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People & Places

• Nicotine and frostbite
  People in Minnesota have been known to cut a hole in their mittens so they can hold a cigarette. Smokers can't light up inside anymore, and frigid winter days are tough.February 10, 2003
• Stories from Montevideo
  What happens when tales of real life are transformed into art? The Children's Theatre Company and residents of Montevideo are doing just that.January 31, 2003
• Stoking up some songs
  Every year Zeitgeist, the St Paul-based new music ensemble, challenges Minnesota's amateur composers to enter a song contest. There is some money for the winners, but the real prize is a chance to hear Zeitgeist perform the piece in concert.January 24, 2003
• Making winter when the sun shines
  Regional ski resorts spend millions of dollars making snow each year. Professional snow makers have spent decades refining the production of light, powdery snow to an exact science. Now new techology is helping resorts produce even better snow, by removing humans from the equation.January 20, 2003
• Spicer's icy festival
  The west central Minnesota town of Spicer kicks off its annual Winterfest this weekend. Every year, volunteers cut 100 tons of ice blocks from nearby Green Lake and stack them to build a structure.January 17, 2003
• Oats LeGrand is a small town legend
  What makes someone a legend? Is it a person's skill, personality or charisma? In northwest Minnesota, people of all ages call Odis "Oats" LeGrand a legend. He has been an athlete, teacher and a sportscaster, and was once named by Sports Illustrated "The Voice of Small-Town America."January 14, 2003
• City Hall restoration project to give Minneapolis 'a grand entrance'
  Sagging stained-glass windows and discolored marble are two of the problems Minneapolis officials hope to fix as they refurbish the main entrance to the century-old City Hall. Workers have erected scaffolding inside the grand, five-story rotunda to facilitate the restoration over the next 11 months.January 14, 2003
• Youth group steps forward
  Youth groups from St. Mark A.M.E. Church in Duluth share their "stepping ministry" with other young people around the country. Their pastor says the dancing also propels the young steppers to college.December 27, 2002
• Minding manners the American way
  Washington Post syndicated columnist Judith Martin, aka "Miss Manners," has been counseling and scolding Americans for 25 years now, mostly criticizing Americans for their lack of good manners. But she is out with a new book that actually praises Americans and their manners. The book, Star Spangled Manners, in which Miss Manners defends American etiquette for a change, traces the history and philosophy of American etiquette. She spoke at Ruminator Books in St. Paul.December 26, 2002
• Norway in a cafe
  An anthropologist from Norway is studying the descendents of Norwegian immigrants in west central Minnesota. Sarah Lund wants people in her country to understand why Norwegian immigrants came to America and how they lived. Lund is focusing her research on the Norway Lake community north of Willmar. That's where she found a small cafe that's a researcher's gold mine. The Sunburg Cafe features Norwegian food and a clientele that speaks fluent Norwegian.December 26, 2002
• Christmas stories
  A variety of Christmas stories -- both classic and contemporary -- read by authors and Minnesota Public Radio personalities. Selections include Truman Capote reading his story "A Christmas Memory," and a tribute to the history of Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".December 25, 2002
• Christmas stories
  A variety of Christmas stories -- both classic and contemporary -- read by authors and Minnesota Public Radio personalities. Selections include Truman Capote reading his story "A Christmas Memory," and a tribute to the history of Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".December 25, 2002
• Taking matters into their own hands
  In rural parts of the state, many churches are having a hard time finding and paying priests or pastors. But for one denomination, the solution is simple, and ancient: Do it yourself.December 22, 2002
• Crossing a deep cultural divide
  Five Hmong teenage girls from St. Paul hope visiting their parents' homeland will help them better understand the deep cultural divide that separates them from their parents.December 20, 2002
• A look into Minnesota's history
  We delve into stories from Minnesota's past, with three Minnesota Public Radio documentaries. First, MPR's Dan Olson reports on Sister Elizabeth Kenny's efforts to fight the polio epidemic in the 1940's and 50's. The second part of the program is a report from MPR's Tim Post and Mark Steil on the 1862 Dakota Indian war, called "Minnesota's Uncivil War." Then, MPR's Mary Losure and Dan Olson report on the struggles of the Finns who immigrated to Minnesota's Iron Range at the turn of the century. This report is called "Finland Was a Poor Country."December 16, 2002

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