August 26, 2004 - In a live Midday broadcast from the Minnesota State Fair, Susan Gaertner, district attorney for Ramsey County; and Amy Klobuchar, district attorney for Hennepin County, discuss trends and issues in Minnesota law enforcement.
August 26, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio’s Bob Reha reports that while schools aren't open yet, report cards are being released nonetheless. The reports won't go to students, but to their schools.
August 27, 2004 - Digital technology has allowed artists to go much, much further in drawing inspiration from nature. One Minneapolis artist uses digitally generated sound designs to create a kind of hypnosis on headphones. The source of the sound?…Water. MPR’s Chris Roberts dives in.
August 28, 2004 - MPR’s Greta Cunningham profiles Ye Old Mill, a staple fair ride that has been attracting sweethearts at the Minnesota State Fair since 1913. It's America's oldest tunnel of love owned by the same family.
August 30, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio's Tom Robertson reports that Minnesota court records show Native Americans living in some northern counties are arrested at a rate far higher than any other race. That's got the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
August 31, 2004 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill reports that Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson is supporting the city's annual gay pride festival in a proclamation thanking those in the LGBTQ community for their contributions to city.
September 3, 2004 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher traces the individuals and movement that led to the U.S. 1964 Wilderness Act, creating the nation's system of federally protected wilderness. Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area was one of the first. Several Minnesotans played prominent roles, including then U.S. Senator Hubert Humphrey and a junior college administrator from Ely, named Sigurd Olson.
September 3, 2004 - The federal Wilderness Act is forty years old today - a document with a lot of Minnesota connections. The Bill was first introduced in 1956 by Minnesota US Senator Hubert Humphrey. One its most visible supporters was Ely writer Sigurd Olson. Olson's biographer, David Backes, says Olson was controversial but respected.
September 4, 2004 - MPR’s Greta Cunnnigham talks about "politicking on a stick" with Minnesota Public Radio's political reporter Michael Khoo, who has been at the Minnesota State Fair each and every time a big name politician has made a visit to the 2004 event.
September 8, 2004 - "Shanda" is a yiddish word for 'scandal.' It's a word used to describe someone who is an embarrassment to his family or even his community. Minneapolis writer Neal Karlen describes himself as a shanda. He grew up Jewish, in a devout Twin Cities family. At one point it looked as thought he was going to become a rabbi. But he turned to journalism instead, and began to drift away from his heritage. He says in time he became what he describes a Jewish "Uncle Tom"