Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• McClatchy selling Star Tribune
  For the second time this year, a Twin Cities daily newspaper is changing hands. This time, the McClatchy Corporation is selling the Star Tribune to a private equity firm called Avista Capital Partners.5:19 p.m.
• Low level of Lake Superior raises concern and costs
  The level of Lake Superior recently hit an all-time low--at least in recorded history. That's making trouble for boaters, and especially for the big ore freighters.5:24 p.m.
• Warm winters are bad news for Minnesota ice rinks
  This year's warm weather is making it difficult for many winter recreational activites. It also means many Minnesota cities can't keep outdoor ice rinks operating.5:44 p.m.
• Fargo man combines health care with art
  Ken Heide uses his woodworking skills to help people live a regular life. He is one of the few people left in the U.S. who carve wooden legs.5:49 p.m.
• The top 10 medical stories of 2006
  This year has had more than its share of health and medical topics in the news. From E.coli outbreaks to polonium poisoning, high-profile strokes to pandemic predictions, many of the medical stories of the past year have approached near-biblical proportion. MPR's Tom Crann consulted Dr. Jon Hallberg for his pick of the top 10.5:53 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Beyond Charity: Microlending As Good Business
  Microlending has been around for 30 years. Until recently, most of the money came from philanthropic interests. But investors are now beginning to view microlending in the developing world as a way to turn a profit while doing good.
• Jazz Pianist Keith Jarrett's Carnegie Turn
  It has been 30 years since Keith Jarrett released The Koln Concert, a recording of solo piano improvisations that has sold over 3 million copies — far more than most jazz records. It was a breakthrough for the 60-year-old pianist and composer, who studied classical music in his youth and got his start playing jazz with Art Blakey, Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. After the success of Koln, Jarrett began doing regular solo concerts. But in the late 1990s, a battle with chronic fatigue syndrome forced him to rest at his home in rural New Jersey. Last September, the pianist performed at Carnegie Hall. The concert became a two-CD set. Tom Moon has a review.
• Visiting the 'Second Life' World: Virtual Hype?
  Recently, Federal Judge Richard Posner made an appearance in Second Life, the online community with its own economy. Other visitors to Second Life have included Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig and musician Ben Folds. But is Second Life really that big a deal?
• A Legendary Rifle Cartridge Turns 100
  It's the 100th anniversary of a rifle cartridge known as the .30-06 -- or, thirty-aught-six, in common parlance. The U.S. military used the rounds in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and many other conflicts. It soldiered on through a century that included space travel and the rise of computers.
• Teaching Violence, and Control, to Children
  Karate instructor Louise Rafkin describes the way that she teaches children to hit. Childhood is a violent time, Rafkin says, and her students learn how to control their innate violence. As Rafkin talks with two of her young students, one describes the power struggles at his school.
• Basra Police Call British-Led Raid 'Illegal'
  British and Iraqi forces raided a police station in Basra, Iraq, Monday. The police station was the headquarters of the city's Serious Crimes Unit, but the SCU had a reputation for operating outside of the law, torturing locals and extorting "protection" money from them. Melissa Block talks with the BBC's Huw Williams.
• Deadly Concentration: Finding IEDs at Night
  Night after night, U.S. patrols emerge from the sprawling Camp Victory in Baghdad to hunt for things nobody else wants to find: ambush roadside bombs. As Capt. Tim Russell, says, "their whole job is to go out there to find something that could potentially blow them up."
• In 2006, Attacks Were Thwarted. But Why?
  The week between Christmas and New Year's is a time of high alert for counter-terrorism officials. The fear is that as the number of travelers swells, so do the opportunities for terrorists to strike. But as 2006 draws to a close, security officials can take solace in the fact that the year has not yet brought a single terror attack of note in the West.
• Rebuilding Slows in Tsunami-Stricken Areas
  On Dec. 26, 2004, the biggest tsunami in recent memory killed more than 250,000 people around the coast of the Indian Ocean. Two years after the tsunami, people displaced by the disaster are still living intents or makeshift homes. The Red Cross promised to build 50,000 homes; so far, there are only 8,000. Host Robert Siegel speaks with the United Nations' Miloon Kothari.
• Working with the Wounded: Tired, But not Numb
  Commentator Ian Black, who is Chief of Anesthesia at the 28th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, says he is tired of seeing wounded Americans and Iraqis. Reflecting on Christmas, Black says that he hopes at the end of the day, it will be the people -- not the injuries -- that he will remember.
• Memory and the Virtual World
  Commentator Paul Ford tried to create a virtual world in his head. But it didn't work out very well. He is an editor at Harper's magazine and the author of the novel Gary Benchley, Rock Star.
• Solving an Old Math Problem Nets Award, Trouble
  The journal Science's "breakthrough of the year" for 2006 is the solution of a century-old math problem. The story behind the solution is quite a soap opera. It includes a Harvard math wizard, a reclusive Russian genius, a $1 million prize, an award-winning journalist and The New Yorker magazine.
• USGS Works to Advance Quake Warnings
  The U.S. Geological Survey will soon upgrade its rapid earthquake notifications to include a projection of hazard to human beings and potential economic losses. Emergency officials are rapidly notified when a large quake strikes anywhere in the world. But it can take hours or days to figure out whether a particular quake is a major threat to life and property.
• Tsunami Data Point to Value of Reefs in Warming Era
  Scientists who have studied the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami conclude that coral reefs helped to save many people. Recent computer models have confirmed what eyewitnesses reported: Shorelines behind reefs fared much better. That raises both the value of reefs as well as alarm over their rapid disappearance. And with climate change expected to raise sea levels, the data also suggest that reefs might help protect low-lying areas from higher wave surges.
• Edward Norton on 'The Painted Veil'
  The Painted Veil is a love story set in the 1920s about a young English couple and a journey that takes them to one of the most remote and beautiful places on earth. Edward Norton talks about what drew him to the film.

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