KCUR

Toronto Mayor: 'I Do Not Use Crack Cocaine'

Scott Neuman — Fri, 24 May 2013 23:25:00 +0000

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says he doesn't smoke crack cocaine and isn't an addict, in response to a video that surfaced recently purporting to show him using the illegal drug.

Last week Ford called the cellphone video obtained by The Toronto Star "ridiculous" and blamed the newspaper for "going after me."

Friday's comments from Ford were more emphatic.

"I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine," he said at a news conference.

Obama's Terror Fight Is Colored Gray, Not Black And White

Frank James — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:39:00 +0000

It's difficult for an American president to govern through nuance, especially when it's necessary to persuade a majority of the people that certain actions are essential for national security. And effective persuasion usually requires clarity.

That's how you arrive at President George W. Bush's stark formulation "You're either with us, or you're with the terrorists" after Sept.

Tornado Safe Rooms In Schools A Popular, But Costly Idea

Scott Harvey — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:03:00 +0000

In the days since a tornado ripped through Moore, Okla., talk of constructing safe rooms in public schools has become commonplace.

In southwest Missouri, officials have built a few of them already, and they are seeking funding to build more.

'A Sense Of Peace'

Karina O'Connell is preparing dinner tonight under the pavilion at Phelps Grove Park in Springfield, Mo., where she's eating with her 9-year-old twin sons, Samuel and John Patrick.

A mixture of curiosity and fear has the boys often going online to track big storms.

Hedge Fund Manager Apologizes For Comments On Female Traders

Scott Neuman — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:51:00 +0000

Billionaire Paul Tudor Jones is back-peddling from remarks he made at a symposium last month that motherhood causes women to lose the necessary focus to be successful traders.

"As soon as that baby's lips touched that girl's bosom, forget it," Jones told an audience at the University of Virginia on April 26.

"Every single investment idea ... every desire to understand what is going to make this go up or go down is going to be overwhelmed by the most beautiful experience ... which a man will never share, about a mode of connection between that mother and that baby," he said.

Toronto Mayor Dodges Accusations Of Crack Cocaine Use

editor — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:26:00 +0000

Melissa Block talks to Jeff Semple of the CBC about the video that appears to show Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine.

History Makes Hiring Household Help A Complex Choice

Karen Grigsby Bates — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:26:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bHh8VAb_BQ

L.A. Blue Jeans Makers Fear Their Business Will Fade Away

Sonari Glinton — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:26:00 +0000

Los Angeles is the world leader in the most American of clothing items: bluejeans. High-end, hand-stitched, designer bluejeans that will you run well over $100 a pair.

But as the U.S.

'Four Little Girls' Awarded Congressional Gold Medal

Bill Chappell — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:13:00 +0000

They were just little girls when they were killed in 1963, in what came to be known as the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing.

A Token Gift May Encourage Gift Of Life

Scott Hensley — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:11:00 +0000

There are two things you can always count on: public radio pledge drives and the local blood bank asking for a donation of a very different sort.

Both kinds of giving can fill you with a sense of goodwill. But, let's be honest, the tote bags help, too.

When it comes to blood donations, though, ethical concerns and risk have led to limits on incentives for donors in many places.

More Time Together, Though 'Midnight' Looms

Bob Mondello — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:49:00 +0000

Celine and Jesse are sporting a few physical wrinkles — and working through some unsettling relational ones — in Before Midnight, but that just makes this third installment of their once-dewy romance gratifyingly dissonant.

It's been 18 years since they talked through the night that first time, Julie Delpy's Celine enchanting and occasionally prickly, Ethan Hawke's Jesse determined to charm; their chatter then, as now, scripted but loose enough to feel improvised as captured in long, long takes by Richard Linklater's cameras.

Take a peek back at 1995's Before Sunrise, and

Ring Nebula Is More Like A Jelly Doughnut, NASA Says

Bill Chappell — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:08:00 +0000

The Ring Nebula, whose iconic shape and large size make it a favorite of amateur astronomers, can now be seen in new detail, after NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a sharp image of the nebula. Researchers say the new clarity reveals details that were previously unseen, and a structure that's more complex than scientists had believed.

"The nebula is not like a bagel, but rather, it's like a jelly doughnut, because it's filled with material in the middle," says C. Robert O'Dell of Vanderbilt University, who leads a team of researchers studying the Ring Nebula.

Battered Jersey Shore Pins Recovery Hopes On Summer Season

editor — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:02:00 +0000

Memorial Day weekend marks the start of the summer travel season, and it's particularly important for the resort communities along the Jersey Shore still suffering the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

In the popular tourist spot Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., it has taken seven months and more than $1 million to make repairs along Jenkinson's Boardwalk.

After repairing the flooded aquarium, rebuilding the miniature golf courses and replacing the damaged planks, contractors were still busy doing final repairs in anticipation of the holiday weekend.

A Fan's Notes: Under The Spell

Stephen Steigman and Victor Wishna — Fri, 24 May 2013 19:52:00 +0000

Next week, while the NBA and NHL playoffs drag on, ESPN will turn its attention to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Many will again wonder, "What's a kid's classroom activity doing on the quintessential sports network?" Commentator Victor Wishna has an answer, in this latest edition of "A Fan's Notes."

Ex-Guatemalan President Extradited To U.S.

Scott Neuman — Fri, 24 May 2013 19:23:00 +0000

Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo has been extradited to the United States, where he faces charges of laundering tens of millions of dollars through U.S. banks.

Portillo, who served as president from 2000 to 2004, was snatched from a hospital bed in Guatemala City, where he was recovering from liver surgery. He was placed on an airplane bound for New York, according to his lawyer, Mauricio Berreondo.

The former president is accused of laundering $70 million in Guatemalan funds through U.S. banks.

Heart Failure Treatment Improves, But Death Rate Remains High

Nancy Shute — Fri, 24 May 2013 19:21:00 +0000

This is one of those "good news, but" medical stories.

New treatments for heart failure have made it much less likely that people with this chronic condition will die suddenly.

But an analysis by researchers at UCLA finds that the death rate for people with advanced heart failure remains stubbornly high, with 30 percent of people dying within three years.

"They're not dying suddenly, but their disease is still progressing," says Dr.