Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Tom Drury's "Driftless Area"
  Tom Drury titled his novel "The Driftless Area." It's very hard to place in a specific genre. There are elements of a thriller. There's a robbery. And there's a spine-tingling sense of ghostly predestination. One reviewer recently called the book "a Midwestern paranormal noir."4:49 p.m.
• GOP convention: What's the payoff?
  Some folks involved in the campaign to land the convention have been throwing around estimates of an economic kick worth $150 million. But that forecast seems to be based more on rumor than research.5:18 p.m.
• Green infrastructure
  If you live in the Twin Cities, you might have enjoyed a run by the lakes, or walked your dog this morning along the Mississippi. Those experiences are important to Will Rogers. And he wants to make sure there are more of them for city dwellers. Will Rogers is the president of the Trust for Public Land, based in San Francisco. The national organization helped create the Bruce Vento Wildlife Sanctuary in Saint Paul and numerous public projects across the country. Balancing public policy and commercial interests in the effort to develop "Green Infrastructure." Tom Crann talked with Rogers.5:24 p.m.
• Park Rapids faces elimination of school activities
  The Park Rapids School District has a lot at stake in its school referendum this fall. If it doesn't pass, administrators say they'll cut all sports and other co-curricular activities.5:43 p.m.
• Back to the Gulf Coast
  A year ago, in the wake of Hurricaines Katrina and Rita, a team of medical providers answered the call to provide assistance to those affected in the Gulf Coast. Jon Hallberg, who's our regular medical analyst here on All Things Considered was one of the doctors to head south and help out. This week, Jon is back for a visit to Abbeville, Louisiana. He returned to investigate what things are like, one year on.5:48 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• An Immigrant Family Changes the Way It Mourns
  A family from Iran learns a new way to mourn a death in this commentary from Firozeh Dumas. She is the author of the book Funny in Farsi.
• Guantanamo's Role May Change with New Policies
  As the president's rules for handling detainees accused of terrorist acts are debated in Congress, the impact of the latest changes on America's allies is uncertain. On Sept. 6, President Bush announced that 14 high-profile detainees would be sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be charged and tried under military commissions. At the end of his speech, the president sought to quell international criticism, saying that he wants to work with allies by providing what the administration considers a fair legal basis to hold and try suspected terrorists. The commission rules that President Bush proposed at that time have undergone both criticism and alterations -- but it might not be enough to end calls to close the Guantanamo facility.
• Leaked Paper Faults Iraq War, Pakistan, BBC Says
  The war in Iraq is "acting as a recruiting sergeant for extremists across the Muslim world," according to a document which the BBC says was obtained from the security service MI6. The leaked document criticizes Pakistan's intelligence service for indirectly helping the Taliban and al-Qaida. British officials say the document is an unfinished research paper.
• 'Abadazad' Heroine Casts Spell on Girls and Boys
  Author J. M. DeMatteis and illustrator Mike Ploog are the creators of a series of graphic novels called Abadazad. The books concern a modern-day girl who discovers a 19th century novel and the elderly woman who had been the inspiration for those stories. It's a dark tale, something the authors thought was important to do -- the heroine is cool and tough enough to make her palatable even to little boys. Michele Norris talks to DeMatteis and Ploog.
• Inmate Questions California's Lethal Injections
  The future of capital punishment in California could be determined by the outcome of a federal court hearing in San Jose. Earlier this year, lawyers for death-row inmate Michael Morales succeeded in getting his execution postponed by challenging the methods California uses to put condemned prisoners to death.
• Job Court: Sentencing Convicts to Work
  Instead of jail, judges in Lancaster County, Pa., have a new option for sentencing criminals: Get a job and keep it. The Job Court connects people convicted of certain crimes with supervised employment. The theory is that a regular schedule and a regular paycheck can help some people go straight.
• Democrats Suspect New Intel Report Suppressed
  A forthcoming National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq -- an update of the April 2006 report that has recently stirred debate on Iraq's role in the fight against terrorism -- is already largely complete, Democrats say. But, they say, it is being suppressed until after the November elections. The Bush administration disagrees.
• Replacing a Symphony Stage -- Carefully
  In the 105 years since the construction of the Boston's acoustically perfect Symphony Hall, its stage has become dangerously worn. The Boston Symphony has made every effort to duplicate the original stage, hoping to avoid the mistakes made at Carnegie Hall during its renovation. The new stage will be unveiled at a concert Friday.
• Senate Votes to Approve Detainee Treatment Bill
  The Senate passes a landmark bill for trying and questioning terrorism suspects, in a 65-34 vote that split along party lines. Final approval of the bill seemed assured earlier in the day Thursday, when an amendment aimed at preserving the right of all detainees to challenge their imprisonment in federal courts was narrowly defeated.
• Letters: Secretary Spellings, Adult Marching Bands
  Melissa Block and Michele Norris read from listeners' letters and emails. Comments this week include responses from college educators to Michele Norris's interview with U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. We also hear music from Atlanta's Seed and Feed Marching Abominable, one of a handful of marching bands around the country with a somewhat older membership.
• Reports: Problems with Iraq Oil Sector, Police Facility
  Iraq's most important moneymaker -- its oil industry -- lost $16 billion in potential foreign sales to insurgent attacks, criminals and bad equipment, a U.S. audit says. A second report says that a new building used to train police in Baghdad was poorly constructed.
• Holy Start-Up? A Pastor's 'Giving Kiosks' Spread
  Parishioners at some American churches are now donating money by using a debit card. The move away from tithing envelopes has led a pastor in Augusta, Ga., to start a new business. Michele Norris talks with Marty Baker of Stevens Creek Community Church about his "Giving Kiosks," which are now taking in money at seven churches -- with plans to expand.
• House Panel Takes Up 'Pretexting' Practice
  The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Investigations weighs in on the Hewlett-Packard scandal with a hearing on the use of deceptive measures to obtain personal information, a practice called "pretexting." Also Thursday, HP announced that its general counsel will leave the company.
• Maine Retiree Takes Cemetery Under Her Wing
  Cemeteries are struggling. Many can barely pay to have the lawn mowed, let alone care for gravestones. But in Maine, a 71-year-old retiree named Isla Estabrook has taken it upon herself to clean the grime off thousands of gravestones. What started as a small project to clean a cemetery where a friend was buried has turned into an obsession. Producer Patty Wight sends an audio postcard.
• Nuremberg's Legacy, 60 Years Later
  On Sept. 28, 1946, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg was getting ready to hand down its judgments against German war criminals. Commentator Mark Drumbl says that Nuremberg began 60 years of international genocide prosecutions -- but that the prosecutions have not achieved Nuremberg's most important goal, to keep similar events from happening. Mark Drumbl is a professor of law at Washington and Lee University and the author of the forthcoming book Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law.

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