Howard Berkes

U.S. Olympic Skater's Sabotage Gets Day In 'Court'

Howard Berkes — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:53:00 +0000

Months of claims and counterclaims come to a head in a hotel conference room in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, when the International Skating Union considers the deliberate sabotage of a speed skate involving an American Olympic medalist and, allegedly, his former coach.

The ISU's disciplinary commission is scheduled to hear testimony behind closed doors from Simon Cho, a Vancouver Olympic bronze medalist in short track speedskating, former American short track coach Jae Su Chun, and at least two witnesses.

Uzbek national charged with aiding a terrorist group and training others in how to build and use a weapon of mass destruction.

The reason?

Hands-Free Gadgets In Car Don't Mean Driving Is Risk-Free

Howard Berkes — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:48:00 +0000

If you've felt smug and safe using built-in, voice-controlled technology for text messages, email and phone calls while driving, forget it. There are some sobering findings about the risk of distraction from the American Automobile Association and the University of Utah.

The proliferation of hands-free technology "is a looming public safety crisis," AAA CEO Robert Darbelnet says.

Amid Data Controversy, NSA Builds Its Biggest Data Farm

Howard Berkes — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 06:58:00 +0000

As privacy advocates and security experts debate the validity of the National Security Agency's massive data gathering operations, the agency is putting the finishing touches on its biggest data farm yet.

The gargantuan $1.2 billion complex at a National Guard base 26 miles south of Salt Lake City features 1.5 million square feet of top secret space.

The Iceman Swimmeth, Chanting 'F Cancer'

Howard Berkes — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 20:03:00 +0000

Goody Tyler isn't just any hard-core Great Salt Lake swimmer. He's a certified "ice swimmer." In December, Tyler swam 1 mile in the lake when the water temperature was only 41 degrees, the maximum temperature for an official "ice swim."

"You're only allowed to wear one cap, one pair of goggles and a Speedo," Tyler says. "And that's it."

It took 40 minutes in the snow-fringed lake, and the 36-year-old schoolteacher, husband and father of two girls had more to prove than his own wacky toughness.

Salt, Flies, Pickled Tongues: A Perfect Great Salt Lake Swim

Howard Berkes — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 20:02:00 +0000

It's the "liquid lie of the desert," as writer Terry Tempest Williams describes it, a vast inland sea so salty it triggers retching when swallowed. Brine shrimp swarm its waters and brine flies blanket the shore. In the right wind and weather its putrid smell reaches Salt Lake City neighborhoods 16 miles away.

Grain Deaths Fall In 2012 But Industry Share Grows

Howard Berkes — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 19:16:00 +0000

A new report from grain safety researchers at Purdue University says eight people died while trapped in grain last year, another steep drop from the record year of 2010, when 31 people lost their lives in grain bins and other grain storage facilities.

The continued decline in incidents since 2010 is credited to drier and smaller harvests since then. The grain stored in bins in 2010 was generally harvested wet and tended to spoil and clog.

U.S. Skater Will Boycott Disciplinary Hearing On Tampering

Howard Berkes — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 23:50:00 +0000

U.S.

Big Changes At U.S. Speedskating Body, But Scandals Linger

Howard Berkes — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:40:00 +0000

Rebellious athletes, drained budgets, dysfunctional management and a string of embarrassing scandals forced a major reorganization of U.S. Speedskating over the weekend.

The group governs a sport that has produced 85 Winter Olympic medals for the United States — more than any other sport.

Doctors Confirm Black Lung In Victims Of Mine Blast

Howard Berkes — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:47:00 +0000

The tragic deaths of 29 coal miners in a massive explosion in 2010 have provided new evidence of a resurgence of the disease known as black lung.

On Monday, a team of pathologists and lung disease experts will present the results of a detailed study of lung tissue from some of the victims of the Upper Big Bran

Teen Charged With Homicide After Death Of Soccer Referee

Howard Berkes — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:56:00 +0000

The 17-year-old soccer goalie who allegedly punched and killed a referee during a game in Utah last month faces a charge of "homicide by assault" and may be tried as an adult.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill sought the charge in a petition filed with a juvenile court Wednesday. Gill is also seeking to have the unidentified suspect certified as an adult.

The case is now in the hands of a juvenile court, as the suspected assailant is under 18.

