Around the Nation

Will it rain or not? How you interpret the forecast could mean the difference between getting soaked or staying safe.

Pop Quiz: 20 Percent Chance Of Rain. Do You Need An Umbrella?

5:04pm July 23, 2014

by NPR Staff

What does a 20 percent chance of rain or snow actually mean? Interpreting probabilities in forecasts can be hard even for mathematicians and meteorologists — never mind the average person.

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The oil tanker HS Electra unloads oil from the North Sea at the Portland Pipe Line facility in South Portland, Maine, in 2013.

Maine City Council Votes To Keep Tar Sands Out Of Its Port

12:06pm July 23, 2014

by Susan Sharon

South Portland, Maine, has blocked crude oil from being loaded onto ships at its port. Environmentalists are cheering, but the Portland Montreal Pipeline Corp. says the ban won't hold up in court.

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Every Wednesday for a decade, Tim Bomba has been helping people in Santa Monica, Calif., get over their fears of the ocean.

Learning To Love The Ocean After A Lifetime Of Fearing It

11:14am July 23, 2014

by NPR Staff

Triathlete Tim Bomba has spent a decade helping people feel comfortable swimming in the ocean. But before he could do that, he had to overcome his own fear of the water at the age of 52.

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D.C. Washington's Voice Shines On The Diamond In Nation's Capital

8:17pm July 22, 2014

On a visit to a Washington Nationals game, Robert Siegel was struck by the singer of the national anthem — by his baritone and his apt name: D.C. Washington. So, he invited Washington to the studio.

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A sign over a highway in Glendale, Calif., warned motorists in February to save water in response to the state's severe drought. But a study released earlier this week showed residents in the southern coastal part of the state used more water this spring

Despite California's Drought, Taps Still Flowing In LA County

11:52am July 21, 2014

by NPR Staff

The state is experiencing the worst drought in decades, but water consumption in the southern coastal region is actually higher than in previous years. New rules and incentives aim to change that.

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Company Says It Can Cure Your Hangover – For Up To $300 A Visit

8:30am July 21, 2014

People waking up with a hangover often say they'd pretty much give anything to make it go away — which may explain why a new company promising to do just that is thriving in New York.

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National

Community Groups Help Immigrants Settle Amid Political, Legal Turmoil

6:18pm July 19, 2014

During the Central American civil wars of the 1970s and 1980s, U.S. aid groups were established to assist the large number of migrants. Now those same groups, like El Rescate in Los Angeles, are helping to assist the large number of unaccompanied Central American children illegally entering the U.S.

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Darren Tompkins, founder and president of the Houston Zombie Walk and dressed as Marvel Comics character The Punisher at Comicpalooza 2014 in Houston, says cons used to be "just a place for comic book dealers to get together and sell their wares."

As Superheroes Go Mainstream, Comic Cons Get Corporate

6:18pm July 19, 2014

by Andrew Schneider

The business of pop culture conventions is exploding, with comic cons and other animation and pop culture gatherings taking place every weekend at cities around the country.

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In Tracking Bats, It Helps To Find Them Adorable

11:45am July 19, 2014

by Daniel Potter

Julia Hoeh is a bat tracker. For $350 a week plus basic housing in rural Tennessee, she stays up long after midnight to affix radio trackers to bats and collect samples of their DNA.

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Helmeted New York City police carry away a rioter at West 130th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem on July 19, 1964.

National

New York's 'Night Of Birmingham Horror' Sparked A Summer Of Riots

7:54pm July 18, 2014

by Hansi Lo Wang

The shooting death of a black teenager by a white police officer in New York City led to six days of rioting in Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant — the first in a series of violent protests in 1964.

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