Business

Arts

Girls' Legos Are A Hit, But Why Do Girls Need Special Legos?

9:55pm June 29, 2013

by Neda Ulaby

Lego introduced a line of characters and sets that helped the company reach girls successfully. But some question what's wrong with girls playing with plain old Legos, and what this line is telling them.

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National

Puerto Rico Rolling Out The Welcome Mat For Millionaires

9:22pm June 28, 2013

by Dan Bobkoff

The recession hit Puerto Rico's already struggling economy hard. So the island, a U.S. territory that can make its own tax laws, is pitching an attractive offer to the wealthy: Move to this warm, tropical isle and live virtually tax-free.

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Legos and other interlocking toys are only one kind of blocks that remain popular with kids.

Arts

From Classic Toys To New Twists, Kids Go Back To Blocks

1:39pm June 28, 2013

by Neda Ulaby

NPR's Neda Ulaby investigates a trend in toys that sounds awfully familiar: Manufacturers are finding new ways to get kids interested in playing with blocks, both real and virtual.

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Feds Sue Jon Corzine Over MF Global Collapse

7:13am June 28, 2013

by Jim Zarroli

Federal regulators have filed civil charges against former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine in connection with the failure of his commodities firm, MF Global. The government says Corzine failed to stop the firm from dipping into customer funds during a financial crisis in October 2011.

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Agencies Continue To Identify Fallout From Sequestration

7:13am June 28, 2013

The last of the mandated federal budget cuts begin in July. Federal agencies have had to work around furloughs and other issues. For more on the effects of sequestration, David Greene talks to NPR's Brian Naylor, Tamara Keith, Pam Fessler and Larry Abramson.

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Customers check out at the new flagship Walgreens in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown.

Economy

Walgreens Cashes In On Department Stores' Pain

1:21pm June 27, 2013

by Brenda Salinas

At the turn of the 20th century, visiting a drug store meant going to a soda counter with a pharmacist. If you wanted to go shopping, you would go to a department store. Now that trend is reversing: drug stores are battling to keep consumers in the store for longer.

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The Ouya game console and controller. Games are sold through something like an app store, allowing customers to sample them before buying.

Game Console Ouya Lures Buyers With $99 Price Tag

12:37pm June 27, 2013

by Laura Sydell

A $99 video game console funded through Kickstarter went on sale this week. Ouya is significantly cheaper than the big-brand consoles and also relies on a different business model. Games are sold through something like an app store, allowing customers to sample them before buying.

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Coal Industry Concerned By Obama's Climate Change Plans

11:13am June 26, 2013

by Jeff Brady

President Obama on Tuesday announced a wide-ranging plan to address climate change. Rather than taking it to Congress, Obama is implementing the plan on his own. The president wants the Environmental Protection Agency to restrict carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. The biggest source of those emissions is coal-fired facilities.

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Fourth-generation owner of Braun Brush, Lance Cheney, stands next to a special-order brush his company made for the artist Richard Artschwager.

Three Ways Brush Factories Are Surviving In America

3:46pm June 25, 2013

by Marianne McCune

The cheapest place to make brushes these days is China. But there are still people pressing bristles into brushes in a factory in the Bronx, and in small plants across the country.

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Politics & Government

IRS Systematically Targeted 'Progressive' Groups Too

11:10am June 25, 2013

by Tamara Keith

It wasn't just Tea Party groups that had a "be on the lookout" list at the IRS. A "broad spectrum" of groups were also targeted for increased scrutiny on other lists, which the agency has stopped using under its new acting leader Danny Werfel.

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