Today's Rouser is in honor of Collins, as we share a love for rollicking tunes and Linda Ronstadt:

* Google search of terms Linda Ronstadt, YouTube, and Back in the USA. Chuck Berry and Keith Richards were just a bonus. Inspiration from the Linda Ronstadt picture vinyl album on my desk.

1) Speaking of sound, does audio have an inferiority complex? Crank up the volume and consider The Power of Sound:

* Hear 2.0 via RSS reader.

2) Another reason to be jealous of archeologists and conservators. Shackleton's Whisky Is Returning From Antarctic. I didn't think it was supposed to be stored in the freezer. Speaking of online archeology, The Current's Michael Wells nabbed this related MPR link.

* Both come from a Facebook string. NPR courtesy Ali Lozoff; MPR courtesy Michael Wells.

3) News organizations can race to find a local connection to a national story, but let's look at the local story from an external perspective. National Parks Traveler explains that Voyageurs National Park is slowly working to acquire inholdings.

My favorite quote about the park can be found on MPRNewsQ: Park Superintendent Mike Ward says, "It's all remarkable." I file that under "Minnesotan" in a good way.

* National Parks Traveler via RSS reader.

4) 411. At the ballpark, never start the wave. But don't let it die. Words of wisdom? It is from 1001 rules for my unborn son, Something tells me fans at the Vikings streamroller game yesterday didn't need a rule or pep talk to rise to their feet.

* Via Twitter, @rules_unbornson; Star Tribune off their homepage.

5) Featured on the nytimes.com homepage: Sewers at Capacity, Waste Poisons Waterways. It is part of their Toxic Waters series. Water quality coverage isn't new, does it sink in?

I picked the two water specials at the top of my own institutional knowledge to remind you of MPR's coverage: Changing Currents, 2002 and Toxic Traces, 2005.

* Discovered on the bus, while looking at The New York Times site.

TODAY'S QUESTION
Should a public hospital have to treat anyone who comes in?

"Of course they should. The idea that health is a privilege reserved for those who can afford health insurance is appalling to me. Regardless of what county someone is from, Americans deserve to be healthy." - Posted by Josh Skaar

Share your own answer.

I'm checking on WHAT WE'RE DOING TODAY and will be sure to add it.

WHAT WE'RE DOING TODAY

Midmorning: Hour one, Who pays for health care reform? It seems some economists are concerned about $800 billion price tag, taxes, and sustainability. Hour two is Talking Volumes with Stephen King and Audrey Niffenegger This Talking Volumes, hosted by Kerri Miller, was recorded Nov. 18. Get a little preview here:

Midday: TBA. Check the Midday page.

All Things Considered: How many schools will have to borrow money because of state payment shift and what does it mean for them?

We're certainly doing more, so I'll check in on the Newsroom to discover the details.

There wasn't a TV to watch; businesses didn't have TVs in the workplace back then. So we only heard what millions of others -- I'm guessing, mostly women -- saw in the now-famous image of Walter Cronkite informing the world that someone had killed our president.

It's impossible to overestimate what the Dallas Morning News today referred to as "the cloud of grief" that descended, and put November 22 on a very small list of unforgettable dates on the calendar, at least for my generation.

Is it still the economy, stupid? Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com writes this morning that it's more critical -- for Obama's popularity -- to pass a jobs bill than a health care bill.



2) Why does Jon Stewart's Daily Show do a better job of fact checking than the news media? The surprise here is that it took this long for someone to write an article on the subject.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Things Not to Be Thankful For - Silverdome, Goldman Sachs & Congressional Recess
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

3) The lure of the small town. If you've traveled through the downtowns of most of Minnesota's small towns, you know there aren't many business owners like Patty Forseth in Germantown. She runs a clothing store that decided to stay in town, rather than move to the big cities nearby -- "big" meaning populations of 2,000. The Marshall Independent profiles a couple of like-minded businesses who think there's still a future on Main Street, Minnesota.



4) Going rogue? The Star Tribune has a front-page story this morning from its "Whistleblower" department that alleges law enforcement agencies are abusing the 72-hour-hold which allows authorities to detain people, usually with mental health issues, for 72 hours if they're deemed a threat to themselves or others. The people with mental health training are not likely to be happy with the story, however, because they're likely to point to paramedic Nate Berg's lack of training on mental health issues.



