December 17, 2002 - MPR’s Laura McCallum examines Governor Jesse Ventura’s legacy, taking a look at taxes, state budget, education, light rail, deficit, and judiciary.
December 20, 2002 - MPR’s Annie Feidt reports on a group of Hmong teenage girls from St. Paul leaving for Thailand and Laos to retrace the journey their parents took to this country. They're calling their trip "the Homeland Project."
December 24, 2002 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer talks with church bell ringers in the Twin Cities.
December 27, 2002 - Clark Morphew, a former St. Paul Pioneer Press religion writer and Lutheran pastor, died Tuesday at his South St. Paul home. He was 64. Morphew died from lung cancer, just six months after being diagnosed. His weekly religion column was syndicated across the country by Knight Ridder News Service.
January 1, 2003 - The military victory in Iraq was stunning and swift, but months after the fall of Baghdad, the U.S. military is still fighting. On August 25, 2003, the number of American solders killed in Iraq during the occupation became greater then those killed during the war. This special report documents the early missed opportunities and cultural misunderstandings that may have contributed to the ongoing armed insurgency that continues to this day.
January 1, 2003 - Franklin Avenue in south Minneapolis has survived bouts with booze and drugs and appears to be on a path to recovery. The decades-long renewal picked up speed in 2002 with construction of a new housing project. And there are prospects several new businesses will open their doors this year. However, Franklin avenue's road to recovery is bumpy. A landmark business closed its doors yesterday, and future development is tied to the health of the economy.
January 7, 2003 - Senator-elect Norm Coleman will be sworn-in later today in a ceremony in Washington, D.C.. Coleman, a Republican, takes the seat held by the late Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone who was killed in a plane crash just eleven days before the November election. Coleman went on to defeat Wellstone's replacement on the ballot Vice President Walter Mondale. As Senator, Coleman will be part of a new... and narrow... Republican majority in the U.S. Senate.
January 14, 2003 - As part of the series “A Lesson on Learning: Behind No Child Left Behind,” MPR reporter Dan Olson reports on varied views of parents on the federal education law and it’s impacts.
January 17, 2003 - Five Hmong high school girls from St. Paul are back from a two-week trip to Thailand and Laos. They called the trip the Homeland Project. The girls hoped seeing their parents' homeland and meeting relatives they had only heard about would help them understand the deep cultural gap that separates them from their parents. MPR’s Greta Cuningham interviews three members of the group, Soua Yang, Cindy Xiong, and adult chaperone Gunnar Liden.
January 20, 2003 - MPR’s Annie Feidt reports on new technology that is helping resorts produce even better snow…and removing humans from the equation. Trollhaugen ski area is testing out an automated snow gun for the first time this year in efforts in working towards full automation.