Around the Nation

A handmade sign is seen attached to the Napa Valley welcome sign on Oct. 16, 2017 in Oakville, Calif. At least 40 people are confirmed dead, dozens are still missing, and at least 5,700 buildings have been destroyed since wildfires broke out a week ago.

National

California Fires Spare Most Vineyards, But Marijuana Crops Go Up In Smoke

4:16pm October 19, 2017

by Samantha Raphelson

At least 30 marijuana farms in Northern California have suffered significant crop losses, while only a handful of vineyards in the Napa Valley experienced significant property loss.

The teen protagonist in John Green's latest novel, Turtles All The Way Down, has a type of anxiety disorder that sends her into fearful "thought spirals" of bacterial infection and death.

For Novelist John Green, OCD Is Like An 'Invasive Weed' Inside His Mind

2:47pm October 19, 2017

by Terry Gross

"It starts out with one little thought, and then slowly that becomes the only thought that you're able to have," Green says. His new novel, Turtles All The Way Down, is about a teenage girl with OCD.

Queue Listen Now

Target has come close to opening a store in Vermont in the past. In one year, it will finally make that happen, operating in all 50 states.

National

After 55 Years, Target Will Finally Open A Store In Vermont

2:36pm October 19, 2017

by Bill Chappell

The news prompted a "Breaking News" banner on the local paper's website. As they're saying over at Vermont Public Radio: "This is not a drill."

Together, José Ortíz (center left) and Ethan Leder (center right) — without the help of any major agency or aid organization — chartered a plane to Puerto Rico filled with donated medical supplies and get people with acute medical needs out of the i

National

2 Strangers, A 6-Page List And A Plan Hatched To Help Puerto Rico

2:22pm October 19, 2017

by Marisa Peñaloza

They had never met, but quickly came up with a plan to get medical supplies to a town desperately in need.

The Love Letters Of A Young Barack Obama On View At Emory University Library

2:04pm October 19, 2017

by Brian Naylor

The musings of the future president at age 21 reveal familiar themes of alienation and lack of belonging that would arise again in his later writing.

The photo of LeRoy and Donna Halbur was taken Aug. 12 at the celebration of their 80th birthdays and 50th wedding anniversary.

Why Older People Didn't Fare Well In Northern California Wildfires

1:58pm October 19, 2017

by Ina Jaffe

More than 40 people have died in those fires, and that number could rise. Of those who perished, the vast majority who've been identified were over the age of 65.

Onlookers watch as suited men stand in front of a large copper kettle still for making illegal liquor, with boxes of bottles and funnels spread before them all for the manufacture of booze, circa 1900.

Arts

Moonshine Makes A Comeback in Virginia. And This Time, It's Legal

1:28pm October 19, 2017

by C. Jarrett Dieterle

While the revival has taken off around the country, it's especially strong in Virginia, where many of the twists, turns and car chases that are a part of moonshine lore took place.