Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• May starts cold but looking better
  MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with University of Minnesota Climatologist Mark Seeley who talked about the cold start to May. He also said the outlook calls for milder weather.6:50 a.m.
• Nursing a favored landing spot for dislocated workers
  The number of graduates with two- and four-year degrees is more than double what it was in 2002, creating a short-term bottleneck for jobs. But the future in the field is bright.7:20 a.m.
• Pawlenty scores some points in first GOP debate
  He offered the president a little praise before going after his record on both foreign and domestic policy.7:35 a.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Gen. Musharraf 'Can't Believe There Was Complicity'
  Former Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf tells Steve Inskeep he can't imagine that Pakistanis helped Osama bin Laden hide. Musharraf says he believes it was incompetence that kept bin Laden from being found earlier by Pakistanis.
• Afghans Rally Against Compromising With Taliban
  The death of Osama bin Laden has sparked fevered speculation in Afghanistan about whether it might help or hurt efforts to negotiate with the Taliban. On Thursday, about 2,000 people gathered in Kabul to show their opposition to a deal.
• Dozens Of Questionable Deaths Seen In Assisted Care
  Florida regulators are failing to protect residents of assisted living facilities, according to an investigation by The Miami Herald and member station WLRN. In one case, Alfredo Navas's mother, Aurora, drowned outside her facility in less than two feet of water.
• Little By Little, Huntsville, Ala., Returns To Normal
  Search crews in Alabama continue to pick through huge piles of rubble after last week's tornadoes destroyed entire neighborhoods. In Huntsville, it's taken businesses some time to get up and running again.
• Already? GOP Kicks Off Presidential Debates
  The first debate of the 2012 presidential campaign was held Thursday night in Greenville, S.C. It featured five Republicans who hope to run against President Obama next year. But the group did not include some of the biggest names in the potential field.
• Can You Know Where Charity Dollars Go? Not Easily
  A controversy surrounding the accuracy of the best-seller Three Cups of Tea raises questions on how to determine a group's reliability. Despite the murky waters of nonprofit oversight, experts say donors can ask the right questions to see if a charity is really doing what it says it's doing.
• Prices For Oil Futures Fall Back
  Crude oil is now trading at about $96 a barrel, down from well over $110 in recent weeks. Some investors are seeing signs of an economic slowdown in the U.S. and in other parts of the world — and believe that will cut demand for oil.
• Commodity Prices Drop On Fears Of Slowing Economy
  The price of virtually every majority commodity fell Thursday. Silver dropped 8 percent. Analysts say prices fell, at least in part, because of recent reports suggesting the economy might be slowing, which would mean less demand for commodities.
• Largest Public Pension Fund Thrives After Crisis
  The California Public Employee Retirement System, CalPers, is the largest public pension fund in the nation. During the financial crisis, the fund took a big hit. Joseph Dear, chief investment officer for CalPERS, tells Linda Wertheimer that recently the fund has had double-digit returns.
• Scottish Homes Could Be Energized By Whiskey
  In Scotland, a new project in the Scotch producing region of Speyside plans to take waste matter from the whiskey-making process and turn it into power. In a few years, some 9,000 homeowners may be able to raise a toast to their new source of electricity.

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