Take this section of the story, for example:

The police officer said the patient was having psychiatric issues and was upset, Berg said in his suit. The officer said the patient may be off his medications, Berg said. But they were unable to produce a copy of the boy's care plan, which would have shown what medications he was on as well as his doctor's instructions for handling various situations.



The boy told Berg he was mad because he had gotten into a fight with his caretaker. But Berg said the boy didn't appear to be suffering from a medical problem and was speaking coherently. Berg told the officer it wasn't ambulance policy to take someone to the hospital because they were angry.

"Didn't appear to be suffering from a medical problem?" What does a mental health issue look like? The paramedic said by the time he got to the scene, the young man was in the back of a squad car and seemed coherent. But in many cases, mental health "episodes" are like seizures.



The frustration that people have with medical professionals who determine at a glance that people are or aren't mentally healthy is a theme that emerged in most of the conversations I had with people in a series MPR produced in 2004. Minnesota has actually made progress in recent years in training its emergency responders on the best way to protect people with mental health issues.



The Star Tribune missed the story here, which is one paramedic overriding the best practices of the emergency responders and going it alone. Is that a serious thing? Discuss below.



Full disclosure: I have a wife who is actively engaged in lobbying on behalf of mental health access and I have a son who is a paramedic.


5) Kid Klingon. The University of Minnesota Daily focused on one of the most interesting stories we've seen in awhile, then left it after two paragraphs to do a feature story on a local company that created a Klingon dictionary, which isn't that interesting. The better story? Why would a linguist sacrifice three years of his newborn's life to find out if it would make a difference if Dad spoke only Klingon for the first three years of it? It turns out Wired Magazine answered that question in a 1999 story. He didn't actually. The boy learned both English and Klingon because Mom spoke English.



This isn't that kid, which in itself is scary:







TODAY'S QUESTION



The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission gave approval last week for an Xcel Energy plan to produce more power at its Prairie Island nuclear plant. Xcel also will store more nuclear waste at the site. Are you comfortable increasing Minnesota's reliance on nuclear power?



WHAT WE'RE DOING



I hope to have a News Cut Quiz posted here by early afternoon.



Midmorning (9-11 a.m.) - First hour: New guidelines recommending against yearly mammograms for women between the ages of 40 and 49 are creating confusion and anxiety among women, and stirring anger in the medical community.



Second hour: Local singer Paul Metsa has performed and worked in music for nearly 30 years. He credits his upbringing in the Iron Range and his love of folk for inspiring his songwriting and his bluesman ethos.



Midday (11 a.m. -1 p.m.) - First hour: Former US Sen. David Durenberger discusses the politics and the policies involved in the House and Senate health care bills. The Senate has scheduled a preliminary vote Saturday night.



Second hour: Live broadcast from the National Press Club, featuring Jim Leach, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Talk of the Nation (1-3 p.m.) - It's Science Friday! First hour: Living and working in space. Speaking of space, what did you do at work this week? How cool is this guy's job?



Second hour: Even more on the new mammogram guidelines.



All Things Considered (3-6:30 p.m.) - MPR's Chris Roberts profiles a unique company of playwrights who produce their own work and takes turns to direct productions.



Euan Kerr considers the new movie on soldiers who have the toughest detail in the Army -- telling families their son or daughter has been killed.



Mark Steil has the latest on the bus crash in Austin with a look into the charter bus industry.

The truth? It was no big deal outside of places like Atlanta and New York, which are usually subject to massive delays even when the computers are zipping along normally.

In Minneapolis, between 8 and 9, the "massive" delays averaged 14 minutes. An hour later, the average departure delay was 8 minutes. By late morning, flights were leaving an average of three minutes early. Shortly before noon, the average arriving flight was getting in 12 minutes early.

Here's an animation I made of the nation's airline traffic snapshots from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Not sure what it signifies other than the air traffic controllers were "pushing tin."

You can probably see the problem of these sorts of things, however. In the morning, everybody is heading to the East. At some point, everyone has to head West again. That's likely when more significant delays will show up.



