April 30, 2004 - In recent years, Minnesotans have placed increased emphasis on multiculturalism. Still, there's one group that often feels lost in the deluge of diversity. Deaf advocates say Minnesota's non-hearing community is three times as large as some other communities, but they say few people recognize its significant contributions to the culture. As Minnesota's Public Radio's Nikki Tundel found out, an exhibit at St. Paul's aND gallery is hoping to change that.
April 30, 2004 - Federal law enforcement officials are investigating several recent violent incidents involving members of the Twin Cities Hmong community. The most recent event was a suspicious fire that burned down the home of the son of a prominent Hmong leader. While the authorities search for suspects, some in the Hmong community say the recent violence highlights old divisions and wounds that have yet to heal.
May 1, 2004 - American RadioWorks presents “Thurgood Marshall Before the Court,” a documentary on the story of Thurgood Marshall's remarkable career before he joined the Supreme Court, when he was the nation's leading civil rights lawyer.
May 3, 2004 - MPR’s Dan Gunderson profiles Coya Knutson, the first woman elected to Congress from Minnesota. In May 1954, Coya Knutson stepped to a podium in Moorhead to announce she was running for Congress. Then, in November 1954, Knutson became the first woman elected to Congress from Minnesota. Congresswoman Knutson made a splash in Washington with her plainspoken politics and persuasive personality. But she also challenged the leadership of the newly formed Minnesota DFL party.
May 3, 2004 - As a shy, self-conscious boy growing up in St. Paul, Charles Schulz experienced the kinds of cruelty that belong uniquely to kids. And after attending a U of M extension class in cartooning and landing a job at the Pioneer Press, he experienced adult-style cruelty as well. He would go on to use those experiences -- and the hope and perseverance that accompanied them -- as inspiration for his new comic strip, "peanuts." A new collection of the very earliest Peanuts cartoons comes out today. They were drawn between 1950 and 1952. In the book's forward, Garrison Keillor calls Schulz "an innovative genius of American comics." Jean Schulz -- who called her husband "sparky" -- says she's amazed at what the early work reveals of a different side of her husband's creativity.
May 6, 2004 - MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles Coach Said Not To, a Minneapolis rock foursome that deliberately tries to defy categorization. Roberts interviews members Lee Violet and Eva Mohn about the thinking person's rock band.
May 10, 2004 - Up until last Friday, most Twins baseball games were only broadcast on the team-owned Victory Sports One, a channel available to very few cable TV subscribers across the state. But a new eight-year contract with Fox Sports Net will put games back onto the regional Fox sports channel, available to many more viewers. The deal effectively ends the ambitious Victory Sports experiment.
May 11, 2004 - On this day in 1858, Minnesota became a state. As part of commemorative events at the Capitol today, Lieutennant Governor Carol Molneau will be presented with a new book about Henry Hastings Sibley. Sibley was Minnesota's first governor. He led the state during a time of big change, when tensions were rising between European settlers and Native Americans. Rhoda Gilman is the author of "Henry Hastings Sibley: Divided Heart." She says Sibley, who was born in Detroit, came to the Minnesota area when he was offered a new job with the American Fur Company.
May 11, 2004 - MPR’s Brandt Williams reports that the arrest of a Hmong St. Paul police officer is the latest development in an investigation into several incidents of violence involving Hmong and Lao residents. Federal law enforcement officials are trying to determine how several recent shootings and arson fires are linked.
May 13, 2004 - All Things Considered’s David Molpus talks with Mainstreet Radio’s Tom Robertson about how the town of Roseau is preparing for a flood event. The Roseau River has risen steadily following heavy rains this week. Governor Pawlenty will visit the Northwestern Minnesota town tonight as residents there fight to hold back floodwaters. Residents are hoping to avoid the disastrous flooding they experienced in 2002.