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

• Grooving to the Sound of an Optigan
  For our SoundClips series, listener Graig Markel demonstrates the late, great musical instrument called the "optigan."
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• New Federal Rules on Subprime Loans Issued
  Lenders may soon be more careful about making home loans to people with tarnished credit. Federal regulators are proposing new guidelines that would discourage some of the riskiest loans to these so-called "subprime borrowers." The crackdown comes as more and more borrowers are falling behind on their mortgage payments.
• U.S. Tax Program for Illegal Immigrants Under Fire
  The hundreds of thousands of immigrants working in the United States illegally are still expected to pay income taxes. The program works by providing a special tax identification number instead of a Social Security number — and participants are guaranteed that the information can't be used to deport them.
• FCC Settles Payola Case with Giant Radio Firms
  The Federal Communications Commission is set to announce an anti-"payola" settlement with four major radio broadcasting companies. The tentative agreement would include a significant increase in airtime for "independent label" and "local" artists. The FCC settlement, which is expected to be announced this week, includes a $12.5 million fine.
• Sri Lanka Hails Victory; Refugees Unsure of Future
  In Sri Lanka, government forces say they've won crucial victories, allowing them to cut off the rebel Tamil Tigers' supply line and secure terrain used to shell a naval base. But for 40,000 Tamil refugees displaced by civil war and a tsunami, the question is when — and how — they'll be able to return home.
• U.S. Olympic Group Visits L.A. and Chicago
  In a contest between the nation's second- and third-largest cities, Los Angeles and Chicago are vying to host the Olympic Games in 2016. The U.S. Olympic Committee will decide in April which city gets to represent the United States' bid to bring the games back to America.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Book Details Journey from the Streets to the Stove
  Jeff Henderson discovered his love of food while working as a dishwasher in prison, where he served time for dealing drugs. Now the executive chef at Cafe Bellagio in Las Vegas, Henderson shares his story in Cooked, a new memoir.

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