July 21, 1997 - Midday discusses urban sprawl. Is there a role for the government to conduct land use planning to control urban development? Should statewide land use plans be prepared? Guests are former Republican State Senator Fritz Knaak of White Bear Lake and Lee Ronning of the Land Stewardship Project. Listeners call in with questions.
July 9, 1997 - Midday features a program about Charles Kuralt who died today. It includes interviews with Gary Gilson of the Minnesota News Council, Dave Nimmer, former WCCO-TV reporter and professor at the University of St. Thomas, MPR reporter Laura McCallum who worked with Kuralt on "Sunday Morning," and an interview with Kuralt by Paula Schroeder. Listeners call in with questions.
June 20, 1997 - Midday discussion with the heads of Minnesota's two main political parties. Guests are Bill Cooper, newly elected chair of the state's Republican Party, and Dick Senese, chair of the state DFL Party.
May 19, 1997 - Lobbyist Judy Cook says if the logjam at the capitol over education tax credits forces the legislature into a special session, it'll probably happen only when an agreement is finally worked out, and that other topics such as flooding or even the stadium could be taken up again, as well.
May 19, 1997 - Over the weekend House and Senate conferees worked out the details of the long-awaited property tax reform package. Home owners will get a one time rebate and the tax rates for commercial property will be reduced. The package should be voted on today. Governor Carlson has said he will veto the tax bill unless he gets the tax credit provisions he wants in the education financing bill. We get the numbers from Dan Salamone, Exectutive Director of the Minnesota Taxpayers Association.
April 24, 1997 - Even though the public's attention is focused on the devastating flooding in the Red River valley, it wasn't long ago that places like Granite Falls and Montevideo in southwestern Minnesota were the center of attention. The clean-up is well underway in those cities overrun by the Minnesota River earlier this month. Busloads of Twin Cities residents have been making the daily trek to help area residents for more than week...and will continue to do so until they're no longer needed. Minnesota Public Radio's Perry Finelli went along for the ride...and has a report... 8505 sfx...bus rider commenting on what he sees as the bus travels through Montevideo...
March 17, 1997 -
February 18, 1997 - Midday talks with National Public Radio's Linda Gradstein, who has been NPR's Israeli correspondent since 1990. Her visit is part of MPR's Broadcast Journalist Series. Listeners call in with questions.
February 12, 1997 - As state officials wrestle with various ways to reduce the number of snowmobile injuries and fatalities in Minnesota, some residents of one local community are taking matters into their own hands. The Brooklyn Park Safety Snow Patrol, which is made up of volunteers from the Minneapolis suburb, observed its 25th anniversary last year, making it the oldest existing snowmobile safety group in the country. Minnesota Public Radio's Perry Finelli reports.
December 30, 1996 - A year-in-review Midday program about key issues in the field of biomedical ethics. Guest Arthur Caplan, former University of Minnesota bioethicist and now director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses assisted suicide and answers listener questions.