Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Arts colleges face unique challenges in a recession
  As the economic recession deepens, colleges and their students are feeling the pressure to stay afloat. Private art schools are facing their own particular challenges, convincing families they can lead a student to a successful career.4:50 p.m.
• Flooding threat increases in Fargo-Moorhead
  Volunteers swarmed through Fargo-Moorhead neighborhoods to build sandbag dikes as the Red River rose quickly across backyards.5:20 p.m.
• Northside home tour shows off investments for sale
  One person's foreclosure crisis, is another's investment opportunity. This is especially true in parts of north Minneapolis, where the supply of foreclosed properties is high and the prices are low.5:24 p.m.
• Red River flood: Resources and links
  A list of resources with information about the flooding in the Red River Valley.5:50 p.m.
• Minn. financial firms optimistic about Obama plan
  The government's move to to draw private investors into buying up to $1 trillion of banks' so-called toxic assets aims to get the bad loans off bank balance sheets so that they will start lending again. Some local financial firms say they're all eager to see more details of the programs' rules.5:54 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Life Stands Still On New Orleans' Honeysuckle Lane
  Honeysuckle Lane in New Orleans East was a veritable ghost town after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. The area is slowly rebuilding, but as homeowner John Brown says, it still lacks a hospital, nearby schools and stores. Residents say they're still "waiting for normalcy."
• Curtain Call For Kenya's Last Outdoor Picture Show
  On the outskirts of Nairobi, in a field filled with crickets and frogs, moviegoers can buy a ticket to another era at the Fox, Kenya's last drive-in theater. But time and economics have taken a toll: The Fox will be torn down and turned into residential housing, a mall and a multiplex.
• Do 'Childish Things' Include 'Lord Of The Rings'?
  Commentator Peter Sagal mourns the loss of science fiction author Philip Jose Farmer. He says Farmer provided him with an important commodity when he was growing up: imaginary people. You can spend your whole life talking and playing with and beating up imaginary people. And from all accounts, many do. But Sagal also wonders if, like him, when they grow up and have to say farewell to childish things, they'll have nothing real to let go of.
• Major Government Role In Treasury Plan
  The Treasury Department calls its long-awaited plan to deal with so-called toxic assets a public-private partnership. The plan depends on private investors to supply much of the capital that will be needed to eliminate bad loans and toxic securities from the financial system.
• Private Investor Backs Geithner's Plan
  Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer of Pimco, says the Treasury Department's plan aimed at taking toxic assets off of bank balance sheets is a win for the government, U.S. taxpayers, private investors and, potentially, the banks that will be selling the toxic assets. He says the plan looks like a good program to not only to clear bank balance sheets, but also to give a shot in the arm to the U.S. economy.
• Security Concerns Spur Indian Cricket Tourney Move
  The Board of Control for Cricket in India has decreed that the Indian Premier League tournament be played overseas because the authorities can't supply adequate security. The decision, which follows terrorist attack in Mumbai, India, and Lahore, Pakistan, has put Indian fans of the game in mourning.
• Multimedia Resumes Add Pizazz To Job Search
  College seniors are increasingly turning to Internet-based resumes such as VisualCV, which uses keyword pop-ups, embedded documents, video and images. One Web site's founder says traditional resumes don't allow applicants to showcase their work.
• Dow Spikes On Treasury News
  Wall Street reacted positively to the Treasury Department's plan to rescue banks by ridding them off their toxic assets. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up nearly 500 points. Ted Weisberg, president of Seaport Securities and a floor trader at the New York Stock Exchange, talks about the day on Wall Street.
• Video Game Grad Programs Open Up The Industry
  By focusing on games as a medium for artistic experimentation and collaboration, graduate programs in video game design are bringing change to an industry once known for its monoculture.
• Geithner Gets Boost From Reaction To Treasury Plan
  President Barack Obama can finally say he has a public plan for attacking the bad mortgage debt at the heart of the problem. The plan involves using federal money to make so-called "toxic assets" more palatable to private investors.

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