Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Mesaba unions fight proposed pay cuts
  Mesaba Airlines wants to cut employee wages and benefits by nearly 20 percent as part of its bankruptcy restructuring plan. Unions representing pilots, mechanics and flight attendants say if there's no compromise, workers will either quit or strike.5:19 p.m.
• Why subsidize ethanol?
  Record-breaking oil prices and slumping auto sales have a lot of people talking about ethanol. More flex-fuel vehicles are coming on the market that can run on E-85, a blend of gas that contains 85 percent ethanol. Some states, including Minnesota, are requiring higher amounts of ethanol in standard gasoline. All the attention is making ethanol producers a lot of money. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported this weekend that a typical gallon of Minneosta ethanol costs $1.10 to produce. That same gallon can be sold for over twice that price; recently averaging $2.50 a gallon. So it may seem surprising that the state of Minnesota is still subsidizing the ethanol industry to the tune of $26 million a year. Gov. Pawlenty proposed ending the subsidy in 2003, but rural legislators vehemantly opposed that idea. Tom Crann talked with Rep. Greg Davids, a lawmaker from Preston, in SE Minnesota. He represents that district, and chairs the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee in the Minnesota House of Representatives and supports continuing ethanol subsidies.5:24 p.m.
• Sex offender ordinances considered across the state
  Some Minnesota cities are regulating where sex offenders can live. But law enforcement officials say the ordinances may make communities more dangerous.5:49 p.m.
• Duluth picks Sutter as first poet laureate
  Barton Sutter is the city of Duluth's first poet Laureate and the first official poet laureate of any Minnesota City. Sutter came to Duluth in 1987 and has won three Minnesota Book Awards for his writing about the city and the north country.6:19 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Democrats' Senate Hopes May Hinge on Missouri
  If Democrats are going to get close to winning control of the Senate this November, they'll need to go beyond the three targets (Santorum, Burns, Chafee) everyone talks about. Political analysts say Missouri might be a swing state this year; first-term Republican Jim Talent looks strong but not unassailable.
• Let Them Eat Shrimp -- And Buy Them From the Gulf
  Louisiana watermen are giving away 40,000 pounds of Gulf of Mexico shrimp to highlight the state of their industry.
• In Dahab, Bombing Was Sudden and Deadly
  Explosions ripped through the center of the Dahab, Egypt, in an attack on the resort city during the height of its tourist season. Peter Ericson, who operates Island Divers in Dahab, had just finished dinner with his friends and family when the first bomb detonated nearby.
• Deadly Wave of Car Bombs Strikes in Baghdad
  A new wave of car bombings in Baghdad leaves dozens dead and wounded. Prime Minister Jawad al-Maliki begins efforts to form a national unity government.
• Lay Declares Innocence in Enron Trial
  Kenneth Lay, former chairman of the Enron Corp., takes the witness stand to declare his innocence of the fraud and conspiracy charges leveled against him. Lay faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in jail if convicted.
• Jury Deliberates on Moussaoui's Sentence
  The jury has begun deliberations in the death penalty trial of confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. The prosecution has argued that because Moussaoui played a role in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he should receive the death penalty.
• Police Entry Case Heard in Supreme Court
  The Supreme Court hears arguments in a case about police entering a home without a warrant. Through a window, police in Utah saw adults trying to restrain a young man, who then punched one of the adults. The police entered without a warrant, and the occupants were charged with misdemeanors.
• CIA Leaks May Signal Lowered Morale
  Is there a crisis of morale at the CIA? To some observers, news that an employee was fired last week for leaking classified information raises the question. Mary O. McCarthy was dismissed on Thursday, accused of leaking classified information about secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe.
• Tom Ze Weaves a New Web at 70
  Brazilian composer Tom Ze was a leading voice of the Tropicalia movement in the 1960s. Ze's latest CD, Estudando o Pagode, explores an unlikely topic for pop music: the historical suppression of women.
• Bringing a New Life Into New Orleans
  Commentator Michael Depp's wife is going to give birth to their first child any day now. He has more than the normal pre-parental anxieties. They live in New Orleans, and Depp is still not completely sure if New Orleans is the right place to raise a child.
• Whistle Blowers, the CIA and the Public
  NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that most government officials who leak confidential information think of themselves as true whistle-blowers. They are motivated by a desire to serve the public interest.
• To Cool the Earth, Plan Would Pull a Shade
  A recently announced plan to reduce the effects of global warming would send a huge glass shield into space, lining it up to deflect 2 percent of the sunlight bound for the Earth. Robert Siegel talks with Roger Angel, professor of Astronomy and Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona, where he started the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab.
• Maliki, Iraq's Incoming Prime Minister
  Jawad al Maliki has been picked to be the next Iraqi prime minister. He is also the subject of recent research by David Patel, an Iraq scholar at Stanford University. Robert Siegel talks with Patel.
• Bush Welcomes New Compromise in Iraq
  President Bush wraps up a four-day tour of California with a wide-ranging speech and question-and-answer session in Irvine. Although announced as an address on immigration, Bush's remarks returned often to the war on terror and the war in Iraq, where the president said he sees cause for optimism.
• Gauging Effects of a Death-Penalty Change
  Ten years ago today, Congress passed a law called the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. It was intended to streamline the death-penalty process. Legal scholars disagree over whether it has had the desired effect.

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