Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Minnesota Supreme Court upholds tobacco fee
  The disputed 75-cent-per-pack charge on cigarettes won the backing Tuesday of the Minnesota Supreme Court, which overturned a judge's decision that struck down the "health impact fee."5:19 p.m.
• Time running out for Vikings stadium hopes
  With their stadium playbook nearly exhausted, the Minnesota Vikings enlisted NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue on Tuesday to personally appeal to skeptical lawmakers.5:48 p.m.
• Health groups propose new Twin Cities children's hospital
  Three Twin Cities health groups propose to join forces with the University of Minnesota to build a "world class" hospital for pediatric research and care on the university's West Bank campus.5:53 p.m.
• Minnesota drivers among the most polite
  Maybe you're inching along, bumper to bumper as far as the eye can see. When the traffic is clogged, and the nerves are frazzled, and that 15-minute freeway drive is taking 45 minutes, you might not believe that the Twin Cities metro has been ranked among the most pleasant cities for drivers in the United States.6:24 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• FEMA Builds Hurricane-Tracking System as Season Looms
  The Federal Emergency Management Agency is installing a new tracking system to make sure emergency supplies go where they're supposed to go as it prepares for hurricane season. Officials hope to improve communications equipment and better equip search and rescue teams. Much of the activity is taking place at FEMA's logistics center in Fort Worth, Tex., which provided emergency supplies for much of the Gulf region.
• Alabama Town's Dump -- and a Legacy of Racism
  There are plans to bring a new dump to Uniontown, Ala., where the county commission approved the project because the area desperately needs jobs. Commentator John Fleming says this is the kind of case that has been labeled "environmental racism."
• Hooligans No More: Cleese's World Cup Decorum
  When the World Cup begins in Germany next month, fans from England will be faced with the task of not being too rude to the host country. Part of the problem: a lingering bitterness about World War II. Comic actor and writer John Cleese has a song to help: "Don't Mention the War."
• Chinese Village Provides Model for Prosperity
  On average, rural Chinese are poorer than their cousins in the city. But one village a few hours' drive away from Shanghai has come up with its own route to prosperity -- and other areas hope to learn from it.
• Floods Ravage Much of Northeast; Rain Forecast
  Heavy rains have swamped many parts of New England. Downtown Peabody, Mass., is flooded; business owners can't get in to assess the damage, and dozens of residents have been evacuated to the local high school. The area's flooding is the worst since the 1930s.
• Children of Immigrants Learn to Thrive in U.S.
  Monday, President Bush said that most illegal immigrants are hard working and family oriented. Many immigrants say they came to the United States not for themselves, but for their children. NPR's Adam Davidson visited an immigrant community in New York City.
• Italy's Soccer Powers at Heart of Game-Rigging Inquiry
  An executive with Italian soccer champion Juventus will be questioned Monday by investigators in Rome amid a widening scandal that has shaken Italian soccer. Prosecutors in Naples, Rome, Parma and Turin are conducting investigations ranging from game-fixing to illegal betting.
• Phone Companies Distance Themselves from NSA
  Two of the nation's biggest telecom companies have come forward to say they did not comply with government requests to turn over customer records. But other companies appear to have been more cooperative. It seems that some companies likely went along with the request, while others said no.
• Germany Acknowledges Spying on Journalists
  The German government has admitted that its foreign intelligence agency, the BND, has spied on German journalists. Media reports say some of the country's best-known investigative journalists were targeted as the BND tried to find out what they were working on and who their sources were.
• Chertoff: Guard Won't Arrest Illegal Immigrants
  President Bush's newly announced plan to bolster the southern border and offer guest worker programs strikes a middle ground in the debate over immigration policy, says Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
• Level of Health Care in Gaza Reaches New Lows
  Gaza's already fragile health care system is facing a new crisis spurred by the cut-off of foreign funding to the Hamas-led government and Israel's frequent closures of the cargo crossings, citing security threats. Gaza hospitals are running low on basic drugs and medical supplies.
• Networks' Fall Offerings Previewed in New York
  Television audiences this fall will find a changed landscape, with old favorites like The West Wing gone. The major networks' new programs range from ABC's Let's Rob to Calista Flockhart of Allie Mac Beal fame returning in the drama Brothers and Sisters.
• Dutch Politician May Move to U.S. Under Threat
  A controversial Dutch lawmaker who has been told to leave the Netherlands may soon reside in the United States, according to reports. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born member of the Dutch Parliament and a vocal critic of conservative Islam, resigned her post after the immigration minister withdrew her citizenship.
• Bush, Snow Seek to Reassure on Phone Data
  President Bush reiterates that his administration did not eavesdrop on the conversations of "ordinary Americans" as questions arise over another program to compile telephone records. Bush and new press secretary Tony Snow were questioned repeatedly about a program to cull millions of phone records.
• Skilling-Lay Attorneys Make Final Arguments
  Defense attorney Daniel Petrocelli delivers an impassioned closing argument in the fraud and conspiracy trial of former Enron executives Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay. With defense lawyers finishing their closing arguments, the case is set to go to the jury. Michele Norris talks live with NPR's Wade Goodwyn.

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