because of low salaries and low rankings…but local political and business efforts in creating a task force to look at options for new stadium in state are providing hope that there is still a chance to avoid losing professional baseball in Minnesota.
November 30, 2001 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill profiles Alden Lind, who for three decades was a passionate defender of Lake Superior. He was a leading voice in the successful battle to stop dumping taconite waste into the lake.
December 4, 2001 - It's been quite a year for writer Emily Carter. In October she won the Whiting Writing Award, a 35-thousand dollar prize aimed at emerging talent. Her collection of short stories "Glory Goes and Gets Some" originally published in hardback by Coffeehouse press is now a Picador paperback. The stories in the book follow a heroin addicted HIV positive woman from the east coast through treatment and recovery in Minnesota. The book takes a gentle and humorous approach to some ugly realities.
December 5, 2001 - Three decades after the Swedish pop group ABBA first started toping charts, the group's songs became the basis of a musical "Mama Mia". MPR’s Lorna Benson talks with songwriter Björn Ulvaeus, who says he told musical producer Judy Cramer she could do whatever she wanted. He said he gave the project his blessing on one condition…don’t change the lyrics.