Former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens may walk away from seven felony convictions a free man with a clean record. Yesterday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department is seeking to have Stevens’ verdict thrown out due to prosecutorial misconduct. It will not pursue a new trial and wants all charges dropped. Stevens, the Senate’s longest serving Republican, was convicted in October for lying on financial disclosure forms about gifts. The Takeaway talks to Libby Casey, reporter for Alaska Public Radio Network in Washington, D.C. who has been following the case since last fall, and Steve Heimel, Host of “Talk of Alaska” in Anchorage, Alaska.

In the video below, Stevens' attorney Brendan Sullivan discusses the case.

Today, Vermont’s House of Representatives votes on a controversial bill that would legalize gay marriage in the state. The bill has come under fire from Vermont Governor Jim Douglas who has vowed to veto the legislation if it passes. Douglas's statements have drawn both praise and condemnation. The Takeaway talks to Ross Sneyd, news editor with Vermont Public Radio.

Portia de Rossi did a public service announcement on the gay marriage issue on Jimmy Kimmel Live!:

The Red River in Fargo, North Dakota broke a 112-year-old record last Friday morning when it rose past 40.33 feet — the highest level ever measured. Across the river the situation isn't much better officials in Moorhead, Minnesota have asked approximately one-third of the households in the city to evacuate for fear of the river rising.

Joining The Takeaway are residents dealing with the situation on the ground. Dick Bailly lives in Fargo and his home may soon be flooded as the water fills up her back yard. Sarah Mayo, a junior at North Dakota University, is one of the army of volunteers helping put down sandbags. Also joining the conversation is Courtney Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross.

One Fargo resident made this photo slide show documenting the North Dakota flooding.

Fargo, North Dakota is being protected from rising floodwaters by an energetic band of volunteers who are filling and stacking sandbags to construct temporary dikes. Among those volunteers is Sarah Mayo, a junior at North Dakota State University, who joins John to tell us how things are looking in her hometown.

Here's a CNN iReport of the flood:

A growing number of states are suffering double-digit unemployment rates, fueling fears that the national jobless rate could hit 10 percent by the end of the year. In January, jobless rates rose in almost every state and the District of Columbia. Two of the states that received the highest rates of unemployment were Oregon and South Carolina.

Joining The Takeaway to discuss their concerns are Ethan Lindsey, reporter for Oregon Public Broadcasting, and Noelle Phillips, an economics and business reporter for The State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina.

Utah and Oklahoma have the highest rate of households that replaced landlines for cell phones; at least 26 percent as opposed to 20 percent in nine other states. Ivan Zatkovich, a consultant for various telecommunication companies, including Verizon and Deutsch Telecom, explains why these two states boast the highest cellphone-only usage while New York, for instance, is at a low 11 percent.

President Obama called for major changes to American educational system yesterday. Among those changes are for states to lift limits on charter schools and improve the quality of early childhood education. Joining The Takeaway to talk about these changes is Seth Andrew, the founder and head of the Democracy Prep Charter School in Harlem and Pedro Noguera, sociology professor and head of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education at New York University.

Governors in nine states, mostly in the South, are thinking about rejecting millions of dollars in federal stimulus money pegged for increased unemployment insurance. Joining us this morning is Michael Luo, a New York Times writer who is reporting that many jobless people in those states are angry that they may not get benefits from the stimulus package.

Read Michael Luo's article from the New York Times at Jobless Angry at Possibility of No Benefits

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour discusses why he turned down funds for his state.

As the economic downturn hits the states, some governors are considering an unusual cost-cutting measure: abolishing the death penalty. Since capital cases cost three times as much as cases where the death penalty is not sought, cash-strapped states are increasingly looking at the option. Ian Urbina has been reporting on this for the New York Times and he joins us now.

For more, read Ian Urbina's article, Citing Cost, States Consider Halting Death Penalty, in today's New York Times.

Today Detroiters head to the polls for a special mayoral primary to replace former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who left office under a hail of crime and scandal. When it comes to Detroit there is no denying that it is time for a change. The city has been burdened by political scandal, it’s facing a deficit that could approach $300 million, and unemployment rates are at a precipitous 10.7 percent. But voter turnout suggests change is beyond reach: Only 10-15 % of Detroit’s registered voters are expected to cast ballots today. For a look at what the stakes are with this special election and the dangers of voter apathy, we turn to Rochelle Riley, the Metro Columnist for The Detroit Free Press.

Facing a triple threat from the spiraling economy, mortgage foreclosures and an ailing auto industry, President Obama began his economic counteroffensive this week. He signed a huge stimulus bill, was given a multi-billion dollar plan to restructure car makers and announced a $50 billion foreclosure rescue. All of these moves resonate in Detroit, a city struggling with foreclosures and ground zero of the auto industry meltdown. Jerome Vaughn is the News Program Director at WDET-FM in Detroit and he joins The Takeaway this morning.

Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been a united party over the past few weeks, as they refused to help pass President Obama’s plan to stimulate the economy. Now that the stimulus bill has become law, despite the lack of Republican support, how are Republicans on the state level handling the stimulus money heading to their states? Joining us to talk about where he comes down on the plan is Minnesota's Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty. He joins us this morning from Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Click through for the transcript!

When GM and Chrysler announced their restructuring plans yesterday, they announced that thousands of jobs would be lost and at least five manufacturing plants would be closed, but they weren't clear on which plants would be shuttered. This vagueness left autoworkers on pins and needles as they worried about their jobs. Shivers also hit the towns that are the homes to GM plants. Joining us now is Cedric B. Glover, the Mayor of Shrevepoint, Louisiana, where GM manufactures its Hummer 3.

For more of The Takeaway's coverage of the crisis in the car industry,

After three days of intense negotiations, California lawmakers are still unable to deliver a budget. In the face of a multi-billion dollar deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is preparing to lay off 10,000 government workers and plans to halt the last 275 state-funded public works projects still in operation. To answer what this means for California and for state workers we turn to Zoe Corneli, reporter at KALW public radio in San Francisco, and Ryan Sherman, spokesperson for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, a union that is facing layoffs under the Governator's plan.

California waitress Val Simons has little faith in the legislator's ability to resolve this crisis.

California is facing down a $42 billion budget gap and now Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced lay offs of over 10,000 government workers and an immediate halt to all public works projects. All this while another state, Missouri, takes the lead in applying stimulus money to the ailing transportation system by having the first economic recovery act in the country already under construction. Pete Rahm, Director of the Missouri Department of Transportation, makes a stop at The Takeaway on his publicity push.


Here's the Missouri Department of Transportation's stimulus wish list:

President Obama is expected to sign the $787 billion stimulus bill tomorrow and as the money from the plan trickles down to the states and cities it may not be pretty. The New York Times' Monica Davey helps The Takeaway anticipate the inevitable clash between state governments and the feds over how the stimulus should get spent.

Read Monica Davey's article, States and Cities in Scramble for Stimulus Cash in today's New York Times.

How is the stimulus going to develop infrastructure in your city? Follow the dollars online and tell us how the stimulus plan is playing out in your community. We're sharing your stories online and on air, and we'll continue the investigation with your help.

ShovelWatch is a joint project of the non-profit investigative outfit ProPublica, the morning news program The Takeaway and WNYC, New York's flagship public radio station. With investigative reporting, interactive features and help from you, we're tracking the stimulus bill dollars from Congress to your community.

Despite what you see on television shows like CSI, forensic evidence does not always create hard facts. Even things so seemingly commonplace as fingerprinting and blood splatter analysis may be way less reliable than believed. A draft report from the National Academy of Science contains sweeping criticism for the application of forensic science in crime labs across the nation. The report may radically change the American criminal justice system. Our partner, the New York Times, has an exclusive on this paper and we are joined by the reporter, Solomon Moore.

For more, read Solomon Moore's article, Science Found Wanting in Nation’s Crime Labs, in today's New York Times.

School districts across the country are preparing for a rough road ahead as state lawmakers look for ways to cut spending from their budgets. In Seattle, the tough choices mean closing five schools and the pinch is being felt in some African-American neighborhoods. For more on this we are joined by Phyllis Fletcher, a reporter for KUOW in Seattle, and Michele McNeil, a reporter for Education Week.

California is hurting. Its budget deficit is larger than total expenditures in most states, it's got high unemployment, and the most foreclosures of any state. Stimulus money — an estimated $32 billion would go to the state under the House's stimulus plan — would of course ease some of the short-term pain. But economists and local officials are unclear on how to turn the windfall into long-term economic well-being for the state. New York Times reporter Jesse McKinley joins Katherine and Adaora from San Francisco with a look at how his home state might fare under the stimulus bill.

To see more items on California's wish list, read Jesse McKinley's article, A State With a Wish List for Stimulus Spending in today's New York Times.

The country's economic situation has been pretty well reported. In such bleak times, with unemployment numbers reaching record highs in many states, you would expect to see an increase in the number of people seeking public assistance. But according to an investigation by our partners at the New York Times, 18 states cut their welfare rolls last year and nationally the number of people getting assistance is near a 40-year low. Jason Deparle, reporter in the Washington Bureau for the New York Times joins us for a peek at the results of their investigation. For more from Jason Deparle, read his article, Welfare Aid Not Growing as Economy Drops Off in today's New York Times and pick up his book American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation's Drive to End Welfare on welfare reform.