Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Weather with Mark Seeley
  University of Minnesota climatologist Mark Seeley discusses spring flooding and looks ahead to the weekend forecast.6:55 a.m.
• Bridge victims' fund stuck at Capitol
  With a month left in the 2008 Legislative session, that plan to compensate victims of the 35W bridge collapse is stuck.7:20 a.m.
• Southwest High School goes for national chess 'three-peat'
  Southwest High competes for its third national chess championship this weekend in Atlanta.7:25 a.m.
• Business of the Bomb
  A new American RadioWorks documentary looks at the global nuclear black market and what's being done to stop countries from secretly acquiring atomic weapons. Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer spoke with correspondent Michael Montgomery about the documentary.7:50 a.m.
• St. Cloud bus smells like french fries
  A diesel bus in St. Cloud has been converted to run on used vegetable oil. The bus will travel the city's SCSU route and the fuel will come from deep fat fryers on campus.7:55 a.m.
• Pope Benedict speaks to Catholic educators
  Pope Benedict is in New York City to address the United Nations this morning. Yesterday afternoon, he took time to speak to Catholic educators, including many presidents of Catholic colleges and universities. Father Dennis Dease, the president of the University of St. Thomas, was at the address.8:25 a.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Spiraling Food Prices Buffet Poverty-Stricken Haiti
  Food riots last week in Haiti resulted in seven deaths — and in the prime minister's ouster. These events grimly illustrate how the rising cost of commodities threatens to deepen instability in the hemisphere's poorest country.
• A Tradition of Political Protests at the Olympics
  Protests against the Chinese government's human rights record have prompted talk about boycott. There's a long history of political protests at the Olympic Games, including in 1906, when an Irish triple jumper competing for Britain climbed up the flag pole with an Irish flag.
• 'Dear First Lady': Letters Offer Glimpse of History
  American citizens have written to the first ladies of the nation since the days of Martha Washington. The letters make requests, ask for favors, criticize and praise. A number of letters to presidents' wives have been collected in the new book Dear First Lady.
• Venezuela Targets Cocaine Traffickers' Airfields
  U.S. officials say the amount of Colombian cocaine that passes through Venezuela has doubled since the 1990s — making the country a key way station for Colombian drug traffickers. But Venezuelans say they're doing more than ever before to stop cocaine smuggling.
• Michelle Obama: Candor, Controversy on the Stump
  As the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, Michelle Obama can be found on the campaign trail nearly four days a week. She is known as a down-to-earth speaker who is not afraid to break the political mold. But her plain speaking has also created controversy.
• 'Forbidden Kingdom' Is a Doofy Union for Chan, Li
  Jackie Chan and Jet Li, two well-known martial arts film stars, just finished their first collaboration. Morning Edition and Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan says their new movie, The Forbidden Kingdom, was not worth the wait.
• E Street Band's Danny Federici Dies at 58
  Steve Inskeep remembers E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici. He died Thursday at the age of 58.
• Bay Area Moms Fight Aerial Pesticide Plan
  California's plan to spray a fine pesticide mist over much of San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area has sparked protests from worried residents. The spraying is aimed at killing a moth threatening California's agricultural industry.
• Kayaking Friends Face Off for Olympic Spot
  Two longtime friends who represented the United States in whitewater slalom kayaking at the 2004 Olympics now have to compete against each other for the lone spot available for Beijing. Brett Heyl and Scott Parsons say they have agreed not to let the rivalry affect their friendship.
• Video Game Sales Jump 50 Percent over Last March
  Americans spent $1.7 billion on game hardware, software and accessories last month. That's a jump of more than 50 percent over March of last year, according to market research firm NPD. Sales of Nintendo Wii consoles beat Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation.

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