Business

In Long Beach, Wash., Chinook Observer editor and publisher Matt Winters has overseen his paper's transition to the Internet and, more recently, to a pay wall.

Looking For 'Oxygen,' Small Papers Erect Digital Pay Walls

8:38am March 27, 2013

by Ashley Gross

The Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle are the latest big newspapers embracing a pay model for Web content that had been free. But around the country, more small papers, like the Chinook Observer in Washington state, have also started charging for their digital content in a bid for economic survival.

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For most Americans, the math for a comfortable retirement may never add up.

Economy

Planning For Retirement When Savings Fall Short

8:04am March 27, 2013

by NPR Staff

For most Americans, the math for a comfortable retirement may never add up. According to recent census figures, Americans ages 55 to 65 had about $45,000 in savings and assets, not including their homes. Morning Edition's Renee Montagne talks to three experts about retiring with little savings.

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The Solar Impulse, a solar-powered plane, flies over Switzerland. The makers will be journeying across the U.S. this spring, hoping the flight helps challenge assumptions about what solar technology can do.

Solar-Powered Plane Uses Its Lightness To Fly In The Dark

7:54am March 27, 2013

by Steve Henn

Creators of a solar-powered aircraft hope to fly it day and night across the U.S. with no fuel, and eventually around the world. It's a quixotic — some might call it nutty — undertaking. But the creators hope the flight helps challenge assumptions about what solar technology can do.

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Economy

Analyzing T-Mobile's Change In Price Strategy

6:38am March 27, 2013

The No. 4 mobile phone carrier is making changes that it hopes will draw more customers to it. To find out more about T-mobile's new pricing strategy, David Greene talks to Rich Jaroslovsky, the technology commentator for Bloomberg News.

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T-Mobile: Adds iPhone Ditches 2-Year Contracts

6:05am March 27, 2013

by Laura Sydell

T-Mobile announced Tuesday that it's eliminating its two-year contracts in an effort to make its plans more transparent. Subscribers can pay off their phones in two years, and the cost of their plans will go down. T-Mobile is currently the No. 4 carrier.

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Pam Thatcher and her family ultimately moved into her mother's two-bedroom apartment because they couldn't make rent.

'American Winter' Families Struggle To Survive Fall From Middle Class

9:57am March 26, 2013

by Karen Grigsby Bates

Diedre Melson, John Cox and Pam Thatcher are college-educated parents who once considered themselves part of the middle class. Then the Great Recession hit. A new HBO documentary shows their families desperately trying to make ends meet.

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Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe speaks at a rally promoting the expansion of Medicaid in the state in front of the Capitol in Little Rock on March 7.

Arkansas Medicaid Expansion Attracts Other States' Interest

9:57am March 26, 2013

by Julie Rovner

Arkansas is proposing to enroll people newly eligible for Medicaid in the same private insurance plans available to individuals and small businesses. It's caught the attention of several other Republican-run states that had been holding out on the Medicaid expansion.

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Opposition Blocks Return-Free Tax Filing In U.S.

9:57am March 26, 2013

In some countries, taxpayers can sign up to receive a tax bill. There was an effort to bring return-free filing to the U.S. but it came up against stiff opposition. David Greene talks to ProPublica's Liz Day about her report on return-free filing. ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

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Ford Unit Apologizes For Demeaning Ads

9:57am March 26, 2013

by Sonari Glinton

Ford has said it is sorry for print ads depicting three bound and gagged women stuffed in the trunk of an Indian-made compact car. The ads, created by an Indian agency, were never distributed commercially, and were apparently not intended for release.

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N.J. Beach Houses Sell Well Despite Sandy

11:13am March 25, 2013

by Scott Gurian

Despite the enormous destruction Hurricane Sandy caused to the Jersey Shore, realtors who specialize in the region say business has been steady. Plenty of home buyers and investors appear eager to jump into the market. Damaged homes and lots have been selling for discounted rates, while prices are inching up on houses that survived since there are simply fewer properties available.

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