BTW, I recommend putting that animation in full-screen mode.

1) MPR senior producer Jim Bickal did a nifty tour of Target Field field last week. It's spawned a post on the Web site, Ballpark Magic, about obstructed view seats. When I was growing up, for example, it wasn't uncommon to end up in a seat at the old Boston Garden and have a steel girder between your legs. The scoreboard? Forget it, nobody sitting downstairs beneath the overhang ever saw the scoreboard.

So the writer at Ballpark Magic did some calculations and found the largest degree of obstructed view seating will be in the outfield seats -- the cheap seats.

It's also possible that none of this will matter. Out in the bleachers at Wrigley, people barely pay attention to the game at all. The views aren't obstructed, but if they were, nobody would probably care. Maybe that type of party atmosphere will pervade the outfield seating. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, I suppose. (But leave those damnable beach balls at home! You don't see those things at Wrigley.)

So maybe from your seat you won't get to see Nick Punto at bat. You're not missing anything

2) Fascinating piece from the Denver Post, which followed a young man from high school, into the military, and to Iraq. There's been a lot of high-brow chatter about the future of news this week. This is the Future of News. (h/t: Molly Bloom)

On that front -- the future of news -- MPR has posted the video of its keynote speaker at a conference on the subject earlier this week:

Somewhat related: This is what good reporting looks like. NPR's Daniel Zwerdling, doing it the old-fashioned way, uncovers a document proving that psychiatrists at Walter Reed Army Medical Center put their concerns about the accused Fort Hood shooter in writing.

3) It's unlikely that the Wilf brothers wanted their long-expected play for a taxpayer-financed stadium to play next to a story about poor people losing their access to health care at the hospital nearly across the street from their current sports ghetto, but that's how it worked out.

Hennepin County Medical Center, the largest provider of health care to the state's poor and uninsured , has been whacked by Gov. Tim Pawlenty's $381 million cut to General Assistance Medical Care, a program for poor adults in May. It's closing clinics and denying care to out-of-county uninsured.

The Minnesota Vikings, meanwhile, are complaining that their stadium deal is the worst in football. Their stadium supporters recommend taking the $26 million they say the team generates in state taxes, add up to another $18 million and building a new stadium for the team. The Vikings probably have a better chance at a stadium with Brett Favre this year than had Tavaris Jackson remained at quarterback.

So, you're a Minnesota state legislator. If you're not a city person, you're probably hearing from more football fans than poor, sick people. What do you do?

Here's one of the quotes from one of the parties involved in these stories. Guess which one. "We would expect to be treated fairly and with some minimum level of respect."

4) Are they truants, sufferers from a legitimate psychological disorder, or just overprotected kids? Today, the BBC Magazine jumps into the question of "school phobia."

It is thought the worst ages for school phobia are five to six, 11-12 and 13-14, says Mr Blagg. There are no precise numbers for how many children suffer the condition, but he notes one estimate is that 1% of children will have it at one point during their school careers.

5) Toilets. What? You think I've got something to add to that?

Bonus: How a library book gets to you. It's a new video from the Minnesota Historical Society. In about 10 years from now, someone's going to stumble across this on YouTube and will be amazed at how the people who lived way back in 2009 got books in a library.

More bonus: Justice Alito speaks. It would be great if members of the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the media to record the speeches they give. We would learn more about the people who interpret the Constitution.

TODAY'S QUESTION

The Obama administration has announced that it will prosecute five men charged in the 9/11 attacks in civilian court. Critics of the decision argue that accused terrorists do not deserve the legal rights afforded by the U.S. justice system. Do terrorism suspects deserve the same legal rights as other defendants in court?

Rudy Giuliani was on CBS' Early Show this morning with his view:

WHAT WE'RE DOING

Midmorning (9-11 a.m.) - First hour: Sarah Palin brings out strong opinions, from people in her own party, from others across the political spectrum. Experts on conservatives and women in politics talk about what Palin's possible political career means.

Second hour: A renowned British neurosurgeon has traveled to Ukraine for 15 years to treat desperate patients who were given no hope of survival. Henry Marsh performs complicated brain surgery in archaic and hostile conditions in the Ukraine as the focus of a new PBS documentary.

