Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Art Hounds
  Each week Minnesota Public Radio News asks three people from the Minnesota arts scene to be "Art Hounds." Their job is to step outside their own work and hunt down something exciting that's going on in local arts.4:44 p.m.
• Traders far away from the farm influence crop prices
  Federal officials will examine the role of large institutional investors in grain markets -- institutions such as pension systems and hedge funds. Their role in the grain trade has grown steadily over the past few years, and can lead to wide swings in the prices that farmers get for their crops.4:48 p.m.
• Minn. groups plans polling place surveillance
  A coalition of conservative groups says it's enlisting volunteers to become "voter surveillance teams" at polling places on Election Day, to watch for possible cases of voter fraud. But others say the effort appears to have more to do with suppressing voter turnout.5:20 p.m.
• Carter says government must help solve foreclosure crisis
  Former President Jimmy Carter is emphasizing the need for the government to assist communities devastated by foreclosure, during his visit to the Twin Cities this week with Habitat for Humanity.5:23 p.m.
• Moss to Vikings fans: Get out your #84 jerseys
  Randy Moss practiced with the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday, one day after he was acquired in a trade from the New England Patriots.5:50 p.m.
• Mark Mallman embarks on 78-hour music marathon
  Imagine staying awake for 78 hours straight. Now, picture yourself playing music continuously over the course of those three-plus days, and actually, playing just one song, and stopping only for bathroom breaks.5:54 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Farming Gives Colo. Family A Living But No Nest Egg
  Terry Walter estimates that his family of five earned about $48,000 last year. He's the third generation to work his land, and he faces a difficult combination of high debt levels and low profit margins that his father never had to worry about. Walter also worries about how he and his wife will afford to retire.
• GOP Gains Advantage After 'Citizens United' Ruling
  This campaign season, at least, it's been the conservative and Republican-leaning interest groups that have taken advantage of the Supreme Court ruling to spend millions on ads.
• Escape Shaft Could Reach Chilean Miners In Days
  At the San Jose mine in Chile, 33 miners who've been trapped deep underground since August are still there. But drillers who've been boring a shaft down say they could reach the miners in a matter of days. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks to Al Jazeera reporter Monica Villamizar.
• Ole Miss Picks A New Mascot: Rebel Black Bear, Rebel Land Shark, Or Hotty Toddy
  The search for a new mascot began several months ago, after the school decided that it was time to replace the Ole Miss Rebel.
• Jamey Johnson: Dabbling In Black And White
  The country singer-songwriter's double-disc album, The Guitar Song, is where dark meets slightly less dark. Not all of the record's 25 songs are perfectly turned, but his batting average is still really good.
• White House 'Asian Carp Czar' Outlines His Strategy For Eradicating Species
  He says barriers are working, as scientists begin to experiment with genetic engineering and the creation of Asian carp-specific toxins, which would target the species' digestive system and reproductive system.
• Change To River's Flow Considered To Stop Carp
  The threat of invasive Asian carp migrating from the Illinois River into Lake Michigan is sparking new debate over whether the flow of the Chicago River should be reversed -- again. There is increasing talk in the Great Lakes region about re-severing the Mississippi River and Great Lakes watersheds.
• Hungarian Toxic Sludge Reaches The Mighty Danube
  In Hungary, several villages were devastated earlier this week when a highly caustic waste product from an aluminum factory poured out of its holding reservoir. Four people were killed as the red sludge spread through the villages and into rivers and creeks. Those waterways in turn have now carried the sludge to the Danube -- Europe's second-longest river. And neighboring countries are monitoring the water to make sure the sludge is effectively diluted. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Elisabeth Rosenthal, environment reporter for the New York Times, who is in Budapest.
• 'It Was A Big, Big Surprise,' New Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa Tells NPR
  He received a phone call this morning, just after 5:30, and was in disbelief. He said that he likes to keep his political views and statements separate from the literature he writes.
• Brazil, A Land Of Working-Class Poets
  In Brazil, a tradition inherited from the Portuguese remains popular today -- stories on a string: slender pamphlets written in verse, hung up for sale on a piece of twine.

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