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.
• Mitch Albom on 'Have a Little Faith'
  Columnist and author Mitch Albom will be reading from his new book "Have a Little Faith" Sunday Night at Temple Israel in Minneapolis and he joined Tom Crann to talk about his book.4:50 p.m.
• Children's Hospitals begin first round of H1N1 vaccinations
  Some of the state's most medically vulnerable children got vaccinated today against the H1N1 influenza virus.5:20 p.m.
• H1N1 vaccine Q&A
  Minnesota Public Radio News health reporter Lorna Benson held an online chat Thursday to answer questions about H1N1 and seasonal flu. Below is an edited transcript of the discussion.5:23 p.m.
• Employment picture not as rosy as numbers suggest
  Although Minnesota's unemployment rate fell to 7.3 percent in September, employers continue to shed jobs, and thousands of Minnesotans have left the labor market, state officials announced Thursday.5:24 p.m.
• U.S. transportation secretary says Oberstar bill must wait
  U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood voiced the White House's opposition Thursday to the speedy passage of Rep. James Oberstar's $500 billion six-year federal transportation bill.5:35 p.m.
• Where Strike Force failed, other agencies succeed
  B.J. Zapor, above, and his fellow ATF agents have made strides fighting drugs and gang violence in Minnesota. His agency's success could provide lessons for the successor to the Metro Gang Strike Force.5:53 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Holder: Guantanamo Detainee Decision Soon
  Attorney General Eric Holder says the Obama administration's January deadline for closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba will be tough to meet. But he tells NPR that a decision on which detainees will stand trial and what kind of court they will face will be made in the coming month.
• New Jersey Governor's Race Turns Nasty
  New Jersey voters haven't elected a Republican to statewide office since 1997. But this year, the state's unpopular Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine is struggling to hang on to his job against Republican opponent Chris Christie and independent Chris Daggett in the run-up to the November election. And the attack ads are getting personal.
• Pakistan Attacks Underscore Militants' Resilience
  The wave of recent terrorist attacks across Pakistan — including simultaneous strikes Thursday in Lahore, killing dozens — reveals a militancy that may be more robust than authorities previously thought. Analysts say it is a test of wills between Pakistan's security forces and the Taliban.
• Study: When Soda Fizzes, Your Tongue Tastes It
  Every time you crack open a soda, your taste buds may help you get the full experience of the carbonated beverage. A new study shows that your tongue's sour-sensing cells may be partly responsible for the sensation of carbonation's fizz.
• Chinua Achebe: 'Heart Of Darkness' Is Inappropriate
  As a child, Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe was initially seduced by Joseph Conrad's novella about an Englishman's journey up the Congo. But then he read the book more closely, and he realized that Conrad's portrayal of Africans was not a humane one.
• A Wild, 'Burning' Journey Back To Old Mexico
  Author Oscar Casares never used to be a reader — until the excitement of The Burning Plain and Other Stories showed him what he had been missing.
• New Book Explores Best Times For Almost Everything
  In Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon, journalist Mark Di Vincenzo answers questions about everything from when to defrost your freezer to when to buy a house. He says the most surprising thing he learned is that the best time to ice a burn is "never" — it can cause frostbite.
• Report: Stimulus Created At Least 30,000 Jobs
  A report from the White House detailing the effects of the stimulus says businesses that got federal contracts under the program saved or created more than 30,000 jobs in the program's opening months. Broader data on local spending won't be available until late this month.
• A Look At Effects Of Stimulus On States
  Eight months after President Obama signed the federal stimulus funding into law, states are seeing the money flow now. A health clinic in a low-income part of Nashville, Tenn., teachers in California and highway construction workers in Illinois were among the beneficiaries.
• No Social Security COLA In 2010
  The Social Security Administration says there will be no cost-of-living increase next year for more than 50 million recipients of Social Security. The announcement comes a day after President Obama called for $250 payments for seniors, veterans, retired railroad workers and people with disabilities.

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