Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Congressman Walz calls for earmark transparency
  There is a process underway in Washington right now that will determine where billions of your tax dollars will be spent; it is called earmarking. DFL Congressman Tim Walz supported legislation aimed at making earmarking more transparent. Now, in an effort to be yet more transparent, he has released a list of the project requests he submitted for consideration to the House Appropriations Committee and how much they cost. Morning Edition host Perry Finelli talked with Congressman Walz.7:20 a.m.
• Student loans stay with you in good economic times and bad
  Financial aid planners warn the current economic downturn is a lesson for those preparing to take out student loans.7:25 a.m.
• New play considers life after 70
  Some of the most seasoned theater professionals in the Twin Cities are working together to show what life is like after 70.7:50 a.m.
• Harness racing park to open near Twin Cities this week
  The Running Aces Harness Park is opening this Friday in Columbus, Minnesota just northeast of the Twin Cities. The new park will feature harness racing, which horses pull their drivers behind them in a small cart called a sulky. Morning Edition host Perry Finelli talked with Gregg Keidel, director of racing at Running Aces Harness Park.8:25 a.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• N.Y. Student Recycles Plastic Bags as Subway Art
  California, which has seen a ban on plastic bags, now could ban a balloon. In New York City, where there is neither a bag nor a balloon ban, an art student has taken to crafting animals from plastic bags. He affixes them to subway grates, and passing trains inflate the bags, bringing them to life.
• Japan's Shrinking Work Force Turns to Robots
  Japan has an answer to its population problem. The country is getting so much smaller — and older — that millions of people may vanish from the work force. A Japanese think tank has proposed a solution: robots.
• Absolut Vodka's Mexico Campaign On the Rocks
  A Swedish vodka maker crossed the line with a new campaign in Mexico, at least according to some U.S. citizens. Absolut's campaign featured a billboard map of Mexico that includes California, Arizona and other U.S. states. One blogger wrote, "I've poured my Absolut bottles down the sink."
• American Airlines Cancels More Flights for Inspections
  American Airlines canceled 850 flights Wednesday and may cancel more Thursday. The airline scrubbed 500 flights Tuesday. The cancellations are affecting tens of thousands of passengers, and they're happening because the airline is re-inspecting some wiring near the fuel tanks on its MD-80 jets.
• Writer: Iraq War a Long Shot Made Longer by Feith
  George Packer, author of The Assassin's Gate, says he doesn't think the tactical changes suggested by Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, who wrote War and Decision, would have made a fundamental difference in the war.
• Opposition to Proposed Homeowner Bailout Growing
  Plenty of Americans have long argued that the housing bubble was just that — a bubble. They prided themselves on their wisdom for not buying in to overpriced houses. Now that Congress is considering bailing out overstretched homeowners, they're mad. They say the Federal Reserve should back off and let the market work.
• Chelsea: A Political Rarity on the Campaign Trail
  Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton is on the road just about full-time for her mother's presidential campaign. She has spoken on more than 80 college campuses and is a draw at many fundraisers, yet she remains remarkably private.
• Sadr Cancels Protest March; Baghdad Under Curfew
  Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called off his plan for a million-man march Wednesday in Baghdad — out of fear of provoking more violence. The Iraqi capital is still under curfew, even though people are out on the streets. Meantime, U.S. military and Iraqi forces continue to battle Shiite militia loyal to Sadr.
• Visa Legislation Delay Squeezes Seasonal Workforce
  Tourism, landscaping and other industries that hire foreign workers on a seasonal basis are stuck this year. Congress let the H-2B visa extension expire. Now many foreigners who planned to return to the United States this summer to work past jobs won't be allowed back in the country.
• BP, Conoco Plan Gas Line from Alaska to Lower 48
  Oil companies BP and ConocoPhillips announced Monday a joint venture to build a massive natural gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to the lower 48 states.
• Violence in Zimbabwe Snarls Election Resolution
  Voters in Zimbabwe still don't know the results of their presidential election, and the mood in the southern African nation is growing ominous. President Robert Mugabe has all but conceded that he didn't win a majority of votes. The main opposition party says he is unleashing a campaign of violence.
• Nepal on Brink of Dissolving Monarchy
  The people of Nepal, who have endured a Maoist insurgency that killed thousands and an unpopular king, head to the polls Thursday in a milestone election. They are electing an assembly that will have the task of writing a new constitution — and possibly getting rid of the monarchy.
• GAO Finds 'Improper' Purchases; Deficit Report Due
  As the Treasury Department prepares to release numbers on the size of the nation's deficit, the official watchdog agency of the federal government says an audit found nearly $2 million worth of "improper" purchases on federal credit card statements.
• El Salvador Struggles to Re-Absorb U.S. Deportees
  This week, NPR's Jennifer Ludden looked at what happens when a country — in particular, El Salvador — has to take back a large number of its own nationals deported by the United States. What are the effects of their migration and their return?
• Petraeus Hearing a Campaign Stop for Candidates
  Among the senators who grilled Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Tuesday was the next president of the United States. Whether it will be Clinton, McCain or Obama hasn't been decided, but all three made the hearings on Capitol Hill a kind of campaign stop.

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