October 13, 2000 - Hundreds of mourners came to St. Paul to pay a final tribute to Bruce Vento, who passed away on October 10th, 2000. The former school teacher and twelve-term Congressman was hailed as a champion of the environment, the working class, and the needy. Vento died at the age of 60 from a rare form of lung cancer, as a result of exposure to asbestos.
October 23, 2000 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on the announcement of Andreas Delfs as the new Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra music director. Delfs replaces the recently departed Hugh Wolff.
October 26, 2000 - A statewide committee is calling for a two-year study to determine whether officers pull over drivers because of their race. Although some Minnesota police departments are already recording the race of the people they pull over, they are currently not required to do so. Republican Rich Stanek is a state representative and Minneapolis police officer. He was on the committee formed to look at racial profiling, and he's still deciding whether to go along with the committee's suggestion that the state require a study.
October 30, 2000 - MPR’s Bob Reha profiles William "Jack" Jackson, a North Dakota author who travels around gathering strange stories…like a dogfight with a UFO over Fargo, finding the back door to hell, and meeting a ghost named Sophie.
October 31, 2000 - The strong economy has pretty much put to rest the anti-immigration talk some politicians were using just a few years ago. In the Minnesota U.S. Senate race, Republican Rod Grams supports more visas for in-demand workers while D-F-Ler Mark Dayton wants to address bureaucratic backlogs that hurt legal immigrants. But some of Minnesota's newest arrivals say they feel largely ignored in the current campaign and don't hear politicians addressing issues important to them. Some are getting involved as citizens and voters, in hopes of wielding some political clout and someday being courted more avidly by the candidates.
November 1, 2000 - Tomorrow on the North Shore, state biologists will be looking for insect larvae in the Beaver River. Last week a broken pipline at Northshore Mining in Silver Bay spilled tons of taconite tailings into the river. Researchers say the spill will likely suffocate the tiny creatures on the river bottom, and cut into the food supply for the river's fish in coming years. The spill is reviving memories of past concerns about tailings pollution.
November 3, 2000 - Minneapolis Police officers are in Memphis this week, training to handle cases involving the mentally ill. The training is the first step towards developing a program similar to one that exists in Memphis -- where 165 police officers make up a special crisis intervention team trained to de-escalate confrontations with mentally disturbed individuals. Earlier this week, police in Minneapolis shot and killed a man with serious mental illness after he reportedly sped toward police in a car. It was the third such incident this year. The Memphis police re-examined how they handled incidents involving the mentally ill after a man with a bi-polar disorder was shot to death by an officer in 1987. Public outcry prompted the creation of the Memphis Police Crisis Intervention Team, or C-I-T. Lt. Sam Cochran, coordinator of the program is good for the police, the mentally ill and the city.
November 10, 2000 - Mainstreet Radio’s Mark Steil presents a special report on The Armistice Day Blizzard. Steil talks with meteorologist Paul Douglas on how the storm formed and interviews numerous survivors who recollect on their experiences in the infamous storm.
November 10, 2000 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill profiles Frank Kutka and his farm near Mahtowa, about an hour south of Duluth. Kutka is experimenting with corn from all over the world to create a variety that will grow up north. His work is attracting attention around the country, and experts are hoping it may result in new crops that will help marginal farms.
November 13, 2000 - MPR’s Elizabeth Stawicki reports on Native American convention held in St. Paul, where concerns of the new incoming U.S. presidential administration were expressed.