StoryCorps - Mom and Son - Why Are You Still Not Married?

Did you get a chance to hear last week's StoryCorps on NPR's Morning Edition on KAXE?

10-year-old Rahsheed McKenstry interviewed his mother Rhonetta in Memphis, Tennessee. Rahsheed and his brother are being raised by their mother and he had some questions to pose to her.

"OK, so why are you not still married?"
"Because my ex-husband was horrible," she said.
"Was he violent toward you?"
"Yes."
"Was he violent toward anybody else?"
"You and your brother, which is why I won't let him see you."

Listen to their conversation here.

The StoryCorps Airstream is coming to Northern Minnesota at the end of August through September. This means you will have the chance to sit down with someone you care about and ask them questions. Contact us if you are interested in setting up an interview or want to volunteer with this project.

Other things you can do:

Listen Friday mornings to NPR's Morning Edition on 91.7 KAXE

Read the StoryCorps book "Listening Is An Act of Love - A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project"

Have your bookclub read "Listening Is An Act of Love - A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project"

Subscribe to the StoryCorps podcast

Check out the StoryCorps website - http://www.storycorps.net/

Read the StoryCorps blog

Come to a Listening Party at KAXE studios - stay tuned for details

Maggie's Local Food Update 3-12-08

There is lots of local food news around KAXE this week!

Scott Hall and I talked with Kent Lorentzen of Jacobson this morning. Kent is a local farmer and manager of the Grand Rapids Farmers’ Market. The Grand Rapids market is open Wednesdays and Fridays through the summer. This year, they’re moving to a new location, across the road from the Central Square Mall (on Highway 2). They’re also opening earlier this year (the first Saturday in May) to sell bedding plants and other items like jams and maple syrup. Kent specializes in beets, potatoes and onions. His garden is about 100’ x 120’, and he has a potato patch that is between half an acre and an acre in size. Kent said several members of the market specialize in certain foods that they can grow best on their land. Market members pay annual dues and a daily fee. For more information, and pictures of last year’s market, visit their website: http://www.grfarmersmarket.org/.

About ten people attended KAXE’s book club meeting last night, to discuss Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Vegetable, Miracle. It was a lively discussion that encompassed recipes, apple tree pruning, and raising calves. It was also a yummy discussion. Participants brought a variety of local food—beets, potato salad, cheese, venison sausage, salsa, blueberry muffins, and black current wine.

Jane Grimsbo Jewett, volunteer producer for many of KAXE’s local food segments and staff member for MISA (the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture) has offered 5 hogs for sale (they are sold by the half). The cost is approximately $234 for a half hog (that’s about 80# of meat net), including slaughtering and butchering by Beier’s Country Meats. The hogs will be butchered in late March or early April. Those ordering hogs would be paying the grower (Jane) $1.60/# for the animal. Beier’s charges $45 to slaughter and $.50/# to cut and wrap the meat to your specifications. The staff at KAXE has purchased two halves. That leaves 8 remaining. If you eat meat and are interested in some sustainably raised pork—email srose@kaxe.org (Stephanie Rose). You can sign up for an entire half or, if other people go in with you, you can split up a half.

Finally, KAXE staffer Linda Johnson is organizing a seed exchange, for those who save seeds or wish to procure some. If you’re interested in participating, email her: ljohnson@kaxe.org. She’d like to set up a day for the exchange!

If you are a local food producer, or if you know someone we should interview about local food, please let us know. Also, we’re interested in your local food recipes. We made local crepes in the KAXE kitchen this morning (with a dash of non-local Cognac in the batter, courtesy of KAXE historian and gourmet club member Don Boese). Do you have a favorite local food breakfast?

Thanks to ...

Tom Boland for these photos from the cold bus trip to Effie!

More photos from the annual meeting

The Big Read of THE MALTESE FALCON begins!

91.7 KAXE is a partner with the Grand Rapids Area library for the second Big Read in Northern Minnesota!

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to revitalize the role of reading in American popular culture.

Did you ever read this Dashiell Hammett mystery? How about the movie? Remember swarthy Humphrey Bogart and creepy Peter Lorre?

The novel is set in San Fransisco and takes places over a six-day period in 1928. Sam's Spade's partner, Miles Archer, is killed along with a thug named Thursby. Sam and Miles had never been close, but Sam says "when a man's partner is killed he's supposed to do something about it."

