Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Car caper leads to self-serve slaughterhouse
  A story of true crime that begins in a parking lot and ends in a do-it-yourself slaughterhouse.6:50 a.m.
• Sex offender laws have unintended consequences
  Lawmakers react when sex crimes make the news. But do those laws aimed at cracking down on sex offenders improve public safety, or create a false sense of security?7:20 a.m.
• A new model for developing biofuels
  University of Minnesota professor Nick Jordan calls for a change in how we think about farming in the latest issue of the journal "Science."7:50 a.m.
• American artists had an answer for Picasso
  Some of America's foremost painters tried to beat the great Pablo Picasso at his own game, creating works that heavily referenced Picasso's images. A new exhibition at the Walker Art Center reveals how the American response to Picasso spawned a whole new artistic movement.7:56 a.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Cabrera Clutches U.S. Open, Foiling Woods
  Angel Cabrera upset some of golf's biggest champions to win the U.S. Open golf championship. The Argentine's win came at the expense of Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk.
• Brecker's 'Pilgrimage' a Welcome, Not a Farewell
  One of the most widely imitated saxophonists of the past four decades, Michael Brecker won widespread praise for his awe-inspiring technique and smooth tone. He also earned and maintained the respect of the jazz world while working successfully in the world of popular music.
• Pakistanis Criticize Influence of Feudal Families
  One group in Pakistan holds on to political power regardless of whether the country is ruled by dictators or elected leaders: feudal families. The entrenched families own great swaths of farmland and exert great influence over the country. But many people say it's time for a proper democracy.
• Michigan Boy Tries 'Wrapping' Into History
  A Michigan boy wants to wrap his way into the Guinness World Records. Seven-year-old Jake Lonsway rolled together a giant ball of plastic wrap. At the last weigh-in, it hit 281.5 pounds. This is Lonsway's latest effort to break a record. He joined an attempt to have the most people wearing Groucho Marx glasses.
• All Rough, No Carpet: Kabul Golf Course
  A Kabul golf course has no grass — none. It does have weeds, rocks, mud, and strands of barbed wire. It has greens made of sand, and swarming with ants. The course's scenery includes an old Soviet tank.
• Apple Stock Gets Boost from iPhone Hype
  The iPhone goes on sale at the end of next week, and the anticipation has already sent Apple's stock soaring. The company said it planned to sell 10 million of the units by the end of 2008. While that represents just 1 percent of the worldwide cell phone market, it could mean a 10 percent increase in Apple's earnings.
• Russia Ponders Ways to Protect, Promote Vodka
  Sales of beer and wine are skyrocketing in Moscow, but most social gatherings are lubricated by vodka. The government says alcohol consumption in Russia has almost tripled since the end of communism. Store shelves teem with an explosion of new vodkas.
• California Schools Collect Student Data to Help Kids
  Two schools in California hope collecting data on students' progress will enable teachers to tailor an instructional program that will help students succeed on state-mandated skills tests.
• Marketing and Supplying Condoms in AIDS Fight
  In developing countries, social marketers have been trying to get more people to use condoms. And where they've been successful, rates of HIV are coming down. The low-technology latex condom is the single most-effective tool in preventing AIDS.
• GE, Pearson May Put In Bid to Buy Dow Jones
  General Electric, which owns broadcasting giant NBC, and Pearson PLC, the publisher of The Financial Times, are in talks about joining up to make an alternative bid for Dow Jones & Co., which owns The Wall Street Journal. If they make a bid, it would rival Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation's $5-billion offer.
• Firms Seek Elusive Real Profit in Virtual Business
  Companies from IBM to GM have opened stores in the three-dimensional online gaming world, but they have yet to see any virtual profits. Eli Noam, director of the Columbia Center for Tele-Information at Columbia University talks with Steve Inskeep about a recent conference hosted by the center on business opportunities in the virtual world.
• Doctor: Gamers Get Tendonitis from Wii Mania
  In this month's issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Julio Bonis, diagnoses himself with a new kind of acute tendonitis. The cause of the injury was playing hours of tennis — on his Nintendo Wii console. His recommended treatment is ibuprofen for a week, and complete abstinence from Wii video games.
• Abbas Asserts Fatah Rule in West Bank
  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in an emergency government days after Hamas militants seized control of the Gaza Strip. Hamas leaders condemned the move and insisted that the Fatah-Hamas unity government formed in March remains in charge of the Palestinian Authority.
• U.S. Tests 'Virtual' Border Fence in Arizona
  The federal government has begun testing a virtual fence along parts of the Arizona-Mexico border where there are steep hillsides that make a real fence impractical. The fence works via ground sensors, radar, cameras on towers and computers.
• Converted Iraqi Politician Knows Religious Divide
  Maha al Douri is a Shiite lawmaker who once was a Sunni. She says she was first attracted to Shiite Islam as a college student and converted because Shiite Islam seemed more peaceful than the Sunni strand. When Douri converted, her Sunni family disowned her. When she married a Shiite man, her relatives threatened to kill her.

Resources

• Future Tense®
• Marketplace Morning Report®
• Mark Seeley's WeatherTalk

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories

Become a Sponsor