June 17, 2004 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on the growing Latino population in Minnesota. As the Hispanic population grows, so does their economic power--estimated by marketing experts at more than $3 billion. Hughes interviews Hispanic business owners about marketing and supprting Latino community.
June 21, 2004 - MPR’s Tom Scheck reports that the first group of Hmong from a refugee camp in Thailand are scheduled to arrive in Minnesota. They are among a group of 15,000 Hmong refugees expected to arrive in the U.S. by the end of 2004. A third of them are expected to settle in St. Paul.
June 22, 2004 - Minnesota writer Judith Guest says the true story of the 1968 murder of a family at their Michigan lake home inspired her to write her latest book "The Tarnished Eye." Sheriff Hugh DeWitt is the central character in the novel. He's still grieving the sudden death of his baby son and dealing with the pressure to solve a high-profile murder. The mystery story is a departure for Guest, who is perhaps best known for books focusing on family dynamics. Robert Redford made her novel "Ordinary People" into an Academy award-winning movie starring Mary Tyler Moore and Donald Sutherland. Judith Guest told Minnesota Public Radio's Greta Cunningham that she's been thinking about writing a mystery book for a long time.
June 25, 2004 - MPR’s Toni Randolph reports that the Hmong refugees who arrived in the Twin Cities earlier in week have begun enrolling their children in school. Seven children were among the 11 refugees who arrived on Monday. Their father brought two of them to the student placement center for the St. Paul public schools to begin the process.
July 5, 2004 - On this Fourth of July weekend, MPR listeners are asked to call in with their stories about coming to America. Caller comments are interspersed between an interview with guest Senator Mee Moua, the first Hmong American elected to State Legislator. She speaks of living in refugee camps in Laos and resettling in the U.S.
July 6, 2004 - MPR's Jeff Horwich looks at the employment scene awaiting the state's new job seekers. After the struggles in a refugee camp and a 8,000-mile trip from Thailand, this wave of Hmong refugees will find a tight job market and a challenging U.S. economy.
July 9, 2004 - MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles St. Paul musician Greg Paulus. In interview, Paulus discusses his music influences, his current jazz work, and goal of playing with the best musicians.
July 13, 2004 - Expectations have always been high for Joe Mauer. Long before the Twins chose the St. Paul native as their top draft pick in 2001, Mauer was considered a sports phenom. If his rookie season is any indication, the Minnesota Twins catcher will be rubbing elbows with the league's other top talents in a not-too-distant All-Star game.
July 15, 2004 - In 1998, the Minneapolis rock band Semisonic soared to international stardom on the wings of its smash single, "Closing Time." Three years later, the band was dropped from its record contract and left contemplating an uncertain future. Semisonic drummer Jacob Slichter has written a memoir retracing the band's beginnings, its meteoric rise to fame and fall from major label grace. The book is called "So You Wana Be a Rock and Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful of Record Executives and Other True Tales From a Drummer's Life."
July 15, 2004 - MPR’s Toni Randolph reports on shortage of Hmong funeral homes in the Twin Cities. A traditional Hmong funeral is a ceremony full of rituals, scheduled on weekends and lasting for days. Families now often have to wait weeks before burying their loved ones. A couple of new Hmong funeral homes will be opening, though they won't open for more than a year.