Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Crisis and Change
  Automakers face a crisis. State budgets across the country are in crisis. The effects of climate change are at a crisis-point. And you've probably also heard about the financial crisis and the mortgage meltdown. President-elect Barack Obama promises to bring change to Washington, but clearly he's going to have his work cut out for him. Cecily Sommers studies change for the PUSH Institute in Minneapolis.4:50 p.m.
• State legislators begin work on deficit solutions
  A list of about $700 million in unspent state money will be a target for lawmakers and Gov. Tim Pawlenty as they search for $426 million in budget cuts. Democratic leaders are pushing for a public process involving legislative hearings before deciding what to cut.5:20 p.m.
• Minnesota cities bracing for state cuts
  The state's budget crisis will hurt cities that depend heavily on local government aid and some cities may feel the pain sooner as well as later.5:25 p.m.
• Recount is done, except for one precinct
  The statewide recount of ballots in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race is one precinct short of being completed. Despite the near completion of hand counting, the winner of the race is far from being resolved.5:50 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Week In Sports Reviewed
  Sportswriter Stefan Fatsis talks about baseball's off-season, whether the economy will hurt players seeking free-agent contracts and the latest poster boy for athlete recklessness: Plaxico Burress
• Blackwater Guards Indicted For Iraq Deaths
  Five Blackwater Worldwide security guards were indicted and a sixth is in plea negotiations with prosecutors for a 2007 shooting in Baghdad. The shooting killed 17 Iraqis.
• In Tapes, Johnson Accuses Nixon Of Treason
  The Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, released Thursday a tape that demonstrates that in the final months of his administration, Johnson suggested that associates of Richard Nixon were trying to persuade the South Vietnamese government not to join the peace talks until after the 1968 election.
• General: Why Afghanistan Needs More U.S. Troops
  Gen. David McKiernan, commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, tells NPR that defeating the threat in Afghanistan is of "vital national security interest." He says fighting the insurgency will take a long time and the U.S. needs resources from the international community.
• Obama Finished Campaign With Money To Spare
  The Obama campaign's post-election report shows that he raised nearly $750 million in his run for the White House. During the course of the campaign, he gathered 4 million donors and his fundraising surpassed the combined total of all the candidates in 2004.
• High Court To Hear Enemy Combatant Case
  The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case early next year testing the power of the president to hold a person indefinitely in military custody. The case concerns Ali al-Marri, a Qatari citizen who was arrested seven years ago in Illinois and who remains in detention in South Carolina.
• Letters: Automakers, GM CEO, 'American Buffalo'
  Listeners weigh in on the plight of the Big Three automakers, correct an impression GM CEO Rick Wagoner gave about the failed electric car, the EV-1, and opine on Steve Rinella's book American Buffalo.
• India Names Masterminds Of Mumbai Attacks
  Indian investigators have now named two operatives believed to have masterminded last week's attacks in Mumbai. More details are also emerging about how the attacks were planned and executed. Praveen Swami, associate editor of The Hindu newspaper, sheds light on the latest developments in the case.
• Once Favored, GM's Saturn, Pontiac Struggle
  The future of several GM brands is in doubt as the automaker considers dramatic changes in order to survive. Saturn was once a darling of the company with its reliable vehicles and no-haggle pricing. Pontiac's muscle cars used to have a strong identity and a loyal following. Both brands are now in serious trouble.
• Automakers Head To House With Bailout Appeal
  The CEOs of the Big Three automakers are back on Capitol Hill, this time facing skeptics on the House Financial Services Committee. Lawmakers are reaching for solutions as they assert they cannot let the car companies fail, while insisting they aren't writing any blank checks.
• In Portland, Ore., A Crackdown On SantaCon
  Each December, thousands pour into the streets of major American cities for SantaCon, a festival of debauchery, in which crowds of drunk people in red suits crawl the local bars. In Portland, Ore., rumors of a crackdown are driving the semi-organized event to look for a new venue.
• Remembering Amnesiac Who Shed Light On Memory
  Henry Gustav Molaison, known to neuroscientists as H.M., was one of the world's most memorable amnesiacs. He died Tuesday at the age of 82. Suzanne Corkin, professor of Behavioral Neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who worked him, offers her insight.
• Family Goes From Foreclosure To Skid Row
  Andy Bale, the director of Skid Row's Union Mission in Los Angeles, has never seen this before: In just the last few weeks, he has admitted a half-dozen two-parent families, many of who have lost their homes to foreclosure. Bale says the face of Skid Row's homeless is changing quickly.
• Jobless Rate Rises To 6.7 Percent
  The full weight of the recession has come bearing down on the labor market. Employers shed more than half a million jobs in November. The unemployment rate is now 6.7 percent and economists expect it to go significantly higher. Layoffs are accelerating in just about every industry.
• 3-D NFL Comes To Movie Theaters
  The NFL broadcast Thursday a 3-D version of the San Diego Chargers-Oakland Raiders game in three theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Boston. This latest attempt to bring 3-D to an NFL audience is being designed by a company in Burbank, Calif.

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