State Services for the Blind

Radio News

Radio Talking Book Radio News July 2007

Current Edition: January 2008

Previous News Editions: January 2007, February 2007, March 2007, April 2007, May 2007, June 2007, July 2007, August 2007, September 2007, October 2007, November 2007, December 2007

January 2006, February 2006, March 2006, April 2006, May 2006, June 2006, July 2006, August 2006, September 2006, October 2006, November 2006, December 2006

Budget is Approved

In May, Governor Pawlenty signed the budget bill for fiscal years 2008-2009 that included State Services for the Blind. As part of that bill, there was a special request increasing SSB’s general fund base by one million dollars each year, $900,000 of which goes directly into the Communication Center. For many years, we have included federal money (this year, $900,000) in the Communication Center budget that was intended for Vocational Rehabilitation (VR). This federal money has always been primarily intended to be used in working with consumers going to work, although it has been allowable to use the money for other purposes.
 
In summary, The Communication Center receives new state funding which replaces federal VR dollars. Without the transfer of VR money to the Workforce Development Unit, State Services for the Blind was faced with projected insufficient funds as of October 1 of this year to meet all the Workforce Development needs. This new appropriation and transfer keeps us from cutting services to customers of the Communication Center and Workforce Development Units.
 
This summer, there will be meetings around the state regarding the removal of VR dollars from the Communication Center, and their addition to the Workforce Development budget. Director of State Services for the Blind Chuk Hamilton thanks the consumers, consumer groups, volunteers, Community Rehabilitation Programs and others who informed the Legislature that the increase in appropriation was the necessary and right thing to do.
 
Books Available Through Faribault 
All books broadcast on the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network are available through the Minnesota  Library  for  the  Blind  and Physically Handicapped in Faribault. Their phone is 800-722-0550 and hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Their catalog is also online, and you can access it at www.klas.com/mnbph . If you live outside of Minnesota, you may obtain copies of books by contacting your own state's Network Library for the National Library Service.  
 
Review old issues of Radio News on the Internet at www.mnssb.org/radionews .

Chautauqua
Tuesday - Saturday 4 a.m.

The River of Lost Footsteps
Nonfiction by Thant Myint-U, 2006.
Myint-U’s family served Burma’s Court for two centuries. Through his family’s history, he speaks of the rise and decline of Burma in the modern world.
Read by Leila Poullada.
16 broadcasts. Began June 13.
   
The Family That Couldn’t Sleep
Nonfiction by D.T. Max, 2006.
Prions are proteins that go wrong, forming neurological illnesses that are fatal. But unlike most causes of illness, they cannot be destroyed because they have no DNA.
Read by Hugh Jones.
12 broadcasts. Begins July 5.
   
Dancing in the Streets
Nonfiction by Barbara Ehrenreich, 2006.
Governments and religions have tried to eliminate the human desire for collective joy. But deeply ingrained traditions are not easy to annihilate.
Read by Barbara Struyk.
10 broadcasts. Begins July 23.  

Past is Prologue
Monday - Friday 9 a.m.

Blood and Thunder
Nonfiction by Hampton Sides, 2006.
As the Army of the West fought the Navajo for control, many individuals were heroes or villains, depending on who was speaking of them.
Read by Barbara Struyk.
20 broadcasts. Began June 21.
   
Thunderstruck
Nonfiction by Erik Larson, 2006.
During one of the greatest criminal chases of all time, inventor Guglielmo Marconi met the murderer Hawley Crippen on a ship in the North Atlantic.
Read by Del Adamson.
13 broadcasts. Begins July 19.

Bookworm
Monday - Friday 11 a.m.

Falling Boy
Fiction by Alison McGhee, 2007.
Joseph, in a wheelchair, has two new people in his life: Zak, a teen who works in the bakery with him, and the girl Enzo. They’ve spread the story that Joseph is a superhero. L -
Read by Pat Kovel-Jarvoe.
6 broadcasts. Began June 27.
    
Dairy Queen
Fiction by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, 2006.
D.J. Schwenk lives on a farm. She’s fifteen and doesn’t talk about the big questions in her life. She also wants to play football.
Read by Janet Zahn.
8 broadcasts. Begins July 5.
   
Saving Graces
Nonfiction by Elizabeth Edwards, 2006.
Days before the 2004 election, Edwards was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Her fight stirred an outpouring of support from across the country.
Read by Susan Niefeld.
14 broadcasts. Begins July 17.

Potpourri
Monday - Friday 2 p.m.  

The Big Bam
Nonfiction by Leigh Montville, 2006.
For 85 years, Babe Ruth has remained the sport’s reigning titan, named Athlete of the Century more than once. But little has been known about his childhood and private life. L -
Read by Ray Christensen.
16 broadcasts. Began June 26.
   
The Scent of God
Nonfiction by Beryl Singleton Bissell, 2006.
Bissell entered a cloistered convent at eighteen. Ten years later, she realized religious garb could not shelter her from her own sexuality.
Read by Ann Hoedeman.
9 broadcasts. Begins July 18.
 
Mozart and the Whale
Nonfiction by Jerry and Mary Newport, 2007.
Jerry and Mary both have a form of autism called Asperger’s syndrome. One is a musical genius, the other a mathematical wonder. When they met, they felt it was a miracle. L -
Read by Marylyn Burridge.
10 broadcasts. Begins July 31.

Choice Reading
Monday - Friday 4 p.m.

Skylight Confessions
Fiction by Alice Hoffman, 2006.
Arlyn’s marriage with John Moody is bound to bring them grief. They and their children are looking for family and identity, but don’t seem to know the first thing about love.
Read by Eleanor Berg.
9 broadcasts. Began June 28.
 
