April 7, 2003 - MPR’ Brandt Williams reports on a Sunday evening worship service held in the State Theater in Minneapolis, where Black leaders told the crowd of nearly 500 that African Americans still face high rates of unemployment, poverty and health problems. They expressed hope that through church and community collaboration, those problems can be solved.
April 9, 2003 - MPR’s Dan Olson reports from the Mondale Lecture Series. A panel of Democrats, led by former Vice-President Walter Mondale, remember the so-called, "fabulous 89th", the Congressional session where many of this country's most familiar social programs became law.
April 11, 2003 - On this Word of Mouth program, MPR’s Chris Roberts looks at the Penumbra production of August Wilson’s “Seven Guitars,” Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis hosting the fifth annual American pottery festival, a play adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’s “Main Street” novel, and “Dancing with Shadows” performance art.
April 21, 2003 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports on efforts by Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa officials to relocate the remains of Ojibwe, whose graves were uprooted and moved more than one hundred years ago from a cemetery on Wisconsin Point, which lies along the shores of Lake Superior. The remains were reburied in a mass grave in Superior, Wisconsin.
April 30, 2003 - Today we're live from Preston's Jailhouse Inn, in southeastern Minnesota. There are wonderful storytellers all around this part of the state. But some of the best are in small towns. Whether it's over the afternoon card game at Chic's Pizza or a walleye dinner at the Branding Iron, someone's always got a tale to tell. But very few people in Preston ever considered committing their words to paper -- at least not until now. This past winter, the Fillmore County Journal started requesting stories from area residents. Contributors didn't need any prior writing experience. They only had to follow two rules -- the stories had to be true, and they had to be short. The newspaper plans to publish a book that includes about a hundred of the submissions. Many of them are from first-time writers.
May 1, 2003 - The VocalEssence music series presents the North American professional premiere of Swedish composer Sven-David Sandström’s "High Mass." It is a huge event, featuring two full choirs, an orchestra and five soloists, with close to 250 people on stage at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.
May 1, 2003 - MPR’s Elizabeth Stawicki reports on the Minnesota Supreme Court ruling that police must suspect a motorist has committed a particular crime before asking for consent to search a vehicle following a routine traffic stop. Len Castro, Hennepin County's Chief Public Defender had argued such search requests were racial profiling tools. Justice Alan Page wrote for the court’s majority decision. Report also includes commentary from Pete Cahill, Assistant Hennepin County attorney; and Rev Albert Gallmon, president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP.
May 1, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio’s Chris Julin reports that the Two Harbors rooster is back, but it's in rough shape. In the week prior, somebody stole the larger-than-life statue of a rooster from its perch next to the highway. The bird is a landmark on the drive up the north shore of Lake Superior.
May 2, 2003 - MPR's Marisa Helms reports that the University of Minnesota's School of Music is marking 100 years of developing many of the region's foremost music teachers, performers and composers. Helms looks into the school and its history.
May 6, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio’s Chris Julin went listening for frogs with a couple of volunteers. The two are amongst dozens of volunteers across Minnesota driving backroads, looking for puddles and ponds, and listening for frog music.