July 2, 2003 - In the wake of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic church, diocese across the country have set up policy review boards. Two boards in central Minnesota are beginning their work, one at St. John's Abbey and the other at the St. Cloud Diocese. Their purpose is to monitor the church's policies and response to sexual abuse. Church officials say the boards have been thoughtfully developed. They say many have a mix of non-Catholic as well as Catholic members, abuse victims and law enforcement officials. But victims' rights groups are less optimistic. They doubt the review boards will have the power to make any real change in church policy.
July 8, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio’s Erin Galbally looks into divorce in the Hmong communtity. Some Hmong say it's allowing women in particular to escape difficult marriages. But traditionalists worry about the long-term impact of the new trend on Hmong culture.
July 9, 2003 - St. Paul-based Reverend Naw Karl Mua has been released by the Laotian government along with the two journalists he was intepreting for. The three men flew today from Laos to Bangkok, Thailand. They had been convicted to 15 years in prison by a Laotian court for the murder of a village security guard. Press advocacy groups had condeMinnesotaed the sentences, saying the three men were being unjustly punished for reporting on an insurgency in Laos. Minnesota Representative Betty McCollum has been working to get the men released and she joins us now.
July 9, 2003 - An Evangelical Lutheran Bishop says the prayers of people throughout the nation were answered following today's release of a St. Paul Hmong American pastor from a Lao jail. Authorities released Rev. Naw-Karl Mua and two journalists following intense diplomatic pressure by the French, Belgian and U.S. governments; and reportedly a payment of nearly $2500 from Mua's wife to Lao authorities.
July 11, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio’s Bob Kelleher reports that Minnesota's premier hiking trail is finally complete - it's taken fifteen years. A missing eight-mile stretch of the Superior Hiking Trail has been cleared through northeast Minnesota forest and the trail now runs, without break, 235 miles from Two Harbors to the Canadian border. The trail features wind swept views of the world's biggest lake, challenging hills, beavers, bears, moose, and mosquitoes.
July 11, 2003 - In this edition of Word of Mouth - Mainstreet Radio’s Tom Roberston profiles the writers of the Northwoods, including novelist Will Weaver; writer Kevin McColley; poet Susan Carol Hauser; and non-fiction writer Kent Nerburn / MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles Nathan Keeper’s “Fully Commited” comedy / St. Paul poet Paul Dickson reads a poem on highschool / Arts-round-up
July 12, 2003 - Reverend Naw-Karl Mua the Saint Paul pastor recently released from a Laotian prison, says he wants the U.S. government to help Hmong rebels living in the jungle. Mua spoke publicly for the first time today at a press conference in Maplewood.
July 14, 2003 - For lots of young people, summer means time to go to camp. There are different kinds of camps - hockey camp, language camp, Girl Scout camp. An increasingly popular option for talented young instrumentalists is music camp. MPR's Stephanie Hemphill visits Madeline Island out on Lake Superior, where young people from around the Midwest spend four weeks playing classical music.
July 22, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio's Erin Galbally visits Andrea Een, a hardanger fiddler extraordinaire and a well-known music professor at St. Olaf College. To the untrained eye the Hardanger fiddle, Norway's national instrument, looks much like the violin. But the nine-string fiddle produces its own distinctive sound. That sound and the instrument will be celebrated at St. Olaf College in Northfield, where more than 300 hundred enthusiasts of the violin sibling are expected to attend.
July 23, 2003 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports that new information released by the U.S. Census gives a more detailed look at the state's Hmong population. When the Census was taken in 2000, Hmong Minnesotan's held jobs, but a third of them lived below the federal poverty line. The majority of Hmong are foreign-born, but over 30 percent are born in the state.