Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• New health commissioner inherits troubled department
  Sanne Magnan will be inheriting a Health Department that has some current and past employees demoralized and distressed.4:50 p.m.
• Magnan named new health commissioner
  Minnesota's next top health official will be Dr. Sanne Magnan, the head of an organization that aims to improve the quality of health care.5:20 p.m.
• Not all favor restoring Clean Water Act
  Clean water legislation sponsored by 8th District U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar is stirring opposition from county officials and property rights groups. At the first of four public hearings, there were angry county commissioners from about a half-dozen counties.5:24 p.m.
• A refugee camp springs up in Minneapolis
  International humanitarian organization, Medicins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, has set up a mock refugee camp in Loring Park in Minneapolis. Its aim is to raise awareness of the 33 million people uprooted by war.5:50 p.m.
• A Capitol photographer
  The Minnesota State Capitol building has been around for 102 years. For almost a third of that time, Tom Olmscheid has been taking pictures of it.5:54 p.m.
• Per Petterson rides 'Horses' to the literary forefront
  Per Petterson's book "Out Stealing Horses" catapulted the Norwegian author into the forefront of European literature.6:20 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• U.S. Women Lose to Brazil in World Cup Semis
  The top-ranked U.S. women's soccer team lost in the semifinals of the World Cup. The 4-to-zero defeat against Brazil takes the team out of the running for the championship this year. The loss came after coach Greg Ryan made a controversial decision to change the team's goal keepers.
• TV on the Internet: Networks Spread Strategy
  The big networks are rolling out their new seasons this week — and not just on TV. They are also presenting their new shows, and some old favorites, on the Internet. NBC is allowing free downloads, with restrictions, of its shows — it streamed the first episode of the new season of Friday Night Lights on Yahoo before it was broadcast.
• Modern Prehistoric Spectacle: Dinosaurs on Stage
  Massive, scientifically accurate "dinosaurs" have begun stomping around U.S. sports arenas, thanks to the wizardry of 21st century puppetry techniques and robotics. The $20 million theatrical spectacle Walking With Dinosaurs, based on a BBC television series, travels to New York from Washington this weekend.
• Senate Could Override Bush SCHIP Veto
  The Senate has approved a bill to renew and expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program, a bill President Bush has promised to veto. With the support of 18 Republicans, Senate Democrats have more than enough votes for a veto override, but the House does not.
• Strong Extragalactic Radio Burst Poses a Mystery
  Astronomers have a mystery on their hands, after a radio telescope in Australia detected an extremely brief, but extremely strong, pulse of radio waves. There was just one pulse, but based on its strength and the way the signal arrived at Earth, astronomers estimate it came from something 1 billion light years away. There is only speculation about what the "something" was.
• U.S. Punishes Myanmar's Leadership; Will It Help?
  The Bush administration says it is imposing economic sanctions against 14 senior officials of Myanmar's government. Robert Siegel talks with David Cortright, author of Sanctions Decade and scholar at the University of Notre Dame, about the impact of sanctions on the regime in Myanmar.
• New Myanmar Protests Are Rooted in 1988 Uprising
  Min Myo, also known as Zaw Zaw, is a computer network engineer who volunteers with the U.S. Campaign for Burma and Amnesty International. Zaw Zaw says he and his colleagues from the 1988 student uprising in Burma — for which he was imprisoned for four months — use the Web to stay in touch. The government controls most access to the Internet, but some people have access via satellite to an Internet Service Provider in Thailand, and the government has not been able to completely shut this down. Zaw Zaw tells NPR's Melissa Block that while he still gets e-mails from Burma, but they come to him anonymously, and the e-mails don't name the people who have been killed or arrested.
• Those Fleeing Zimbabwe Find Status Uncertain
  If South Africa had a Statue of Liberty, it would be facing Zimbabwe. Millions of Zimbabwe's tired, poor and huddled masses have streamed across the border over the past several months. Their status is complicated: South Africa is reluctant to label them "refugees,'' a loaded word under international law.
• Town Weighs Ban on Leaf Blowers
  Some residents of a leafy suburb of Boston are fighting over what to do with all the leaves. Residents of Newton, Mass., say they are being tormented by the noise coming from the gas-powered leaf blowers that are now everywhere. But busy suburban families say the blowers are the only way to keep their lawns neat.
• 'Lost Boy' Survivor Dies in Iraq
  A man who survived a civil war in Sudan died working as a translator for the U.S. Army in Iraq. Beer Ayuel spent several years in Atlanta before "The Lost Boys" were resettled here.
• Excerpt: 'Away'
  Excerpt: 'Away'
• National Guard Works to Ease Soldiers' Return
  Minnesota's National Guard has launched a series of reintegration workshops for soldiers returning from extended tours in Iraq. The workshops focus on helping combat-weary soldiers and their families deal with domestic problems that sometimes befall them.
• Letters: 10th Mountain Division, Iran and Yawns
  This week's listener letters range in topics from the Army's Tenth Mountain, to the Iranian president, to the art of the yawn.
• Dozens of Iraqi Army Men Arrested in Killings
  Iraqi and U.S. special forces have arrested at least 59 Iraqi army officers and enlisted men suspected in taking part in killings, bombings and kidnappings in Baghdad. This is the latest case linking Iraqi security forces to sectarian militias and criminal gangs.
• The Buzz on the New Fall '08 TV Season
  Robert Siegel talks with Alan Sepinwall, a TV reviewer for The Newark Star Ledger, about the shows that have critics excited about the fall TV line up — and which ones just have them disappointed.

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