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National

Wednesday

High Stakes, But No High Drama At Kagan Hearings

From left, Sens. Charles Grassley (R-IA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), during Wednesday's session. Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images hide caption

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Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

Analysis

Elena Kagan's Supreme Court Nomination

High Stakes, But No High Drama At Kagan Hearings

ANALYSIS: Other news has overshadowed the confirmation hearings, and a Democratic majority in the Senate has made the outcome seem almost predetermined.

Listen To NPR's Special Report On Day 2 Of Elena Kagan's Hearing

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Reframing The Abortion Debate: Focus On Fetus

Nebraska lawmakers vote April 9 to ban abortion beyond 20 weeks after conception. The law is part of a national trend of state laws restricting abortion. Nati Harnik/AP hide caption

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Nati Harnik/AP

Health

Reframing The Abortion Debate: Focus On Fetus

More than a dozen new laws have passed this year restricting abortion. In many states, the terms of the debate have changed to the fetus itself -- with requirements for ultrasounds or restrictions based on "fetal pain." Several of the new laws will face challenges in court.

Reframing The Abortion Debate: Focus On Fetus

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The Future Of CNN, Beyond Larry King

Larry King is in the Guinness Book of World Records for hosting the longest-running show on the same network and in the same time slot. AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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AFP/Getty Images

Media

The Future Of CNN, Beyond Larry King

Larry King announced Tuesday that he's leaving his prime-time slot on CNN. His show was losing viewers at an alarming rate, as CNN itself has lost a lot of audience share to its cable news rivals. Now the network will try to find a fresh approach to its prime-time lineup.

The Future Of CNN, Beyond Larry King

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$11 A Pack? NYC Smokers Pay To Light Up

Prices in New York City for some brands of cigarettes are likely to reach $13 a pack with the new tax. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

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Mario Tama/Getty Images

Business

$11 A Pack? NYC Smokers Pay To Light Up

New York is adding taxes to each pack in an effort to close its gaping budget deficit. The New York Department of Health estimates that 80,000 smokers in the state will quit in light of the tax. And while that will be good for their health, it's not great for New York businesses. Even New Yorkers avoid buying cigarettes in New York. They buy them online, or have friends pick up cartons duty-free at airports when they travel.

$11 A Pack? NYC Smokers Pay To Light Up

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Economy

Massachusetts City Feels Sting From Budget Crisis

WBUR

In Massachusetts, a small city faces a budget crisis caused by economic decline, the recession, and cuts in state aid to local cities and towns. Services have been cut to the core. And the Republican mayor, who embraces the philosophy of lean, efficient government, says he can't empty any more chairs in the old factory town called Chair City.

Massachusetts City Feels Sting From Budget Crisis

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YR Media

Oakland Awaits Verdict In Subway Shooting Trial

As part of NPR's continuing coverage of the Oscar Grant trial, Youth Radio brings us this audio postcard -- not from Los Angeles where the trial is happening, but from Oakland where the case began New Year's Day in 2009. That's when then-BART Transit officer Johannes Mehserle shot and killed an unarmed 22-year-old man. Last year, the city erupted with angry protests, some of them violent. And now that the officer's trial is nearing a close in Los Angeles, Youth Radio's Pendarvis Harshaw, an Oakland resident, traveled to three distinct spots throughout the city to ask how people are feeling about the case.

Oakland Awaits Verdict In Subway Shooting Trial

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Economy

Recession Batters Workforce In Racine, Wis.

On Wednesday, President Obama visited Racine, Wis., a town that has suffered tough economic blows for years and has had what's left of its manufacturing workforce decimated by the recent recession. Michele Norris talks to Rich Rovito, of The Business Journal of Milwaukee, about the disparities between the manufacturing and corporate sectors in the Racine area.

Recession Batters Workforce In Racine, Wis.

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Politics

Remembering Robert Byrd, Longest Serving Senator

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W. Va) died Monday at the age of 92. He spent 51 years in the Senate, and is remembered for bringing money back to his home state of West Virginia. "They can call it pork if they want to, and that's alright," he once said, but he saw it as his duty to his people.

Remembering Robert Byrd, Longest Serving Senator

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Army: Poor Oversight Led To Arlington Graves Mix-Up

A bugler plays during a burial service at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. An Army investigation examined 15,000 graves and found more than 200 cases of mismanagement. Kevin Wolf/AP hide caption

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Kevin Wolf/AP

Army: Poor Oversight Led To Arlington Graves Mix-Up

Army Secretary John McHugh told a House panel that a "fractured, unmanageable oversight structure" was responsible for problems at Arlington National Cemetery. He also said that out of at least 211 cases in which gravesites were not properly documented or records and gravesites didn't match, more than 25 had been resolved.

Economy

TARP Puts Some Republicans On The Defensive

The Troubled Asset Relief Program, which was created under President George W. Bush, is about to end. And many Republicans who voted to pass the Wall Street bailout in the fall of 2008 are now accused of being big-government supporters.

TARP Puts Some Republicans On The Defensive

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How Endangered Species Are Faring In The Gulf

Plaquemines Parish coastal zone director P.J. Hahn lifts an oil-covered pelican, which was stuck in oil at Queen Bess Island in Barataria Bay, just off the Gulf of Mexico, in early June. Gerald Herbert/AP Photo hide caption

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Gerald Herbert/AP Photo

Gulf Oil Spill: Containment And Clean Up

How Endangered Species Are Faring In The Gulf

Fresh Air

Doug Inkley, the senior scientist at the National Wildlife Federation, says the population of sea turtles and brown pelicans in the Gulf is being decimated. Inkley details the ongoing efforts to save two of the most visible species affected by the BP oil spill.

How Endangered Species Are Faring In The Gulf

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