WEKU

IRS Staffer: "What I Did Was Not Targeting"

Tamara Keith — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:34:00 +0000

Another interview with a key IRS employee, another oblique connection to Washington, D.C., and yet still no explosive revelations in the scandal surrounding the agency's targeting of Tea Party groups.

That, it seems, was precisely the point of Rep.

In Germany, Obama Defends NSA Surveillance Programs

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:13:00 +0000

Update at 10:20 a.m. ET. 'Peace With Justice':

Speaking at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin — the same spot where John F. Kennedy made his famous speech almost 50 years ago — President Obama on Wednesday called on the global community to fight for democracy and freedom everywhere.

"Our fates are linked," Obama said. "We cannot ignore those who are yearning not only for freedom but also prosperity.

In Brazil, Protests Continue As Some Cities Cut Bus Fares

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:49:00 +0000

For a second night in a row, tens of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets to protest everything from the cost of living to government corruption.

The AP reports that during Tuesday's demonstrations:

"More than 50,000 people massed in front of the city's main cathedral.

Book News: Kim Jong Un Reportedly Gave 'Mein Kampf' As Gifts

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:58:00 +0000

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

Kim Jong Un gave top officials in North Korea copies of Adolf Hitler's autobiography, Mein Kampf, as gifts on his birthday last January, according to a report in New Focus International, a newspaper written largely by North Korean defectors. It seems the book was intended to promote a study of Hitler's economic reforms, and was not necessarily meant as an endorsement of Nazism.

Heat, Spurs Headed To Game 7 After Stunning Game 6

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:11:00 +0000

We'll let LeBron James do the talking. He said about the sixth game of the NBA finals between the Heat and Spurs:

"It's by far the best game I've ever been a part of."

And it certainly was a stunner: The Heat's Ray Allen hit a three-pointer with just 5.2 seconds on the clock to tie the game, denying the Spurs their fifth NBA title. The game went into overtime and remained airtight, but eventually the Heat prevailed 103 to 100.

ESPN has highlights:

Game 7 is in Miami and starts at 9 p.m.

Just Washed Your Car? Try Speeding To Dry It

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:09:00 +0000

Police in Canada say a man was driving 112 MPH on a highway south of Black Diamond, Alberta. In court, the man explained that he had just washed his car, and was simply speeding in order to dry it off.

Banner Misspells College World Series

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:04:00 +0000

A huge banner over the third-base dugout spelled the name of the tournament incorrectly — college had three Ls. Organizers of the tournament were embarrassed — especially because they had to hold off on fixing the problem until there was a break in play.

Taliban Attack Kills 4 Coalition Soldiers; Afghan Govt. Suspends Talks

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:38:00 +0000

In the hours following an announcement by the Taliban and the United States saying they were ready to begin peace talks, we received reminders of just how tenuous that situation is: On Tuesday night the Taliban said they fired two rockets near Bagram airbase in Kabul.

Secret Surveillance Credited With Preventing Terror Acts

Ailsa Chang — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:08:00 +0000

The National Security Agency director made the rounds again on Capitol Hill to defend two surveillance programs leaked to the press. Gen. Keith Alexander appeared before the House Intelligence Committee Tuesday, along with other members of the intelligence community and FBI. The government says its Internet monitoring program and the collection of phone logs have stopped more than 50 terrorist attacks.

U.S. To Test The Waters With Iran's New President Rohani

Michele Kelemen — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:08:00 +0000

Iran's newly elected president is signaling he might take a more pragmatic, moderate approach to nuclear negotiations with major world powers. But there's a lot of debate in Washington policy circles about what Hassan Rohani's election might mean for the U.S.

TV, Movie Streaming Services Want To Grow With Kids

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:27:00 +0000

Twenty percent of Netflix's streaming is made up of content for kids. Amazon just ordered a bunch of pilots of kids' shows. TV critic Eric Deggans says subscription streaming services are going to lean on parents' desire for control of what their kids watch as they build their audiences.

