National

Miss. Turns To Cord Blood To Track Down Statutory Rapists

8:43am June 05, 2013

by Jeffrey Hess

Starting in July, doctors and midwives in Mississippi will be required by law to collect samples of umbilical cord blood from babies born to some girls under the age of 16. Officials will analyze the samples and try to identify the fathers through matches in the state's DNA database.

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The Summit Fire burned hot and fast up the Banning Pass area, near Beaumont, Calif., on May 1, leaving a moonscape in its wake. Houses that had cleared brush and wood from around their property were left unscathed.

National

Calif. Firefighters Rush To Get Ahead Of Early Fire Season

4:39pm June 04, 2013

by Nate Rott

The state has already sustained fire damage not normally seen until deep into the hot summer months. Fire departments and homeowners are now trying to prepare land and property for what's expected to be a long and destructive summer.

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Surfers surround a celebrant who pours libations and says prayers to honor the spirit of surfers past and present and to give thanks to the sea for providing sustenance and recreation.

Barrier-Breaking Surfer's Legacy A Reminder Of Work To Do

3:31pm June 04, 2013

by Karen Grigsby Bates

African-American and Mexican, Nick Gabaldon carved a path for surfers of color. He died in 1951, but access to surfing can still be limited.

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Whenever a steer or cow leaves a farm in Michigan or goes to a slaughterhouse, it passes by a tag reader, and its ID number goes to a central computer that keeps track of every animal's location.

Michigan Tracks Cattle From Birth To Plate

10:54am June 04, 2013

by Dan Charles

Would you like to know the life history of that steak before you eat it? Technology exists to give you that information, at least in Michigan, where the state government requires all cattle to carry an electronic tag for tracking purposes.

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Michelle Williams (center) and two daughters visit the grave of her mother, Judy Williams, at Fairview Cemetery in Hyde Park, Mass., on May 11. Judy died in 2011.

A Boston Family's Struggle With TB Reveals A Stubborn Foe

9:10am June 04, 2013

by Richard Knox

Tuberculosis is much less of a health threat in the United States than it is in other countries. But a family in Boston discovered that even here, no one is immune from this ancient foe. More than a dozen family members were infected with TB, and matriarch Judy Williams died at age 59.

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Friday's storm, which produced a mile-wide tornado, as it neared El Reno, Okla.

National

Why Chase Tornadoes? To Save Lives, Not To 'Die Ourselves'

8:10am June 04, 2013

by Mark Memmott

A scientist who studies tornadoes says there's still much to be learned about how they form and how to better forecast them. Still, the storm chasing and research communities will be reevaluating their procedures in the wake of three colleagues' deaths.

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National

Spelling Bee Winner Conquers 'German Curse'

5:37pm June 03, 2013

Arvind Mahankali, a 13-year-old from Bayside, N.Y., won the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday after correctly spelling "knaidel." It's a yiddish term of German origin meaning "dumpling." Mahankali had stumbled on German words two years in a row. This year, he said, "the German curse has turned into in a German blessing."

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Genetically modified wheat has been discovered growing in a field in Oregon. GMO wheat is not approved for sale in the U.S. Above, a wheat field in Arkansas.

GMO Wheat Found In Oregon Field. How Did It Get There?

2:03pm June 03, 2013

by Dan Charles

An Oregon farmer discovered genetically engineered wheat growing in his field. Nobody knows how it got there. GMO wheat is not approved for sale in the U.S.

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A construction worker paints walls at the Maryland Proton Treatment Center in Baltimore. Each of the center's five rooms will contain a massive piece of equipment that will rotate around a cancer patient to deliver a special kind of radiation.

Proton Beam Therapy Sparks Hospital Arms Race

10:41am June 03, 2013

by Jenny Gold

Local officials in Washington D.C., are on the verge of approving two high-tech radiation facilities for treating cancer at a total cost of $153 million. The treatment these hospitals would offer costs twice as much as standard radiation, but hasn't been shown to work any better for most cancers.

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Jen Regan strokes the head of her fiancée, Marc Fucarile, as he sleeps in his hospital bed at Massachusetts General Hospital. Fucarile was injured in the bombings at the Boston Marathon, and had to have his right leg amputated.

Survivor Of Boston Marathon Bombings Has Long Road Ahead

10:41am June 03, 2013

by Martha Bebinger

Marc Fucarlie left the hospital this week, after 45 days of surgeries and skin grafts, induced comas and dozens of tests. His right leg was amputated and it's uncertain how functional his left leg will be. His rehabilitation will take years, and he's worried about how he'll pay for it.

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