January 8, 2001 - Acclaimed local photographer Wing Young Huie is being recognized at the Ordway Center with a U.S. Bank Sally Ordway Irvine Award for his installation of "Lake Street USA." Huie spent four years taking photographs on and around Lake Street which were then blown up and displayed outdoors on storefronts, bus shelters and buildings. MPR’s Mary Stucky met with Huie as he began installing these enormous portraits, and filed this report.
January 25, 2001 - MPR’s William Wilcoxen presents a profile of jazz organist Jack McDuff (aka Captain Jack), who died on January 24th, 2001. Segment includes recorded interview with McDuff.
April 6, 2001 - MPR’s Dan Olson profiles Cantus, a male vocal group from Minnesota that appears to have turned the corner and is headed for the big time. The twelve young men who form the group, have signed with a New York management company. The dozen vocalists, all in their 20's, have crisscrossed the country singing their blend of sacred and secular music. They give their season-ending concert tonight in Minneapolis before their next road trip.
June 1, 2001 - Northeastern Minnesota outdoorswoman and resort owner Justine Kerfoot died yesterday in Grand Marais. She was ninty-five. In the northwoods of Minnesota, everybody knows the name Justine Kerfoot. Her family bought the Gunflint Lodge nearly 70 years ago. Her 70 years worth of stories: the time she fell through the ice with her dog team; the time she lassoed a moose calf; the time her little son dropped a kitten down the outhouse - those stories are collected in her books, "Woman of the Boundary Waters and Gunflint".
July 10, 2001 - MPR's Stephanie Hemphill presents a profile of Sam Solon, state senator from Duluth. He has represented the Duluth area in the state Legislature for 30 years, and has been successful in bringing state resources to his district for a variety of economic development projects. He now faces a personal fight…battling cancer.
August 21, 2001 - Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil profiles the The Continental Co-ets, one of the first all-girl garage bands from the 1960’s. Steil interviews Co-et’s guitarist Carolyn Behr and drummer Vicki Steinmen. Others involved with band’s history also make comments.
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 13, 2001 - As part of Mainstreet Radio’s “Our Town” project, Chris Julin profiles the Olsons, a family who have found “home” in the small town of Moose Lake.
December 20, 2001 - Mainstreet Radios Bob Reha reports on 40 of Sudan's “Lost Boys” that now call Fargo home. They are refugees from years of civil war plaguing their North African country. An estimated two million people have died in the conflict. The Fargo Lost Boys trekked from Sudan through Ethiopia to Kenya. They now are facing the challenges of adapting to a new culture, all while dreaming of returning home.
February 4, 2002 - Mee Moua, a Hmong woman in St. Paul, makes history when she's sworn in as the nation's first Hmong legislator. The Southeast Asian hill tribe people started arriving in the U.S. more than 20 years ago. Yet, for many Hmong, their true date of arrival in this country starts with this political moment.