Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Hallberg on Alzheimer's
  A treatment for Alzheimers may be possible within just a few years. Last month, a U of M study identified a key link to memory loss. Researchers identified a common brain protein that impairs brain function by slowly poisoning the brain over time. They believe discovery could lead to new Alzhiemer's drugs, and could even lead to a treatment to reverse the effects of Alzheimer's. This research, along with at least three upcoming drug trials, show promise for treating a desease that has long vexed doctors and their patients. But as our regular medical analyst Dr. Jon Hallberg pointed out, the symptoms and diagnosis of the disease have remained largely unchanged. [TAKE VO NAME: alzheimers (hallberg) NUMBER: 5480 OUTCUE: "...university of Minnesota." DURATION:8'09"]4:49 p.m.
• Coleman on nukes
  Last December several people posing as a fake U.S. company were able to acquire enough radioactive material to build two so-called "dirty" bombs. The group then split into two teams. Each was able to smuggle the material into the U.S. The teams were actually investigators from the Government Accountability Office. They were sent on the mission by a U.S. Senate subcommittee chaired by Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman. Coleman -- a Republican -- says the implications of the investigation could not be more serious.5:18 p.m.
• Confusion about MVST ballot question fuels funding debate at Capitol
  Transportation advocates are worried they're confusing Minnesota voters with language they may face this November on the state's general election ballot.5:23 p.m.
• Singing out at 25
  The Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a series of concerts at the Ted Mann Concert Hall in Minneapolis. Three long time chorus members talked about its importance in their lives.5:48 p.m.
• Being gay in the NFL
  Since his retirement from the NFL, Esara Tuaolo has taken what's perhaps his most profound step: he's become one of the few professional football players to publicly come out about his homosexuality.6:23 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Government Won't Release NSA Information to Attorneys
  Attorneys trying to find out whether their U.S. clients were monitored by the NSA are running into a problem that could make it difficult to challenge the surveillance program. The government says that any information about the cases is classified, and that even attorneys can't view it.
• Massachusetts Court Limits Gay Marriage to Residents
  Two years after making Massachusetts the nation's first and only state to legalize gay marriage, the state Supreme Court rules that, in most cases, same-sex partners from out of state cannot come to Massachusetts to get married.
• Air over Antarctica is Warming, British Scientists Say
  British scientists say that during the past 30 years, the air over Antarctica has been heating up faster than anywhere else on earth. They came to this conclusion by digging up reams of data from old weather balloons, but their claim is being met with skepticism.
• Senate Begins Contentious Debate on Immigration Policy
  A divided Senate, led by a divided Republican party, begins the debate on overhauling immigration policy. Whatever the Senate comes up with, it will have to reconcile the legislation with a very restrictive House bill.
• Border Talks on Tap as 'NAFTA' Leaders Meet in Mexico
  President Bush meets with Mexican President Vicente Fox and new Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Cancun, Mexico, for talks. Immigration and border security -- and the balance between the two -- are expected to dominate the two days of meetings.
• Family, Friends Elated at News of Carroll's Release
  Jill Carroll's father says the family is thrilled by his daughter's release in Baghdad, Iraq, after three months in captivity. Relatives and friends of Carroll were awoken early this morning by news of her freedom. Monica Brady Myerov of member station WBUR reports.
• Freed Reporter Unclear on Motive for Her Abduction
  American reporter Jill Carroll is released unharmed in Iraq, three months after she was kidnapped. "I was treated well, but I don't know why I was kidnapped," Carroll said in an interview on Baghdad television. Her captors had demanded that female detainees be freed or Carroll would be killed.
• Interior Department Claims Wetlands Gain
  Interior Secretary Gale Norton announces that after decades of trying to stop the loss of wetlands, the country has finally succeeded. But Norton's wetlands report has been criticized as misleading; it counts manmade reservoirs and ponds created for storm runoff.
• Letters: Immigration, A Year to Live, 'Snakes' Buzz
  Melissa Block and Michele Norris read from listeners' letters and emails, including comments on the immigration debate, our story on a woman who cared for her husband while he battled a brain tumor, and a report on the Internet buzz surrounding the upcoming movie, Snakes on a Plane.
• Law Stands in the Way of Sturdy Katrina Cottages
  As trailers are delivered to the hurricane homeless, another option is drawing attention. They're Katrina cottages, sturdier and cheaper than trailers. But law prohibits FEMA from paying for what is considered "permanent" housing. Connie Moran, mayor of Ocean Springs, Miss., talks with Michele Norris.
• Congress, FEMA Try to Free Up Stockpile of Trailers
  FEMA and Congress are trying to figure out what to do with more than 10,000 mobile homes hastily stockpiled in Hope, Ark., after Hurricane Katrina. Federal regulations forbid them from being placed in a floodplain, so few were ever sent to the Gulf Coast. A move is on to change the law.
• W. Va. Trial to Determine Fault in 2001 Flooding
  A trial is under way in West Virginia to determine whether severe flooding in the state's coal fields in 2001 was an act of God, or the result of negligence by coal companies and timber companies. Dan Heyman of West Virginia Public Broadcasting reports.
• New York to Release 911 Calls from Sept. 11
  New York City prepares to release redacted tape recordings of 911 calls made from the World Trade Center on September 11. The New York Times has obtained one victim's last call to police and fire.
• Alaska Town Watched by Eighty Security Cameras
  The city of Dillingham, Alaska -- population 2,400 -- has eighty surveillance cameras installed around town and at its port. The cameras were purchased with grant money from the Department of Homeland Security. City councilor Andy DeValpine and barge captain Freeman Roberts talk with Michele Norris.
• University Names Building After a Local Slave and Poet
  The University of North Carolina is naming a building after a slave who worked nearby and used to come to campus to recite poetry. Decades before the Civil War, George Moses Horton was known on campus as a talented speaker and poet, and students often paid him to create poems for them.

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