Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• New St. Paul police program will keep tabs on violent gang members
  A new police program to identify and keep tabs on gang members in the city is raising some questions from the head of St. Paul's NAACP.7:20 a.m.
• 'Enthusiasm gap' may affect RNC attendance
  The Republican National Convention is 18 days away. Tens of thousands of people are expected to come to the Twin Cities the week of the convention, but it might not be as many as boosters originally hoped.7:25 a.m.
• Future Tense with Jon Gordon
  More than 20 public transit agencies around the country have been using GPS technology. The technology has allowed the agencies to keep better tabs on their fleets, and gives riders a tool to find out when their bus will arrive.8:20 a.m.
• 'Little House' has mobile aspirations
  The Guthrie Theater's world-premiere production of "Little House on the Prairie" officially opens Friday night after nearly two weeks of previews. Hopes are high that the new musical based on the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder will have a life after its performances in Minneapolis end in October.8:24 a.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Novelist Highlights The Rich Flavor Of Old Istanbul
  For historian-turned-mystery-writer Jason Goodwin, the bustling Istanbul bazaar is a perfect setting for murder, and the evening call to prayer is "a good time to kick a man to death in the street."
• Pill To Prevent Poison Ivy Itch Proves Elusive
  Over the last hundred years, generations of skin doctors and immunologists have worked to develop some sort of pill that will reverse the sensitivity to urushiol — the sticky resin in poison oak, poison ivy and sumac that triggers the itchy allergy.
• Inside The Nation's Largest Mental Institution
  The largest mental institution in the U.S. is actually a wing of Twin Towers, an L.A. County jail. The sheriff says it doesn't make sense to incarcerate the mentally ill, but as long as it's the only option, he's trying to make it work.
• Bush Offers New Aid To Georgia, Presses Russia
  President Bush has offered new support to Georgia, saying the U.S. is sending a huge aid package to help Georgians displaced by the conflict. He is also sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to help pressure the Russians to abide by the cease-fire. She'll also visit France, whose president helped to broker the truce.
• Terror Group Entrenched In Algeria
  As radical Islamist groups across Northern Africa are tempered by government crackdowns, the situation in Algeria is very different. A group known as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is a key player.
• McCain Touts Foreign Credentials; Obama On Break
  With Barack Obama on vacation, John McCain has the campaign trail and the airwaves largely to himself. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has been displaying his foreign policy credentials on the Georgia-Russia conflict.
• Theater Of Weightlifting, And Other Olympic Dramas
  For NPR's Tom Goldman, one of the pleasures of being at the Beijing Olympic Games is the opportunity to watch events unfold from start to finish, without interruption. He says he's been fascinated by the drama of the weightlifting competitions.
• Calif. Realtor: Job Now Centers On Foreclosures
  Bill Santoro works in one of the areas hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis — Riverside and San Bernardino, Calif. Housing prices have dropped as much as 50 percent in some areas, and his business now consists solely of homes in foreclosure.
• Wal-Mart Plans 90 New Stores In Brazil
  Wal-Mart announced plans to invest more than a billion dollars to open up to 90 new stores in Brazil. That country has become Latin America's fastest growing market, in part because of rising incomes and cheaper consumer credit. Wal-Mart has been in Brazil for more than a decade, and already has 318 stores there.
• Court: Steinbeck Heirs Don't Have Publishing Rights
  A federal appeals court has reversed a ruling that awarded John Steinbeck's son and granddaughter publishing rights to 10 of the author's early works, including The Grapes of Wrath.

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