July 29, 2005 - Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak's 2006 budget proposal is 1.3 billion dollars - a nearly three percent increase over 2005. Most of that increase will go to adding police officers and funding public safety programs. Public safety is a key issue because this is an election year and violent crime has gone up in the state's largest city. Several city council members say Rybak's budget will reduce crime while others say he should have addressed the city's public safety concerns earlier.
August 2, 2005 - MPR’s Marianne Combs profiles painter, and now composer, Matthew Smith. Combs talks with Smith about the physical and mental transition from painting to composing. Combs also interviews other artists about Smith’s work.
August 4, 2005 - Dr. Andrew Portis, a Twin Cities physician, is trying to figure out why the Hmong patients he sees appear to be more prone to kidney stones than his patients who are not Hmong. Portis also is hoping his research will shed light on why many Hmong patients refuse treatment until they have reached a crisis.
August 4, 2005 - It appears that a disproportionate number of Hmong patients suffer from kidney stones. A St. Paul urologist has found that more than half of his Hmong patients have stones while only 11-percent of his patients who are not Hmong have them. Dr. Andrew Portis says the Hmong also frequently have more severe kidney damage. Portis found that up to 8-percent have had to have a kidney removed. He says that's because many Hmong are refusing conventional medical treatment until they have reached a crisis.
August 4, 2005 - A St. Paul doctor is researching why his Hmong patients are more prone to kidney stones. Urologist Andrew Portis says more than half of his Hmong patients have been diagnosed with stones compared to about 11-percent of his non-Hmong patients. And he says Hmong patients often have more severe kidney damage.
August 4, 2005 - It appears that a disproportionate number of Hmong patients suffer from kidney stones. A St. Paul urologist has found that more than half of his Hmong patients have stones while only 11-percent of his patients who are not Hmong have them. Dr. Andrew Portis says the Hmong also frequently have more severe kidney damage. Portis found that up to 8-percent have had to have a kidney removed. He says that's because many Hmong are refusing conventional medical treatment until they have reached a crisis.
August 9, 2005 - MPR’s Karl Gehrke interviews singer and Duluth native Emily Van Evera about her CD “My Lady Rich” celebrating the life Elizabethan era Lady Penelope Rich.
August 11, 2005 - In 1964, legendary radio host and oral historian Studs Terkel brought a young, virtually unknown songwriter from Hibbing into the studios at WFMT Chicago... That interview with a young Bob Dylan is one of dozens Studs Terkel has transcribed for a new collection of conversations about music he recorded over more than forty years. The book includes Terkel's interviews with classical conductors, opera divas, blues legends, folk musicians and many others.
August 18, 2005 - The co-chair of the Police Community Relations Council in Minneapolis says there are tensions on panel. But the Reverend Ian Bethel says that's why the council is needed. The PCRC was established more than a year ago with the help of a federal mediator to deal with a number of police policies, including hiring, training and use of force. But a rift has developed between the police department members and community members. Reverend Bethel says since some members of the council have had their own run-ins with the Minneapolis Police Department, that's not surprising.
August 18, 2005 - Minneapolis Police Chief William McManus says he'll remain on the Police Community Relations Council, despite the rift between the police department and community members on the panel. But the chief says he'll no longer quietly accept the attacks some members of the council aim at the police department. The PCRC's co-chair is the Reverend Ian Bethel. He says there's some tension on the council, but that the panel provides a valuable opportunity for public.