Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Peter Bjorn and John perform in the Current studio
  With the release of their third and most successful album, Writer's Block, Peter Bjorn and John gave us the year's most popular whistle on the track Young Folks which has been called an "Indie-Rock Anthem."3:50 p.m.
• Metrodome is training ground for marathoners
  One of your New Year's resolutions may be to get more exercise. But getting exercise can be a challenge during the gloomiest, coldest part of the year. Still, every week hundreds of people have found a cheap, accessible, warm place to run off those holiday pounds -- they go to one of the largest buildings in Minneapolis.4:45 p.m.
• Upheaval at local newspapers tops 2007's media stories
  As 2007 draws to a close, All Things Considered looks back at the top local media stories of the year.5:20 p.m.
• Students use drama to talk about being immigrants
  Some fourth graders at a St. Paul elementary school are taking a creative approach to the hot topic of immigration, performing a play they conceived and wrote about what it means to be an immigrant.6:25 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Kansas Town's Green Dreams Could Save Its Future
  After a tornado nearly destroyed Greensburg, Kan., in May, city leaders came up with a revival plan: make it the greenest town in America. Among the projects are new homes and buildings that are more efficient than the ones they replaced.
• Checking In with New Hampshire as Primary Nears
  Felice Belman, executive editor of the Concord Monitor, and Joe McQuaid, publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader, talk with Melissa Block about their newspapers' endorsements of presidential candidates and about how things are shaping up with New Hampshire voters before the Jan. 8 primary.
• Obama, Clinton Make Last Rounds in Iowa
  With a week to go before the Iowa caucuses, Barack Obama gives what he wants to be his closing argument in a Des Moines speech, while Hillary Clinton stumps the length of the state talking up her experience.
• Kenya Votes; Official Results Expected Friday
  About 14 million Kenyans were eligible to vote in Thursday's presidential election. The main contenders are Kenya's current president, Mwai Kibaki, and his one-time ally, Raila Odinga. The race has been too close to call, and some feared it would result in vote-buying and tribal violence.
• Letters: Care for Troops, Homeless, Christmas Tale
  Robert Siegel and Melissa Block read from listeners' e-mails, including reaction to our story about U.S. troops struggling to get help after returning from war with mental illness, about our story on efforts to help the homeless in New Orleans, and about our Christmas story, "La Parranda."
• The Dangers of Last-Minute Garden Maintenance
  It's not so bad to put off gardening chores — until the weather turns bitterly cold, and then there's a danger in leaving them until the eleventh hour. Commentator Julie Zickefoose discovers that in trying to do her best, she accomplishes exactly the opposite.
• Purse Sting Nabs Good Samaritans, Critics Say
  A New York City police program is credited with cutting subway crime, but organizations like the New York Civil Liberties Union say many a good Samaritan has picked up a wallet with the intention of finding its owner, only to find that he or she is under arrest.
• Single Glove, Slightly Used, Looking for a Mate
  This time of year, it is particularly difficult to keep gloves together. Now, one woman is trying to reunite as many pairs as she can. Jennifer Gooch, founder of onecoldhand.com, photographs found gloves from the Pittsburgh area and posts the pictures, with details on where each glove was located, on her Web site.
• 'Mister Pip' Brings Dickens Tale to the South Pacific
  On the short list for this year's Man Booker Prize for Fiction was a novel by New Zealand writer Lloyd Jones. The brilliant and compelling Mister Pip is set on a remote South Pacific island called Bougainville as civil war breaks out.
• U.S. Policy Must Shift in Bhutto's Absence
  Benazir Bhutto's death presents the U.S. with a major foreign policy challenge. Washington helped engineer her return to Pakistan in October after eight years in exile, and encouraged a power-sharing deal with President Pervez Musharraf. The U.S. now must consider other options in the wake of Bhutto's assassination.
• Critic Blames Musharraf for Bhutto's Death
  Aitzaz Ahsan, a senior leader of Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party, says the ultimate responsibility for Thursday's assassination lies with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
• Pakistan Reacts to Bhutto Assassination
  We hear past statements by Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and reactions to her assassination from people in Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan.
• Bhutto Knew a Return to Pakistan Was Risky
  Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, daughter of an executed president and prime minister, was killed in a gun attack and suicide bombing Thursday in Rawalpindi. The 54-year-old was a fixture in Pakistani politics and was the Muslim world's first female prime minister.
• 'Young Folks' Singer Gets Taken by Trees
  Swedish pop singer Victoria Bergsman has a voice heard by millions around the world: That was her singing on the massive hit "Young Folks," by the indie-pop band Peter, Bjorn and John. But fewer people heard that she also put out a solo record in 2007.
• Bhutto Blamed Musharraf for Lack of Security
  In an e-mail she sent two months ago that was to be made public in the event of her death, Benazir Bhutto blames Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and the Intelligence Service for a lack of security and her ultimate death. The recipient of that e-mail, Mark Siegel, was a business associate and friend who had known her for 25 years.

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories

Become a Sponsor