September 23, 2004 - A plurality of Minnesotans believe that immigrants to this state cost more than they give back. In the latest Minnesota Public Radio/St. Paul Pioneer Press poll, 42 percent said they believe the cost of absorbing immigrants and helping them get established outweighed the economic, social and other contributions they make. Thirty-seven percent in the poll said the contributions immigrants made do outweigh the costs. Measuring the precise costs and contributions immigrants offer is a complicated and sometimes controversial endeavor. Kathy Fennelly teaches courses on immigration and public policy at the University of Minnesota. She says many attempts have been made to accurately portray the trade-offs.
August 19, 2004 - A group of Hmong refugees who left St. Paul in June arrived in Washington, D.C. on August 19th, 2004, many of them on foot. Some walked the entire 1100 miles journey; others joined en route. MPR’s David Molpus talks with two involved in march.
December 24, 2003 - Nearly 600 military families in the Little Falls area are celebrating the holiday season without family members who are on overseas missions. And the Camp Ripley Family Assistance Center is trying to help them cope with the void. Cal Brumbaugh works at the center. He says the absence of someone in the military can make the holidays especially stressful.
December 22, 2003 - Wayzata's Bob Fisher has raised nearly two-million dollars for those in need -- all from a tent in his front yard. For the last eight years, the Twin Cities shoe repairman has held a winter sleep-out as a way to increase awareness for the homeless. Over that time, he's spent 138 days and nights outside. The first year he raised ten-thousand dollars. This year he received one-million dollars in donations. But Fisher says he never set out to be an advocate for the poor.