August 21, 1997 - MPR’s John Biewen presents the first of two reports on how the Twin Cities are responding to black newcomers. Report includes commentary from residents, politicians, and academics.
August 21, 1997 - MPR’s John Biewen presents the second of two reports on how the growth of the black population is affecting race relations in the Twin Cities. Report includes commentary from residents, politicians, and academics.
July 14, 1997 - The shopping mall is sometimes described as the new American gathering place, the modern replacement for Main Street. But a mall is different from a street or a public square in one important respect: it's private property. And the right to speak, or to to preach, picket, or hand out leaflets, usually does not apply on private property. Free speech advocates argue that shopping malls function like public places so First Amendment rights should be recognized there. That argument has had mixed success in the courts. Minnesota Public Radio's John Biewen reports.
July 7, 1997 - Senator Paul Wellstone brought his poverty tour to Minneapolis and rural Aitkin County this (last) week. The Democrat is touring pockets of poverty across the country this summer and fall. He says he wants to evoke Robert Kennedy's poverty tour of thirty years ago. Some observers think Wellstone may also be setting the stage for a try at the presidency in 2000. Minnesota Public Radio's John Biewen reports that Wellstone's campaign to shine a light on poverty is getting mixed reviews from political observers and poverty experts. When senator Robert Kennedy travelled to places like the Mississippi Delta and eastern Kentucky in 1967 and '68, he found families in shacks with no running water... and children without enough to eat. 30 years later, hun
June 2, 1997 - As part of the “Voices of Minnesota" series, this program features two health related interviews. MPR’s John Biewen speaks with Dr. Ron Cranford of the Hennepin County Medical Center. Cranford is an ethicist and end-of-life specialist. Infertility specialist. MPR’s Stephanie Curtis speaks with Dr. Robert Jansen, author of "Overcoming Infertiity: A Compassionate Resource for Getting Pregnant." Program ends with MPR’s Brent Wolfe presenting a feature on new carousel in Kellogg, Minnesota.
June 2, 1997 - One of the losers in this year's Minnesota legislative session was the rent-to-own industry. Federal courts have found that rent-to-own stores overcharged customers and effectively crippled the industry in Minnesota. A bill that would have removed many restrictions on the industry failed. Minnesota Public Radio's John Biewen reports that organized labor played a key role in stopping the bill.
May 29, 1997 - Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone will tour several towns in the Mississippi Delta today ... in the first part of what he's billing as a nationwide poverty tour. Over the coming weeks, Wellstone plans to retrace the steps of Robert Kennedy... who visited some of the country's poorest regions in 1967 and '68. Minnesota Public Radio's John Biewen reports on how poverty has... or has not... changed... in the past thirty years. When Senator Robert Kennedy traveled to the Mississippi Delta in 1967... he found children in tattered clothing... with no access to a doctor and, in some cases, not enough to eat. Their parents had lost their cotton-plantation jobs to mechanization. A few months later... Kennedy found similar conditions among displaced coal mining families in eastern Kentucky. Georgetown
May 12, 1997 - MPR’s John Biewen profiles local composer Randall Davidson and the work of connecting artist with communities. For Davidson, that includes projects involving Hmong community and life stories of St. Paul public housing residents.
May 6, 1997 - For the last several decades the federal government has spent billions of dollars each year to increase the number of public housing units and rent subsidies for poor people. This year under Congress' efforts to restrain spending and balance the budget the federal government has stopped adding to its stock of subsidized housing. The government says a record number of Americans, five million households, now spend more than half their income on housing. And a growing number can't afford an apartment a place to live at all. Minnesota Public Radio's John Biewen reports.
April 22, 1997 - The Minnesota Senate has passed a bill yesterday that would allow the state's rent-to-own stores to go back to business as usual. A federal court ruled last year that the nation's largest rent-to-own chain, Rent-A-Center, overcharged its Minnesota customers. The court ordered the company to give back millions of dollars. Now the bill moving through the legislature would legalize Rent-A-Center's business practices. Minnesota Public Radio's John Biewen reports.