July 9, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger interviews Wayne Johnson, author of the crime novel "Don't Think Twice." The hero of book, Paul Two Persons, is a Ivy-League educated Chippewa, and owns a remote lodge on Lake of the Woods. Two Persons finds himself in serious trouble when he returns to the reservation he grew up on. The book relies heavily on the land and waters of northern Minnesota, and the traditions of the Indians who live there.
June 22, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports that the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe are looking ahead at a future without gaming. Like many Indian tribes, the Mille Lacs Ojibwe got an enormous boost from gaming in the 1990s. Its two casinos brought in millions of dollars annually, and hundreds of new jobs. Now the Band is trying to broaden its economy.
May 6, 1999 - This week, our Mainstreet reporting team looks at Minnesota's 'hidden' population -- rural minorities. In some Minnesota counties, all the residents are white. In some cities and towns, the minority population has just begun to grow. It's a change that enriches life for some, and threatens others. The recent Supreme Court treaty affirmation capped a decade of friction between American Indians and their non-Indian neighbors. We're now left to digest not only the impact of the decision, but also the shouting, defensiveness and political manuevering it followed.
May 3, 1999 - Midday presents a Mainstreet Radio special report "Hidden Rainbow: The Changing Face of Minnesota." Program presents a series of reports on the state's growing minority population in outstate Minnesota.
April 13, 1999 - The time between snowmelt and spring growth is Minnesota's most dangerous fire season. Every year thousands of acres burn, and tens of thousands of dollars are spent controlling the flames. But this year, an agreement between three midwest states and two Canadian provinces could mean better firefighting for all and a strange new sight on Minnesota lakes.
April 1, 1999 - The quest for jail space has become a perpetual issue for cities and counties around the state. Stiffer penalties and growing populations have filled jails to capacity; some counties spend hundreds of thousands a year driving prisoners back and forth to other locations. Now six central-Minnesota counties are asking the legislature to fund a study for a regional jail a 200-bed facility to catch the overflow, and take the pressure off county lockups.
March 25, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports that Mille Lacs Ojibwe leaders called for cooperation and friendship after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of treaty rights. The decision affirmed an 1837 agreement allowing eight tribes to fish and hunt without state regulation in east-central Minnesota.
March 3, 1999 - The chief executive of the Mille Lacs Ojibwe Band says she's still waiting to hear from Governor Jesse Ventura, after the publication of her open letter criticizing Ventura's leadership. In the letter, chief executive Marge Anderson accused the governor of attempting to inflame public opinion against the Band, even as the Supreme Court prepares to hand down a final decision on treaty rights.
February 5, 1999 - MPR’s Leif Enger interviews American singer, songwriter, and musician Bobby Vee, who shares memories of his 40-year music career…and that of a music tragedy tied to his own history.
January 19, 1999 - Department of Natural Resources employees are back to wondering who their new boss will be, after Alan Horner resigned earlier today. Horner was the come-out-of-nowhere DNR commissioner named by Governor Jesse Ventura, a successful businessman and former Navy Seal; he quit after it was revealed he'd been cited for breaking game and fish laws.