Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Canada looms large in U.S. health care debate
  As U.S. politicians debate what to do about the 47 million Americans without health insurance, in the background of the discussion stands another country's health care system: Canada's single payer health system.7:20 a.m.
• State park visits dip but gas prices may help rebound
  Visits to Minnesota state parks are down so far this year, but officials say that's mostly because of weather. With rising gas prices, some campers are heading to the parks in favor of trips farther away from home.7:50 a.m.
• Arts with Dominic Papatola
  The Fourth of July weather forecast looks promising, and the long weekend provides ample opportunities for grilling or golfing or... going to see some outdoor art. Morning Edition arts commentator and St. Paul Pioneer Press theater critic Dominic Papatola has some suggestions for those who want a little art to go with their fireworks.8:25 a.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• FHA Aims To Curb No-Money-Down Loan Program
  The Federal Housing Administration says homebuyers who receive down payments through nonprofits are more likely to default on FHA loans than homebuyers who put up the money themselves. Supporters of the assistance program are fighting back.
• British Invasion: Duffy's Brand New Soul
  The young singer, part of a wave of British female pop stars finding success in the U.S., has been compared to Dusty Springfield and sparked rumors that her father is fellow Wales native Tom Jones. She talks about the tiny town where she grew up, and recording her first demos on a karaoke machine.
• Algae Overload Threatens Olympic Sailing Course
  A vast amount of stinky green algae is threatening the Olympic sailing course in China; more than 14,000 workers are rushing to remove it all before the competition starts in five weeks. Olympic officials are confident the algae will be removed, but competitors are finding training difficult.
• Labor Report Shows 62,000 Jobs Lost in June
  The U.S. labor market is in its longest losing streak in six years. The Labor Department announced Thursday that the economy lost 62,000 jobs in June. It's the sixth straight monthly decline. But the overall unemployment rate held steady, at about 5.5 percent.
• U.S. Swimmers Set Records In Olympic Trials
  The U.S. Olympic swimming trials are going on in Omaha, Neb., where records have already been broken. USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan talks about the events and Michael Phelps, who is midway through his quest to qualify for an astonishing number of events.
• Colombian Envoy Recounts Hostage Rescue Efforts
  The Colombian military on Wednesday freed 15 people held by the FARC rebel group. The hostages include Ingrid Betancourt, who was running for president when the FARC kidnapped her six years ago, and three American military contractors. Carolina Barco Isakson, Colombia's ambassador to the U.S., talks about the rescue operation.
• Letters: Shakespeare, Obama Pin, Canada Day
  Hosts Renee Montagne and Ari Shapiro read from listeners' comments.
• Why We Spend More Using Credit Versus Cash
  Why is it that people seem to spend more when they use credit cards than when they use cash? The answer could be rooted in psychology. Robert Frank, an economics professor at Cornell University, talks about how the brain works when it comes to paying for goods, and how people can avoid spending too much of their money.
• Childhood Home Of George Washington Excavated
  George Washington slept there for years — it's the Virginia house he grew up in. Archaeologists have excavated the house, or what's left of it, and they say they've found artifacts that suggest that the Washingtons started out genteel but fell on hard times.
• Home Prices Drop More Steeply Outside Cities
  In some parts of the country, house prices are dropping faster outside cities rather than inside them. It could be because migration to America's fastest growing areas has slowed in the past year. William Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, talks about the housing markets that are cooling fastest, and why.
• Analysis: Hostage Rescue Is Latest Blow To FARC
  The captivity of more than a dozen hostages ended Wednesday in an elaborate rescue operation in the Colombian jungle. It's one of a series of blows this year for FARC, the rebel group that had nabbed the 15 hostages.
• Ex-Bush Spokesman Tapped To Focus McCain Camp
  One of John McCain's top lieutenants is getting a battlefield promotion. Steve Schmidt, a former spokesman for President Bush's re-election campaign, was promoted at McCain headquarters in Virginia amid criticism in some GOP circles that McCain has been slow out of the starting gate.
• Rock Beats Classical Music For Australian Funerals
  Music is traditional at a funeral, like "Mozart's Requiem" and "Amazing Grace." But, "Highway to Hell"? A cemetery manager in Adelaide, Australia, says he's getting more requests for classic rock than he is for classical music.
• Visa Changes PIN Policy For $25-Or-Less Purchases
  Visa is rescinding a rule that requires merchants to treat Visa-branded PIN-debit cards differently from signature debit cards. Co-host Renee Montagne reports.
• Green Couple In Calif. Fined For Brown Lawn
  Anne Hartridge and Matt George are about as "green" as it gets. They bike to work, have solar panels, dry their laundry on a line. So when they stopped watering their lawn in drought-stricken California, who would have thought they'd get fined more than $700 for letting their grass go brown.

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