On-The-Job Deaths Continue At Steady, Grim Pace

Howard Berkes — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:37:00 +0000

Dying on the job continues at a steady pace according to the latest statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The fatal injury rate for American workers dropped slightly in 2011 — the most recent year with reported numbers — from 3.6 to 3.5 deaths per 100,000 workers.

But 4,693 men, women and teenagers died at work. That's three more than the total number of lives lost on the job in 2010.

BLS says it's the third-lowest death toll since counting began in 1992.

The Cruelest Month: Boston Blasts Join List Of Dark Incidents

Howard Berkes — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:58:00 +0000

Howard Berkes is an NPR correspondent based in Salt Lake City.

It may have been the dumbest thing I ever said. On April 19, 1999, I stood before an audience at Idaho State University in Pocatello, talking about the cruelest month. April, I pointed out, and April 19 in particular, have provided celebrated, infamous and sometimes horrific moments in our history.

What was it about the month, I wondered, or the time of year, that made April so meaningful and at times so cruel?

Rare On-The-Job Death For Avalanche Forecaster In Utah

Howard Berkes — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 23:08:00 +0000

Dale Atkins has been tracking hundreds of avalanche deaths for years but the fatality report that arrived from Utah Friday morning was especially shocking.

"It's way too close to home," says Atkins, the Colorado-based president of the American Avalanche Association.

A Woman's Prayer Makes Mormon History

Howard Berkes — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:16:00 +0000

There was no formal acknowledgment of the historic moment Saturday when Jean Stevens stood at a dark wooden podium framed by potted plants and colorful flowers in the cavernous Mormon conference center in Salt Lake City.

"Our beloved father in heaven," she began, as 20,000 faithful and silent Mormons in the building listened, and as millions of others (according to Church officials) watched on television screens around the world.

Stevens became the first woman to recite a prayer at a general session of the faith's semiannual conferences, which Mormons consider the most important religious

New Federal Scrutiny In Wake Of NPR Grain Bin Reports

Howard Berkes — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 19:24:00 +0000

Congress, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Justice Department are beginning to respond to the NPR-Center for Public Integrity Series on hundreds of persistent and preventable deaths in grain storage bins and weak enforcement by federal agencies.

Two federal officials familiar with the case say that the Justice Department is again considering criminal charges in the incident in Mt.

Fines Slashed In Grain Bin Entrapment Deaths

Howard Berkes — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 04:03:00 +0000

The night before he died, Wyatt Whitebread couldn't stand the thought of going back to the grain bins on the edge of Mount Carroll, Ill.

The mischievous and popular 14-year-old had been excited about his first real job, he told Lisa Jones, the mother of some of his closest friends, as she drove him home from a night out for pizza. But nearly two weeks later he told her he was tired of being sent into massive storage bins clogged with corn.

Jones choked back tears as she recalled the conversation.

U.S. Speedskating Investigating Sexual Abuse Allegations

Howard Berkes — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:10:00 +0000

Yet another scandal has hit U.S. Speedskating (USS), which governs the sport with the biggest haul of winter Olympic medals for Team USA.

The USS board announced Monday night that it is investigating allegations of sexual abuse involving short track silver medalist Andy Gabel, now 48, who also once served as president of USS.

"U.S.

Center for Public Integrity: EPA Unaware Of Industry Ties On Cancer Review Panel

Howard Berkes — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 18:41:00 +0000

Our investigative reporting colleagues at the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) continue their look at the Environmental Protection Agency's regulation of toxic pollution with a new report scrutinizing the agency's delay in announcing that "even a small amount of a chemical compound commonly found in tap water may cause cancer."

CPI reporters David Heath and Ronnie Greene found that in 2011, the EPA "was

Once-Secret 'Watch List' Of Alleged Polluters Under Review At EPA

Howard Berkes — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:09:00 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency's once-secret "Watch List" of allegedly chronic polluters is under review by the EPA's inspector general.

The existence of the list was first disclosed by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) and NPR in 2011 during a joint investigation of EPA's air pollution regulation. CPI's Jim Morris discovered the list and a CPI/NPR Freedom of Information Act request prompted its public release.

As that CP

Report: W.Va. Fails To Enforce New Regs Designed To Prevent Mine Explosions

Howard Berkes — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:19:00 +0000

Ken Ward at The Charleston Gazette has a story worth reading about West Virginia's failure to enforce new coal mine dust standards prompted by the deadly explosion three years ago at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine.

