Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Mississippi Headwaters State Forest is latest battleground over ATV use
  The latest flashpoint in the battle over ATV use on public lands and forests has come in the form of a request from conservationists. They want ATVs prohibited from the Headwaters State Forest because of the region's unique and sensitive ecology.5:19 p.m.
• Duluth's "new" crib washes ashore
  A huge wooden crib has washed ashore in downtown Duluth, and city officials are trying to figure out what to do it.5:23 p.m.
• University of Minnesota AIDS Clinical Trials Unit to close
  An AIDS research program at the University of Minnesota is being forced to close after 20 years of running clinical trials. The National Institutes of Health has cut back on domestic research funding for HIV/AIDS, but plans to perform clinical trials in developing nations.5:46 p.m.
• Family carol tradition continues
  St. Paul composer Abbie Betinis has written her sixth annual Christmas carol. She is carrying on a family tradition begun in 1922 by her great-grandfather.5:53 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• 'Children's Hospital' from the McSweeney's Stable
  The Children's Hospital by Chris Adrian, is a preposterous story about a floating hospital where hundreds of children, medical staff, and family members are trapped. It is printed by the McSweeney's publishing house.
• Push for Larger Military Is Turnaround for Bush
  President Bush says, "I'm inclined to believe that we need to increase in the permanent size of both the United States Army and the United States Marines." This is a striking reversal of the president's policy, which has insisted there is no need to increase the services' size.
• Bush and Iraq: A Punctured State of Denial
  President Bush's year-end news conference offered very few clues about what will come next in Iraq, says NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr. But one thing seems certain: the president's state of denial about the prospects in Iraq has finally been punctured.
• Cuaron Faced New Challenges in ' Children of Men'
  Alfonso Cuaron's latest movie is Children of Men, a dystopian tale about a civilization that has lost the ability to reproduce, until one woman becomes pregnant. Michele Norris talks with Cuaron about a shot in the film that lasts about six minutes, without a cut. Cuaron describes the challenges of choreographing the shot.
• Italy, Getty Museum at Odds over Disputed Art
  The Italian government threatens to break off relations with the Getty museum in Los Angeles in a dispute over a number of Italian antiquities. The Italians are demanding the return of 48 pieces in the museum that they say were taken out of Italy illegally.
• The Ethics of Embryonic Sex-Selection Treatments
  As pre-implantation genetics diagnosis are used for embryo selection, Eric Cohen of the Ethics and Public Policy Center says that while it's understandable why parents would want to avoid giving birth to a child with a life threatening disease, it opens up questions about devaluing the lives of people with disabilities.
• Rehab Nation: The Only Way to Say You're Sorry
  In light of Miss USA getting to keep her crown after a run of under-age binge drinking, commentator and fellow naughty girl Elizabeth Wurtzel says that going into rehab after you've seriously screwed up is the only way to show contrition in the public eye. A simple apology is not enough anymore.
• Fat Bacteria in Human Guts Tied to Obesity
  Many people worry about putting on a few pounds during the holidays. But when you reach for a cookie, keep in mind that you're not the only one who will enjoy the treat: It will also get eaten by the bacteria living in your gut. And it turns out that the kind of bacteria living there may affect how much weight you gain.
• Jennings Asks Judge for Codes to Voting Machines
  Six weeks after Election Day, one House race remains in dispute. In Florida's 13th District, which Republican Katherine Harris was vacating to run for the Senate, Republican Vern Buchanan was certified the winner by a narrow 369-vote margin. But Democrat Christine Jennings is challenging the results, both in court and in the House.
• Dorie Greenspan's Rugelach Secrets
  Forget the last-minute shopping, put down the tinsel, and never mind the horde of relatives on the way. It's time to make holiday cookies. Baker and cookbook author Dorie Greenspan shares a wealth of baking tips for making rugelach.
• My Guitar, My Past: A Man's Search for His Vox
  In 1981, the New-Wave band the Waitresses recorded the song "Christmas Wrapping." On the song, band leader Chris Butler played a baby-blue Vox electric guitar. After the Waitresses called it quits, Butler sold the guitar. But some years later, he had second thoughts about the guitar. The effort to track it down and reclaim it led Butler to embark on a trans-Atlantic journey.
• Bush Takes Different Tack on Iraq, Troop Levels
  President Bush says he is ready to increase the size of the U.S. military at a White House news conference where he discussed the situation in Iraq. The president said the year has been "a difficult year for our troops and the Iraqi people."
• Holiday Cookies Part Two
  Michele Norris returns to her kitchen with baker Dorie Greenspan to find out how her first try at making rugelach turned out. Greenspan says that, for her, the process of making the cookies is what evokes the holidays.
• Many Clinics Use Genetic Diagnosis to Choose Sex
  Some doctors analyze an embryo's DNA so parents can choose to have a male or female placed in the womb. Last year, a survey found that 1 of every 11 Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis treatment was for sex-selection alone. The study by Johns Hopkins University also found that 42 percent of clinics offering PGD offer it for sex selection.
• Bush Walks a Fine Line on Iraq, and Winning
  Michele Norris talks with E.J. Dionne, a columnist for The Washington Post, and Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review. They talk about President Bush's press conference in which he discussed Iraq, the economy, and how he might work with a Democrat-controlled Congress.

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