6:40pm

Wed May 22, 2013
It's All Politics

Fears Of Killing Immigration Bill Doomed Same-Sex Amendment

Credit Andrew Harnik / The Washington Times/Landov

After five marathon sessions debating 150 proposed amendments, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a landmark rewriting of the nation's immigration laws this week — and the bill emerged largely intact.

Three Republicans voted with the panel's 10 Democrats on Tuesday night to forward the bill to the full Senate. That strong showing followed a wrenching choice for Democrats on the committee: whether to risk shattering support for the bill by amending it to recognize equal rights for same-sex couples.

How It Played Out

Read more

5:46pm

Wed May 22, 2013
Around the Miami Valley

Moraine Makes Economic Headway in Former GM Plant

Credit Steve Bognar
Moraine GM Assembly Plant Before Closing.

Following GM’s pullout of the Moraine Assembly plant, the city lost residents, and an estimated 40 to 50% of its revenue. Five years later the city is working hard to revive Moraine’s economy.  

Moraine’s big revenue losses came as a result of losing GM, Delphi and a number of smaller auto parts contracting businesses. To try and compensate for the losses, the city took a number of steps to curb expenditures – Some city employees were laid off, furloughs were implemented for others, and the water park – Splash Moraine- was closed. 

Read more
Tags: 

5:25pm

Wed May 22, 2013
World Cafe

Mount Moriah On World Cafe

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 11:05 am

Credit Andrew Synowiez / Courtesy of the artist

Mount Moriah is a rock band formed around the duo of guitarist Jenks Miller and singer Heather McEntire. Its second full-length album, the recent Miracle Temple, combines the strum and twang of Southern rock with vocals that hit hard emotionally.

On this installment of World Cafe, host David Dye discusses with McEntire the complexity of Mount Moriah's sound, as well as her push to explore the nuances in her vocals.

Read more

5:04pm

Wed May 22, 2013
The Two-Way

British Driver Says She's Sorry In 'Twit And Run' Case

Credit @FSUSteve

A British driver who struck a cyclist with her car — and who then bragged about the incident on Twitter — has issued an apology. The incident caused an uproar after the collision Sunday.

"Definitely knocked a cyclist off his bike earlier - I have right of way he doesn't even pay road tax! #bloodycyclist," tweeted Emma Way, in a message that has been widely circulated despite her apparent attempts to delete it, and seemingly her Twitter account, @EmmaWay20.

Read more

5:03pm

Wed May 22, 2013
Movie Interviews

Documentary Shows George Plimpton's Best Story Was His Own

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 6:40 pm

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

George Plimpton boxed with Archie Moore, played quarterback for the Detroit Lions, and played percussion for the New York Philharmonic. He did these jobs, and many others, as an amateur. Plimpton was a professional writer. A new documentary about his life makes the case that Plimpton's best story was his own story, as NPR's Joel Rose reports.

JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: When you listen to George Plimpton's voice, it's like hearing echoes of a New York that no longer exists.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

Read more

5:03pm

Wed May 22, 2013
Planet Money

Go East, Young Marijuana Dealer

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 6:40 pm

Credit David McNew / Getty Images

Chuck used to sell marijuana in California. But the legalization of medical marijuana in the state meant he was suddenly competing against hundreds of marijuana dispensaries. So he moved to New York, where marijuana is still 100 percent illegal. Since making the move, he says, he's quadrupled his income. (For the record: His name isn't really Chuck.)

Read more

5:03pm

Wed May 22, 2013
Science

The First Web Page, Amazingly, Is Lost

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 6:40 pm

Given the World Wide Web's ubiquity, you might be tempted to believe that everything is online. But there's one important piece of the Web's own history that can't be found through a search engine: the very first Web page.

Now a team at the lab where the World Wide Web was invented is seeking to restore that page, and other pieces of memorabilia from the earliest moments of the http:// era. They're on the hunt for old hard drives and floppy disks that may hold missing copies of early, valuable files.

Read more

5:03pm

Wed May 22, 2013
Parallels

A Decade In The Making, West Bank Barrier Is Nearly Complete

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 12:16 pm

Israeli army Capt. Barak Raz climbs a metal staircase to the top of a high concrete wall that is part of Israel's West Bank barrier. From his perch, he overlooks both the Palestinian village of Bil'in and Modin Illit, the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank, with some 50,000 residents.

The barrier here used to be a fence. After many confrontations with Israeli soldiers, Palestinian villagers won a court case, and the fence was moved off some of their land. But since the barrier was moved closer to an Israeli settlement, it was rebuilt as a wall.

Read more

4:57pm

Wed May 22, 2013
The Salt

Could African Crops Be Improved With Private Biotech Data?

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 5:44 pm

"I'm shocked by the optimism here," Howard Yana-Shapiro, the chief agricultural officer for Mars Inc. said Tuesday to the audience of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' Global Food Security Symposium in Washington, D.C.

Seated there before him were some of the leaders from the wealthiest international organizations and multinational companies of the fight to end hunger. And Shapiro told them they weren't even close.

Read more

4:55pm

Wed May 22, 2013
The Two-Way

London Attack Deemed Likely Terrorist Incident

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 7:20 pm

Credit Alastair Grant / Associated Press

A man has been killed in what reports described as a machete attack in London, and police have shot two suspects in what British Prime Minister David Cameron says is likely a terrorist incident.

Read more

Pages