Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Illness means final harvest for family farmer
  Fall is a time for endings, as the growing season concludes and farm families gather their harvest. For one southern Minnesota farmer, illness has added an extra measure of finality to the season.4:50 p.m.
• Haunted basement attracts while it scares
  People are flocking to the Soap Factory gallery in Minneapolis to be scared. The gallery, just across the river from downtown, is making use of its 125-year-old building to present an artist-designed Haunted Basement.4:54 p.m.
• Minnesota banks still willing to lend, despite financial crunch
  In Minnesota there are concerns about a credit crunch, but banks here insist they're eager and able to lend.5:20 p.m.
• Furnaces at two taconite mines idled by downturn in steel market
  Layoffs are coming on the Iron Range. Taconite producer Cliffs Natural Resources announced today it's curtailing production at two northeast Minnesota taconite plants.5:24 p.m.
• Coleman, Franken get a little help from their friends
  With a week to go until Election Day, two of the major party candidates running for U.S. Senate got some help from popular politicians who aren't on the ballot this year.5:50 p.m.
• U of M sets flu shot record of over 10,000
  The University of Minnesota has apparently earned a spot in the Guiness Book of World Records today for vaccinating the most people in one day against influenza. MPR's medical analyst, Dr. Jon Hallberg, was among the thousands vaccinated today.6:20 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Favors, Inconsistencies Taint Angola Murder Case
  Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox spent 36 years in solitary confinement in a Louisiana prison for the murder of a corrections officer. Decades later, questions are surfacing about how the wife of the lead investigator ended up as the forewoman on the jury and why the key witness was promised a pardon.
• St. Louis Voters Discuss Struggles, Election Hopes
  A group of workers at the nonprofit Manufacturing Training Alliance in St. Louis, which trains people for skilled manufacturing jobs, all say they support Barack Obama. For some, this will be the first time they plan to head to the polls.
• Aterciopelados: Optimistic Rock From Colombia
  Local Colombian music permeates the soundscapes crafted by the band Aterciopelados. But what gives the group's music its universal appeal is something less tangible: a quality of dry-eyed optimism that proves both persuasive and reassuring in these troubled times.
• GM Seeks Government Loan To Buy Chrysler
  General Motors is asking the government for a loan that would make it possible to acquire rival carmaker Chrysler. There is a growing list of industries that would like to be included in the Treasury Department's financial bailout and it's not clear yet how Treasury will respond.
• Critic Blasts Plan to Rescue U.S. Carmakers
  Peter Morici, professor of logistics, business and public policy at University of Maryland's Smith School of Business, opposes a government bailout for General Motors. He says without a viable plan for future profitability, neither GM nor other Detroit automakers should get help.
• Boeing, Machinists Union Reach Tentative Deal
  Chicago-based Boeing Co. and its machinists union struck a tentative deal to end a seven-week strike that has shut down the company's commercial airplane operations. The deal gives workers a 15 percent pay raise over the four-year life of the contract.
• Obama's Candidacy Angers, Excites Hate Groups
  Two neo-Nazi skinheads were accused this week of plotting to kill Barack Obama. Although Obama was never in real danger, law enforcement agencies worry that his success could galvanize white supremacists.
• Letters: Toni Morrison
  Listeners responded to Monday's interview with author Toni Morrison about her new novel, A Mercy. Morrison talked about her realization while writing the book that many white Americans have ancestors who were slaves. Not all listeners were surprised by that revelation.
• Oil-Rich Kirkuk Could Hold Key To Iraq's Problems
  The northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk has become a symbol for one of the country's most intractable problems: debate over who should control Iraq's oil riches. The Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens are all vying for demographic and political control.
• 'Inverted Jenny' Stamp On Auction Block
  The stamp — which features an upside-down biplane — will be sold this week by the Robert Siegel Auction Galleries in New York City. Though a similar stamp sold for nearly $1 million last year, this one is not centered and is not expected to fetch as much.

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