Disney World Raises Entrance Price For Magic Kingdom

Matthew Peddie — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:27:00 +0000

Disney is trying something new. It's charging a higher admission price for the Magic Kingdom than its other theme parks in Orlando. A one-day pass to the Magic Kingdom now costs $95 — compared to $90 for Epcot, Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios.

Miami Heat Force Game 7 In NBA Finals

Mike Pesca — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:27:00 +0000

The Miami Heat avoided elimination Tuesday night by beating the San Antonio Spurs in overtime, 103 to 100. LeBron James shrugged off a poor start to get 32 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Ray Allen hit a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds to play to force overtime.

Tick Tock: Make The Serve, Pitch, Putt Or Shot

Frank Deford — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:23:00 +0000

In Milwaukee, cartoon characters dressed up like various sausages race at each Brewers' game; in Washington, five of our beloved presidents do their own bratwurst ramble. But the character I want to appear at every baseball game –– and at a couple of other sports, too, is ...

tick-tock,tick-tock

... the crocodile from Peter Pan who swallowed a clock and shadows a terrified Capt. Hook.

Somebody has to scare athletes into playing faster. In baseball, golf and tennis in particular, we are being slowwwwwwly lulled to sleep before every pitch, every shot.

U.S. Automakers Are On A Roll, But Hiring Is Slow And Steady

Sonari Glinton — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:21:00 +0000

There is one basic question that keeps being asked about the U.S. auto industry: Is it on the rebound?

"People ask a lot, is the auto industry back?" says Kristin Dziczek, a director at the Center for Automotive Research. "And it depends on what scale you want to look at."

So if we're looking at scales, let's start with productivity. In this case, how many work hours it takes to build a car. Productivity in U.S. plants is 39 percent higher than it was in 2000.

Fashion's Victims: An Artist's Focus On Garment Workers

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:20:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4aR23-1MPo

How A Merger Could Affect Congress' Favorite Airport

NPR: Brian Naylor — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:19:00 +0000

If the US Airways-American Airlines merger announced earlier this year is approved, the combined airline would control two-thirds of the takeoff and landing slots at Reagan National Airport, outside Washington, D.C.

The government could force the airline to give up some of those slots as a condition of the merger. But lawmakers warn that could have consequences for some small- and medium-sized cities. And, not coincidentally, it could affect flight plans for lawmakers themselves.

Reagan National Airport is just a short taxi ride away from Capitol Hill.

Parvum Opus: Followers Flock To Pope's Latin Twitter Feed

Sylvia Poggioli — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:18:00 +0000

Against all Vatican expectations, the pope's Twitter account in Latin has gained more than 100,000 followers in six months and continues to grow.

Followers are not exclusively Roman Catholics or Latin scholars, but represent a wide variety of professions and religions from all over the world. Some go so far as to claim that the language of the ancient Romans is perfectly suited to 21st-century social media.

Pope Benedict XVI launched the first papal Twitter account last December in eight languages, including Arabic.

The Art Of Investing: The Rewards Aren't Always Financial

Uri Berliner — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:17:00 +0000

NPR's Uri Berliner is taking $5,000 of his own savings and putting it to work.

Animal CSI: Inside The Smithsonian's Feather Forensics Lab

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:16:00 +0000
Carla Dove smiles as she tears open a small, flat cardboard box. She is sitting at a lab bench in her office at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
"It's kind of like Christmas for me because I never know what's going to be in the packages," she says.
Inside the box are a bunch of sealed sandwich-size bags. Dove counts the bags.
"Eight samples today," she notes. Each sample consists of grayish pieces of feathers, and sometimes bones, all from inside the stomachs and intestines of Burmese pythons.
Dove is an ornithologist and a forensic expert of sorts.

House Passes Bill That Would Ban Late Abortions

Julie Rovner — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:11:00 +0000
The House has passed one of the most far-reaching abortion bills in decades. But it's unlikely to ever become law.
By a mostly party-line vote Tuesday of 228-196, lawmakers passed the "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," which would ban nearly all abortions starting 20 weeks after fertilization.
"At 20 weeks maybe sooner, the baby feels pain," said physician and Rep. John Fleming, R-La., on the House floor. "And so I would just submit to you today Mr.

How The Civil Rights Movement Was Covered In Birmingham

NPR: Audie Cornish — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:08:00 +0000
As the Civil Rights Movement was unfolding across the US in 1963, the entire nation had its eyes on climactic events taking place in Southern cities like Birmingham, Ala., and Jackson, Miss. But there's a stark difference between how the national press covered the events in Birmingham and how Birmingham's papers covered their own city.
As part of NPR's series on that pivotal summer of 1963, Audie Cornish traveled to Birmingham, Ala., to revisit some of the stories that shaped the city and the nation at the time.

Google Files First-Amendment Request With FISA Court

Bill Chappell — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:13:00 +0000
Google has filed a legal motion asserting its "First Amendment right to publish aggregate information about FISA orders," asking the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to remove the gag order that keeps the company from issuing that information. Google and other big U.S.

Boehner Seeks To Reassure House GOP On Immigration

Frank James — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:50:00 +0000
Faced with the threat of mutiny for what seems like the umpteenth time during his speakership, John Boehner moved to mollify fellow Republicans on Tuesday, saying immigration legislation would need the support of a majority of the House GOP before it could be brought to a floor vote.
After emerging from a meeting with House Republicans, following days of warnings by conservatives that the Ohio Republican had better not try to pass an immigration bill with mostly Democratic votes, Boehner sought to calm the roiling Republican waters.
"I also suggested to our members today that any immigrati

Change Is On The Horizon For London's Famous Skyline

Christopher Werth — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:32:00 +0000
Cities are defined by their skylines — while Paris is composed mostly of low-rise apartment buildings, New York is a city of tall office towers. But London is a city in transition.

A Field Guide To Jimmy Hoffa Searches

Hannah Meisel — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:32:00 +0000
The mystery of Jimmy Hoffa's final resting place was opened yet again Monday, when the FBI began digging up a field near Detroit in the hopes of finding the former Teamsters president, who was last seen on July 30, 1975.
His disappearance is the stuff of urban legend and evergreen fascination.

Home-Schooled Students Fight To Play On Public School Teams

Steve Walsh — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:19:00 +0000
Legislative battles are being fought around the country over whether or not to let home-schooled students play on public high school teams.
Roughly half of U.S. states have passed laws making them eligible to play on the teams.

A Look Back At How Newspapers Covered The Civil Rights Movement

NPR: Audie Cornish — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:18:00 +0000
Transcript
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
I'm Melissa Block.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
And I'm Audie Cornish in Birmingham, Alabama. It's been half a century since Birmingham was at the center of the Civil Rights struggle. Back in May of 1963, images of fire hoses and German shepherds turned on young protesters pretty much shocked the world.

More Pension Funding Needed in Lexington

Stu Johnson — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:04:14 +0000

Lexington city leaders are working to finalize a new budget. Tuesday afternoon they were surprised to find just over three million dollars in additional funding is needed to cover police and fire pension obligations. Finance Commissioner Bill Omara says the need for more funding comes because pension reforms are not fully in place yet.

I-75 Ramp Work Could Impact Area Businesses

Stu Johnson — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:53:56 +0000

Interstate ramp maintenance in Madison County could impact traffic and businesses along I-75 over the next week or so. Crews are working to mill, resurface, and restripe ramps at three interstate exits. Jack Wyatt has operated a gas station at one exit for 33 years. He says most previous repair work hasn’t carried as big an impact. “I mean they widen the roads out front, put a new bridge in, but they didn’t, it didn’t slow traffic down that much, cause they always had lanes of traffic they were working on, but they had other lanes of traffic that was open,” said Wyatt. Kentucky Transportation Department Spokeswoman Natasha Lacy says ramps will not be shut down for extended periods of time. She says the plan calls for three to four closures during each day of work.