Theater
12:01 am
Fri March 8, 2013

For Berry Gordy, Broadway Is Memory Lane

Originally published on Fri March 8, 2013 11:50 am

There's hardly an adult anywhere in the world who wouldn't recognize at least some of the music of Motown.

The R&B label changed the course of music in the United States and made household names of Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and The Jackson 5. Now, the man who created Motown — Berry Gordy — is headed to Broadway to tell his version of how it all began.

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Levin to retire
7:02 pm
Thu March 7, 2013

Michigan Senior U.S. Senator Carl Levin won't seek re-election next year

Credit U.S. Senate website
Senator Carl Levin

U.S Senator Carl Levin says he won't run for re-election next year. The Democrat was first elected to the Senate in 1978. 

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6:38 pm
Thu March 7, 2013

U.S. Senator Carl Levin won't seek re-election next year

Lead in text: 
Democrat was first elected to the Senate in 1978. Levin's departure comes as Democrats try to find a candidate to challenge Rick Snyder for governor in 2014.
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, who has been a force for progressivism in the Senate since 1979 and made his mark in recent years as chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee, will not run for re-election next year, likely setting off a political avalanche of interest in the seat.
The Record
6:18 pm
Thu March 7, 2013

Stompin' Tom Connors, Canadian Folk Hero, Has Died

Credit Bruce Bennett / Getty Images
Stompin' Tom Connors performs at the 2008 NHL Awards at Elgin Theatre in Toronto, Canada.
Theater
6:13 pm
Thu March 7, 2013

August Wilson's Words Get New Life In Monologue Contest

Credit Cheryl Corley / NPR
Branndin Laramore (from left), Brian Weddington, Lia Miller and Ernesto Moreta pose after a recent rehearsal for the Chicago finals of the August Wilson Monologue Competition.

Originally published on Thu March 7, 2013 7:40 pm

When the stage lights go up at Chicago's Goodman Theatre on Monday evening, more than 20 high school students will each have a moment to step into the spotlight and perform a monologue from one of the plays written by the late August Wilson. Chicago's contest is one of several regional finals that strives to introduce students to the Pulitzer Prize winner's work. It's also a lead-up to the national August Wilson Monologue Competition that will be held on Broadway later this spring.

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Ann Dornfeld is a reporter at KUOW. She should have realized radio was in her future when, growing up in Seattle, she went to KUBE 93 after school one day to interview DJ Chet Buchanan. She claimed it was for a school assignment. She was actually just curious.

Ann went on to spin hip-hop records and host a public affairs show at her college radio station. On a month-long trip to Anchorage, she volunteered at Alaska Public Radio Network. She expected to be put to work filing papers. Instead, APRN gave her a mic and told her to file stories. She stayed all summer and learned the art of radio reporting. An official internship at APRN followed, and another at KUOW. She then worked at KLCC Public Radio in Eugene, Oregon as the Morning Edition host and reporter.

Ann returned to Seattle and worked as a roving freelance reporter, focusing on environmental issues for KUOW and shows including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, The Environment Report and Marketplace. She has reported on a rare bioluminescent bay in Puerto Rico, penguin habitat loss in South Africa, mangrove destruction in the US Virgin Islands, coral reef conservation in Bonaire and invasive lionfish in the Bahamas. She covered a major earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia, for NPR News and The World.

Ann has won awards for her reporting from the Associated Press and Public Radio News Directors Incorporated. She received an Investigative Reporting award from the Education Writers Association for her 2010 KUOW story about recess inequalities for poor children in Seattle Public Schools.

In her spare time, Ann enjoys underwater photography while diving balmy Puget Sound. Her favorite marine invertebrate is a nudibranch. Her favorite nudibranch is a Cockerell's dorid (Laila cockerelli).

The Salt
5:20 pm
Thu March 7, 2013

If Caffeine Can Boost The Memory Of Bees, Can It Help Us, Too?

Credit Adam Cole/NPR / iStockphoto.com

Originally published on Thu March 7, 2013 6:13 pm

Who knew that the flower nectar of citrus plants — including some varieties of grapefruit, lemon and oranges — contains caffeine? As does the nectar of coffee plant flowers.

And when honeybees feed on caffeine-containing nectar, it turns out, the caffeine buzz seems to improve their memories — or their motivations for going back for more.

"It is surprising," says Geraldine Wright at Newcastle University in the the U.K., the lead researcher of a new honeybee study published in the journal Science.

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Education
5:20 pm
Thu March 7, 2013

Federal Probe Targets Uneven Discipline At Seattle Schools

Originally published on Thu March 7, 2013 6:13 pm

The Education Department has launched an investigation into discipline rates in Seattle public schools.

Students of color have long been punished in far higher numbers than white students in Seattle, but now the department's Office for Civil Rights is looking at whether black students are disciplined more frequently and more harshly than white students for the same behavior.

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Asia
4:59 pm
Thu March 7, 2013

Young Chinese Translate America, One Show At A Time

Originally published on Thu March 7, 2013 9:42 pm

Every week, thousands of young Chinese gather online to translate popular American movies and TV shows into Mandarin. Some do it for fun and to help people learn English, while others see it as a subtle way to introduce new ideas into Chinese society.

Among the more popular American TV shows on China's Internet these days is HBO's The Newsroom. One reason is an exchange between a college student and a news anchor played by Jeff Daniels. The young woman asks the aging newsman why the United States is the greatest country in the world.

The anchor explodes.

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Politics
4:55 pm
Thu March 7, 2013

Senate Committee Passes Bill Meant To Reduce 'Straw Purchases' Of Guns

Originally published on Thu March 7, 2013 6:13 pm

The first major gun bills in nearly two decades had their first hearing in the Senate on Thursday, including an assault weapons ban and a ban on so-called "straw purchases." Still, even in the aftermath of the shootings in Newtown, Conn., the legislation faces an uphill battle. Ailsa Chang talks to Melissa Block.

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