Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Bleskachek out as Minneapolis fire chief
  Bonnie Bleskachek will return to firefighting, but will not be allowed to manage employees.5:20 p.m.
• New Omnitheater film depicts the destruction of Hurricane Katrina
  A new Omnitheater film, "Hurricane on the Bayou," opens today at the Science Museum of Minnesota. The movie follows several New Orleans-area musicians who reveal the important role that the Gulf-area wetlands play in their lives.5:50 p.m.
• There's no place like home
  It's been over a year since Huricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and people are still living in temporary houses; many have not returned. At this time of year our thoughts turn to home, but for people who grew up in New Orleans, the city of their childhood is gone.5:53 p.m.
• Getting the best of SAD
  Research in areas from marketing to mental health to jet lag shows that light affects us as much physically as it does psychologically. And the outcome isn't always bright.6:20 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Cate Blanchett, Coming to Many Screens
  Cate Blanchett has three films in play at the moment, including a role as an art teacher who has an affair with a student in Notes on a Scandal.
• Dispute over Mental Competency Blocks Transplant
  Misty Cargill, 25, was born with abnormally small kidneys. But a team at Oklahoma University Medical Center says Cargill, who has mild mental retardation, doesn't qualify.
• Rape Charges Dropped in Duke Lacrosse Case
  Rape charges have been dropped in the case involving Duke lacrosse players. However, three players still face related charges, including kidnapping.
• The Music of Guitar Wood
  Master luthier TJ Thompson of West Concord, Mass., demonstrates how guitar wood sounds before it's made into guitars... and how a guitar-maker's task is to find the music in the wood.
• N. Korea Nuclear Talks End with No Accord
  The latest negotiations aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program end in Beijing, producing no agreement, despite added urgency over North Korea's October nuclear test.
• Barbecue Diplomacy with North Korea
  How did a semi-successful barbecue guy from New Jersey become an important figure in the tenuous relationship between the United States and North Korea?
• Op-Ed Writer Addresses Censored Article
  You can read former CIA analyst Flynt Leverett's op-ed piece in Iran in Friday's New York Times, but not all of it. Sections of the article were blacked out at the request of the White House.
• Christmas Eve and the Birth of 'Talk' Radio
  As the story goes, voices on radio were first heard 100 years ago this Christmas Eve. Reginald Fessenden figured out that by combining two frequencies together, it would be possible to speak over the airwaves.
• Sudanese Envoy, Bush Aide on Darfur Crisis
  John Lueth Ukec, Sudanese envoy in Washington, D.C., offers his views on efforts to resolve the conflict in Darfur. Andrew Natsios, President Bush's Special Envoy for Sudan, offers additional thoughts.
• Waiting Game Persists at Denver Airport
  Two days after the snow started falling in Denver, thousands of travelers remain stranded at Denver International Airport. The storm caused more than 2,000 flights to be cancelled. Some planes are now taking off.

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