July 3, 1998 -
July 6, 1998 - Joe Nathan, director of the Center for School Change, at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute, talks about charter schools, summer school, the possible NEA/AFT teacher union merger, and other education issues in the news. Nathan also answers listener questions.
July 7, 1998 - Kurt Johnson, chair of the Twin Cities Project on Media and the Public, discusses its new report on restoring trust in the media and improving the quality of local news reporting. Johnson also answers listener questions.
July 8, 1998 - A human rights group is charging police abuse accounts for some of the most serious human rights violations in the United States. New York-based Human Rights Watch investigated complaints in 14 major cities, including Minneapolis , and found persistant police brutality in all of them. The group also found people reporting brutality face enormous barriers in seeking punishment or prosecution of officers who have committed human rights violations. Minneapolis Police Chief Robert Olson says his department has made considerable progress in dealing with complaints, but it's not always possible to get rid of abusive cops.
July 9, 1998 - In his new book, Bemidji novelist Kevin McColley begins to tell the story of an unsolved murder in a small Minnesota town but it becomes a story on the indignities of old age. "Praying to a Laughing God", which has been nominated for a national book award, is a bit of a change for McColley. His first four novels were aimed at young people, but his new book deals with the problems of a much older generation.
July 10, 1998 - One more house was demolished in St. Peter. It was old...built in the 1860's...and in need of restoration, but still, it was someone's home until the March 29th tornado. MPR's Lynette Nyman interviews the owner, Tom Gravelin, as she follows him through the recovery. His business is back up...while his home has finally come down. Frequently referred to as the 1998 Comfrey–St. Peter tornado outbreak, 14 tornadoes (including an F3 & F4) wrought destruction in southern Minnesota on March 29, 1998. More than 3,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed by the tornadoes. The towns of St. Peter and Comfrey were utterly devastated. Storms left two people dead and dozens injured.
July 17, 1998 - A Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from Ely, Minnesota. Program highlights the northern Minnesota town and the BWCA, twenty years after major Congressional legislation in 1978…a controversial Act that banned mining, logging and most motor use. In this first hour of program, MPR’s Rachel Reabe interviews Mark Van Every and Barb Soderberg, representatives from the National Forest Service; and canoe outfitters John Waters and Gary Gotchnik about the various aspects of the BWCA.
July 17, 1998 - MPR’s Leif Enger takes a look at the BWCA twenty years after legislation to protect it, and the divide in viewpoints on the land that have existed throughout the 20th century. Segment includes various interviews and commentary.
July 20, 1998 - Lowell Pratt, President of the Builders Association of the Twin Cities; Ray Waldron, President of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council; and Harry Melander of the St. Paul Building Trades Council, discuss shortage of construction workers in the region and outlook for the construction trades. Group also answers listener calls. The program begins with a report from MPR’s Cara Hetland on the construction dilemma impacting Spencer, South Dakota and St. Peter, Minnesota, in the aftermath of tornados.
July 22, 1998 - The Minnesota Twins have agreed to a tentative lease that would keep them in the Metrodome for two more seasons. Details of the plan still must be finalized, and it is subject to approval by the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. Commissioners are expected to vote in a special meeting Friday. The Commission's Executive Director, Bill Lester, emphasizes that the agreement is still only tentative until the Twins sign off on it.