Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Cluster clinics help migrant workers stay healthy
  Health concerns aren't often at the top of the list for migrant workers, but their health problems can be chronic. Diabetes and obesity are problems, and often migrant workers aren't doing anything to monitor their diseases.4:48 p.m.
• Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Tribe Makes $1 Million Donation
  The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has offered to put up $1 million to help buy a building for a Native American embassy in Washington, D.C. The Embassy of Tribal Nations would house the National Congress of American Indians -- which calls itself the nation's oldest American Indian advocacy organization.4:53 p.m.
• State Supreme Court takes on tobacco fee case
  Under sharp questioning from Minnesota Supreme Court justices, a tobacco industry lawyer conceded Tuesday that legislators would be within their power to pass a 75-cent-per-pack cigarette charge as long as they kept silent on the money's purpose.5:19 p.m.
• Piper Jaffray sells off personal financial advisor business
  Minneapolis-based Piper Jaffray is selling its business that provides financial planning and money management services to individuals.5:53 p.m.
• House DFLers warn of state's unpreparedness for bird flu outbreak
  House Democrats are warning that Minnesota is not adequately prepared to deal with a bird flu pandemic.5:58 p.m.
• Cancer awareness key to survival
  A cancer diagnosis is no longer the death sentence it once was. Improvements in diagnosis and treatment have helped millions of cancer survivors live happy, healthy lives years after their cancer encounter. Yet Cancer remains the leading cause of death in Minnesota. More than 9,000 die from the disease each year, and more than two-thirds of those could be prevented. That's why organizations like the Minnesota Cancer Alliance are working to get the word out about screening and lifestyle choices. The coalition of health care organization also promotes the Cancer Plan Minnesota, the state's comprehensive plan to control cancer.6:19 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Enron Witnesses Lying About Fraud, Skilling Says
  Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling testifies in his fraud and conspiracy trial that he didn't spearhead a conspiracy to overstate the company's financial health. Skilling says that prosecution witnesses lied when they said he was part of any such scheme.
• Looking for the Dark Side in Today's Bestsellers
  What does it take for a book to make the bestseller list? Commentator Tanya Barrientos says that these days, non-fiction hits are about adorable pets and regrettable pasts -- subjects that leave her yearning for a dark side. Barrientos writes for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
• Fla. Bill Requires High-Schoolers to Declare a Major
  A measure moving through the Florida legislature would require high school freshmen to declare a major. Supporters say the measure would force students to focus on their education. Critics say 14-year-olds are too young to be making those kinds of decisions. Ami Difiore of Florida Public Radio reports.
• Vioxx Jury Adds $9 Million in Punishing Merck
  The makers of Vioxx should pay $9 million in punitive damages to an elderly man who had a heart attack while taking the painkiller, a New Jersey jury has decided. Last week, the jury awarded the man and his wife $4.5 million in compensation. Vioxx manufacturer Merck faces nearly 10,000 more individual suits over the arthritis drug.
• Italian Police Capture Top Mafia Boss in Sicily
  Italian police arrest the country's most-wanted man, the head of the Sicilian mafia. Bernardo Provenzano, who took over the Sicilian mafia in 1993, was found at a farm near Corleone in Sicily. Police had sought his arrest for 40 years. Robert Siegel talks with Leoluca Orlando, former mayor of Palermo.
• Pentagon Scenes Evoked at Moussaoui Hearing
  The Zacarias Moussaoui sentencing trial continues with testimony from the families of World Trade Center attack victims. The prosecutors also presented evidence of suffering from the Pentagon attack. The government is trying to convince the jury to vote for the death penalty for Moussaoui.
• Berlusconi Won't Concede Defeat in Italy
  Despite his rival's claim of victory in Italy's general election, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi refuses to concede the race, instead suggesting that a broad coalition be formed. With votes still being counted, a court may have to determine the winner between Berlusconi and center-left challenger Romano Prodi.
• Iran Enriches Uranium, Plans New Expansion
  Iran announces it has produced enriched uranium at a nuclear research facility. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad maintains the program is designed only to produce energy, but the United States and other Western powers remain concerned Iran might build nuclear weapons.
• Bands, Presidents Join National Recording Registry
  The Library of Congress has selected 50 recordings to preserve in the National Recording Registry. It includes a Modesto, Calif., high school band playing Beethoven in 1930, a recording of the first official transatlantic telephone conversation, Calvin Coolidge's 1925 inauguration, and the radio broadcast of the Joe Louis, Max Schmeling fight in 1938. Plus, songs from Stevie Wonder, Sonic Youth, Mahalia Jackson, Jimi Hendrix and Martha and the Vandellas. We speak to Eugene DeAnna, head of the Recorded Sound Division of the Library of Congress.
• If It Takes a Village, Who Will Buy It?
  Announced by a simple sign -- "Village for Sale" -- the offer is an admitted attempt to bring attention to the town's plight. But the residents of Dodli say their problems are serious: rising costs, falling prices, bad harvests, inadequate water and high-interest debt from loan sharks.
• The New Junkman Opera: 'Odin'
  The Junkman makes music with mailboxes, saw blades, frying pans and beer cans. Now he has written a full-length spoken-word opera based on the Nordic myth of the Viking god of war, who also happens to be the Viking god of knowledge: Odin.
• Africa and Europe: 'Sweetness in the Belly'
  Alan Cheuse reviews Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb. It's about a British-born Muslim woman's life in both London, England, and Harar, Ethiopia.
• Twenty Years of Legislating Immigration
  Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) is a co-sponsor of the House Immigration bill that would make illegal immigration a felony -- and which sparked controversy and protests. Lungren, who worked on the 1986 immigration bill, is a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security. Robert Siegel talks with Lungren.
• Coordinating Flags at Immigration Marches
  Commentator Daniel Hernandez reflects on why it matters what kind of flag people are holding at immigration rallies across the nation.
• Study: Estrogen Protects Some from Breast Cancer
  Studies linking hormones to breast cancer and heart disease have been well-publicized. But a new analysis suggests hormone therapy does not pose equal risk for all women.

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