June 16, 2004 - As part of the Mainstreet Radio series “Meth in Minnesota,” MPR’s Jeff Horwich reports on the expanding problem of meth abuse and transport throughout the state.
June 17, 2004 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on the growing Latino population in Minnesota. As the Hispanic population grows, so does their economic power--estimated by marketing experts at more than $3 billion. Hughes interviews Hispanic business owners about marketing and supprting Latino community.
June 21, 2004 - A family of eleven Hmong refugees arrives in Minnesota this evening -- the first of thousands expected to arrive in the next weeks and months. About a third of the 15,000 refugees leaving the Wat Tham Krabok refugee camp in Thailand plan to settle in Minnesota. Another 2,000 will go to Wisconsin. John Borden is associate director of the International Institute -- one of several Twin Cities organizations charged with helping the families settle into their new home. He described for us the world they are leaving.
June 21, 2004 - MPR’s Tom Scheck reports that the first group of Hmong from a refugee camp in Thailand are scheduled to arrive in Minnesota. They are among a group of 15,000 Hmong refugees expected to arrive in the U.S. by the end of 2004. A third of them are expected to settle in St. Paul.
June 22, 2004 - MPR’s Toni Randolph reports on a Chong Thao and his family as they arrive to the Twin Cities. The family had been living at a refugee camp in Thailand for over a decade.
June 25, 2004 - MPR’s Toni Randolph reports that the Hmong refugees who arrived in the Twin Cities earlier in week have begun enrolling their children in school. Seven children were among the 11 refugees who arrived on Monday. Their father brought two of them to the student placement center for the St. Paul public schools to begin the process.
June 25, 2004 - Metro Transit officials expect a large turnout for tomorrow's launch of the Hiawatha Light Rail line in Minneapolis . Interest is high for the state's first commuter rail in 50 years. After the initial buzz dies down, the train will have to go about the unglamorous work of moving people from one place to another and trying to live up to its promise as a viable alternative to more blacktop and cars. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes takes a behind-the-scenes look at the Hiawatha Rail Line and finds out what you need to take a ride.
June 28, 2004 - The thousands of Hmong refugees who are expected to arrive in Minnesota will face a major obstacle: learning English. But many English language learning classes are already full in the Twin Cities and have waiting lists. Educators say they're concerned an already stressed system could cause problems for the refugees.
June 29, 2004 - Ruminator Books, the nationally recognized independent bookstore on the Macalester College campus in St. Paul, is closing. After a series of financial problems and several attempts to find solutions, Macalester College has terminated the bookstore's lease. Booklovers say Minnesota is losing a piece of its literary history.
June 30, 2004 - The number of teacher layoffs in the Minneapolis school district has now grown to over 600. School board members approved an operating budget last night that included nearly 23 million dollars in spending cuts. Those cuts directly eliminated more than 200 teaching positions. The rest of the layoffs were due to the district's declining student numbers.