Search results for

A government report finds that efforts to limit human exposure to toxins aren't helping kids as much as they are helping adults. The report, issued today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that children between the ages of 6-11 are sponging up the chemicals found in cigarette smoke and soft plastic toys. It also found that Mexican-Americans have abnormal levels of the pesticide DDT in their bodies and that pregnant women carry more mercury than expected. NPR's John Nielsen reports that federal officials say they are concerned but not alarmed by the findings.

Phillip Davis reports that 14 year old Lionel Tate was sentenced today to life in prison without parole. Lionel was convicted in January of first degree murder in the 1999 death of a playmate, who died as Lionel imitated the violent wrestling shows he liked to watch. Broward County judge Joel Lazarus imposed the mandatory sentence after refusing to reduce the verdict to a lesser charge. He described the murder of 6 year old Tiffany Eunick as "callous and indescribably cruel." Defense attorneys said they would ask Gov. Jeb Bush to commute the sentence.

Music critic Meredith Ochs listens to 40 years of recordings by Chris Strachwitz. Forty years ago Strachwitz started on a journey to record great American music. His focus was on roots music; folk, blues, cajun, and zydeco. He liked to record the artists in their homes, beneath pine trees, and in other natural settings. Meredith Ochs says that this five CD collection tells the story of a great American journey. (6:00) The five CD set is Arhoolie Records 40th Anniversary Collection, The Journey of Chris Strachwitz. See http://www.arhoolie.com.

NPR's Nina Totenberg reports that the Supreme Court has ruled that it's unconstitutional for public hospitals to test pregnant women for illegal drugs and, without their permission, give the results to police for possible prosecution. The arrangement between doctors at a public hospital in South Carolina and local police was designed to identify pregnant women using crack, and protect their fetuses. The 6-to-3 decision concludes that such an arrangement between doctors and police violates the Constitution.

Host Bob Edwards talks to Mitchell Daniels who, as director of the Office of Management and Budget, is responsible for getting the budget through Congress. On Monday, the president released details of his $1.96 trillion budget, which he had outlined in a blueprint on February 28th. Last week, the Senate approved the blueprint after scaling back the President's proposed 10-year tax cut from 1.6 trillion to 1.2 trillion. The House approved the entire 1.3 trillion tax cut proposal on March 21st.

More than 20 million workers earn less than $9 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At those levels, many people have trouble making a living. In Corbin, Ky., NPR's Noah Adams talks with 24-year-old Marshall Cox, who earns $6.25 an hour as a fast-food worker but dreams of pursuing a career in drafting.

The Supreme Court rules that one-time stripper and Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith can pursue part of her late husband's oil fortune. Justices gave new legal life to Smith's bid to collect millions of dollars from the estate of J. Howard Marshall II. His estate has been estimated at as much as $1.6 billion.

In the Horn of Africa, a drought is killing livestock across a wide swath of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. The United Nations estimates that more than 6 million people in the region are at risk of running out of food and water as a result of the drought if aid doesn't arrive soon.

Joe Rosenthal, who took the iconic photo of six U.S. servicemen raising the flag over Iwo Jima in World War II, has died in California. He was 94. Rosenthal got his picture at the end of a bloody five-week battle that left 6,800 American troops dead.

Fisk University plans to sell an iconic Georgia O'Keeffe painting donated by the artist in 1949. The sale, designed to raise money for the cash-strapped Nashville university, could break an O'Keeffe sale record of $6.3 million. It also may violate the terms of O'Keeffe's gift, which specified the modern art collection of her late husband Alfred Stieglitz not be broken up.