Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Pawlenty targets illegal immigration
  Gov. Tim Pawlenty is renewing his call to crack down on illegal immigration in Minnesota.4:20 p.m.
• Can downtown Minneapolis retail rebound?
  Several prominent retailers have closed shop in downtown Minneapolis recently. And that's renewed concerns about the future of downtown Minneapolis as a retail center.4:24 p.m.
• Carbon monoxide poisoning kills one man in St. Paul
  Carbon monoxide leaking from a malfunctioning boiler killed one St. Paul man and sent five people -- including three children -- to the hospital early Monday.5:50 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Last-Minute Decisions for Milford, N.H., Voters
  Last March, when we first visited Milford, N.H., to gauge residents' attitudes about the upcoming primary, the presidential race was far from people's minds. Now on the verge of Tuesday's balloting, the number of undecided voters has shrunk dramatically.
• Justices Weigh Legality of Lethal Drug Cocktail
  The Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments on whether the drug combination Kentucky uses for lethal injection executions causes so much pain that it violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Many states use the same drugs.
• McCain, Romney Seek Paths to a N.H. Victory
  In New Hampshire, a close race is shaping up between Republicans John McCain and Mitt Romney. McCain, a senator from Arizona, hopes his appeal to independents will make the difference, while Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, sets his sights on traditional Republican voters.
• Rights Battle Brews over Un-Edited Carver Stories
  In 1981, Knopf published a collection of short stories by Raymond Carver called What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. Now Carver's widow wants his readers to see the original stories, which were edited heavily for the book. Knopf says it owns the rights — but to what?
• 'Father's Law' a Reflection of Wright's Masterpieces
  In 1940, Chicago-based author Richard Wright published Native Son, sparking a 20-year run of trailblazing for other African-American writers. Wright died of a heart attack in Paris in the autumn of 1960, leaving behind an unfinished novel, which his daughter is now publishing.
• Coalition Idea Repels Kenya's Opposition Candidate
  Raila Odinga appears unwilling to enter into a coalition government with President Mwai Kibaki. In 2002, when Kibaki and Odinga joined forces to defeat former President Daniel arap Moi's chosen successor, the two men had a memorandum of understanding, and Kibaki reneged on the deal.
• Venice Offers Lessons on Coping with Rising Seas
  As the Earth warms up, rising sea levels will increase the threat of storm surges and flooding. In some places, that will make exisiting problems worse. Venice, Italy, offers a glimpse at what may lie ahead. A major engineering project aims to protect it from the rising sea, but most Venetians seem to take high water in stride.
• Writers Strike Fallout Still Roils Hollywood
  Actors are refusing to cross picket lines to attend the Golden Globes, which could derail the awards show. The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are going back on the air without writers. And now there's news of a deal between United Artists and the writers union.
• What to Watch: Blu-Ray or HD-DVD?
  There's a format war going on in video right now: high definition DVD vs. Blu-Ray. It looks like Blu-Ray is winning because more content is going to be produced for Blu-Ray than for HD-DVD. But at the big Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, it's hard to tell the difference in picture quality between the two.
• Study Boosts Switchgrass as New Alternative Fuel
  Ever since President George Bush's invocation in 2006 to turn prairie grass into ethanol fuel, scientists have been trying to figure out if the process is practical. A new study bodes well; it finds switchgrass is more efficient to grow for biofuel than corn.

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