National

Boom Or Bust? Saving Rhode Island's 'Superman' Building

11:30am May 20, 2013

by NPR Staff

The iconic Industrial Trust Tower in downtown Providence is empty for the first time in 85 years. Developers want to turn it into luxury apartments — and want the state and city to pay for it. But Providence — like the rest of Rhode Island — faces its own economic problems, as well as a recent failed investment.

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Is There Really A Second-Term Curse?

11:15am May 20, 2013

by Ari Shapiro

Whether it's Richard Nixon's resignation or Bill Clinton's impeachment, presidents tend to have a tough time during the back half of an eight-year presidency.

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National

Local Story Shows 'Plain Dealer' Prowess, But Future's Murky

8:03am May 18, 2013

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Connie Schultz, former columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Starting this summer, the paper's owners will be reducing home delivery to three days a week and making huge cuts in the newsroom staff.

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National

When Alcohol Takes The Wheel: What's Your Limit?

7:23am May 18, 2013

This week, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended lowering the legal limit of blood alcohol content for drivers to .05 or even lower. Currently, it's illegal to drive in all states with a BAC of .08 or higher. Host Scott Simon speaks with Dr. Anthony Liguori of Wake Forest School of Medicine about alcohol's impact on driving ability.

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National

Prime Challenge Sends Mathematicians On Infinite Search

7:23am May 18, 2013

University of New Hampshire professor Yitang Zhang announced this week that he has come close to solving a centuries-old problem: proving the twin prime conjecture. Host Scott Simon gets an explanation from Weekend Edition Math Guy Keith Devlin of Stanford University.

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In this photograph from 2009, children play in front of the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, India. Twenty-five years prior, in 1984, it was the site of a deadly gas leak that killed thousands of people.

After Deadly Chemical Plant Disasters, There's Little Action

6:52pm May 17, 2013

by Daniel Zwerdling

Proposals for chemical plants to use "inherently safer" design practices have been blocked by industry executives and their allies in Congress, despite deadly accidents and the risk of a potential terrorist attack that could harm an entire community or city.

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The Ruth Ellis Center helps about 5,000 young people each year.

Michigan LGBT Youth Center Does Outreach With A Dance 'Hook'

6:52pm May 17, 2013

by Kyle Norris

The Ruth Ellis Center in Highland Park, Mich., is making an effort to meet its clients where they are — on the dance floor, specifically with the dance form known as "vogue." From there, the center can connect them with counseling, health services, tutoring and clean clothes.

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Gerry Leone was the district attorney for Middlesex County in Massachusetts when three people were murdered in a house in the Boston suburb of Waltham. He told reporters that police suspected the assailants and the victims knew each other.

National

Boston Bombings Prompt Fresh Look At Unsolved Murders

6:52pm May 17, 2013

by Joel Rose

Authorities are revisiting a triple murder in the Boston suburb of Waltham. One of the victims may have been a friend of bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Tsarnaev would sometimes spar at the same mixed martial arts gym where the victim worked as an instructor.

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For decades, Hill County Farms, also known as Henry's Turkey Service, housed a group of mentally disabled men in squalor in this former schoolhouse in Atalissa, Iowa. The EEOC won a judgment against the company for exploiting the men.

A 'Wake-Up Call' To Protect Vulnerable Workers From Abuse

1:35pm May 17, 2013

by Yuki Noguchi

For decades, a turkey-processing company housed intellectually disabled men in squalid conditions, subjecting them to physical and emotional abuse while paying them $2 per day. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently won a huge judgment against the company.

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President Obama speaks during a news conference in the White House Rose Garden on Thursday. He told reporters: "Leaks related to national security can put people at risk."

AP Case Adds To Obama Team's Tough Record On Leaks

9:34am May 17, 2013

by Ari Shapiro

His administration has prosecuted six people for giving reporters information about secret national security operations — twice as many cases as all previous presidents combined. Amid criticism from First Amendment advocates, the White House insists it values both press freedoms and national security.

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