Throughout the month of February we'll be talking about "The Maltese Falcon" and mysteries in general. It all starts Wednesday night on Realgoodwords when I talk with Brian Freeman about his latest gritty mystery "Stalked". Set in Duluth, Jonathan Stride is back in his hometown and trying to solve the mystery of the murder of his partner's husband. I'm also going to talk with J.A. Jance about her latest mystery "Hand of Evil". This time Jance is writing about ex-television journalist Ali Reynolds. Set in Sedona, Arizona it is gritty too - looking at the world of the Internet and sexual predators.

Friday in Grand Rapids is the opening of the Itasca Historical Museum's mysterious exhibit "The Mystery of the Itasca Helmet". That evening at the Lakes Inn, the Grand Rapids Players will present the Mystery Dinner Theater production of "The Maltese Crow". Reservations are needed for this, call The Reif Center for tickets - 218-327-5780.

There are many many more events happening throughout the month, including the Saturday evening screening of "The Maltese Falcon" with conversation from University of Minnesota Film professor Robert Silberman. It's a free showing of the John Huston classic film noir at the library, beginning at 6pm. You can also see the movie on Thursday February 7th in Bigfork at the Edge Center for the Arts, hosted by Jack Nachbar.

Hope you join us in talking about the book and movie of "The Maltese Falcon". For more info, contact KAXE by email or 218-326-1234.

Some photos from the Annual Meeting

more photos from Effie

photos from the trip to Effie

Community Journalism and KAXE

KAXE is holding some upcoming trainings for you to learn about and become a community journalist.

WHAT IS COMMUNITY JOURNALISM?

It's a good question. Here's one definition:

We choose to define it as the reporting of news and information for a certain geographic area... a community, if you will, with the purpose to serve the best interests of that certain group.


In many ways, KAXE is a prime example of community journalism. KAXE's mission is to build community. We bring you stories of issues in this region of the world. As media changes and traditional journalism has become controlled by large corporations, real people talking about real issues is needed more than ever. KAXE relies on a network of people all across Northern Minnesota to give us their knowledge and viewpoints and connections. People like Bonnie the Plant Lady, Marshall Helmberger, Pam Perry...John Latimer. John has been reporting on the Phenology of Northern Minnesota for the last 25 years, with the help of the KAXE listening audience.

KAXE wants to take the idea of community radio a step further.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
KAXE has been in Northern Minnesota for over 31 years now. The founders of KAXE would have never expected to one day have live audio streaming on the internet for the whole world to hear, or a website that enhances the programming of KAXE. But what about the future? How will we receive our news, music and information? How will we connect with each other?

KAXE has been working on a community website project that aims to include and reach outside the boundaries of KAXE's on-air community. You can find almost anything you'd ever want on the Internet, except what is happening in your local community. In some ways we are connected to a global world, and increasingly unconnected from the communities where we live. If you live in a very small town, how do you find the scores of the volleyball game or wrestling match? How do you find local businesses? How do you find out about jobs in the local area? How do you find your lost dog?

In looking to the future, we know that radio will be used if not less, in different ways than it is now. So we're looking ahead, in hopes of putting together an internet project that will serve the needs of our community now and in the future.

WE NEED COMMUNITY JOURNALISTS LIKE YOU!
Are you already involved in your community? Are you a writer? A photographer? A video journalist? Maybe you are someone who is community minded and wants to make a difference. KAXE's new community web project is the place for you. In conjunction with Bemidji State University and Itasca Community College, we've got some free, community journalism training sessions coming up with Doug McGill, a former New York Times bureau chief who is at the forefront of what he calls "glocalism".

Glocalism is the idea that our local worlds are rich with global connections that support our comfortable way of life, our health, our homes, our hobbies, our livelihoods, our future prospects, and our very lives.

McGill will teach community journalism on Friday October 5th in Grand Rapids and Saturday October 6th in Bemidji. Think of it as Journalism school in a day. These classes are open to the public - and no previous journalism background is required. What is required is a desire to be involved your community. Here's some examples of community or citizen journalism in local communities:

Northfield
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Brattleboro, Vermont
MN Monitor

Contact KAXE to sign up for the class, comments@kaxe.org or call 218-326-1234. You can also register online.