Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• PoliGraph: Pawlenty right on Obama's health care record
  The former governor is right in saying that President Barack Obama changed his position on the individual health care mandate.4:46 p.m.
• PoliGraph: Cravaack's Medicare claim omits key details
  Rep. Chip Cravaack said that Medicare benefits under Rep. Paul Ryan's proposal would be the equivalent of what he receives now as a federal employee. That's true on a surface level, but stark differences still separate the two plans.4:48 p.m.
• Director considers the Western through different eyes
  In her new film "Meek's Cutoff," director Kelly Reichardt creates a very different kind of Western. Reichardt is celebrated for making thought-provoking work which raises more questions than it answers. "Meeks Cutoff" follows families on the Oregon trail who get lost in the desert.4:50 p.m.
• GOP criticizes Dayton over talking stadium with Wilfs
  After Gov. Mark Dayton met with Vikings ownership last night, some Republicans say he should be focused on working with the Legislature to balance the state's $5 billion budget deficit.5:16 p.m.
• Could Minneapolis afford to pay for a Vikings stadium?
  Minneapolis officials are pondering whether to make a bid for the city to help build a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings. The question is whether the city can afford it. It already has some of the highest sales, hotel, food and car rental taxes compared to other cities that host NFL teams.5:19 p.m.
• Health Department sees jump in tick-transmitted diseases
  The Minnesota Department of Health says a record number of Minnesotans contracted human anaplasmosis from black-legged ticks last year.5:44 p.m.
• Reduced lunch pay policies causing some students to go hungry
  Inconsistent and demeaning policies for students who show up in a Minnesota school cafeteria without lunch money cause too many to go away hungry, say advocates for low-income families pushing for broader subsidies for school meals.5:51 p.m.
• Hungry mothers reflect on struggle to feed children
  In families that struggle with hunger, some mothers go to great lengths to make sure their children get enough food. As part of our reporting on hunger in Minnesota, we talked with several of them.5:53 p.m.
• The Dinner Party Download featuring Demetri Martin
  On this week's Dinner Party Download, comedian Demetri Martin fires up his brain machine, we go on the lam with the most punk-rock fugitive in history and Morgan Spurlock makes us cry.6:16 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Employers Add Jobs; Unemployment Climbs
  The economy added nearly a quarter-million jobs in April — far more than most economists expected. The increase didn't keep the unemployment rate from moving higher, though.
• Week In Politics: Bin Laden's Death
  Melissa Block speaks with regular political commentators, E.J. Dionne, of The Washington Post and Brookings Institution, and David Brooks of The New York Times. They discuss the latest politics regarding the death of Osama bin Laden.
• At Disney World, Grad Night Ends
  This weekend marks the end of an era for hundreds of thousands of former high school students. Each year since 1972, Disney World in Orlando, Fla., has opened up its theme park for graduating seniors for a weekend of festivities and concerts catered just to them. But that ends over the weekend.
• After Son's Death, Poet Fights Mexican Drug Violence
  In Mexico, nearly 35,000 people have died in the war against drug cartels — and the violence seems to be getting worse. In March, one 24-year-old victim was found dead, wrapped in masking tape, in a vehicle near the resort town of Cuernavaca. That young man was also the son of Mexican poet Javier Sicilia. Since his son's death, Sicilia has abandoned poetry to fight the drug violence. He is now leading a silent, three-day protest march from Cuernavaca to Mexico City.
• The Perilous Job Of Conflict Photography
  The dangers of conflict photography weigh heavily, as does the knowledge that no story or photo is worth a life. But an assignment involves an adventure and a paycheck.
• School Voucher Debate Heats Back Up
  Indiana recently approved one of the country's most extensive school voucher programs. That move has reinvigorated the debate over education vouchers; while some hope Indiana's move will push other states to follow suit, others are fighting to rein in expansion.
• Florida Budget Woes Mean Environmental Cuts
  Florida is cutting spending on the environment to help close a $4 billion budget shortfall. It's slashed spending on Everglades restoration and eliminated the budget for other environmental programs. Conservation groups fear the state is rolling back the clock on protections that used to enjoy bipartisan support.
• No Fillies In The Field, But It's 'Year Of The Women' At The Kentucky Derby
  With just the sixth female jockey ever and two female trainers, Saturday's 137th running of the Run for the Roses is taking on something of a "year of the woman" theme.
• Syrian Security Forces Kill At Least 30 Protesters
  In Syria, for the 8th Friday in a row, thousands of anti-government protesters defied a brutal crackdown and took to the streets in cities and towns around the country. Activists and human rights groups report that at least 30 people were killed, phone lines and electricity have been cut off and several cities have been completely isolated from the rest of the country. For more, Melissa Block talks to NPR's Kelly McEvers.
• Prominent Israelis Criticize Netanyahu
  There's a big advertisement in Haaretz Friday signed by 102 eminent Israelis. "The world is changing around us," it says, "but the government of Israel is stagnant and paralyzed." The "rejectionist policy" of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "extraordinarily dangerous" and "threatens to make Hamas more legitimate in the world than the Israeli government." It calls for recognition of a democratic Palestinian state as the basis for ending the conflict. Pressure is growing on Netanyahu, at home and abroad. Britain and France are indicating they might support a Palestinian declaration of independence at the U.N. in September. Hillary Clinton has pointedly refused to rule out that the U.S. will deal with a new Palestinian government, even if it includes Hamas.

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