National

A Union Pacific freight train passes over a grade crossing in Elmhurst, Ill.

National

High-Speed Rail Buzz Overpowers Daily Chug Of Freight Trains

7:12pm February 16, 2013

by NPR Staff

President Obama reiterated his goal of bringing America up to speed with new high-speed rail projects nationwide. Meanwhile, the freight-rail systems are still helping farmers keep costs down and getting their crops out. Any new kind of rail expansion would have to take these long-established networks into account.

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Rami Nashashibi, fourth from left, claps as he marches with IMAN leaders during a May Day immigration rally in Chicago in 2007.

From The Inner City: Leading A New Generation Of Muslim Americans

5:03pm February 16, 2013

by NPR Staff

If Chicago is a stronghold of American Islam, then Rami Nashashibi might be considered one of its most precocious proponents. On Chicago's South Side, his group, the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, works to end violence and improve residents' living conditions.

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Wooden angels memorialize the victims of Adam Lanza's shooting spree in Newtown, Conn., last December. An upcoming Frontline documentary seeks to provide new details about Lanza and his mother, Nancy.

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The 27th Victim: Nancy Lanza Is Subject Of 'Frontline' Documentary

8:13pm February 15, 2013

The documentary Raising Adam Lanza seeks a more complete view of Nancy Lanza and her son, a young man who was described as smart and awkward as a teen — and who later killed 27 people in Newtown, Conn. The documentary is built on the work of PBS Frontline and The Hartford Courant.

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Daniel Riscoe, Jenna Hart, Anthony Chau and Caroline Lloyd (all students from the Peddie School in Hightstown, N.J.) carry donated Christmas trees across Island Beach.

After Sandy, Not All Sand Dunes Are Created Equal

5:04pm February 15, 2013

by Adam Cole

In New Jersey, thousands of discarded Christmas trees have dodged the wood chipper and hit the beach instead. They're being used to jump-start new dunes, but scientists warn that these man-made dunes could be less sturdy than dunes that form naturally.

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Some sports supplements contain the ingredient DMAA. The FDA has warned that DMAA may not be safe.

Popular Workout Booster Draws Safety Scrutiny

4:18pm February 15, 2013

by Rob Stein

Exercise buffs who take dietary supplements with the ingredient know as DMAA say the stimulant gives them a boost of energy. But some researchers and the Food and Drug Administration are worried that these products could be dangerous.

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Now 59, George Prendes works as a telemarketer in New York and struggles to make the rent on his small Bronx apartment.

National

Decades On, Stiff Drug Sentence Leaves A Life 'Dismantled'

1:11pm February 15, 2013

by Brian Mann

George Prendes was 23 when he was sentenced under New York's Rockefeller drug laws — tough mandatory sentencing guidelines for nonviolent drug crimes. The 15 years Prendes served for a drug transaction still reverberate for him and his family.

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In Kansas, A 'Glide Path' To No Income Taxes. Will It Work?

9:47am February 15, 2013

by Frank Morris

Gov. Sam Brownback plans to get rid of Kansas' income tax and cut the size of state government. Some lawmakers say it's a great experiment that will show that lower tax rates and streamlined bureaucracy can stimulate growth; others are concerned about overreaching.

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The Caplans. Louis, 76, and Harriet, 67, visited StoryCorps in Santa Fe, N.M.

National

A Husband And Wife Blessed Late In Life

8:39am February 15, 2013

by NPR Staff

He was in his late 50s. She was in her late 40s. Louis and Harriet Caplan talk about how they became a couple at a stage in life when most people give up on falling in love, and about making the most of their time together.

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The Jan. 4, 1973, edition of the New York Daily News reports that Gov. Rockefeller's State of the State speech called for a life sentence for drug pushers.

National

The Drug Laws That Changed How We Punish

3:05am February 15, 2013

by Brian Mann

Forty years ago, New York enacted tough laws in response to a wave of drug-related crime. They became known as the Rockefeller drug laws, and they set the standard for states looking to get tough on crime. But a new debate is under way over the effectiveness of such strict sentencing laws.

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Taxpayers Steaming Over Florida Nuclear Plant's Shuttering

7:15pm February 14, 2013

by Greg Allen

The Crystal River nuclear plant was a driver of commercial life in rural Citrus County, Fla. The power company's decision to close the troubled plant will leave taxpayers and ratepayers on the hook for up to several billion dollars and has residents worried about their region's future.

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