Ward used the state's Freedom of Information Act to obtain and review mine safety inspections conducted by the Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training.

"But despite finding hundreds of instances over the last 18 months where mining operations didn't comply with the new standards," Ward reports, t

Massey Mine Boss Sentenced; Feds Toughen Mine Safety Rule

Howard Berkes — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 19:24:00 +0000

Nearly three years after a deadly mine explosion in West Virginia, a former Massey Energy mine superintendent has been sentenced to prison and federal regulators have toughened a regulation that could have helped prevent the disaster.

Today in federal court in Beckley, W.Va., former Upper Big Branch coal mine superintendant Gary May was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay

Salt Lake City Says It's 'Ready, Willing And Able' To Host Another Olympics

Howard Berkes — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 20:08:00 +0000

Ten years after jumpstarting Mitt Romney's political career with a widely-praised Winter Olympics, officials in Utah say they're ready to do it all over again.

But there's no word on whether the unemployed Romney is interested in reprising his role as Salt Lake City Olympics chief. He would be 78, after all, when the 2026 games roll around.

Mine Disaster Probe Leads To Conspiracy Charges Against Former Executive

Howard Berkes — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:37:00 +0000

Federal prosecutors in West Virginia stepped higher up the corporate ladder at Massey Energy Wednesday with new criminal charges stemming from the investigation of the 2010 coal mine explosion that killed 29 workers.

David C. Hughart was president of Massey's Green Valley Resource Group, a major coal mining subsidiary based in Leivasy, W. Va., from 2000 to 2010.

He has agreed to plead guilty to the charges and is cooperating with the investigation, U.S.

After Romney's Loss, Mormons Lament What Might Have Been

Howard Berkes — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 21:47:00 +0000

Poor Chris Stewart. The former Air Force pilot had just won a landslide victory in his first bid for Congress in Utah, but the crowd of Republicans listening to his acceptance speech at a Salt Lake City hotel kept pointing to the massive television screen behind him.

"Do you want me to stop?" Stewart asked. "You would rather listen to Gov.

Poll: Romney Near Landslide In Rural Swing Counties

Howard Berkes — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 06:27:00 +0000

As Mitt Romney and President Obama get ready for their second debate, a new bipartisan survey shows a surge for Romney in a key voter group following their first debate Oct. 3.

The random cellphone and land line poll of 600 likely rural voters in nine battleground states Oct. 9-11 has Romney at 59 percent among the survey's respondents.

Embattled U.S. Speedskating Coach Responds To Resignation And Suspension

Howard Berkes — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 21:07:00 +0000

A day after resigning under pressure from U.S.

New Regulations Aimed At Black Lung Disease Appear To Be Stalled

Howard Berkes — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 19:12:00 +0000

Reporting by the Charleston Gazette this week suggests that the Obama administration's efforts to impose tough new limits on miners' exposure to coal dust have stalled.

The United Mine Workers Union suggests election year politics may be the reason.

NPR, the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) and the Gazette collaborated on a series of reports in July that showed a 40-year effort to control coal dust and stem the miners'

U.S. Speedskater Admits To Sabotaging Rival's Skates

Howard Berkes — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 09:03:00 +0000

American speedskater Simon Cho says what he did was "wrong" when he yielded to what he claims was persistent pressure from a coach to tamper with another skater's blades at the World Short Track Team Championships in Poland last year.

"Tampering with someone's skates is inexcusable," Cho told NPR in his first interview about the incident. "And I'm coming out now and admitting that I did this and acknowledging that what I did was wrong." The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune also spoke with Cho earlier this week after the NPR interview.

Cho, 20, won

Skaters Detail Abuse And Sabotage Allegations As Racing Season Begins

Howard Berkes — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 21:32:00 +0000

More than the ice is frosty at the Olympic Oval outside Salt Lake City this week, as short track speedskaters begin the 2012-2013 season.

U.S. skaters are split over allegations of abuse leveled against two coaches and a claim that one coach ordered the sabotage of a Canadian competitor's skates at an international competition last year.

Twelve skaters are now part of a demand for arbitration that seeks the ouster of Jae Su Chun, the head coach of U.S. Speedskating's short track team, and assistant coach Jun Hyung Yeo.