Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• State to cut some off public employee health benefits
  Following an audit, the state of Minnesota is terminating health insurance coverage for about 3,100 family members of state employees. The action stands to save the state about $10 million.4:48 p.m.
• MN jazz singer Jana Nyberg keeps standards sounding fresh
  The Jana Nyberg Group will perform Wednesday at St. Paul's Artists Quarter.4:53 p.m.
• Xcel shuts down 2 Minn. nuclear reactors
  The Monticello plant has been operating at 10-percent power since the weekend, and operators shut down Prairie Island's Unit 1 plant Tuesday.5:20 p.m.
• Should Minneapolis hire more firefighters?
  Before Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak presents his 2013 budget proposal Wednesday, one of today's big questions is how much he wants to spend on the city's fire department.5:24 p.m.
• Ask Dr. Hallberg: Children and immunity
  During the winter, it can seem like children are always getting sick. MPR's medical analyst Dr. Jon Hallberg said that's because they are building up their immune systems.5:42 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Scorching Phoenix Plans For An Even Hotter Future
  The Arizona city already logs more days over 100 degrees than any U.S. city, and climate researchers predict Phoenix will grow hotter still in the coming decades. Planners are taking the projections seriously, and are looking for ways to adapt the city and its residents to a hotter, drier reality.
• What Goes Into Timing Traffic Lights?
  As part of the NPR Cities Project, we're exploring some "gee-whiz" questions about how cities work. Melissa Block talks to Gideon Berger, Fellowship Director for the Urban Land Institute, on the street in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown. They talk about the trickiness of timing traffic lights
• Think It's Hot? The Swiss Just Hit 5.5 Trillion Degrees
  In light of this summer's record high temperatures, we find perspective on really hot temperatures. In an experiment, scientists at Europe's CERN laboratory claim to have achieved the highest temperature ever produced by humans — about 5.5 trillion degrees. Audie Cornish and Melissa Block have more.
• Ryan's Mission For Fed: Focus On Prices, Not Unemployment
  Mitt Romney's new running mate has authored some provocative policy proposals to cut budget deficits and overhaul Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. But Rep. Paul Ryan has also been an advocate for a different course for the Federal Reserve.
• Beyond The Budget, Where Does Paul Ryan Stand?
  Congressman Paul Ryan is well known as a deficit hawk and supporter of small government. His stances on other hot-button issues though — from abortion to gun rights — have received less attention. Melissa Block talks with David Drucker, associate politics editor at Roll Call, about where the presumptive Republican vice presidential nominee stands on the issues that have been less central to his public persona.
• Germans Confront The Costs Of A Nuclear-Free Future
  Germany has announced plans for a total nuclear phaseout in 10 years and an ambitious transition to renewable energy. But one big challenge is distribution, and new power lines are planned. Opposition is growing among Germans who say the power-grid expansion will hurt their homes, land and lives.
• Doping Can Catch Up To Olympians Eight Years Later
  On Monday, a woman from Belarus was stripped of her gold medal in the shot put because she failed a doping test. A hammer thrower, also from Belarus, was sent home before competing due to suspicions of doping in the 2004 games. Melissa Black talks with T.J. Quinn, an ESPN investigative reporter, about the state of drug testing in sports, and how long samples can be kept for later testing when technology improves.
• Letters: Life After The Olympics
  Melissa Block and Audie Cornish read emails from listeners about life after the Olympics.
• What Will Fill The TV Void Left By The Olympics?
  Now that the Olympics are over, what's there to watch on TV? Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times says there is more fun programming than anything else. He tells Audie Cornish that he'll be watching HBO's Hard Knocks series on the Miami Dolphins training camp, TNT's Major Crimes, Discovery's Shark Week and others.
• Medalist Claressa Shields Gets A Hero's Welcome
  Hundreds gathered in Flint, Mich., Tuesday, to celebrate the return of Olympian Claressa Shields. Just 17, Shields won America's lone gold medal in boxing at the Summer Games. And her triumph was welcome news in Flint, a struggling town that gave her a motorcycle escort home.

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