Midday (11 a.m. - 1 p.m.) - First hour: MPR President Bill Kling in the studio to answer listener questions about the future of news and MPR.

Second hour: Live broadcast from the Westminster Town Hall Forum, featuring journalist Sarah Chayes, who has lived in Afghanistan since 2001. She is author of "The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban."

Talk of the Nation (1-3 p.m.) - First hour: An emotional debate erupts after President Obama announces he will try five 9/11 suspects including ringleader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in the city they attacked. Will it provide closure, or simply reopen old wounds?

Second hour: You use Google for searches, for email,and where would you be without
Google Maps? But how much do you know about the company that knows everything about you? Ken Auletta, the author of Googled joins guest host Rebecca Roberts.

All Things Considered (3-6:30 p.m.) - How are state colleges and universities spending federal stimulus money? Much of it going to projects that don't produce a lot of jobs, MPR's Tim Post reports.

With final numbers in from the 'Give to the Max' Day on GiveMn.org, what went well, and what are the concerns? MPR's Marianne Combs will have the story. But if you've been reading her blog for the last few days, you already know.

John Burnett revisits the massacre at Luby's, the 1991 shooting that killed nearly two dozen people not far from Fort Hood.

And Jonathan Hamilton will have details of a study which suggest you can take a nap and learn at the same time.

Today, the U.S. attorney general tried to explain to worried U.S. senators why he will try the mastermind of 9/11 in a civil court. Coincidentally, the Eden Prairie News on the same day was carrying details of new security arrangements around Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie. Barely-hanging-on businesses will now be encased in barbed wire and chain-links, even though no general aviation airplane has ever been used in a terrorist attack on the United States.

A Ryder Truck has been used for terrorism, but you don't need to pass through security to rent one today.



A lot of the damage to our psyche in the wake of 9/11, we've done to ourselves. That's the topic of today's Fresh Eye on the Radio conversation with Mary Lucia on The Current.

By the way, I do realize these things are running way too long. We'll get them shortened up starting tomorrow and get back to the music.

Several people are reportedly dead in the crash of a tour bus on I-90 in Austin, Minnesota.

I'll post links and info as things emerge.

4:37 p.m. - KTCC TV in Austin reports two dead.
4:39 p.m. - Pictures from the scene are coming from KAAL TV

It waas a bun from Strain Bus Line Motorcoach Tours, and it is a weekly bus that takes people from Rochester, Byron, Kasson and Blooming Prairie to Diamond Jo Casino in Northwood, Iowa.

4:43 p.m. - Background. Federal Motor Coach Safety Administration gives Minnesota a "good" (highest) rating in inspections of buses.

4:47 p.m. - There were no fatalities on buses in 2008, according to the FMCSA, but that's incorrect. There was one in Albertville in the spring of 2008 when a bus carrying students back to Pelican Rapids from a band even in Chicago ran off the road on I-94.

Twenty-three people died in Minnesota in accidents involving buses in 2007. One of the more noteworthy crashes in this area was in Osseo, Wisconsin in 2005 when a tour bus hit a jacknifed trailer truck on I-94 (WCCO).

4:54 p.m. - MPR's Tim Nelson is heading for the scene and will provide overnight/morning coverage.

4:59 p.m. - Bus company's Web site.

5:02 p.m. - Additional photos posted on the Rochester Post Bulletin Web site. Most of the riders appeared to be elderly, the newspaper said.

5:05 p.m. - From MnDOT: I-90 in both directions: Road closed to traffic. Between Exit 166: Oakland Road and Exit 175: Oakland Avenue West (3 miles west of the Austin area). The road is closed to traffic. Look out for a serious accident.

5:11 p.m. - The topography of the crash area, courtesy of Google.

5:18 p.m. - Here's Tim Engstrom from the Albert Lea Tribune with MPR All Things Considered host Tom Crann:

5:27 p.m. - Photo above courtesy of KAAL TV

5:37 p.m. - Minnesota Department of Public Safety has confirmed two are dead in the crash.

5:56 p.m. - Shifting updates over to this page.

7:10 p.m. - The Rochester Post Bulletin has posted video here.