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
Nonfiction by Bill Bryson, 2006.
Born in 1951, Bryson’s childhood fantasy life cast him as a superhero, a life familiar to all but as unreachable as another galaxy. L,S -
Read by Art Nyhus.
10 broadcasts. Begins July 11.
 
Embroidered Truths
Fiction by Monica Ferris, 2005.
Betsy’s friend Godwin splits with his partner John and moves in with her. But when John is discovered dead, Godwin is arrested for murder.
Read by Karen Wertz.
8 broadcasts. Begins July 25.

PM Report
Monday - Friday 8 p.m.

The One Percent Doctrine
Nonfiction by Ron Suskind, 2006.
The real plan for U.S. response to terrorism is strategy designed by Dick Cheney that separates America from its moorings, and has driven every action since 9/11. L -
Read by Fred Lyon.
17 broadcasts. Began June 14.

The Disposable American
Nonfiction by Louis Uchitelle, 2006.
Major layoffs, first used in the 1970s, have spread and multiplied, destroying the notion of job security and the dignity of work. They may be counter-productive.
Read by June Prange.
11 broadcasts. Begins July 9.

Planet of Slums
Nonfiction by Mike Davis, 2006.
Much of the 21st century urban world lives in squalor amidst pollution, excrement, and decay. More than one billion people live in the slums of the cities of the southern hemisphere.
Read by Malcolm McLean.
9 broadcasts. Begins July 24.

Night Journey
Monday - Friday 9 p.m.

The Sempster’s Tale
Fiction by Margaret Frazer, 2006.
Dame Frevisse is in London when a body is found in a crypt, mutilated with Hebrew letters. Officially, Jews are banished, but Dame Frevisse knows of one. Is he a murderer?
Read by Amy Morris.
12 broadcasts. Begins July 2.
 
Snow Blind
Fiction by P.J. Tracy, 2006.
Minneapolis sponsors a snowman-building contest but inside two of the snowmen are dead police officers. When another similar body is found, Monkeewrench is brought in. L -
Read by Diane Ladenson.
8 broadcasts. Begins July 18.
 
The Foreign Correspondent
Fiction by Alan Furst, 2006.
Carlo Weisz, Italian émigré in Paris, is a foreign correspondent for Reuters. He’s also the new editor of an anti-Mussolini émigré newspaper. But in 1938, a foreign correspondent is just a pawn. L,S -
Read by John Edmunds.
11 broadcasts. Begins July 30.

Off the Shelf
Monday - Friday 10 p.m.

Next
Fiction by Michael Crichton, 2006.
As scientists isolate a “master” gene, could it be a genetic basis for controlling other people? V,L,S - Read by Diane Ladenson.  
11 broadcasts. Began June 25.
 
Imperium
Fiction by Robert Harris, 2006.
A stranger begins a chain of events propelling Marcus Cicero into one of history’s most suspenseful court dramas. L -
Read by Richard Klein.
14 broadcasts. Begins July 10.
 
The Echo Maker
Fiction by Richard Powers, 2006.
After Mark’s accident and coma, he believes his sister is an imposter. A neurologist believes his denial is a rare syndrome. L -
Read by Laura Rohlik.
22 broadcasts. Begins July 30.

Evening Odyssey
Monday - Friday 11 p.m.

End in Tears
Fiction by Ruth Rendell, 2006.
Connecting two murders, Wexford believes the gruesome death of a teen girl is the beginning of a murderer’s plans. L -
Read by Nancy Felknor.
12 broadcasts. Began June 28.
 
Heart-Shaped Box
Fiction by Joe Hill, 2007.
In an auction, Judas bids on a ghost. When a box arrives with a dead person’s suit, the results are unexpected. V,L -
Read by Dan Kuechenmeister.
11 broadcasts. Begins July 16.
 
The Lying Tongue
Fiction by Andrew Wilson, 2007.
Adam, personal assistant to a famous novelist, thinks he can launch his own career by secretly writing his biography. L,S -
Read by Neil Bright.
12 broadcasts. Begins July 31.

Good Night Owl
Monday - Friday midnight

The Fabric of Night
Fiction by Christoph Peters, 2007.
Albin’s childhood and alcoholism give him periods of altered states. So when he sees a murder, no one believes him. V,L,S -
Read by Chuck Torrey.
12 broadcasts. Begins July 2.
 
The Double Bind
Fiction by Chris Bohjalian, 2007.
The attack on Laurel changes her life. She withdraws, and becomes obsessive about a deceased client’s life and family. V,L -
Read by Dan Sadoff.
13 broadcasts. Begins July 18.

After Midnight
Tuesday - Saturday 1 a.m.
 
Lords of the North
Fiction by Bernard Cornwell, 2007.
In 878, Uhtred fled Wessex looking for his stepsister. She is being held captive by a Danish lord who holds the invincible fortress of Dunholm. V,L -
Read by Del Adamson.
11 broadcasts. Began June 27.   
   
Twelve Sharp
Fiction by Janet Evanovich, 2006.
Stephanie Plum is being stalked by a crazy woman. In spite of that, she needs to search for a murderer, while working with Ranger, a man with a dangerous reputation. L -
Read by Barbara Morison.
8 broadcasts. Begins July 12.
   
The Gates of Night
Fiction by Keith Baker, 2006.
A band of soldiers has found a plot that may tear apart reality. To save their lives and prevent a race of monsters from succeeding, they must get to the heart of Dal Quor. V -
Read by John Mandeville.
12 broadcasts. Begins July 24.

Abbreviations: V  - violence, L - offensive language, S - sexual situations