Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Long-time Minneapolis school board member will step down
  Judy Farmer, who has served on the Minneapolis school board since 1980, will not seek reelection this year. She told Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Crann about the challenges and successes of a quarter-century on the board.4:45 p.m.
• DM&E gets final approval
  After five years of controversy, the DM&E is ready to lay track. The federal Surface Transportation Board gave the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad final approval to extend its line into Wyoming and upgrade existing track.5:15 p.m.
• Teflon chemical, once made by 3M, called a 'likely carcinogen'
  A chemical developed by 3M and formerly made in the Twin Cities may be declared a "likely carcinogen," based on the recommendation of a government advisory panel. The chemical is PFOA, which was used to make Scotchgard and Teflon. It's no longer made by 3M in Minnesota.5:19 p.m.
• U of M women's basketball team still in the hunt in Big Ten
  The University of Minnesota women's basketball team continues its chase for the Big Ten title, but the team faces some challenges.5:45 p.m.
• Witnessing the life of Sojourner Truth
  For the past 17 years, the Twin Cities choral group VocalEssence has marked Black History Month with its annual Witness concert. This year, VocalEssence is staging an unusual choral ballet that tells the story of Sojourner Truth, a former slave and activist.5:49 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Senate Intelligence Panel to Vote on NSA Spying
  The Senate Intelligence Committee is expected to vote down a bipartisan proposal for a Senate investigation into the warrantless surveillance conducted by the NSA.
• American Accent Undergoing Great Vowel Shift
  Professor William Labov, a University of Pennsylvania linguist and author of the new book Atlas of North American English Phonetics, Phonology and Sound Change, says there is a shift of vowel sounds in the inland northern cities. He calls it the "northern city shift."
• Study: Big Decisions Best Made With Less Thought
  You're likely to make a better decision if you don't overanalyze it, according to new research. A study published in Science magazine finds that people make better decisions if they stop thinking about the pros and cons and let the unconscious mind do some of the work.
• Haiti Declares Preval Winner of Election
  Haiti's interim government announces it is declaring frontrunner Rene Preval winner of the presidential election. The announcement comes after four days of massive demonstrations, allegations of fraud, and the mysterious appearance of thousands of ballots on a dump heap outside the capital.
• Did Keeping His Silence Damage Cheney's Image?
  Vice President Dick Cheney already was facing declining popularity when he accidentally shot his hunting buddy. Senior news analyst Daniel Schorr says that Cheney would have fared better had he gone public immediately after the shooting rather than spending four days figuring out how to handle it.
• Attacks Spike in Iraq, U.S. General Says
  An American general in Baghdad says insurgency assaults against Iraqi troops and civilians are on the rise. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch says attacks have increased on a daily and weekly basis. Military officials say the spike in attacks is an effort to derail the new Iraqi government.
• Article Proposes Open Market for Human Kidneys
  An article in the journal Kidney International proposes the legalization and regulation of the sale of human kidneys. One of the authors, Dr. Amy Friedman of Yale University Medical Center, explains to Robert Siegel the rationale behind this growing opinion.
• Questions Raised About Declassification Authority
  Lawyer Eugene Fidell talks with Robert Siegel about executive orders and the vice president's authority to declassify material. Fidell is a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm Feldesman Tucker, and heads the firm's military practice group.
• Abu Ghraib Photos Spread; U.N. Targets Guantanamo
  Salon.com publishes previously unreleased photos of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in 2003. Separately, a U.N. report urges the United States to close its military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
• Proposed Mississippi State Poem Questioned
  Michele Norris talks with Allan Mitchell, an adjunct instructor at the University of Mississippi, about efforts to stop the state legislature from making the lyrics to the song "I Am Mississippi" the official state poem. Mitchell and other critics say the song is full of cliches.
• New Orleans Hospital Staff Discussed Mercy Killings
  Hospital administrators at New Orleans' Memorial Medical Center saw a doctor filling syringes with painkillers and heard plans to give lethal doses to patients unable to evacuate after Hurricane Katrina hit. The eyewitness testimony is documented in court documents not yet made public.
• Letters: Graffiti Games, Web Engines
  Michele Norris and Robert Siegel read this week's letters. Listeners fume about a graffiti-oriented video game, question the timing of a profile about Kansas Senator Sam Brownback and give thanks for a comparison of Web engines in China and the United States.
• Rice, Conrad Face Off Over Water in Iraq
  In Senate Budget Committee hearings, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) have a disagreement about the availability of potable water in post-war Iraq.
• Tigua Indians Learn Tough Lesson From Abramoff
  The Tigua Indians have fallen on hard times, and they lay part of the blame on Jack Abramoff. The tribe paid Abramoff and Michael Scanlon $4.2 million to lobby Congress for permission to reopen their casino. The business partners took the tribe's money and laughed behind their backs.
• What's Behind Bird Flu: The Chicken or the Duck?
  Health officials say migratory waterfowl like ducks and geese are spreading the H5N1 bird flu virus from Asia to Europe and Africa. Bird experts aren't so sure; they point to an illegal trade in infected poultry.

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories

Become a Sponsor