December 7, 1998 - MPR’s Martin Kaste reports that Minnesota's future First Lady is planning a populist party to mark her husband's inauguration. As honorary chair of the Inaugural Committee, Terry Ventura has nixed the traditional black-tie gala, and has opted instead for a rock-and-roll-style blowout in the Target Center.
December 8, 1998 - MPR’s Laura McCallum reports that the first poll since the election gives Governor-elect Jesse Ventura high marks for his performance so far. Nearly half the people polled for Minnesota Public Radio and the St. Paul Pioneer Press consider Ventura a needed breath of fresh air in state government, although the other half say it's too soon to judge.
December 8, 1998 - MPR’s Martin Kaste reports that Governor-elect Jesse Ventura says he intends to keep working in the entertainment business, even after he takes office. Ventura is in the process of closing a deal to tell his life story in a ghost-written autobiography. Ventura calls it a "standard" book contract, and he says he doesn't think he's cashing in on being the governor-elect.
December 8, 1998 - Those who erroneously think of books as simply words on pages between two covers might consider visiting the Minnesota Center For Book Arts in Minneapolis. The MCBA's first juried exhibition of "artist books" is on display, redefining in an age of desktop publishing and digital printing, what a book can be.
December 8, 1998 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports on how various retailers are adjusting to a warm winter in the region. It’s nightmare weather if you sell snowmobiles or downhill skis for a living…but not bad if you prefer bicycling, or fishing from a boat.
December 8, 1998 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman talks with Ilean Her, director of the state’s Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans, about Hmong community leaders release of a proposal seeking state dollars to help Minnesota's South-East Asians population. Several recent tragedies in the Hmong community prompted the initiative which will be presented to the legislature. It calls for mental health, education, violence prevention, and self-sufficiency programs.
December 10, 1998 - It has taken 7 years but a former pornographic bookshop in Minneapolis , is now a community theater opening it's first holiday show. Some of the actors now performing were once outside on the sidewalk protesting against the store. The Central City Theater-- on the corner of 4th and Lake was once known as the Lake Street Bookstore-- but it's now part of what the city hopes will be a turnaround of troubled Lake Street.
December 12, 1998 - Our Voices of Minnesota series features Minneapolis astronaut Colonel Bob Cabana who is commanding the Space Shuttle Endeavor, which is set for launch Thursday morning to begin building the International Space Station. He speaks with MPR’s Mark Zdechlik. Program begins with NPR report on the mission of International Space Station.
December 14, 1998 - Mainstreet Radio’s Tom Robertson attends an early morning ritual in Bemidji, as locals of Swedish descent keep the Santa Lucia tradition alive with an annual celebration said to be one of the largest of its kind in the U.S.
December 15, 1998 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports from Duluth, where the temperature soared close to 50 degrees on December 14th. This fell just short of a 100-year old record. Few seemed to mind the sunshine and distinct lack of ice or snow.