August 21, 2002 - Light rail transit officials say the projected state budget deficit has forced them to delay the start of light rail service in Minneapolis. Hiawatha Line officials say service won't start until April, 2004, four months later than projected. They say construction of the eleven and half mile long line from downtown Minneapolis to the Mall of America is on time and within budget. But they say there's not enough money to begin service as early as they wanted. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports. Hiawatha Line officials wanted the **first** train to leave the station in December 2003 with partial service from the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis to the Veterans Hospital on the city's southern border. Metropolitan Council chairman Ted Mondale says the startup is delayed because his agency has to put together a budget that anticipates the projected state budget deficit.
August 15, 2002 -
August 14, 2002 - MPR series "Voices of Minnesota" features interviews with World War II military veterans Avis Schorer and Ken Porwoll.
August 5, 2002 -
July 1, 2002 - The July edition of MPR's Voices of Minnesota series features resigned bishop James Shannon and Pam Costain, the retiring head of the Resource Center of the Americas.
June 7, 2002 - The June edition of MPR's Voices of Minnesota series, featuring Alexander Braginsky of the ePiano competition, and St. Olaf Choir Director Anton Armstrong. MPR’s Dan Olson presents profiles and interviews of the two artists.
June 5, 2002 - MPR presents a series of reports "Reading, Writing and Revenue," which looks at Minnesota schools' funding crunch. MPR’s Dan Olson profiles the Osseo school district as it tries to balance its’ finances.
May 30, 2002 - New numbers from the Metropolitan Council show that if present trends continue a ring of small towns around the fringe of the Twin Cities will experience explosive population growth over the next thirty years. The council's projections now put the region's overall growth pattern at the high end of earlier predictions. The numbers also show growth in the central cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul will be stronger than earlier forecasts. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports. According to the Metropolitan Council, residents of Elko, where there are now 155 households, can expect a thousand households by 2030. Folks in neighboring New Market with 131 households can expect 2300 households by 2030. Both cities are twenty miles south of downtown Minneapolis. Metropolitan Council researcher Michael Munson says a ring of small towns around the Twin Cities will see similar growth.
May 30, 2002 - The May edition of MPR's "Voices of Minnesota" series, featuring two Minnesotans who do international relief work: Juliette Fournot of Doctors Without Borders and Tony Kozlowski, former head of the Minnesota-based American Refugee Committee, who is now with a Swiss humanitarian agency.
May 23, 2002 - An All Things Considered/Mainstreet Radio profile of author and poet BIll Holm, his small home town Minneota, and literary history of nearby Marshall. Program includes interview with Holm, various readings performed by MPR staff, and musical elements.