Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Program tries a new way to treat seniors with dementia
  Thousands of Minnesota nursing home residents are given powerful mood-altering drugs called antipsychotics to treat dementia. A new program seeks another way.7:20 a.m.
• Q&A: Preventing drug theft in hospitals
  Several recent cases involving nurses, who allegedly stole drugs from patients and health care facilities, are winding their way through the courts in Minnesota. MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with Dr. Keith Berge to find out what is being done to prevent this kind of theft. Dr. Berge is an anesthesiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester leading an effort to address this issue.7:25 a.m.
• Lawson Software reports $21M in net income amid sales rumors
  St. Paul-based Lawson Software reports it had net income of $21 million for the three months that ended February 28; nearly 12 times the company's bottom line from the same period a year a year ago.7:45 a.m.
• Minn. Senate passes deep cuts for health, welfare programs
  The Minnesota Senate passed a sweeping health and human services bill on Wednesday, including historic changes to health care for the state's poor and disabled.8:41 a.m.
• Sviggum must choose between regents and teaching job
  A committee at the University of Minnesota has decided that Steve Sviggum faces a conflict of interest serving as a regent and holding teaching position at the university.8:45 a.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Obama Energy Plan Would Reduce Oil Imports
  President Obama is calling for reducing oil imports by a third over the next decade. Environmental groups have long complained the oil industry isn't developing leases that it already holds on public land and offshore.
• Gov. Kasich: Ohioans Must Get Used To Change
  Ohio Gov. John Kasich has been trying to build support for his budget that includes deep cuts — but no tax hikes — in order to eliminate a projected $8 billion budget deficit. Kasich wants to sell five prisons to the private sector.
• Strategic Ivory Coast Towns Fall To The Opposition
  Opposing forces in Ivory Coast are bearing down on the disputed leader Laurent Gbago in the main city Abidjan. The U.N. Security Council gave him a last chance to relinquish power peacefully to Alassane Ouattara, the internationally-recognized president-elect.
• Berlusconi Promises To Remove Migrants On Lampedusa
  Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi visited the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, where thousands of Tunisian migrants now outnumber residents. He promised to clear the island of the Tunisians within three days. But the islanders are skeptical because many Italian regions don't want the migrants.
• Baseball's Opening Day Starts Earlier This Season
  The Major League Baseball season gets underway Thursday. Major League Baseball moved Opening Day up to avoid playing World Series games in November.
• Capitol Hill Hearings To Delve Into Libya Mission
  Thursday's hearings are expected to be dominated by questions about President Obama's decision to begin military action in Libya without congressional approval. Top Pentagon and State Department officials testify before several panels, making the case for military and diplomatic action.
• Is Libya A Litmus Test For The Arab World?
  The debate over Libya does not break down along ideological lines. Linda Wertheimer talks to two liberals who disagree over whether the U.S. should be intervening in Libya. Phyllis Bennis, the director of the New Internationalism Program at the Institute for Policy Studies, opposes the allied military action. Marc Lynch, who writes for Foreign Policy and heads the Middle East studies program at The George Washington University, is in favor.
• Berkshire Hathaway Executive Abruptly Resigns
  David Sokol, a top executive at the company run by investor Warren Buffet, resigned Wednesday. Sokol was seen as a likely successor to Buffett, who is 80 years old. Sokol quit amid revelations that he had made some questionable personal stock trades involving a chemical company that Berkshire recently agreed to buy.
• Implementing Technology Could Make Bus Trips Safer
  Dozens of people have been killed in recent bus crashes. Three accidents this month spurred a Senate subcommittee to hold a hearing on the matter. The Transportation Department says about half of all motor coach fatalities in recent years have occurred as the result of rollovers, and about 70 percent of those killed in rollover accidents were ejected from the bus.
• High Oil Prices Could Slow U.S. Economic Growth
  David Wessel, economic editor of The Wall Street Journal, talks to Renee Montagne about the U.S. economy, and possible threats to a recovery because of slow growth overseas. Wessel says the single biggest risk to the U.S. economy right now is that oil prices continue to rise.

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