February 1, 1997 - Minnesotans got their first look yesterday at the new baseball stadium the Twins want them to help build. The stadium design features a ten-acre sliding roof, 42-thousand seats on four decks, and left-field bleachers that hang over the field. It was was unveiled at the Mall of America on the site of the Twins' former home, Metropolitan Stadium. The stadium's price is estimated at 350 million dollars. The taxpayers would have to come up with about 200 million dollars. The saga of the Twins stadium captured headlines this weekend...Weekend Edition Sports Commentator Jay Weiner says he can sum up his reaction to the new stadium design in one word.
February 5, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio’s Mark Steil reports that county governments in Minnesota are in a financial squeeze as state and federal grants decline. They must either cut services or find new revenue sources. In southwest Minnesota, a bookmobile with a roadrunner painted on its side is directly in the path of the funding dilemma. People who use it say it's foolish to cut a service which enriches minds.
February 7, 1997 - MPR’s Dan Olson reports on a University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra performance of the music of Roy Harris, Rimsky-Korsakov… and “Beijing Drum,” a piece of new music by a Chinese composer Zhou Long written for the pipa, an instrument similar to a lute.
February 12, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports that there's a chance deep snows of the 96-97’ winter are only "part one" of a weather disaster. The spring flood potential may lie in a secret hidden within the snow…the water amount it contains.
February 12, 1997 - Paul Wellstone is planning to retrace Robert Kennedy's tour of the South to focus attention on the plight of the poor. The tour is also prompting questions about whether Wellstone aspires to higher national office. Al Eisele says Wellstone's candidacy would probably be met with surprise on the hill. Eisele is editor of "The Hill," a political newsletter in Washington D.C. He also served as an aide to Vice President Mondale.
February 14, 1997 - In this age dominated by electronic communication, many people say telling and listening to stories, is a meaningful way to connect with other people. They say storytelling is a simple pleasure in an often hectic world.
February 20, 1997 - MPR's Bill Wareham takes a look efforts by Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton to spend $35 million to help finance a Target store and other development on the south end of Nicollet Mall. The two-story Target would anchor a 14-story office and retail complex on the 900 block of Nicollet. Meanwhile, a block away the University of St. Thomas plans to expand its graduate school campus and link it to a K-12 magnet school also on the drawing boards.
March 5, 1997 - Langston Hughes was a pillar of the Harlem Renaissence who wrote poetry about the struggles of the ordinary african american. His first novel, "Not Without Laughter" has been described as one of the best coming of age stories ever written about the black american experience. Now the Children's Theater in Minneapolis is attempting the first ever stage production of the novel.
March 5, 1997 - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is changing its walleye fishing regulations on Mille Lacs Lake this season. The DNR will require anglers to release all walleye between 16 and 20 inches in length. However, Minnesota Public Radio's Perry Finelli reports many people with business interests on Lake Mille Lacs aren't happy with the decision.
March 5, 1997 - The 20th century has been hard on Minnesota's night sky. Cities expanded into suburbs; small towns grew into big ones; and even towns that stayed small, lit themselves up. Streetlights, parking lot lights, security floodlights -- it's a lot harder to look up and see the Milky Way now than it was a hundred years ago, even in places with loons and black bears.