Wyoming Public Media

Bernanke Hints Economy Still Needs Help; Home Sales Rise

Mark Memmott — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:25:00 +0000

In the nearly impenetrable language that comes with his job, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday that even though the economy is doing better, the central bank needs to keep giving it a boost.

The key passage from his prepared testimony:

"Recognizing the drawbacks of persistently low rates, the FOMC actively seeks economic conditions consistent with sustainably higher interest rates.

Daft Punk: Accessing Electronic Music's Humanity

Ken Tucker — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:14:00 +0000

I freely admit that, until the new Random Access Memories, I wasn't much of a Daft Punk fan. I could appreciate the craft and imagination that went into creating the French duo's mixture of electronic genres — techno, house, disco — but the mechanical repetitions and heavily filtered vocals didn't turn me on in any other way.

But now, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo have come up with an album that exposes the human side of their musical impulses.

Fifteen Years After A Vaccine Scare, A Measles Epidemic

Nancy Shute — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:08:00 +0000

Great Britain is in the midst of a measles epidemic, one that public health officials say is the result of parents refusing to vaccinate their children after a safety scare that was later proved to be fraudulent.

More than 1,200 people have come down with measles so far this year, following nearly 2,000 cases in 2012. Many of the cases have been in Wales.

Childhood vaccination rates plummeted in Great Britain after a 1998 paper by Dr. Andrew Wakefield claimed that the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella had caused autism in a dozen children.

'I Have Not Done Anything Wrong,' Says Key IRS Official

Mark Memmott — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:50:00 +0000

"I have not done anything wrong. I have not broken any laws.

How Genomics Solved The Mystery Of Ireland's Great Famine

editor — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000

An international group of plant pathologists has solved a historical mystery behind Ireland's Great Famine.

Sure, scientists have known for a while that a funguslike organism called Phytophthora infestans was responsible for the potato blight that plagued Ireland starting in the 1840s.

Man Killed By FBI In Florida Was Linked To Boston Suspect

Mark Memmott — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:48:00 +0000

In Orlando, Fla., early Wednesday "an FBI agent was involved in a deadly shooting connected to the Boston Marathon bombing case," NBC News is reporting. A man who was being questioned by the agent is dead.

Parking Industry Tries To Make Your Life Easier

editor — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:29:00 +0000

The future of parking has been showcased in Fort Lauderdale, Fla, this week at the International Parking Institute's annual conference. The conversation has been about helping drivers get in and out of spaces as conveniently as possible.

Oklahoma's Gov. Fallin On Life-Saving, Recovery Efforts

editor — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:29:00 +0000

David Greene talks to Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin about the cleanup and recovery efforts in her state after Monday's tornado that devastated the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore.

In Oklahoma, Rescue Efforts Give Way To Recovery

Mark Memmott — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:48:00 +0000

(Most recent update: 11:40 a.m.

Eric Garcetti Wins L.A. Mayor's Race

Mark Memmott — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:33:00 +0000

The next mayor of Los Angeles will be City Councilman Eric Garcetti.

In a race in which the two top contenders were both Democrats, the 42-year-old Garcetti has opened a 7- to 8-percentage-point lead over City Controller Wendy Greuel as Tuesday's votes are being counted.

Early Wednesday, according to the will be published in October.

Boy Scouts To Decide Whether To Admit Gay Youth

Kathy Lohr — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:32:00 +0000
The Boy Scouts of America votes in Texas this week on whether to change its century old membership policy. The proposal is to open up the scouts to allow gay youth to join and continue to ban on adults who are gay. About 1,400 voting members will decide.

Court Rules Vacation Rental Site Illegal In New York

Ilya Marritz — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:32:00 +0000
In New York, a judge has dealt a setback to Airbnb, the popular website for short term apartment rentals. The judge ruled an Airbnb user violated a New York City law when he rented a room to a visitor from out of town. The judge's decision casts doubt on New Yorkers' ability to make use of the site legally.

Why Apple (And Lots Of Other Companies) Wound Up In Ireland

editor — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:07:00 +0000
Apple was criticized in a Senate committee hearing Tuesday for using complex accounting to minimize the corporate taxes it pays.

West Bank Businesses Seek Growth Amid Uncertainty

editor — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:04:00 +0000
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry heads back to Israel and the West Bank on Thursday for more talks on restarting peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. When he was there last month, he walked away with at least one agreement — to improve the West Bank economy.

