March 13, 2008 - St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman joins Midday to discuss the challenges facing his city, and the achievements that have been made in the past year. Coleman also answers listener questions.
March 14, 2008 - MPR News analyzed the governor's campaign travel, his public events schedule and press accounts and found that he's been out of the state all or part of the day at least 25 times between January 1st and March 12th, 2008.
March 14, 2008 - MPR’s Steven John interviews renowned poet Maya Angelou, who shares thoughts on her life and politics.
March 18, 2008 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on Minnesota colleges and universities endowment growth, as well as tuition hike ups.
March 18, 2008 - MPR’s Laura Yuen reports on local female ski jumpers who are pressuring the International Olympic Committee to create a women's event for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Ski jumping is the only event in the Winter Olympics that excludes female athletes.
March 19, 2008 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill reports on ATVs in the north woods. The U.S. Forest Service is about to make a major decision about where ATVs can go and cannot go in the vast Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota. Segment includes various interviews of residents and environmentalists.
March 20, 2008 - MPR’s Kerri Miller interviews multiple education experts on the rise of tuition and how that is also affecting endowments. While college tuition continues to rise, a record 76 colleges and universities have achieved endowments of $1 billion or more. Some members of Congress are putting more scrutiny on those endowments, and asking whether schools should use their endowment money to moderate tuition increases.
March 25, 2008 - Midday remembers Jon Hassler in his own words, rebroadcasting an interview he did with MPR in 1999. Midday host Mike Edgerly then talks with two of Hassler's longtime friends - Bill Holm, a fellow Minnesota literary figure and author of Windows of Brimnes: An American In Iceland;” and Nick Hayes, friend and colleague of Hassler, and a professor at St. John's University. The two remark on the impact of his work, both as a writer and a teacher.
March 27, 2008 - During the Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps helped propel the conservation of Minnesota's natural resources, and it gave jobs to more than 77,000 Minnesotans. Author Barbara Sommer captures the stories of these workers in her new book, "Hard Work and a Good Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Minnesota." She joins Midday to discuss her book as part of our coverage of Minnesota's sesquicentennial. Guest: Barbara Sommer: Author of "Hard Work and a Good Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Minnesota.Part of MPR's original series "Minnesota Arrival", stories relating to Minnesota's 150th anniversary of statehood.
April 1, 2008 - The Minnesota Twins won their home opener at the Metrodome, beating the Los Angeles Angels 3-2. A couple of the team's newest players came up with some of biggest plays of the game, but in the end it took a very familiar name to preserve the lead in the ninth inning.