Blizzard warnings in Northwest Minnesota, winter weather advisories across the state

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

By the end of the day, the Minnesota Department of Health will destroy about 1.1 million archived dried blood spot cards and newborn screening test results from its archives, 

They didn't have parental permission to save the samples and a couple dozen of them sued the state.

"Certainly the potential for research is compromised if we aren't able to have a significant number of [blood] spots available," the state health commissioner said. "But we have to do it the right way. We have to follow the law."

That's something the department hasn't done since 2011, when the Supreme Court ruled the state couldn't keep the samples.

It's a victory for those who see a conspiracy of Big Brother.

"They could look at the two blood spots together, the genetic profile of two individuals and say, 'You know what, the chance is that you're going to have a very expensive child and we can't afford it,'" one said. "There are all these sorts of things that could happen if someone knew what your DNA said."

It's tempting to prove that sort of allegation wrong, but the fact is the state expanded its use of the blood samples beyond what the Legislature intended. They weren't being used for just screening, 

At this point, is there any reason to maintain a Target card? The company has upped its estimate of how many people's data was stolen by hackers after Thanksgiving and lack of specifics certainly gives pause. In 

his half-hour-long interview with CNBC yesterday

, CEO Gregg Steinhafel didn't provide any specifics about 

 the hackers got into Target's system nor provide assurances that it won't happen again, only that the "malware" had been removed.

"We're in the middle of a criminal investigation and we can only share so much," Steinhafel said.

"We don't know the full extent of what transpired," he said.

"Who do you think did it?" she persisted.

So, how did they do it? NPR's Melissa Block 

, former Department of Justice prosecutor for cyber crimes, about it.

He says it was likely taken from two places: The terminal you use when you swipe the card at the checkout, and from inside Target itself. He says the data is supposed to be encrypted, but the hackers are probably using "ram scrapers," which allows the hackers to get the information 

 it's encrypted. But it still doesn't answer the most interesting question: 

 did the malicious software get put where it got put?

He also didn't sound particularly optimistic that anyone will be caught.

A young woman was lured to North Dakota for a truck-driving job. Jonnie Cassens, 38, brought hospital bills and other debt with her but found it easy to find work. "Jonnie’s story calls into question whether hard work and courage can eventually bring a decent living in contemporary America," the New York Times says, introducing 

 "A longstanding promise this nation makes to its citizens. As it happens, we can’t all be winners. Not even in a boomtown."

PBS is getting an earful because Sunday night's episode of Downton Abbey included the rape of Anna Bates. "Rape is not entertainment," one letter said, according to the 

It took a few months but bus driver supervisor Bill Bierman of Milwaukee 

. He was punished for preventing a woman from getting beaten up. While working on a broken-down bus last fall, he heard a woman screaming so he stepped in and broke up a fight. He got fired for violating the bus company's workplace violence policy.

"I'm not gonna watch someone be a victim," said Bierman.

Last week he was honored by city and county officials for preventing a woman from being beaten up, a ceremony which made it hard for the bus service to continue to ignore the obvious wrong it had done.

 Every day, illustrator Maria Fabrizio posts a news-inspired image on her blog. This week 

she's using inspiration from NPR's Morning Edition.

Full court shot.: 13-year-old swishes a 2nd time

(9-12 p.m.) - First hour: How can Target recover from the security breach?

Third hour: Leibovich's 'This Town' portrays DC as swamp of corruption, dysfunction.

 (12-1 pm) - In advance of next week's Syria peace conference in Geneva, a special report from the America Abroad series: "Syria and the Responsibility to Protect."

 (1-2 p.m.) - Why one economist is arguing that the American economy has bounced back since the recession.

 (3-6:30 p.m.) - Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, with its Ode to Joy lyrics, is an unmistakably familiar tune around the world. And its been the soundtrack for protests from China to Chile. NPR talks with the director of "Following the Ninth," a new documentary about the power of music.

NewsCut

Bob Collins

Author

The state gives in to the law and destroys archived baby blood samples, how did the thieves get the Target card data,  a young woman's nightmare in the Oil Patch, should Downton Abbey have included rape in its story line,  and a hero bus supervisor gets his job back.

Baby blood, Target theft, and running on fumes in North Dakota (5×8 – 1/14/14)

Go Deeper.

Like this?