Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Weather with Mark Seeley
  University of Minnesota climatologist Mark Seeley discusses Minnesota weather history and looks ahead to the weekend forecast.6:50 a.m.
• Iron Range loses 590 jobs at Minntac
  U.S. Steel is laying off almost 600 workers at a plant in Mountain Iron on Minnesota's Iron Range. Despite record sales and profits last year, company officials say the economic downturn has hit the company hard, leaving them no choice but to cut jobs at the Minntac Mine.7:20 a.m.
• Minn. Dems ask public for ideas to fix $5B deficit
  Democrats who control the Minnesota Legislature are taking the state's $5 billion budget shortfall to the people in a series of town hall meetings that begin Thursday in Mankato, Rochester, St. Cloud and Willmar.7:25 a.m.
• Cottonwood marks anniversary of school bus crash
  Residents of Cottonwood are looking ahead today as they put behind them the first anniversary of a fatal school bus crash that killed four students. On Thursday, students, parents and residents looked back on 12 months that changed each one of them forever.7:40 a.m.
• $1 billion bioscience center planned for Rochester area
  California developers are poised to announce an effort to raise $1 billion to create a bioscience research center just outside of Rochester.7:45 a.m.
• New book of photographs celebrates life in Minnesota
  Minnesota native Tom Arndt has been taking pictures all over the world for over forty years. His new book "Home: Tom Arndt's Minnesota" focuses on the people of his home state. Arndt is a street photographer who captures moments in the lives of ordinary people. He spoke with Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer about the pictures and his approach to photography.7:50 a.m.
• Coleman suffers setbacks this week at the Senate recount trial
  The Senate recount trial wraps up its fourth week today. So far, it has been a week that has included a couple of setbacks for Coleman.8:40 a.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Credit Crisis Puts Mall Owner On The Ropes
  General Growth Properties, America's second-largest mall operator, spent $14 billion buying up retail buildings. Much of that money was borrowed. Now the debt is coming due, just when lenders are clamping down.
• At 91, Shoemaker To The Stars Is Still In Business
  The man behind Charlton Heston's sandals in The Ten Commandments is 91-year-old Willie Rivera, who began making shoes at the age of 13 in Mexico City. He moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s and has dressed the feet of legends such as Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Lily Tomlin and Bill Cosby.
• Whistling Orangutan Impresses Zoo Researchers
  Bonnie, an orangutan at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., has taught herself to whistle. She seems to have learned by watching zookeepers who whistled as they worked, a feat researchers say may help lead to a greater understanding of how human speech evolved.
• Obama Goes To Canada For First Foreign Trip
  Barack Obama chose to head north for his first foreign trip as president. He met with Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa on Thursday. Obama said he doesn't believe a controversial "buy America" clause in his stimulus package will significantly discriminate against Canadian industry.
• White House To Host Fiscal Responsibility Summit
  President Obama is holding a fiscal responsibility summit next week at the White House to talk about how to shrink the whopping budget deficit. That might seem like an unusual conversation to have right now — especially when the new administration has been busy expanding the deficit.
• Texas Financier Served Legal Papers In Virginia
  FBI agents have served Texas billionaire Robert Allen Stanford with legal papers in a multibillion-dollar fraud case. The FBI, acting at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission, found Stanford in Fredericksburg, Va. Stanford is not under arrest or in custody. Fallout from the fraud case is already rattling around the global financial system.
• Identity Crisis Permeates Turkish Society
  Modern Turkey was founded as a secular, Western-oriented state. But these days, Turks say the country is expressing its Muslim identity more than its secular one. And the critical question of Islam versus secularism colors just about every debate in the country.
• Fortuneteller Sees Bright Prospects In Hard Times
  Even in bad economic times, some people are finding their businesses are doing well. That's true for Alexandra Chauran of Renton, Wash. She is a second-generation fortuneteller. She tells Ari Shapiro she's even been able to increase her rates.
• GM's Saab Unit Files For Protection From Creditors
  General Motor's Swedish-based subsidiary, Saab, filed for protection from creditors in Stockholm Friday. The move allows the auto manufacturer to be sold or spun off from GM. Saab says it wants to take its resources back to Sweden and become an independent company. But the Swedish government earlier turned down GM's request for assistance.
• Morgantown, W.Va., Bucks Unemployment Trend
  Helped by a growing university population and a building boom, Morgantown, W.Va., had the nation's lowest unemployment rate at 2.7 percent in December — well below the 7.2 percent national rate.

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