Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Bridge collapse survivors push for compensation fund
  The Aug. 1 collapse of the I-35W bridge killed 13 people and injured about 100 more. The victims want help for medical bills, economic losses and pain and suffering.5:19 p.m.
• Mpls law firm blocked turmeric patent, curried favor in India
  A number of Minnesota companies are in India this week, trying to forge new business connections during Gov. Pawlenty's trade mission there. One Minneapolis-based law firm in the delegation already has a strong foothold on the subcontinent. Merchant & Gould helped overturn a U.S. patent on an ancient Indian herbal medicine.5:47 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Rep. Rangel Unveils 'Mother of All Tax Bills'
  Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) introduced Thursday what he calls "the mother of all tax bills." It's actually two plans: a grand $1 trillion scheme for 2009 and beyond; and a more immediate $65 billion measure to patch the alternative minimum tax.
• Doctor: Steroids Particularly Damaging to Teens
  Dr. Michael Miletic says teenagers are especially vulnerable to physical and mental damage from steroids because they are still growing. Miletic is a physician, a board-certified psychiatrist and a former Olympic-level athlete.
• Texas to Test High School Athletes for Steroids
  Texas has enacted a law to test more than 23,000 public high school students in all sports for anabolic steroids. Texas state Sen. Kyle Janek, who wrote the law, says testing will determine the severity of the problem and will be implemented before this school year is over.
• Rice Answers to Costly State Department Errors
  In a hearing Thursday of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) suggested that State Department mistakes were hurting the war effort. Waxman pressed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on security matters, cost overruns, and Iraqi corruption.
• Free Furniture If Red Sox Win World Series
  A Boston-area retailer offers to refund the price of any mattress, dining room table, sofa or bed if the Red Sox win the World Series. About 30,000 pieces of furniture were bought during the store's season-opening promotion. The store took out insurance so it won't lose too big if the Sox go all the way.
• Calif. Residents Returning Home Find Only Ashes
  As San Diego evacuees return to their homes in some of the hardest-hit burn areas, many are going back to ashes. Returning families talk about the challenges and emotions of going home to find it's no longer there.
• Obey Decries Bush's War-Spending Request
  This week, President Bush asked Congress for another $46 billion in funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying Congress must approve the money by the end of the year. U.S. Rep. David Obey (D-WI) says he has no intention of considering more spending until the president changes his policy.
• Letters: Eichenwald, Drought, Torre, Apple Tart
  Robert Siegel reads from listener's letters about the stories of the past week, from former New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald's epilepsy, to the Southern drought, to the departure of the Yankees' manager, to a delectable apple dessert.
• Iran Sanctions Target Military, Weapons Financing
  The White House on Thursday rolled out new sanctions against Iran, designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and its elite Quds Force as a supporter of terrorism.
• Bush Views California's Wildfire Damage
  With a million people evacuated and more than $1 billion in damage in San Diego County alone so far, President Bush toured the Southern California fire sites.
• Arson Blamed in At Least One Orange County Blaze
  In the midst of battling the massive wildfires in Southern California, investigators are trying to determine what started them. Arson is blamed in at least one major blaze in Orange County. And in San Bernardino County, local authorities shot and killed a man they say was trying to set a fire.
• Campaign-Trail Debate Shifts from Iraq to Iran
  Iran has been the focus of increasingly strong rhetoric and warnings from the Bush administration, and it has become more of an issue on the campaign trail, too. There is agreement that Iran should not have nuclear weapons, but even candidates of the same party are split on how to achieve that.
• Insurance Claims Stream In from California Fires
  What kind of insurance protection is available for people in the fire-affected areas of Southern California? Candysse Miller, executive director of the Insurance Information Institute of California, says 5,000 claims have come in — not nearly as many as they saw in the 2003 fires.
• TV Finds a (Bleeping) Funny Way Around Profanity
  TV shows have been bleeping profanity for years when people speak extemporaneously. In recent years, however, scripted shows have been writing profanity in. The actors say the forbidden words and then the words are bleeped out for comedic effect.
• 'Miracle Workers' Save Lives at Balad Field Hospital
  Balad Air Base in Iraq has the most advanced forward-operating combat hospital in the history of warfare. What the trauma doctors see is intense. A single patient may have shrapnel embedded in the body, massive chest wounds and missing limbs.

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