Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Minneapolis Somalis react to U.S. bombing
  Reporter Toni Randolph talked with Somali's at a Minneapolis market about their reactions to the U.S. bombing of two southern Somali areas.4:40 p.m.
• Mental health parity movement moving ahead
  Should insurance companies treat mental health issues the same way they treat physical health issues?5:20 p.m.
• The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe creates new retirement account for elders
  Leaders with the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe have a new idea to help their elders. The band is setting up a pension for retirees and the first payments are expected to go out soon.5:26 p.m.
• Homicide problem awaits Minneapolis' new police chief
  Chief Tim Dolan takes over a Minneapolis police department that saw a sharp rise in violent crime last year, and three murders already this year.5:48 p.m.
• Sexual assaults rock St. Paul's East Side
  St. Paul police are marshalling "unprecedented resources" to catch the suspect accused in the violent rape and beating of a 13-year-old girl.5:52 p.m.
• Statistics offer little reassurance in Twin Cities neighborhoods
  While the murders in Minneapolis and the attacks in St. Paul have residents on edge, statistics show crime has declined steadily in Minnesota and across the country over the last decade.5:55 p.m.
• A new life for an old brewery
  The Schmidt Brewery, on West 7th Street near downtown St. Paul, has a new owner. The 150-year-old building has been the home to two breweries, and most recently, a controversial ethanol plant.6:20 p.m.
• Apple unveils new gadgets
  Apple Computer company announced it is changing it's name to Apple Inc. to emphasize it's movement into the consumer electronics market. It also announced two new examples of such electronics: the IPhone and Apple TV. MPR's Tom Crann talks with Future Tense Host Jon Gordon about the IPhone.6:23 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Apple's CEO Shows Off Its Long-Awaited iPhone
  Fans of Apple computers got word that their favorite company is going into the phone business. Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced its new iPhone, which combines a mobile phone — including a camera — with a music player. At the Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco, Jobs also introduced the Apple TV device.
• California Governor to Require Cleaner Fuels
  California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he'll sign an executive order requiring cleaner fuels for every vehicle in California. The news came in the governor's State of the State speech in Sacramento. Robert Siegel talks with NPR's Ina Jaffe.
• Russia Turns Off an Oil Pipeline to Europe
  European leaders have condemned Russia for cutting off a major part of its oil supply network to Europe without giving its customers any warning. Moscow has shut down deliveries through a pipeline crossing Belarus, accusing Minsk of stealing Russian oil.
• Price of Oil Slides, Due in Part to Warm Winter
  For the first time in 18 months, the price of oil has fallen below $55 a barrel, in large part because the winter has been so mild in the Northeast. The United States is the world's biggest heating oil market. So when it's warm here, it has a significant impact on demand.
• House Votes to Implement Anti-Terrorism Law
  House Democrats pass the first bill of their planned legislative push, approving a measure aimed at implementing most of the remaining anti-terrorism recommendations from the 9/11 Commission.
• Abstaining From Voting on Baseball's Hall of Fame
  Michele Norris talks with baseball writer Paul Ladewski of The Daily Southtown in suburban Chicago. Eligible to vote for admission of players into the Hall of Fame, Ladewski submitted a blank ballot, because he felt he did not know enough about steroid use by players between 1993 and 2004. Ladewski says he doesn't consider his action a protest vote.
• Suing for a Punchline: Leno, NBC Target Joke Books
  Jay Leno and NBC Studios are among those suing the author of a series of joke books. "We think there's a very important principle at stake: protecting intellectual property of the comedians," says the plaintiff's attorney, "These jokes are products of a very careful choice of words."
• Back from War, and Feeling Guilt
  Commentator Ken Harbaugh is attending Yale Law School. He's also a former Navy pilot. He describes the guilt he feels about not fighting in the Iraq war.
• Las Vegas Show Highlights Gadgets and Gear
  The 40th Consumer Electronics Show is under way in Las Vegas, with every conceivable kind of gadget and device on display, from the tiny to the enormous. Flat-screen high definition TVs dominated parts of the 1.7-million square feet of exhibition space at CES. There were also plenty of mobile phones that play music and video, along with cameras and laptop computers.
• Rendition Trial Opens in Milan; U.S. Agents Absent
  The trial of a group of Americans and Italians accused of kidnapping an Egyptian cleric begins in Milan, Italy. Twenty-six Americans, most believed to be members of the CIA, and six Italian secret service agents are charged with involvement in the so-called "rendition" of Abu Omar, who was seized in 2003 and then sent to Egypt, where he says he was tortured.
• Sadr's Militia Prepares for Possible U.S. Strikes
  The Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, is preparing for war in Sadr City, the vast Baghdad slum. Announcements on Iraqi TV last night said that the cleric will force every man in Sadr City between 15 and 45 to join his militia. Sadr supporters believe they will be targeted by U.S. and Iraqi government troops.
• Rick Wagoner on the future of General Motors
  General Motors has made an unexpectedly strong showing at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The company made headlines with its electric concept car. And the show's top awards went to the Saturn Aura and Chevrolet Silverado.
• Pentagon: 'Credible Evidence' for Attack on Somalia
  The Pentagon confirms an attack on al-Qaida suspects in southern Somalia. One spokesman said that the attack was based on what he called "credible evidence." But there are other accounts from the region itself that describe more than one assault, and more casualties.
• Pelosi: Bush's Iraq Policy a 'Desperate Cause'
  The new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of California discusses the Democrats' agenda in the first 100 hours and beyond; and how Democrats will move forward with their opposition to President Bush's expected plan to raise troop levels in Iraq.
• Philadelphia Housing Group Announces Cuts
  The agency that runs Philadelphia's public housing is laying off 20 percent of its workers. The Philadelphia Housing Authority says rising maintenance costs and inadequate federal funding are forcing it to cut 350 jobs. The move follows a similar layoff in Newark, N.J.

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