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.4:45 p.m.
• NW Minn. communities face increasing poverty rates
  New U.S. census data released this week show poverty is up in north central Minnesota, where in some counties the poverty rate is more than twice the state average of 10 percent.5:20 p.m.
• Metrodome repairs stalled as engineers decide next steps
  Five days after the Metrodome's roof collapsed, the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission met this morning to get started on the official process of getting the roof back up. Work on repairing the roof has stopped for the day while engineers assess what to do next.5:24 p.m.
• Minn. unemployment rate holds at 7.1 percent
  Minnesota' unemployment rate held steady at 7.1 percent in November, remaining nearly 3 percentage points lower than the national rate.5:44 p.m.
• No liquor, all seats general admission at TCF on Monday
  People with tickets to Monday's Vikings-Bears football game should plan to arrive early at the TCF Bank Stadium - and they won't be able to purchase alcohol when they get there.6:20 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• From Steel To Tech, Pittsburgh Transforms Itself
  Some people still call it the Steel City, but the soot from a bygone era is gone. It's been replaced by efforts to transform the city into a high-tech center. And with an unemployment rate that's lower than the national average and 1,600 technology companies, the city is well on its way.
• Google Book Tool Tracks Cultural Change With Words
  A searchable database of more than 500 billion words from millions of books published over the past four centuries is now online. Researchers say the tool is a powerful way to study cultural change.
• Nashville's Country Music Hits: All The Cooks In The Kitchen
  Songwriters, song pushers and publishers all have a hand in taking a song from an idea to the radio.
• Review: Afghan Progress Is 'Fragile And Reversible'
  The latest White House review of the war in Afghanistan paints a sober picture: There has been progress -- but that progress is "fragile and reversible." The report remains classified, but a five-page executive summary was made public Thursday. President Obama presented the review, along with the secretaries of State and Defense.
• A Critical Assessment Of The Afghan War Review
  NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Leslie H. Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, about the Obama administration's Afghanistan and Pakistan annual review. This week, Gelb wrote a column in The Daily Beast charging that the review doesn't look hard enough at U.S. interests in the war in Afghanistan, and doesn't adequately weigh needs on the home front.
• Dear Santa: Please Make My Mommy Happy
  This year, postal workers opening and processing letters to Santa Claus have noticed a significant change in tone from years past. Pete Fontana, head elf of New York City's main post office, has been opening letters to Santa for 15 years. He says this year the letters are eliciting tears rather than laughter.
• Regifting Some Gems From Holidays Long Past
  Why not listen to some holiday music few have heard in a while? Try an offering from the father of American choral music, or even folk music dating to the Middle Ages.
• How Gary, Ind., Hopes To Soften Its Steely Image
  This city has been welded to the steel industry since 1906. But now Gary is embracing medicine, education and tourism with dreams of becoming more like Pittsburgh, which has already undergone a transformation, shedding its Steel City image and moving toward becoming a high-tech center.
• Flip Side Of New Penny Features Union Shield
  NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Robert Wilson Hoge, curator of North American Coins and Currency at the American Numismatic Society, about the redesign of the Lincoln penny. The Union shield, a symbol dating back to the Civil War, is now on the tail side, replacing the Lincoln Memorial. Hoge says that in general, he likes coin redesigns, since they encourage collectors.
• House To Vote On Tax Cut Deal
  The U.S. House brings the $858 billion tax cut deal to the floor -- a hybrid measure with plenty for many to hate. But while it may be delayed, it is unlikely to be derailed. For more, host Melissa Block talks to NPR's Andrea Seabrook.

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