November 13, 1998 - MPR’s John Rabe (aka Johnny R) presents The Big Hits of Mid-America Countdown! A musical extravaganza featuring local bands - the Gestures, the Castaways, the Trashmen and more. Soma Records was an American record label, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This program continues highlights of the top ten releases from label, which began in first hour. Program contains pledge drive segments.
November 16, 1998 - As part of the “Our State, Our Forests” series, Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger presents a report on the history of the timber industry in Minnesota. Timber was far and away the biggest industry in the state…and it changed the very landscape we live in.
November 16, 1998 - Logging isn't the job it used to be. A century ago, 30 thousand loggers were at work in the Minnesota woods. Today there are fewer than a thousand, using high-tech machines to supply the state's multi-billion dollar wood-products industry.
November 17, 1998 - MPR’s Dan Olson reports on how some Minnesota farmers are putting a few extra dollars in their pocket by selling what they usually plow under. A St. Peter company is making building materials as strong as wood from the straw left after farmers harvest soybeans and wheat.
November 17, 1998 - Though old-growth forests were long gone, Minnesota's timber industry revived in the 1980s when new technology made the ubiquitous aspen tree a desired commodity. For a decade Minnesota had the fastest-growing timber trade in the country.
November 18, 1998 - As part of the Our State, Our Forests series, a Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from MPR studios in Duluth, highlighting the Minnesota Northwoods. In this hour, MPR’s Rachel Reabe presents stories by reporters Leif Enger and Mary Losure which portray the timber industry past and present and describe its impact on the environment and economy of Northern Minnesota.
November 18, 1998 - MPR’s Martin Kaste reports on the first meeting of Governor-elect Jesse Ventura and Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, who met privately to discuss legislative priorities for 1999. Despite what Ventura calls "philosophical differences" between the two men, their respective "to-do" lists appear to have a lot in common.
November 19, 1998 - The Metropolitan Council is soliciting public comment on the design of light-rail transit stations planned for Minneapolis . Proponents of the rail line argue that the system can do more than just move people: it can spur development.
November 19, 1998 - Schools in the Red River Valley are trying to make the best of a bad business. After a year and a half of rebuilding and repairing the damage of 1997's spring flooding, teachers and students now have some of the newest, and best equipped schools in the upper midwest.
November 20, 1998 - MPR’s Martin Kaste reports on how leaders of Minnesota's major political parties are mulling over the meaning of this year's election results…and the meaning of Jesse Ventura's surprise victory, in particular. In the DFL party, there seems to be a growing consensus that change would do the party good, but there's little agreement so far about what kind of change.