Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Cliffs says it will join state study
  Cleveland Cliffs Corp. has dropped its plans to conduct an independent study into the potential health effects of mineral fibers on miners and other residents. Instead, they will participate in a state-sponsored study being conducted by the University of Minnesota.6:21 a.m.
• Cities, environmentalists unhappy with new water quality rules
  The Citizens Board of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is set to vote Tuesday on a major revision of the state's water quality rules.7:21 a.m.
• Vikings win to stay in playoff hunt
  The Vikings beat the Chicago Bears 20-13 to stay in control of the NFC's last wild-card spot, despite four turnovers and a missed extra point.7:25 a.m.
• Men and women not happier with kids
  A new study says having kids does not make men happier. The study from the Institute for Social and Economic Research in England says becoming a father fails to increase "life satisfaction" for men. And for women, having kids only makes them happier once the kids are in school.7:55 a.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Clinton Crisscrosses Iowa to Reintroduce Herself
  Sen. Hillary Clinton hops across Iowa ahead of caucuses in a little more than two weeks. She wants Iowans to have some "flavor" of who she is away from media. Is it working? We check in with Iowa voters as the state's first-in-the-nation caucuses near.
• A District Where No Two Schools Are Alike
  School districts all across the country are breaking apart their traditional, large high schools. But once districts have thrown out the old, what becomes the new? The Mapleton School District near Denver offers just about everything.
• Mississippi Rebuilds Bridge Damaged by Katrina
  Traffic is flowing again in Biloxi, Miss. Two lanes of the U.S. Highway 90 bridge over Biloxi Bay reopened last month, replacing a crucial artery destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The new bridge is helping boost an economic recovery along Biloxi's beachfront that is well ahead of other Gulf Coast communities.
• Southeastern Governors to Devise Drought Strategy
  Governors of Georgia, Alabama and Florida meet with Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne to discuss allocating water resources in the wake of the drought. The three states and the federal government agree to set up a working group to develop an emergency drought strategy.
• Palestinian Supporters Pledge $7B
  Palestinian supporters raise $7 billion at a donors' conference in Paris. The money, pledged by the international community, will help create a Palestinian state. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calls the conference the "last hope" to salvage the Palestinian government from bankruptcy.
• Fed Works to Curb Corrupt Mortgage Lending Practices
  The Federal Reserve is due to unveil a plan that would give people taking out home mortgages new protections against unscrupulous lending practices. The rules are designed to protect borrowers from the kind of abusive lending that contributed to the subprime mortgage crisis.
• Monkeys Rival College Students' Ability to Estimate
  Two monkeys were tested on their abilities to estimate amounts and compared with group of undergraduates at Duke University. Given a basic math test, the monkeys were right 75 percent of the time, while the students scored correctly 90 percent of the time. Experts say monkeys sometimes need to be able to make quick estimates to survive.
• Study: Suicides Drop During Holidays
  The idea that the "holiday blues" could drive one to consider jumping off a bridge has been with us since the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life. And, like the movie, it's fiction. Studies show suicides go down over the holidays by as much as 40 percent.
• One Santa's Crusade Against Childhood Obesity
  Bill Winton sits in for the real Santa at a shopping center in Edinburgh, Scotland. He says he's not wearing the pillow under his Santa Suit anymore. Winton noticed that kids on his lap were getting heavier. And he thinks fat Santa's are partly to blame. He tells the BBC, if Santa is a role model, then his body shape is where it should start.
• China's Economy Broadly Overestimated
  The World Bank recalculates its estimates and finds that China's economy may have been overestimated by as much as 40 percent. That makes a difference when it comes to getting international loans and aid. It also means China is not likely to be the world's largest economy in 2012.
• New York to Ease Hotel Crunch
  New York has more than 8,000 hotel rooms under construction. At least 100 new hotels are in the planning stage. New York is still the most popular U.S. destination for foreign tourists after Orlando, Fla., but the city has always suffered from a hotel crunch.
• U.S. Borrows Heavily from Overseas
  The Commerce Department reports the current account trade deficit fell by 5.5 percent to $178.5 billion in the July-September quarter. That was a better-than-expected showing and the smallest current account imbalance since a $173.4 billion deficit in the third quarter of 2005.
• Commercial Real Estate Thrives Via Foreign Backing
  While many people struggle with residential real estate, commercial real estate in some parts of the country is still attractive. New York-based Related Companies, one of the nation's biggest developers, is behind massive projects like New York City's Time Warner Center.
• South Koreans Set to Elect New President
  South Korean voters are set to go to the polls to elect a new president. But unlike most elections over the past 20 years, North Korea and its nuclear weapons are not a major issue. That's because of the Sunshine Policy which has included 10 years of engagement with North Korea.
• House Passes Omnibus Spending Measure
  Congress and the president were poised to resolve their monthslong dispute over funding for the war in Iraq after the House passed a $516 billion omnibus spending measure to fund 14 Cabinet agencies and troops in Afghanistan.

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