Around the Nation

U.S. Navy Wins Battle Of Lake Erie, Again

10:54am September 03, 2013

Sailing ships re-enacted the victory over the British 200 ago during the War of 1812. The Port Clinton News Herald says the 2013 battle turned out the same, but with better technology: people captured battle scenes on cell phones.

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Pregnant doctors are less likely than other women to deliver their babies via C-section, recent research suggests. Economists say that may be because the physician patients feel more empowered to question the obstetrician.

Money May Be Motivating Doctors To Do More C-Sections

8:57am September 03, 2013

by Shankar Vedantam

Many obstetricians make more money for C-sections than for vaginal deliveries. In a recent study, these doctors were more likely to perform the costly procedure than doctors paid a flat salary. But when the pregnant women were also physicians, doctors seemed less swayed by financial incentives.

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One Amish family in Lancaster County, Pa., has three horse-pulled buggies they store in a barn. They all have electric lights powered by rechargeable batteries. One of the buggies even has battery-powered windshield wipers.

Religion

Amish Community Not Anti-Technology, Just More Thoughtful

7:11pm September 02, 2013

by Jeff Brady

The Amish are perceived as shunning technology, but it's more complicated than that. Many Amish communities embrace newer technologies such as power tools and word processors, but only after determining they won't harm the community or disrupt family life.

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Butch Benavides — a Mexican food restaurateur turned fry-master — shows off his Texas fried fireball.

National

Deep-Fry Chefs Keep It Hot And Poppin' In Texas

7:11pm September 02, 2013

by John Burnett

You might think that there ain't much that hasn't hit the fry grease at the State Fair of Texas. And yet, every year, fry masters come up with something new to batter and deep fry.

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Syria Resolution Could Be A Hard Sell On Capitol Hill

6:41pm September 02, 2013

by Ailsa Chang

A day after President Obama announced he'll wait for congressional authorization before launching strikes on Syria; members of Congress attended a classified briefing at the Capitol. Even though there's still one week left of summer recess, dozens of lawmakers flew to Washington, D.C. from their home districts just for the meeting.

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If you're planning that last summer road trip, you might want to pull those maps out of the attic.

National

In Maine, Even With A GPS, You Can't Get There From Here

10:58am September 02, 2013

by Jennifer Mitchell

Once a standard fixture at every gas station, paper maps have all but folded in the digital age. But there are places that can baffle your high-tech gadgets. In Maine, weekend explorers might want to take along a map in addition to their GPS unit.

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Long Island Man Legally Changes His Name To Santa Claus

6:56am September 02, 2013

Whatever benefits he may get with the name change, it did not free him from his civic duty. Santa Claus was summoned to court for jury duty.

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Steve "Doc" Timmons is pastor of the Cowboy Church of Santa Fe County, N.M.. "In a lot of ways it's what you would call unchurchy," he says of the cowboy church movement.

Cowboy Church: With Rodeo Arena, They 'Do Church Different'

8:36pm September 01, 2013

by John Burnett

A new Christian movement is growing in the American South and Southwest. "Cowboy church" pastors say their simple services, Western decor and adjacent rodeo arenas are bringing in worshipers who thought they didn't like church.

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In her 21 years as a prosecutor, Kelly Siegler successfully tried 68 murder cases.

'Cold Justice' Is Coming To A Small Town (And TV) Near You

6:18pm September 01, 2013

by NPR Staff

On TNT's new reality show, Cold Justice, a former prosecutor and a former crime scene investigator travel around rural America digging into unsolved, sometimes forgotten, murder cases.

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Blair Cook and his sons, Dalton and Keegan, set out to hike Piestewa Peak in Central Phoenix.

National

Summer Nights: Phoenix's Piestewa Peak

7:01pm August 30, 2013

by Peter O'Dowd

On a summer night in Phoenix, city dwellers can watch a line of head lamps inch up Piestewa Peak. The mountain rises sharply more than 1,200 feet above the neighborhoods of Central Phoenix. It's the most popular outdoor trek in the city. But in July and August the sun turns deadly there and hikers wait until it's safely below the horizon to begin their ascent. At the top, the view unfolds like magic every time — a desert city of four million people that glows red, white and orange.

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