Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Duluth looks for an investigator
  Officials in Duluth are trying to find someone to investigate Mayor Herb Bergson. Last year, the mayor gave a classified report to the publisher of the Duluth News-Tribune. The report's author, Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles, says that was illegal. But so far he hasn't been able to find anyone to investigate he matter. Now, the Duluth city council has instructed the city's purchasing agent to hire someone to conduct an investigation.5:19 p.m.
• Minnesota River phosphorus cleanup
  The Minnesota River is cleaner than it was a decade ago but it's still far from pristine. Reducing phosphorus in the river is the current pollution target.5:23 p.m.
• Chemical spill near downtown St.Paul leads to tense moments
  There were some tense moments in St. Paul Tuesday following a hydrochloric acid spill at a business not far from downtown.5:48 p.m.
• Little Minneapolis
  They call it "little Minneapolis." The Mexican town of Axochiapan has 30,000 residents, and has been impoverished for centuries. These days, however, there's pizza delivery, a new medical clinic, and late model mini-vans with Minnesota license plates. The meager farm economy there has been augmented by an influx of money being sent back home from workers here in the Twin Cities, many of them illegally. The story of Axochiapan has been appearing this week in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Reporter Kevin Diaz, joins us on the line to talk more about what's going on there now, and how it fits into the complicated immigration debate.5:51 p.m.
• Minnesota rocks
  Artists from around world are in St. Paul to celebrate the most common material on the planet -- rock. Over the next six weeks, a group of master stonecarvers will transform Minnesota quarry stone into art.6:23 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Palestinians Fret as Violence Builds in Gaza
  Escalating violence in Gaza has many Palestinians fearful of all-out civil war. The violent power struggle between the rival Fatah and Hamas parties has killed several people and wounded dozens more in the Gaza Strip in the last five days.
• Drug Cocktail Kills Dozens of People in Midwest
  In major cities, a powerful street drug concoction of heroin or cocaine and the painkiller fentanyl is proving deadly. In Wayne County, Mich., which includes the city of Detroit, dozens of people have died from the combination since November, with several in the past week.
• Return of Prairie Chickens Hailed in Midwest
  In Missouri, efforts to restore native habitat are also helping restore the population of the grouse-like greater prairie chicken. The state lists them as endangered. Conservationists are calling the renewed success of the birds a marker of their success in restoring overgrazed land.
• VA Reassures Veterans on Stolen Personal Data
  The Department of Veterans Affairs has set up an emergency call center for veterans who think their personal data may have been exposed after a burglary earlier this month. The Social Security numbers and birth dates of about 26.5 million veterans were stolen from a VA employee’s home. Veterans' organizations are calling for an investigation.
• Hundreds Arrested in Mass-Marketing Scam
  More than 560 people are arrested in an investigation of mass-marketing fraud schemes that victimized more than 2 million Americans, according to the Justice Department. The scams were carried out over the Internet and via telemarketing and direct mail. Officials say losses exceed $1 billion.
• Bush and Olmert Discuss Hamas, Iran in Visit
  President Bush meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the White House to discuss the new leader's plan to withdraw from much of the West Bank. Progress toward a Palestinian state has been clouded by the election of Hamas to run the Palestinian Authority.
• The Xenophobic School: Misreading Poetry
  As the House and Senate debate proposals to build a wall between the United States and Mexico, commentator Jay Keyser considers barriers and Robert Frost's line, "good fences make good neighbors." Keyser says the poem is a parable of human history -- and its most famous line has been misunderstood.
• Leaving Guantanamo: Bahrainis Protest Prison
  In Bahrain, a fledgling human rights community, some members of parliament, and New York defense lawyers, are trying to secure the release of three Bahrainis held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The men have been held at the remote military base for more than four years.
• Protecting Your Social Security Number
  Many Americans know little about the laws that dictate the legitimate and illegitimate uses of their Social Security numbers. Evan Hendricks, author of Credit Scores and Credit Reports and editor and publisher of Privacy Times, talks to Michele Norris about what to do if your Social Security number is stolen.
• Data-Mining a Mountain of Phone Calls
  Numerous reports allege that the National Security Agency may have been collecting telephone traffic information on millions of Americans. What could the NSA possibly hope to learn from such a mountain of data? As NPR's Larry Abramson reports, experts in data-mining are aiming their increasingly sensitive tools at just this kind of complex information, in the hopes of predicting when the risk of terrorist threats is the highest.
• Answers Sought in Deadly Kentucky Mine Explosion
  Investigators have entered a coal mine in Holmes Mill, Ky., seeking clues to what caused a weekend explosion that left five miners dead. More than 30 miners have died in accidents in the United States since the beginning of the year, already the largest annual death toll in five years.
• Harsh Weather, SailorÂ’s Death Taint Global Race
  The 2006 Volvo Ocean Race, marked by brutal weather throughout the global ocean race, was struck by tragedy last week. Dutch sailor Hans Horrevoets of the ABN AMRO team was washed overboard Thursday while his boat sailed through an enormous storm en route to Portsmouth, England. Three days after the incident, the ABN AMRO Two boat rescued the crew of a rival craft, Movistar, when they were forced to abandon ship. Melissa Block talks with Glenn Bourke, CEO for the Volvo Ocean Race.
• Senate May Vote on Immigration Bill This Week
  The Senate debates elements of an immigration bill meant to overhaul the nation's process of adding new citizens. Some opponents are pushing through amendments that weaken the bill, but not enough to kill it. A final vote may be a day or two away.
• Close Race to Be Oakland's Next Mayor
  Shifting racial demographics, illegal immigration and a soaring homicide rate are some of the factors in the mayoral race of Oakland, Calif. As outgoing Mayor Jerry Brown focuses on running for state attorney general, most voters will choose between an icon of the African-American community and a well-known Latino city councilman.
• Putin Targets Corruption with Crackdown
  Russia's President Vladimir Putin puts the customs service under the control of a trusted ally as part of an anti-corruption drive. Ten law enforcement officials have been fired in the initiative. Many observers believe the moves are not really about fighting corruption, but actually reflect turf battles between Kremlin factions.

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