Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Tapes 'n Tapes: Bound for the stratosphere via the blogosphere?
  Saturday night marked a triumphant return for the Minneapolis indie rock band, Tapes 'n Tapes, which took the stage at First Avenue. Eight months ago, Tapes 'n Tapes seemed like just another number in the land of 10,000 bands, preparing to release its first full-length CD. Today it's a group with an international buzz that just finished a nearly sold-out American tour. How did this happen?4:48 p.m.
• Upbeat but vigilant at Cavity Lake
  Officials leading the fight against the Cavity Lake fire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness offered residents some good news Friday, and some words of caution.5:19 p.m.
• Farmer, world, push conservation spending
  Farm subsidies are becoming so expensive some people expect significant changes in federal agricultural policy. If that happens, land and water conservation programs may benefit.5:23 p.m.
• Maria's story: All her dreams are here
  As many as 85,000 illegal immigrants make Minnesota their home, including many who have crossed the border into the U.S. from Mexico. This is the story of one of them.5:35 p.m.
• Whimsy on wheels
  Thousands of spectators will cram the streets of the LynLake neighborhood of south Minneapolis this weekend for the 12th annual Art Car Parade. The event brings together dozens of artists and their whimsical creations on wheels.6:24 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Os Mutantes (Finally) Make American Debut
  This week, the pioneering Brazilian band Os Mutantes will perform in this country for the first time. The group came to prominence in 1968, as part of the Tropicalia movement that polarized Brazil. The band got back together earlier this year, performing for the first time since 1978. Critic Tom Moon is among the faithful who's been waiting for this reunion.
• Lebanese Army Caught in the Middle
  Melissa Block talks with Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies about the size and armament of the Lebanese Army. Analysts are now asking if the future might see a possible international peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
• Poland's Twin Leaders Gain Victory on Secrets
  As of this week, identical twin brothers are running the country of Poland. One, Lech Kaczinski, is the country's president. The other, Jaroslav Kaczinski, has now been sworn in as the prime minister. And many say their policies are dividing Poland.
• USA Basketball Team Preps for Japan Games
  Robert Siegel talks to Wall Street Journal sportswriter Stefan Fatsis about next month's basketball world championships in Japan. The USA men's team finished a disappointing third in the 2004 Olympics. But it looks to make a comeback this year.
• D.C. Crime Response Seen Having Political Edge
  A rash of crimes committed in Washington, D.C., leads city leaders to impose a 10 p.m. youth curfew and pump millions of dollars into police overtime. There have already been 15 homicides reported in July alone, and there's been a jump in robberies committed by young people.
• Inquiry in Iraqi Deaths Delayed by Exhumation
  Marine and Army investigators are struggling to get permission to exhume the bodies of Iraqis to strengthen criminal cases against American soldiers and Marines. But their efforts are at odds with the religious and cultural sensitivities of Muslims, who generally bar disturbing a body once it is buried.
• Indiana Tree Holding Massive Rock Has Fallen
  Last month, it was discovered that the oak tree holding up a 400-pound boulder in Indiana's Yellowwood Forest had fallen down. To this day, no one knows how the boulder came to be 40 feet up in the tree. Melissa Block talks with Debbie Dunbar, of the Brown County Convention and Visitors Bureau in Indiana.
• HHS's Leavitt Benefited from Charity Tax Breaks
  Mike Leavitt, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, has received substantial tax breaks thanks to a charitable foundation he and other family members created in 2000. But in its first years of operation, the foundation did little charitable giving. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports that it's all within the law -- but some question the law's fairness.
• Scores of Lebanese Civilians Buried in Tyre
  Authorities in Lebanon's southern port city of Tyre organize the mass burial of 82 Lebanese civilians, killed in the 10-day-old Israeli bombing campaign. The burial took place amid round-the-clock Israeli air and gunboat attacks on an area just south of Tyre.
• Jellyfish Take Over an Over-Fished Area
  Critics of the fishing industry have long predicted that if over-fishing continues for much longer, "junk species" like jellyfish will start filling up the vacancies. Until recently, there was no evidence that the prediction would come true. But now, scientists report the largest jellyfish invasion ever, off southern Africa.
• Bush Lunches with Returned Iraq Vets
  President Bush is in Colorado for a fundraiser and a brief lunch with military veterans just returned from duty Iraq. Thanking them for their service, the president said the United States would prevail.
• SEC Targets 80 Companies in Stock Option Probe
  The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating more than 80 companies in cases related to backdating executive stock options. Robert Siegel talks with John (Jack) Coffee, professor of law and director of the Center on Corporate Governance at Columbia University Law School. Coffee says backdating usually results in a falsification of books and records -- and is thus illegal, although at first it seems like a victimless crime to reward employees.
• Rice: No 'False Promises' in Middle East
  Ahead of a weekend trip to the Mideast, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says a quick cease-fire would amount to a "false promise." She says she'll talk to Middle East leaders -- but not Hezbollah or Syria. Rice says Syria "knows what it needs to do and Hezbollah is the source of the problem."
• U.S. Middle East Policy in the Rice Era
  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's diplomatic mission to the Middle East begins Sunday, a trip that has led to new questions about U.S. policy in the region. Robert Siegel talks with former Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk, a senior fellow of foreign policy studies; and former Ambassador-at-Large for Counter-Terrorism Philip C. Wilcox, Jr., the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace.
• 'Clerks 2': Return of the Sarcastic Slacker
  In the movie Clerks 2, director Kevin Smith returns to the world of underpaid, overly sarcastic service workers, 12 years after his debut about a convenience store. Dante and Randall, the title characters in Clerks, operated under the tagline "Just because they serve you ... doesn't mean they like you." In the sequel, the working-slacker ethos is still worth a laugh -- and still a good way to frame humor guaranteed to offend.

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