Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Two investment firms buy Ceridian for $5.3 billion
  Ceridian, a payroll processing company, has been in a fight with a major shareholder, and Wednesday agreed to a buyout offer from Thomas H. Lee Partners and Fidelity National Financial.6:48 a.m.
• Feds talk with local officials about PFC contamination
  Federal environment and health officials made their first public visit to Minnesota to talk about their response to perfluorinated chemical contamination in the state and elsewhere in the U.S. PFCs have been found in drinking water supplies in more than a half dozen Twin Cities suburbs near former 3M dump sites.6:51 a.m.
• The travelers' take on the new NWA
  Northwest Airlines emerges from bankruptcy Thursday. The airline has slashed labor and other costs, shed huge amounts of debt, and launched a fleet upgrade that will cost billions of dollars. Northwest says it'll be a better airline. Travelers hope so.7:20 a.m.
• Assessing Northwest
  Customers, workers, management and investors are among those who have been affected by Northwest's bankruptcy, and as the airline emerges from bankruptcy, they're all also tied to its future.7:25 a.m.
• Pawlenty vetoes tax bill
  Gov. Tim Pawlenty has vetoed a bill providing aid to local governments, business tax breaks and a financial guarantee for the 2008 Republican National Convention.7:49 a.m.
• Modest gains for early childhood this session
  The 2007 session didn't achieve the ambitious goals set by early childhood advocates before the session, but lawmakers did boost funding for programs that prepare children for school.7:54 a.m.
• Kids and art
  The city is crawling with opportunities for kids to participate in the arts. Morning Edition arts commentator and St. Paul Pioneer Press theater critic Dominic Papatola explains how arts and kids intersect.8:25 a.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Teen Smoking Rates at a Standstill
  A celebrated decline in teen smoking in the late '90s and early 2000s seems to be over. Surveys of middle- and high-schoolers show that the decline has decelerated considerably, and some say the change is due to fewer anti-smoking ad campaigns.
• ACLU Suit Says Boeing Unit Profited from Torture
  The American Civil Liberties Union is suing a subsidiary of Boeing, for helping the CIA fly suspected terrorists as part of its "extraordinary rendition" program. The ACLU says this is a first for them — to accuse a blue-chip American company of "profiting from torture." The lawsuit claims the company, Jeppesen Dataplan, provided planes and logistical help for at least 70 flights.
• President Bush Outlines Plan for Climate Change
  President Bush unveiled a long-term strategy on climate change. He called on the world's top 15 greenhouse-gas emitting countries to come up with a goal for reducing the greenhouse gases that spur global warming. The president's statement comes ahead of a summit next week in Germany where global warming will be a major topic.
• Haditha Witness Describes Finding Bodies
  In southern California, hearings continue at Camp Pendleton into the November 2005 killings of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha. A witness describes finding children's bodies and questioning why a major investigation into the deaths didn't occur.
• L.A. Mayor Endorses Hillary Clinton
  Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton picks up the endorsement of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who will become a national co-chair of her campaign. The benefits for Clinton are significant as Villaraigosa is one of the country's most prominent Latino elected officials and leads the largest city in a state with an early February primary.
• Northwest Exits Bankruptcy
  Northwest Airlines is the last of the top five U.S. carriers to shed billions of dollars of debt and exit bankruptcy. To get back into the black, Northwest had to slash pay and benefits for its 30,000 workers. Flight attendants and pilots rallied Wednesday against the airline in Minneapolis, saying executives are profiting on their 40 percent pay cuts.
• TB Traveler Exposes Diagnosis Problems
  The Georgia man who flew to Europe while infected with a dangerous form of tuberculosis reveals a fundamental problem in controlling the disease. It takes doctors weeks, sometimes longer, before they are able to conclusively diagnose suspected TB.
• Concern Grows over Terrorism in Morocco
  A series of suicide bombings in the north African nation of Morocco, including one outside the U.S. Consulate in Casablanca, has authorities on edge. They worry that severe poverty and the growing strength of Islamic political parties is breeding terrorism.
• New Suicide at Guantanamo Bay
  A Saudi prisoner at the U.S. Detention Center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has apparently committed suicide. Three other suicides at the prison for terrorism suspects are still under investigation from last year.
• Former Mayor Cianci in Spotlight After Jail Term
  Fresh from federal prison where he was jailed for corruption, Vincent Buddy Cianci, the former mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, is back in the spotlight. He was released this week and heads right into a high-profile job marketing an upscale hotel.
• Bloody Summer Projected for Iraq War
  The U.S. troop surge in Iraq has put more soldiers in outposts where they are vulnerable to attack. May has been one of the bloodiest months for U.S. troops since the start of the war, and retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey anticipates more violence during the summer.
• Effectiveness of Anti-Smoking Ads Questioned
  Big Tobacco's public service ads aimed at steering kids away from smoking could be having the opposite effect, according to a recent study by The American Journal of Public Health. So what sort of ad would work?
• CNBC Investigates Contest for Cheating
  The financial news network CNBC announced it is investigating illicit trading in its own contest, called the "CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge." The CNBC contest had 375,000 entrants, or so-called aspiring moguls. They each got a fictional trading account and $1 million CNBC bucks. It seems some of them were tempted to cheat — even with fake money. The grand prize: $1 million.
• Thompson Ends TV Role, May Vie for White House
  Republican Fred Thompson asked to end his television role as a gruff district attorney on the NBC crime drama Law & Order , sending one of the strongest signals yet that he might join the 2008 presidential race. Thompson, from Tennessee, would bring a right-leaning Senate voting record.
• NASA Chief Questions Urgency of Global Warming
  NASA administrator Michael Griffin defends the space agency's programs, including plans for a permanent moon base and manned missions to Mars. He also says that the agency has no authorization to "take actions to affect climate change in either one way or another."

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