Quantum Or Not, New Supercomputer Is Certainly Something Else

Geoff Brumfiel — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:03:00 +0000
It's exactly the sort of futuristic thinking you'd expect from Google and NASA: Late last week, the organizations announced a partnership to build a Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab at NASA's Ames Research Center.
But questions surround the new type of computer at the lab's core. D-Wave systems, the company that makes the machine, says it is a quantum computer — a machine that runs on the strange laws of quantum mechanics.

Instead Of Snoozing In Savings, Let's Put $5,000 To Work

Uri Berliner — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:01:00 +0000
If you have a savings account you probably already know this: Your money there is losing value to inflation. Yields are so low that returns are not even keeping up with the cost of living.
I've been watching some of my own savings dwindle. And that prompted me to take up a challenge: I'm taking $5,000 from personal savings and putting it to work. I'm not a financial whiz, pundit or any kind of guru.
In the coming weeks, I'll be reporting on the various investments I decide to pursue.

Boomer Housemates Have More Fun

Julie Rovner — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000
Today more than 1 in every 3 baby boomers — that huge glut of people born between 1948 and 1964 — is unmarried. And those unmarried boomers are disproportionately women.

Backing Becks: Don't Knock The Soccer Star's Talents

Frank Deford — Wed, 22 May 2013 02:04:00 +0000
The most unforgiving criticism in sport is directed at any athlete who fans believe is celebrated too excessively above his true talent level — especially those stars who are gloried because they're such pretty people.
To wit: As David Beckham retires, so much attention is being devoted not to how good he was but to how good he was not. I never saw that emphasized with a fine athlete before.

Unemployment dropped slightly in April

Rebecca Martinez — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:24:25 +0000

Wyoming’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell slightly from March to April of this year.
The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services reported that the unemployment rate shrank in almost every county last month. The biggest decrease happened in Sheridan County, where unemployment dropped from 6.8 percent to 5.7 percent.
Converse County has the lowest unemployment rate in the state, where it dropped half a percent to 3.5.

Federal Emergency Unemployment Benefits will be reduced

Bob Beck — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:43:04 +0000

Emergency unemployment compensation program benefits will be reduced under the federal government’s budget sequester.
Wyoming Workforce Services Director Joan Evans that the program provides unemployed individuals who have exhausted regular unemployment insurance benefits. Evans says the reduction will likely be noticeable.

Former IRS Head To Senate: It Wasn't My Fault

Frank James — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:07:00 +0000
It was the Senate's turn Tuesday to grill the Internal Revenue Service, or more accurately, former agency officials, about its handling of the scandal involving the targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.
Unlike last week, when House lawmakers got to beat up only on Steve Miller — until recently the IRS' acting director whose "resignation" President Obama reported at a hastily called appearance before news cameras last week — this time Miller was joined by Douglas Shulman, the former commissioner who left that post in November. They were joined by J.

Okla. Tornado Survivors Try To Collect Lives After Storm

Wade Goodwyn — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:43:00 +0000
Transcript
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
In Moore, for the many people whose homes were destroyed, the top priorities are finding a place to stay, some clothes to wear, and food to eat. NPR's Wade Goodwyn has been talking with survivors in Moore and he sent this story.
WADE GOODWYN, BYLINE: Jamie Martinez(ph) is a retired police officer who still does security work, and that's where he was when the tornado slammed into his neighborhood yesterday.
JAMIE MARTINEZ: Our house is gone. It's leveled. Missing six pets, the least of our problems. I mean, we're alive. That's what counts.

Pat Metheny And John Zorn: A Vivid Sound World

Tom Moon — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:43:00 +0000
Guitarist Pat Metheny is revered for his bright, accessible modern jazz. Saxophonist and composer John Zorn is associated with much knottier, often dissonant experiments. Metheny's new Tap: John Zorn's Book of Angels, Vol.

Tornado Leaves Moore, Okla., Neighborhoods Unrecognizable

editor — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:43:00 +0000
Transcript
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Robert Siegel.
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
And I'm Melissa Block.
It has been an emotional 24 hours for the people of Moore, Oklahoma. Their city is now a federal disaster area, shattered by yesterday's deadly tornado. Meteorologists have confirmed that the tornado was a rare EF5, with winds in excess of 200 miles per hour. Entire neighborhoods are unrecognizable, trees splintered, houses gone.
SIEGEL: Oklahoma's state medical examiner says 24 people are confirmed dead, nine of them children.

Apple CEO Defends Tax Practices At Senate Hearing

John Ydstie — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:43:00 +0000
Transcript
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
And I'm Melissa Block.
The top executives of Apple faced tough questions today on Capitol Hill. They came at a hearing about Apple's alleged avoidance of billions of dollars in U.S. income taxes.