Business

Missouri farmer Gary Riedel says wet weather will put him about a month behind last year's planting.

For Corn, Fickle Weather Makes For Uncertain Yields

9:06am April 24, 2013

by Abbie Fentress Swanson

Corn production was down last year thanks to drought. This year, conditions are too cold and wet for farmers to plant the crop. Without a break in the clouds pretty soon, there may be another shortage of the crop at harvest time.

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Apple Moves To Win Back Investor Confidence

7:20am April 24, 2013

Apple says it will pay out $100 billion to its shareholders in stock buy backs and increased dividends by the end of 2015. On Tuesday, the company announced its first profit decline in a decade. Slowing sales of the Apple iPhone are blamed for the disappointing profit results.

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National

Boston Business Owners Allowed To Return To Bombing Site

7:19am April 24, 2013

by Tovia Smith

In Boston on Tuesday, residents and business owners on Boylston Street were allowed to return for the first time since last week's bombings. They returned to stores with windows blown out, restaurants with the remains of uneaten meals still sitting on tables and barricades to keep the public away from the scene.

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Online Retailers Take Opposite Sides On Sales Tax Bill

8:04pm April 23, 2013

by Scott Horsley

A bill making its way through the Senate would make more online retailers collect sales taxes. The battle over the bill pits online retailers against brick-and-mortar stores — and, in some cases, against other online sellers. Amazon has endorsed the bill, while eBay is the loudest voice against it.

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Amelia Schabel, 23, works with art director Andrew LaBounty at the nonPareil Institute in Plano, Texas.

Health & Safety

Young Adults With Autism Can Thrive In High-Tech Jobs

3:07pm April 23, 2013

by Lauren Silverman

Finding a job is hard enough for recent graduates, but for those on the autism spectrum the search can be even harder. One training program in Texas is helping these young people prepare for jobs in the tech industry.

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Newsreader in front of television camera.

Books
Arts

For TV Networks, Stiff Competition To Be 'Top Of The Morning'

3:05pm April 23, 2013

by NPR Staff

Shows like Good Morning America and the Today show can have a big impact on a broadcast network's image and bottom line. NPR's David Greene speaks with media reporter Brian Stelter about Top of the Morning, his new book about the high-stakes world of morning TV.

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Mississippi River Communities Brace For Flooding

3:05pm April 23, 2013

by Maria Altman

In just a few months, Missouri has gone from a record drought that reduced farmers' crop yields to flooding that has hurt in other ways. Earlier this year, the worst drought conditions seen in the Midwest in decades threatened to close the Mississippi River to barge traffic.

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Photovoltaic cells on the office building's roof.

This Building Is Supergreen. Will It Be Copied?

10:18am April 22, 2013

by Wendy Kaufman

The Bullitt Foundation's new Seattle headquarters, billed as the world's "greenest" building, is designed to be entirely self-sustaining. The developers hope it can inspire others to build this way.

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Confusion over the details of the new health care law is leaving many people vulnerable to con artists. Evelyne Lois Such, 86, was recently the target of an attempted scam.

Scammers Find Fertile Ground In Health Law

10:18am April 22, 2013

by Jenny Gold

Law enforcement agencies are reporting an increase in health insurance scams across the country. Many of the scammers seem to be preying on the public's confusion over the massive changes taking place in the nation's health care system.

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Solar Industry Reaches Milestone

10:18am April 22, 2013

For the first time ever, all of the new electricity generation added to the nation's power grid in the month of March came from solar installations. That's according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's monthly report on new power sources.

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