Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• The 'Flim Flam Man' gets a script reading
  Twin Cities film fans have a unique opportunity on tap. For one night only, a group of local actors will present a staged reading of "Flag Day." It's a screenplay based on Minneapolis writer Jennifer Vogel's award-winning memoir "Flim Flam Man."4:50 p.m.
• Study: Government must do better to protect Mississippi River
  The study released Tuesday by the National Research Council says the state governments and the Environmental Protection Agency should better coordinate efforts to protect the river and the northern Gulf of Mexico.5:20 p.m.
• State of Minnesota settles with Dru Sjodin's family
  Sjodin's family was preparing to sue the state for damages worth more than $1 million. Sjodin was kidnapped and killed almost four years ago by a convicted sex offender who was released from prison a few months before the crime.5:24 p.m.
• A conversation with Maya Angelou
  Noted poet and writer Maya Angelou says she has a "love-hate relationship" with writing, despite her long and distinguished career. She talks with MPR's Kerri Miller.5:50 p.m.
• Defibrillator patients ask doctors about Medtronic failures
  People with Medtronic defibrillators got a jolt this week when the company decided to stop distributing the wires that connect the devices to patients' hearts. MPR's Tom Crann talks with a physician who has been hearing from some of his heart patients about the issue.5:55 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Missing Comrades Haunt Homeward-Bound Troops
  With just a few weeks left in Iraq, soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division will likely head back to New York state without Spc. Alex Jimenez and Pvt. Byron Fouty. Their platoon members cope with an aching hollowness — and a lingering bitterness toward the local residents they believe could have prevented their friends' deaths.
• Study Finds Drug-Resistant Bacteria Are Mixing
  The first national analysis of life-threatening, drug-resistant staph infections that are spreading in hospitals and communities across the nation puts pressure on hospitals to do more to prevent the infections. But one leading hospital executive says it's an uphill battle.
• Transgender Woman, IRS Fight over Tax Deduction
  Rhiannon O'Donnabhain, a transgender woman, is suing the IRS for the right to claim her sex-change operation as a medical deduction on her income taxes. But the IRS says the surgery was essentially cosmetic and not allowed under tax law.
• Shaking Down Key Voters on the Streets of Philly
  In a quest to discover this election's version of "Soccer Moms" and "NASCAR Dads," NPR contributor Mo Rocca takes his microphone to the streets of Philadelphia. Rocca talks with Michele Norris about what he found, and we hear from a number of people in potentially desirable demographics.
• What Happens to Horses as Slaughterhouse Closes?
  DeKalb, Ill., 60 miles west of Chicago, was home to the only plant in the nation that slaughtered horses for human consumption. But Illinois lawmakers banned the practice this year, and the slaughterhouse was shut down. Some horse owners worry that the law might have made things worse.
• Rockies Win Their First Trip to the World Series
  After a three-game sweep past the Phillies in the first round of the playoffs, the Colorado Rockies blew past the Arizona Diamondbacks with four consecutive wins to clinch the National League Championship and the team's first trip to the World Series.
• Disease, Politics Permeate 'The Air We Breathe'
  Once a biology student, Andrea Barrett now weaves science through her fiction. In The Air We Breathe, Barrett writes about poor immigrants at a tuberculosis sanatorium in the Adirondacks on the eve of World War I.
• Gift-Free Birthdays: Good Lesson or Just Mean?
  More parents are ditching the birthday gifts and the gift bags for their children in an attempt to regain control over birthday parties that many feel have become expensive, competitive and totally out of control. But plenty of people think the "no-present birthdays" for kids is just plain mean.
• 'Kiddie Soul' Compilation Not Just Kidding Around
  Inspired by The Jackson 5, the '70s and late '60s saw a panoply of very young R&B bands emerge across the country. Though many groups released but one single before fading into obscurity, a new compilation CD documents the best of "kiddie soul."
• Putin Warns Against Aggression in Caspian Region
  The presidents of Russia and Iran met Tuesday in Tehran on the sidelines of a summit of Caspian leaders. In comments aimed at the U.S., the Russian president said he would not accept military aggression against Iran or any state in the Caspian Sea region.

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