Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Predatory lending law causes headaches for some home buyers
  Several mortgage brokers, real estate agents and small business owners say Minnesota's new predatory lending law is making it difficult for self-employed people to get a loan.6:50 a.m.
• All aboard Amtrak's Empire Builder
  Airports are chock full of people Wednesday hoping the weather holds so flights won't be delayed or cancelled. This is also the busiest travel day of the year for Amtrak, the country's passenger rail service. The most popular overnight train service in the country is Amtrak's Empire Builder, the train from Chicago to the West Coast by way of the Twin Cities.7:20 a.m.
• Artists find new uses for old things
  A group of artists are creating new works from some old and surprising materials in the "Festival of Appropriation."7:55 a.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Sports and Politics: Mitt Romney Is Derek Jeter
  How does Barack Obama resemble Roger Federer? What about Mitt Romney and Derek Jeter? With just a few months until the first votes are cast in the 2008 presidential race, commentator Frank Deford compares the candidates to well-known sports figures.
• Many Employers Monitor Internet Use
  A new survey from the job site CareerBuilder.com shows half of all employers monitor their workers' Internet usage. Nearly one-in-five employers have fired an employee for personal emailing, instant messaging, blogging, or online shopping.
• Unions Find Labor Relations Board Ineffective
  The National Labor Relations Board is a federal agency that protects the right of workers to form unions. But many unions say the board, which is dominated by Republican appointees, actually does more harm than good. They recently demanded President Bush shut it down.
• L.A. Businesses Feel Pain of Film, TV Writers Strike
  In Los Angeles, the strike by film and television screenwriters is beginning to have financial repercussions beyond the writers and the studios they work for. The ripple affect is hurting caterers, morgues and other ancillary businesses. Negotiations are due to resume Monday.
• White House to Convene Mideast Talks
  Invitations to the U.S.-led Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Md. are out and now President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice nervously await acceptances. The talks launch the first Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in seven years.
• Obama, Clinton Campaign in Early Primary States
  Democratic presidential frontrunners Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton layout more details about how they would govern for the first group of voters to decide the party's nominee.
• Brothers Urged to Preserve Zoque Language
  Two brothers in southern Mexico had a falling out and their not speaking has linguists worried. They are the last two speakers of the local Zoque language. Experts at the Mexican Institute for Indigenous Languages fear it will disappear if they don't come to terms.
• 'Oz' Munchkins Get Star on Walk of Fame
  The Yellow Brick Road has ended on Hollywood Boulevard for the Munchkins. The tiny stars of The Wizard of Oz got their star on the Walk of Fame. Seven of the diminutive actors arrived in Hollywood style — in a horse drawn carriage followed by a marching band.
• Delays Due to Clog Thanksgiving Air Travel
  The day before the Thanksgiving holiday is among the busiest travel days of the year in the U.S. According to AAA, some 39 million Americans are due to travel at least 50 miles. Many will be in crowded airports where flights are bound to be either delayed or cancelled.
• Construction Company Hurt by Housing Woes
  Dyke Messinger, president of a construction equipment company in Salisbury, North Carolina has already felt the tremors of the downturn in the housing market. But international business is up as a result of greater infrastructure needs and the slide in the dollar.
• California Wildfire Victims Start to Rebuild
  It's been one month since a series of wildfires devastated parts of southern California. The fires destroyed more than 2,000 homes and forced the evacuation of thousands. Officials are still assessing the damage and people are starting to rebuild.
• IED Attacks Decline in Iraq
  Deaths from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, are declining in Iraq. The number of IED incidents has fallen by about half since June. Much of the drop in IED incidents has been attributed to the discovery of weapons caches, and tips from Iraqis about the location of the explosive devices.
• Helium Shortage Spikes Prices, Calls for U.S. Help
  A worldwide shortage of helium causes a spike in prices, rationing, and calls to the Bureau of Land Management, which runs the Federal Helium Reserve. It stockpiles helium for use by NASA and the military. There's enough to keep characters afloat for the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.
• Fed Sees Slower Economic Growth
  The Federal Reserve released a new economic forecast that anticipates economic growth will slow sharply next year. Though it says unemployment and inflation will only rise slightly. Although the report doesn't use the word recession, that's probably what it will feel like to most people.
• Rhodesia's Ex-Prime Minister Ian Smith Dead at 88
  Ian Smith, Rhodesia's last white prime minister whose attempts to resist black rule dragged the country now known as Zimbabwe into isolation and civil war, died after suffering a stroke. He was 88. Smith died at a clinic near Cape Town, South Africa.

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