Morning Edition

Steve Inskeep has business news.

As 2011 winds down, Morning Edition is looking at music we missed over the past 12 months. R&B singer Anthony Hamilton is one artist that slipped under our noses; we just missed his album Back To Love, which came out earlier this month. Hamilton's been in the music business for two decades, during which he's had a mostly black audience. Now, with Back To Love, he's gaining even wider appeal.

NBA Commissioner David Stern visited Dallas to start the lockout-shortened season on Christmas Day. The Mavericks were raising their banner from last season's championship. But when Stern spoke, people booed. The lockout wasn't popular, and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban didn't like the settlement. Stern won over the home crowd though, praising Cuban and turning boos to cheers.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command keeps an eye on Saint Nick's progress from an Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. NORAD volunteers in elf hats fielded more than 100,000 calls from kids checking on Santa.

The Milwaukee VA is shortening its residential mental health treatment programs. Doctors there say the shortened stay from 90 to 45 days will mean more intense treatment and will make it easier for veterans to transition back into society sooner. Some patients say getting clean and sober is just the first step in their recovery, and they worry about being pushed out too soon.

Perhaps more than any other major professional sports league in this country, the National Basketball Association is star-driven. A Christmas slate of season-opening games featured the electric play of the league's Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose, the NBA's top scorer Kevin Durant and LeBron James, too.

Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people gathered in the streets of Moscow. They disagree with elections allegedly rigged in favor of Vladimir Putin's party. Lilia Shevtsova, senior Russia analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, talks to Steve Inskeep about the demonstrations.

Linda Wertheimer talks to Rich Jaroslovsky, tech columnist for Bloomberg News, about his top gadget picks for 2011.

Steve Inskeep has the Last Word in Business.

The Iowa caucuses are a little more than a week away. The candidates dialed back the intensity of their TV ads this past weekend, featuring gentler messages many of which showcased the candidates' wives. Iowa Public Radio's Kate Wells reports on the Iowa landscape this past weekend - and what's likely in the coming week.