Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Former UnitedHealth CEO settles options lawsuit
  Former UnitedHealth Group Chief Executive William McGuire will pay $30 million and return more than 3 million shares of stock options to settle a class-action lawsuit.5:20 p.m.
• Renewable fuel plant would create jobs, coal alternative
  According to one of Minnesota's biggest mine operators their new project will bring jobs, help support the ailing timber industry and provide a much cleaner-burning substitute for coal.5:24 p.m.
• Minnesota scientist helped develop Swiss atom smasher
  A talk with University of Minnesota Physics Professor Roger Rusack, one of thousands of scientists who has collaborated on the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.5:49 p.m.
• Minn. housing commissioner leaving for new job
  Tim Marx, who heads Minnesota's Housing Finance Agency, wins bipartisan praise for his work. He is taking a new job in New York City.5:55 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Calif. Budget Woes Spread Beyond Sacramento
  While Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and California lawmakers battle over the budget, many people are getting caught in the crossfire. The absence of a state budget is hurting nursing homes, colleges and health care clinics.
• Rangel Admits Error On Taxes; Won't Quit Post
  New York Rep. Charlie Rangel says he made mistakes on his tax returns and will pay $5,000 in federal taxes owed on income from vacation property in the Dominican Republic. The head of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee says he won't step aside, however.
• California Budget Impasse Continues
  Democrats in the California Senate have rejected a GOP plan to end the state's budget impasse that would have cut spending by $3.4 billion. Earlier, the Republican nixed a Democratic plan that would have raised sales taxes to plug a $15.2-billion budget gap.
• Putting Lipstick On A Pig
  The phrase "lipstick on a pig" is commonly employed by politicians including Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain, Vice President Dick Cheney and Rep. Charles Rangel. Joel Salatin, a farmer from Swoope, Va., talks about what actually happens when one attempts to put lipstick on a pig.
• Origins Of Bridge To Nowhere Explained
  "The Bridge to Nowhere" has been a much-used phrase by the McCain Campaign. Keith Ashdown, chief investigator for the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, says he coined the phrase in 2004 after a couple of beers.
• Study: Arthroscopic Surgery Provides Few Benefits
  Researchers report in this week's New England Journal of Medicine that arthroscopic surgery does not provide any extra benefit when compared with physical therapy and medication. This is the second study to find little benefit to the procedure.
• 'The Blob' Marks 50th Anniversary
  It's the 50th Anniversary of The Blob, one of a series of low-budget horror/sci-fi films that proliferated in the wake of the Cold War. The themes that made The Blob a hit in 1958 are still the ones that keep it in our consciousness today.
• Eliminating Federal Earmarks No Easy Task
  Sen. John McCain is counting on the elimination of all federal programs that "began life as earmarks" to help pay for his big tax cuts. The fact that his running mate, Sarah Palin, eagerly applied for earmarks shows how difficult this would be.
• York, Pa., Discusses Race And Politics
  All Things Considered and Morning Edition begin a series of conversations about race and politics. Voters in York, Pa., a racially mixed city in a battleground state, talk about how race will affect their votes in November.
• Obama Hits Back At 'Lipstick' Flap
  Democrat Barack Obama has accused Republican John McCain's campaign of using "lies" in claiming he made a sexist remark against vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. In a speech Tuesday, Obama used the term "lipstick on a pig."
• McCain, Palin Campaign In Virginia
  The Republican ticket took its act to northern Virginia Wednesday. The candidates didn't vary much from their regular stump speech, but the new theme — Obama's use of the term "lipstick on a pig," which the GOP says is sexist — was in evidence during much of the event.
• U.S. Physicists Recall Brush With Supercollider Fame
  For some American scientists, the official start-up of the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland is a bittersweet moment. A super collider in Texas would have been more powerful than the European one, but Congress killed the project in 1993.
• Letters: Baton Rouge Mayor, Ball-Jointed Dolls
  Listeners respond to Tuesday's interview with the mayor of Baton Rouge, La., and the story about Ball-Jointed Dolls.
• Foreign Investors' Exit Causes Lehman Woes
  Questions have been raised about whether it is wise to let foreign governments buy up stakes in U.S. financial institutions. Now, with Lehman Brothers, the U.S. is getting to see what happens when a foreign investor walks away.
• Lehman Announces Asset Sale Amid Jitters
  Lehman Brothers has announced plans to sell a majority stake in its investment management business amid mounting losses and a plummeting share price. The 158-year-old firm also said it would spin off a troubled real estate unit and cut its dividend.

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