Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Test of new mining technique set for Minn. manganese deposit
  Test mining is set to begin in central Minnesota this fall on what could be one of the largest manganese deposits in North America -- which is sitting right underneath the small town of Emily.3:50 p.m.
• Top Secret Minnesota
  An investigation by the Washington Post found 11 companies doing business in Minnesota that involve employees with Top Secret clearances, and they're not what you'd consider spies next door.3:54 p.m.
• What's your definition of rich?
  Minnesota's leading gubernatorial candidates are all planning to tax the wealthiest Minnesotans, but they don't all agree on who should be considered "rich."4:44 p.m.
• Former justice Gardebring Ogren remembered as 'a star'
  Former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Sandra Gardebring Ogren, whose career in public service spanned four decades and touched government, the courts and higher education, has died after a nine-year battle with cancer. She was 63.5:24 p.m.
• Ask Dr. Hallberg: Screening for Alzheimer's disease
  New proposed screening guidelines for Alzheimer's are aimed at detecting the disease earlier in patients concerned about memory loss. But would you want to know if you have the disease if there isn't much you can do to prevent its onset?5:50 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Female Imams Blaze Trail Amid China's Muslims
  Muslims in China have developed their own set of practices with Chinese characteristics. The biggest difference is the development of independent women's mosques with female imams leading the prayers. But now, economics — not the state or resistance inside Islam — threaten their survival.
• Ex-USDA Official Sherrod At Center Of Media Storm
  Suddenly Shirley Sherrod has become a household name, and the outcome of her story is far from clear. Remarks she made at an NAACP meeting were selectively edited and made into an attack video. She resigned under pressure before the full story was known, and on Wednesday the Obama administration apologized.
• The Sherrod Flap And Fallout For The White House
  Michele Norris talks to Jonathan Alter, author and columnist for Newsweek magazine, about Shirley Sherrod's firing and what implications it could have for the Obama administration.
• Ex-Gov. Blagojevich Won't Testify After All
  Defense attorneys for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich rested their case Wednesday without their client taking the stand in his corruption trial. For more than a year, Blagojevich has professed his innocence and pledged to testify. But on Wednesday, he and his attorneys said the government did not prove its case.
• Gulf States Frustrated At Commercial Fishing Ban
  Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and the Gulf fishing industry are pushing federal regulators to open waters to commercial fisherman, saying there has never been evidence of contamination. The Food and Drug Administration says any decision to lift the ban will be based on results after testing fish.
• The Long, Strange Journey Of Lefty O'Doul's Arm
  The owners of Lefty O'Doul's bar in San Francisco received a mysterious package Tuesday filled with packing peanuts, photos, a typed letter -- and a left arm. It wasn't a real left arm, but a very famous one: It belongs to the mannequin at the entrance to Lefty O'Douls. And it was stolen three years ago.
• Malaysian Reality Show Seeks Young Imam
  The new Malaysian reality TV show Imam Muda will select a young leader in its season finale July 30. Throughout the season, contestants performed tasks like preparing bodies for burial and counseling unwed mothers. The prize is a job as an imam at one of the main mosques in the capital city. The show has become extremely popular among youth, and its Facebook page has nearly 45,000 fans. Robert Siegel talks to BBC reporter Jennifer Pak.
• Letters: Poison Ivy
  Listeners react to our story about poison ivy. Robert Siegel and Michele Norris read from listeners' e-mails.
• Cab-Schooled Student Earned Ticket To Harvard
  Imagine the back seat of a big rig as your high school classroom. For Kerry Anderson, who was home-schooled as her truck-driver mom made deliveries across the country, that was reality. Anderson eventually got through community college and received a full scholarship to Harvard University. Michele Norris talks to Anderson, now 26, about her unconventional education.
• Comfort Books: Three Soothing Summer Reads
  When Laura Lorson needs a break from the daily grind, she curls up with books that transport her to simpler times. She recommends three titles that take her back to her days of childhood summer reading — absorbing words off sun-dappled pages under the shade of a tree.

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