Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Ice sculpting made easy (and colorful!)
  In these austere times, some people, looking for cheap art materials, are turning to ice. This weekend Studio Bricolage is holding a family ice sculpting party in Griggs Park in St Paul. There are no dangerous tools involved - but deep belief in the value of fun.3:49 p.m.
• Respect for the game
  The girls of Wrenshall High School's basketball team lost a game to Moose Lake 65-0 in December. They have every right to be dispirited, but amazingly, they're not.3:54 p.m.
• Pawlenty says he'll avoid cutting K-12 education in budget cuts
  On the eve of the 2010 legislative session, Governor Pawlenty said his budget plan will include difficult spending cuts but that he'll work to protect K-12 funding to schools.4:49 p.m.
• Mother of detained hiker still hopeful for his release
  The mother of one of three American hikers detained in Iran says she remains hopeful that her son will be released, despite Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement that the U.S. government has ruled out a proposed prison exchange.4:53 p.m.
• After LaHood comment, Toyota dealers concerned
  A representative for Minnesota car dealers on Wednesday blasted U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for telling the owners of recalled Toyotas to stop driving them.5:20 p.m.
• Ice sculpting made easy (and colorful!)
  In these austere times, some people, looking for cheap art materials, are turning to ice. This weekend Studio Bricolage is holding a family ice sculpting party in Griggs Park in St Paul. There are no dangerous tools involved - but deep belief in the value of fun.5:48 p.m.
• Respect for the game
  The girls of Wrenshall High School's basketball team lost a game to Moose Lake 65-0 in December. They have every right to be dispirited, but amazingly, they're not.5:53 p.m.
• Mother of detained hiker still hopeful for his release
  The mother of one of three American hikers detained in Iran says she remains hopeful that her son will be released, despite Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement that the U.S. government has ruled out a proposed prison exchange.6:18 p.m.
• Pawlenty says he'll avoid cutting K-12 education in budget cuts
  On the eve of the 2010 legislative session, Governor Pawlenty said his budget plan will include difficult spending cuts but that he'll work to protect K-12 funding to schools.6:24 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Iraqi Court Lifts Ban On Hundreds Of Candidates
  An Iraqi appeals court overturned a move to disqualify some 500 candidates in next month's parliamentary elections because of their alleged ties to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. The controversy over the Baathists raises questions about who else is being allowed to run for office.
• Guns, Tumors And The Limits Of The Human Eye
  What do an airport baggage screener and a radiologist looking for breast cancer have in common? Both suffer from the limitations of the human eye. A new study finds that when we're searching for rare things, like tumors and guns, they're a lot harder to see.
• Quake Takes Its Toll On Haiti's Burial Rites
  With an estimated death toll as high as 200,000 in Haiti from the Jan. 12 quake, mass burials have replaced the traditional rituals for honoring the dead. In a land where funeral rites and the spiritual afterlife are central tenets, many Haitians are upset that so many bodies have been buried without ceremony.
• Family Questions Probe Into Chinese Official's Death
  Officials ruled that the death last year of Yang Kuansheng, the vice-mayor of a town in Hunan province, was a suicide. But his family and legal experts cite evidence of foul play and want a new investigation. The case occupies a murky area in which crime and corruption often collide.
• Giant Squids Lure California Fishing Enthusiasts
  Fishing enthusiasts in Southern California are delighted by the unexpected and mysterious appearance of jumbo squids off the coast. They have been catching hundreds of the feisty sea creatures since late last week. Biologists say that over the past decade the giant squids have started swimming up from the Sea of Cortez between Baja and mainland Mexico. The species is considered invasive and aggressive.
• Three Americans In London, Fighting For War
  Citizens of London is Lynne Olson's history of three Americans who helped steer the United States toward World War II. Edward R. Murrow, Averell Harriman and John Gilbert Winant sold the war to the American public and to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• Is That A Castle You're Hiding Behind That Haystack?
  British farmer Robert Fidler has lost his case in High Court to keep his castle and was ordered to demolish it. Fidler built the castle surreptitiously nearly a decade ago — hidden behind large stacks of hay — in an effort to capitalize on a loophole in British law.
• U.S. Soldiers Killed In Pakistan Blast
  Three U.S. military personnel were killed and two were wounded in Pakistan on Wednesday, as their security convoy traveled through a district in the northwest part of the country. The five were part of a low-profile unit that is training a Pakistani paramilitary force that patrols along border with Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
• Pentagon Official On QDR Priorities
  The undersecretary of defense for policy says the U.S. must plan for complex, uncertain situations the country will likely face in a rapidly evolving security environment. That's one of the recommendations of the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review, and Michele Flournoy also discusses the QDR's focus on energy and climate change.
• Obama Criticized For Second Las Vegas Barb
  President Obama's comments about Las Vegas on Tuesday said had people in Nevada fuming. "You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage," Obama said. "You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college." It was Obama's second such public reference to Las Vegas.

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