Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Some St. Paul residents fret about '08 GOP convention security perimeter
  Right down to the arena thermostat setting, planning for next year's Republican National Convention is occurring with painstaking detail and the pace of preparations is about to pick up.5:18 p.m.
• House Democrats push higher income taxes for schools
  A key House committee chair is proposing an income tax increase to fund Minnesota schools. Rep. Mindy Greiling, DFL-Roseville who chairs the K-12 Finance Committee, wants to raise the tax rate for upper-income Minnesotans.5:22 p.m.
• Star Tribune hires publisher away from rival St. Paul Pioneer Press
  The Star Tribune hired Par Ridder away from the Pioneer Press on the same day the Minneapolis paper's sale to Avista Capital Partners closed.6:18 p.m.
• What Ridder brings to the Star Tribune
  Par Ridder is an expert on the Twin Cities newspaper market who has spent years carving a niche for a the Pioneer Press as a lean, profitable and local paper compared to it's larger rival, the Star Tribune. Media commentator David Brauer says readers should expect the Strib to adopt a similar "hyper-local" approach to the news.6:23 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Panel: Army Hospital Woes Go Beyond Walter Reed
  Conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center are symptomatic of wider problems at veterans' hospitals across the country. So concluded lawmakers who heard testimony Monday from wounded Iraq war veterans who say they've received poor medical care in deplorable facilities.
• Father and Son Turn Backs on VA Hospitals
  Eddie Ryan, a Marine wounded in the Iraq war, spent four months in a Veterans Affairs hospital, where his father says conditions were so terrible that he worked hard to get him out. Chris Ryan says he'll never send his son to a VA facility again.
• VA Head Acknowledges Mistakes at Hospitals
  Since The Washington Post ran a series detailing poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which is run by the Pentagon, charges have emerged of similar situations at Veterans Affairs hospitals nationwide.
• Russian Foreign Policy Hints at a New Cold War
  Fifteen years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the rhetoric from Moscow is once again confrontational. Some observers warn of a new Cold War and say the U.S. and Europe need to reassess their attitudes toward Russia.
• Bill Would Let FDA Clamp Down on Tobacco Ads
  Legislation before Congress would make cigarette advertising even scarcer than it already is. Tobacco ads already are banned from radio, TV, and billboards. The Food and Drug Administration's new regulations would restrict advertising in magazines, stores and online.
• The Independence of U.S. Federal Attorneys
  NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr weighs in on flap over the firings of several U.S. attorneys.
• Douglass Memorial Sparks Debate on Art vs. History
  Did slaves use secretly coded quilt patterns to help plan their escapes on the Underground Railroad? Many historians have their doubts. The design for a new Frederick Douglass memorial sparks a debate pitting oral tradition against documented historical fact.
• Grooving to the Sound of an Optigan
  For our SoundClips series, listener Graig Markel demonstrates the late, great musical instrument called the "optigan."
• Domenici Called About U.S. Attorney Four Times
  A senior Republican senator says he regrets a phone call he made to a U.S. attorney about an ongoing corruption probe. Sen. Pete Domenci (R-NM) wanted federal prosecutor David Iglesias to speed up a probe of a prominent local Democrat. Iglesias was fired in November.
• Congressional Input on U.S. Attorneys
  Melissa Block talks with Mary Jo White, who was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1993 to 2002. She talks about what kind of contact she had with members of Congress when she held the post.

The Dinner Party Download™

A fast, funny digest of the week's most interesting news, cuisine, cocktails and culture.

Services

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