Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Pawlenty looks to get back on the air for second term
  Media watchers and political foes question the broadcast arrangement that gives the governor unfiltered airtime once a week.5:19 p.m.
• Push resumes to sell wine in grocery stores
  Grocers are trying to convince state lawmakers that the time has come now that a majority of other states allow grocers to sell wine. But liquor store owners say the move would hurt their bottom lines.5:23 p.m.
• Buses back on the road after inspection
  All school buses in the Anoka-Hennepin School District that are similar to one that crashed last week are back on the road. The district requested inspections for buses that are the same make and model of the one that plowed into two cars and a light pole Friday, injuring two dozen people. One woman remains in critical condition. All but three students were sent home from hospitals.5:53 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Iraq's Future Lies in Oil, Says Study Group Member
  The success or failure of Iraq depends on oil. The first and most important recommendation in the Iraq Study Group's recent report is to support national reconciliation and get solid laws in place that govern how to distribute oil revenue, according to Amy Jaffe, one of the group's Economy and Reconstruction experts.
• Trailer Park by the Sea, With Million-Dollar Plots
  A trailer park just south of Palm Beach, Fla., sits on 43 of the best oceanfront acres in the state. The owners of the 488 trailers are selling — each household is likely to receive more than $1 million.
• Vocal Impressions: Hearing Voices
  "Diamonds dipped in caramel" is how commentator Brian McConnachie's daughter described Ella Fitzgerald's voice. Now, he invites listeners to send in their own descriptions of the distinctive voices of four American legends: Truman Capote, Patsy Cline, Morgan Freeman and Marilyn Monroe.
• High Court Restores Verdict in Victim-Button Case
  The Supreme Court rules that a murder conviction should not have been thrown out because the victim's family wore lapel-pin pictures of the victim to the trial. The justices ruled that since they'd never set a precedent on wearing buttons to a trial, an appeals court was not free to consider them prejudicial.
• Failures, and Failings, of the Adjourned Congress
  The recently adjourned 109th Congress was the most unproductive in recent history, says NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr. Lawmakers left key matters unfinished, pushing them off onto the next Congress.
• Iran Hosts Large Meeting of Holocaust Deniers
  Iran is hosting a two-day conference brings together Holocaust deniers and foes of Israel from around the world. Sparked by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's frequent challenges to the widely held history of the Holocaust, the conference includes former Ku Klux Klan member David Duke, as well as ultra-Orthodox Jews who oppose the Zionist movement that created modern Israel.
• Germany Counters Iran's Anti-Holocaust Sessions
  Monday, Germany's Federal Office for Civic Education puts on a conference specifically designed to counter the Holocaust conference in Tehran -- and to explore ties or shared ideology between those considered neo-Nazis in Europe and views such as Ahmadinejad's, that the Holocaust has been exaggerated.
• Looking for Untainted Diamonds in a Violent World
  The new Leonardo DiCaprio movie Blood Diamond, set in 1990's Sierra Leone, has raised awareness about so-called "conflict diamonds" -- diamonds mined in war zones and sold to finance insurgent warfare. Michele Norris talks with Alex Yearsley, with Global Witness, about what consumers can do to avoid buying these gems.
• Kofi Annan Bids Farewell to U.N. Duties
  Outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan gave a speech at the Truman Library in Missouri today. It was a chance to reach out to Americans after a tough tenure plagued by scandals, wars and a recalcitrant U.S. administration.
• Religious Group's Ties to Pentagon Questioned
  A military watchdog group is asking the Pentagon whether senior uniformed officers had permission to appear in a video endorsing an evangelical Christian group, the Christian Embassy. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation says that a core of evangelicals are gaining influence at the Pentagon -- and disobeying military policies.

The Dinner Party Download™

A fast, funny digest of the week's most interesting news, cuisine, cocktails and culture.

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories