National

Ala. School District Cancels Bus Service, Igniting Controversy

by Dan Carsen

The decision by a suburban Birmingham school district to eliminate its busing program has erupted into a controversy over race and class. Officials in the Hoover school district say they were forced to drop the buses because of a severe budget shortfall. Many community members believe the decision was designed to force out the growing numbers of minority and low-income students who are lowering average test scores in Hoover schools.
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Florida's Highwaymen Painted Idealized Landscapes In Jim Crow South

by Jacki Lyden

In the Jim Crow Florida of the 1960's a group of young African-American landscape painters became famous for their art. They also made a lot of money selling oil paintings that depicted an idealized, candy-colored Florida of palms and beaches, and sleepy inlets. These young painters came to be known as the Highwaymen, and they painted thousands of these paintings until the market was saturated and the whole genre vanished. Host Jacki Lyden traveled to Florida and explored their fascinating story. (This piece originally aired on All Things Considered on Sept. 19, 2012.)
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Technology's Role In Romance Dates To The Telegraph

Modern technology has enabled people to find love without the old fashioned rituals like meeting in person or talking on the phone. And the anonymity of social networks has also opened up opportunities for fraudsters and fakes. The movie and TV show Catfish have told versions of this story. But when tech journalist Clive Thompson recently rediscovered a novel from 1879, he found that people have been finding love and anonymity through technology at least as far back as the telegraph.
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