Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Art Hounds: Scandinavian folk, loft art and Shipwrecked!
  This week, our Art Hounds take us from the pines of Northern Minnesota to the lofts of downtown Minneapolis, with a stop at a desert island in between.4:45 p.m.
• WHO declares flu pandemic
  The World Health Organization told its member nations it was declaring a swine flu pandemic today -- the first global flu epidemic in 41 years.5:20 p.m.
• St. Cloud looks to lure high-tech businesses with fast Internet
  St. Cloud is one of the nation's most wired cities, comparable to major metropolitan areas, including Minneapolis, and there's a new campaign to recruit high-technology companies to the downtown area.5:25 p.m.
• Court approves Instant Runoff Voting for Minneapolis
  The Minnesota Supreme Court has cleared the way for Minneapolis to use a new system called Instant Runoff Voting for its city elections this fall.5:50 p.m.
• The Orange Mighty Trio performs on Radio Heartland
  Local "bluegrassical" trio, The Orange Mighty Trio, performs songs from their new album in the studio.5:55 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Obama Makes Health Care Push
  As Congress wrangles over details of a health care bill, President Obama took his push for health care reform on the road with a visit Thursday to Green Bay, Wis. In a town hall-style meeting, Obama warned again about the skyrocketing cost of health care.
• Expert: Health Care Cost, Quality Not Linked
  One of the reasons the White House chose to hold Thursday's health care meeting in Green Bay, Wis., is that the area seems to do a comparatively good job of managing health care costs. Elliot Fisher, director for population health and policy at the Dartmouth Institute, says there is little to link the overall quality of care to the overall cost of care.
• Pacific Island Takes Some Guantanamo Detainees
  The remote Pacific island of Palau may be the future home for 17 ethnic Uighur Chinese detainees from Guantanamo Bay who were picked up in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001. The U.S. determined they were not "enemy combatants" and decided to release them. It is feared they will be imprisoned or executed if returned to China. Palau's President Johnson Toribiong discusses the possible transfer.
• Obama Pay Chief: Criticism Of Position Valid
  Kenneth Feinberg is overseeing compensation packages for the top executives in companies that are receiving federal bailout money. He disdains the notion that he is a compensation czar who will order companies to conform. Instead, he says, he will work with companies to find pay structures in line with the public interest.
• Rising Mortgage Rates Shuts Off Refinancing Wave
  Economists are worried at the sharp rise in home mortgage rates over the past couple of weeks. The government had helped push rates on 30-year fixed mortgages below 5 percent, a move that sparked a refinancing boom. That opportunity appears to be over for now.
• Online Poker No Game To Justice Department
  When online poker players recently went to cash checks that had been issued to them from poker Web sites, the checks bounced. It turns out that the Department of Justice had seized more than $30 million in assets related to online poker.
• In Defense Of Nerd-Dom
  We're closing in on the last few days of school before summer. For most teens, summertime is a break from school, books and teachers' dirty looks. But not all students look forward to the time off. Youth Radio's Erin Bilir, who goes to high school in Denver, is a self-professed overachiever and says she likes it that way.
• Documents Show Lawmakers' Assets, Losses
  Members of Congress have released documents showing their financial assets and where they are invested. The reports show that some top lawmakers had financial stakes in companies that received bailout money, and some members of Congress took steep losses.
• Small Carmaker May Blaze Plug-In Trail
  The big automakers are racing to bring to market the future of automobile travel, but Coda Automotive is beating them to the punch with its $45,000, five-passenger, four-door sedan. It has already lined up a Chinese partner to build the car and its battery design could become the standard for the industry.
• Obama Pitches Health Care Overhaul In Wisconsin
  President Obama paid a quick visit to Green Bay, Wis., Thursday, pitching his health care overhaul and taking town-hall questions in a high school gym. Obama said Americans happy with their doctor or their health care plan ought to be able to keep them, but that costs had to come down and coverage had to be extended to all.
• GM Seeks To Overcome Perceptions On The Coasts
  Beyond bankruptcy, General Motors has a significant problem in this country. It has to do with culture, demographics and perception. The automaker's market share continues to decline nationwide. But it really struggles on the coasts — with affluent and influential consumers. The company is determined to change that.
• A Tale Of Technology In Two School Districts
  Computers are essential for schools, but they're also expensive. Two school districts — one in New Jersey and one in Virginia — are trying to trim their tech budgets without hurting learning. The solution? Smaller laptops for one district and word processors for another.
• Iranians Prepare To Vote After Spirited Campaigning
  Exuberant and often aggressive campaigning in Iran has ended ahead of hotly contested presidential polls Friday. The big surprise has been the vehemence of opposition to incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the flood of support for the leading reform candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi.
• Mohawk Protests Close U.S.-Canada Border Crossing
  The bridge, which links the two halves of a Mohawk reservation, was barricaded last week after Mohawks protested a plan to arm Canadian border agents. The flare-up follows growing tension on the border over drug smuggling and human trafficking.
• WHO Declares Swine Flu A Pandemic
  The H1N1 virus has spread to a number of countries and is not stoppable, says World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan. But the agency cautions against overreaction; so far the strain remains mild.

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