Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• How to invest new money in the environment: a nice problem to have
  Backers of the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment are scrambling to figure out how to organize allocation of the roughly $300 million a year the new income tax is expected to raise.4:50 p.m.
• Composers Institute nurtures talent and new orchestral music
  Tomorrow night in Minneapolis seven young composers will reach what may be the pinnacle of their career, at least so far. They will each hear the Minnesota Orchestra play one of their compositions.4:54 p.m.
• Southwest announces $69 fare to Chicago
  Southwest Airlines today announced its plans for serving the Twin Cities. Starting March 8th, the Dallas-based carrier will offer eight round-trip daily flights between the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport and Chicago's Midway Airport.5:20 p.m.
• President-elect Obama: The ultimate community organizer
  Political pundits on the left and right agree that Sen. Barack Obama's victory on Tuesday was due in large part to a well-run campaign. Some of that success may be a product of his experience working with community organizations on the south side of Chicago in the mid 1980s. Some activists in Minneapolis say they hope as president, Obama will become the ultimate community organizer.5:24 p.m.
• Coleman, Franken campaigns prepare for recount
  The campaigns for Republican Senator Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken are preparing for a recount with the unofficial results showing Coleman with a lead at less than 500 votes.5:50 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Brit Hume To Step Down As Fox News Anchor
  The longtime journalist plans to leave the nightly news anchor chair later this year to become a part-time pundit. Hume says he wants to devote more time to golf, grandchildren and Bible study — and that he's tired of the partisan sniping in Washington.
• 'Repo!' Opera: A Genetically Enhanced Hit?
  Darren Lynn Bousman thinks his "genetic opera" has the potential to be the next Donnie Darko or Rocky Horror Picture Show. But can you engineer a cult classic? Or is it only fans who can decide what's worthy of devotion?
• Peter Hammill: Prog Rock's Unsung Hero
  Musician Peter Hammill isn't a household name, and his music isn't necessarily for the household. As a founding member of the British progressive rock scene in the early '70s, Hammill reaches beyond the pretension of prog rock and into the fury of punk.
• Ore. Win Puts Democrats At 57 Senate Seats
  Two days after the election, Jeff Merkley, the speaker of Oregon's state House, defeated incumbent U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, a moderate Republican. The victory gives the Democrats 57 seats in the Senate, still short of the filibuster-proof 60 seats.
• Emanuel Is Obama's Chief Of Staff
  Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel has accepted the position of president-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff. Meanwhile, President Bush and Obama are to meet Monday for talks as part of the Democrat's transition to the White House.
• Stocks Slide On Gloomy News
  Stocks have taken another beating, wiping out recent gains. The declines followed a bad report on retail sales and poor earnings reports. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down more than 400 points.
• Three Writers With Charisma, PassionAnd Style
  Books are only things, but writers are individuals. Quentin Crisp, Andy Warhol, Lord Byron — their personalities touched the imagination even more intimately than their work.
• Russia's Missile Threat Examined
  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said he will station missiles alongside Poland if the U.S. places an anti-missile system in the country. The comments are seen as a warning to president-elect Barack Obama. Marshall Goldman, author of the forthcoming book Pretrostate: Putin, Power, and the New Russia, discusses Medvedev's remarks.
• Warm Global Welcome For Obama
  There has been an almost-universal chorus of welcome for president-elect Barack Obama. Seldom has a new president taken office with such a wide-open mandate to repair America's alliances and friendships.
• Chinese Rural Reforms Free Farmers From Land
  Some rural farmers in China are consolidating their individual small plots of land into farming cooperatives, as a result of new reforms. The reforms are jettisoning Communist Party ideology for the sake of economic necessity. But not everyone is happy.

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