Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Weather with Mark Seeley
  Minnesota Public Radio's Perry Finelli talked with University of Minnesota Climatologist Mark Seeley about the dry and windy weather.6:50 a.m.
• Residents and technology muscle crime off Bloomington Avenue
  The latest numbers show crime in Minneapolis is down compared to last year. Nowhere is the decline more obvious and welcome than on a main thoroughfare in south Minneapolis.7:20 a.m.
• Duluth shelter enters the music business
  A Duluth's battered women's shelter is holding a music festival fundraiser. Shelter workers say cuts in government funding are forcing them to be creative in coming up with their own sources of money.7:25 a.m.
• Afloat on a boat made of milk cartons
  This Sunday afternoon, on Lake Calhoun, you might notice a whole lot of strange boats as part of the Minneapolis Aquatennial's milk carton boat races. People all over the metro area will show up with boats they've built themselves using milk cartons. We meet one of them.8:40 a.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Gem Dealer to Sell Bay Area's Last Private Island
  Attorney and gem dealer David Glickman is selling the last privately owned island in the San Francisco Bay. Glickman paid less than $50,000 for the 5.8-acre chunk of land dubbed Red Rock Island in 1964. Today's asking price: $10 million.
• Semur-en-Auxois Hosts Its First Tour de France
  The tiny town of Semur-en-Auxois in Burgundy has the honor of hosting the Tour de France for the first time ever this year, and it has been sprucing up for the occasion for months.
• John Edwards Set to Embark on Poverty Tour
  Following in the footsteps of former presidential hopeful and New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Edwards will set off on a 12-city tour of poor America this weekend.
• New Galaxy Star Hits Los Angeles
  Soccer star David Beckham stepped off a plane in Los Angeles and into throngs of shouting reporters and photographers. The midfielder signed a lucrative contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Despite whether he can still bend it, the city is bowing down to its first big soccer star.
• Green Card Applicants Angered by Backlog
  Foreign workers were elated when the State Department allowed them to finally apply for the final stage in getting a permanent visa to seek citizenship. But the backlogged Citizenship and Immigration Services refused to accept the applications. Now both agencies face lawsuits.
• Iraqis Say Daily Life Devoid of Progress
  Four years after the U.S. invasion, many Iraqis still lack jobs, as well as basic services such as electricity. People blame politicians, whom they say are out of touch with their needs.
• Congress Reacts to Iraq Progress Report
  The Democratic-run House passed a bill requiring a U.S. troop pullout from Iraq to begin within four months. Similar legislation is pending in the Senate.
• Rush Is on for Harry Potter Knockoffs in China
  In China, copyright pirates are racing to get out their version of the latest Harry Potter film before the real one makes it to theaters. Fake books are in the works, too, with no resemblance to the real thing. Such fakes have become a cottage industry in China.
• Conrad Black Found Guilty of Fraud Charges
  A Chicago jury found Canadian media magnate Conrad Black guilty on several criminal fraud charges. Black and three other executives at Hollinger International had been accused of swindling shareholders out of more than $60 million.
• Florida Joins Climate Change Campaign
  Florida Gov. Charlie Crist plans to order targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, making his the first state in the South to get serious about global warming. Florida will also adopt car-pollution standards similar to California's.
• Sen. Barack Obama Stumps at NAACP
  As the only African-American in the Democratic field of presidential contenders, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois was the subject of much adulation at the NAACP annual convention. Delegates speak about an African-American running for president who has a chance to win.
• Iranians Upset About Gas Rationing
  In Iran, a controversial gasoline-rationing program is in its third week. Iran is trying to reduce the billions of dollars it spends on imported gas. It remains to be seen whether rationing will force Iranians to cut back on gas consumption.
• NRC Head Testifies About Dirty Bomb License
  Edward McGaffigan, head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, talks with a Senate committee about how a sham company set up by undercover agents from the General Accounting Office received a license from the NRC to buy enough radioactive material to build a so-called dirty bomb.
• England's Courts Drop Wigs From New Dress Code
  After almost four centuries, England's lawyers and judges working in non-criminal courts may shed their ceremonial wigs. The wigs were criticized for being expensive, not to mention uncomfortable. The few who did like them say they provided anonymity and an air of authority.
• White House Releases Iraq Report
  The much-awaited interim report card on progress in Iraq is a mixed bag. The Bush administration says Iraq made progress in some areas, but the political situation is still far from stable.

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