Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Minn. town takes on energy conservation challenge
  Residents of the small western Minnesota town of Rothsay are part of a unique energy conservation experiment that could cut their energy consumption by 15 percent.6:50 a.m.
• Wintry weather on the horizon
  MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with University of Minnesota Climatologist Mark Seeley about the coming change in the weather, especially for central Minnesota, which includes snow. He also tells listeners about Winter Hazard Awareness Week.6:55 a.m.
• U of M president search coming to a head
  The University of Minnesota's board of regents are expected to name finalists for the school's top job Friday. The university's Board of Regents has the names of four semi-finalists, but those names are being kept secret. The regents will vote on the finalists during their regular monthly meeting at which point the names become public.7:20 a.m.
• GOP leaders hopeful, but Emmer's deficit looms large
  Republicans point to "a number of concerns," including questions over absentee ballots, military votes and a filing error in Hennepin County.7:25 a.m.
• Student play helps foster communication between cops and kids
  Some high school students from north Minneapolis have been working with Minneapolis police officers on an unusual partnership.7:45 a.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Musharraf Discusses India, Terrorism And His Future
  Three years after being forced out of office, Pervez Musharraf says he intends to return to Pakistan, as an elected leader. He even has a Facebook page. In a visit to Washington, the former military ruler lays out his vision -- and talks about India.
• New To Old: Obama Travels Signal Foreign Policy Shift
  President Obama is taking back-to-back foreign trips that represent a pivot from new foreign policy challenges to old ones. He is currently on a 10-day tour of developing democracies in Asia. Next week, he attends a NATO summit in Portugal, where the challenge is reinvention and relevance.
• Flexible Spending Accounts Get Less Flexible
  About 20 million Americans have flexible spending accounts for health care costs.  But next year, in order to get reimbursed for over-the-counter drugs like Tylenol or aspirin, they will need a prescription.
• Why Your Salary May Be Affected By The Price Of Lettuce
  There's a good chance that the size of your annual raise is determined partly by the consumer price index, the key measure of U.S. inflation.
• Vets Of Army's Mortuary Unit Bear Unique Burden
  More than 58,000 U.S. soldiers died in Vietnam. Most of their remains were processed through more than 30 Graves Registration collection points, near combat areas. Soldiers who worked in the units suffered a toll of their own.
• Deficit Panel Targets Mortgage Interest Deduction
  Tax breaks don't get much bigger than the mortgage interest deduction. That makes it both an attractive target (because it's big), and one that may just be impossible to go after (because it's popular).
• Italy's Berlusconi Embroiled In Fresh Sex Scandal
  The Italian prime minister is fighting for his political life, besieged as never before over his alleged involvement with an underage Moroccan pole dancer. Even his longtime allies have condemned his actions, and commentators believe his government won't last much longer.
• G-20 Leaders: Yardsticks Needed For Trade Imbalances
  Steve Inskeep speaks with NPR's Scott Horsley, who is traveling with President Obama in Asia, about the Group of 20 summit in Seoul, South Korea. Horsley says the leaders agreed to develop yardsticks to help detect when a country is running too big of a deficit or too big of a surplus.
• Democrats Split On Way Forward After Losses
  When asked what was to blame for last week's shellacking, Democrats across the ideological spectrum respond as though they're talking about different elections. And that's leading to different prescriptions for the future. But President Obama may now have an opportunity to reclaim a post-partisan identity.
• Starbucks CEO Says 500 More Stores Planned
  You may think there's a Starbucks on every street corner on Earth. But the coffee giant plans to open 500 more stores over the next year, as the global economy recovers, CEO Howard Schultz told Bloomberg News. Just last year, his company was shutting stores in the U.S. Most of the news stores will be overseas -- and mainly in China.

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