It's All Politics
5:17 pm
Wed April 10, 2013

Michelle Obama Steps Into Gun Control Debate

Credit Paul Beaty / AP
First lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday speaks about 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who was shot and killed on the South Side of Chicago earlier this year.

Originally published on Wed April 10, 2013 6:19 pm

First lady Michelle Obama gave a personal and emotional speech Wednesday in Chicago as she stepped into the debate over gun control.

"Right now, my husband is fighting as hard as he can and engaging as many people as he can to pass common-sense reforms to protect our children from gun violence," she said.

The first lady was in her hometown to encourage business leaders to donate millions of dollars to programs for at-risk youth.

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Texas Legislature
4:53 pm
Wed April 10, 2013

Senate Passes Bill Requiring Welfare Recipients To Be Drug Tested

Credit Ryan Poppe / TPR
Texas State Capitol in Austin.

On a unanimous vote, a bill authored by Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, to require all welfare recipients to take a drug test passed the Texas Senate. 

The bill requires every Texas Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipient go through a drug-screen, which could include a one-on-one interview or questionnaire.

Nelson said her bill also provides $300 million towards rehab.

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Education
4:30 pm
Wed April 10, 2013

El Paso Schools Cheating Scandal Probes Officials' Accountability

Credit Ruben R. Ramirez/The El Paso Times / AP
Former El Paso Independent School District Superintendent Lorenzo Garcia is escorted by his attorneys into a Texas courthouse. He was found guilty of fiddling with El Paso schools' test scores for his own financial gain.

Originally published on Thu April 11, 2013 1:29 pm

No one knows if Atlanta's school superintendent or any of the people accused of falsifying test results will go to jail, but they wouldn't be the first if they do.

Lorenzo Garcia, the former superintendent of schools in El Paso, Texas, has been sitting in a federal prison since last year. He's the nation's first superintendent convicted of fraud and reporting bogus test scores for financial gain.

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Ronald Reagan High School Choir
4:23 pm
Wed April 10, 2013

Reagan High School Student "Dazzles" KPAC with a Special Request

Credit StoneOakInfo.com
Reagan High School Choir

Recently, an enterprising high school student reached out to TPR and KPAC staff with an unusual request that caught the attention of KPAC Program Director John Clare.

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The Salt
4:22 pm
Wed April 10, 2013

Cities Turn Sewage Into 'Black Gold' For Local Farms

Credit Frank Morris for NPR
Thick jets of processed sewage arc out 30 to 40 feet from giant moving spreaders at Birmingham Farm in Kansas City, Mo.

Originally published on Fri April 12, 2013 11:07 am

On a normal day, Kansas City, Mo., processes more than 70 million gallons of raw sewage. This sewage used to be a nuisance, but Kansas City, and a lot of municipalities around the country, are now turning it into a resource for city farmers hard up for fertilizer.

After the sewage has been processed at a treatment plant, it's piped out to Birmingham Farm on the north side of the Missouri River.

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University of Texas
4:12 pm
Wed April 10, 2013

UT Regents To Hold Special Meeting Thursday

Credit Daniel Reese for KUT News

Originally published on Thu April 11, 2013 8:13 am

Update: UT's Board of Regents is scheduled to meet this morning to consider whether to release investigative records to the Texas Legislature.

Texas lawmakers have been requesting the release of emails and other documents in a public standoff raising tension between the Capitol and the regents. 

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The Salt
4:10 pm
Wed April 10, 2013

As Promised: Obama Wants To Overhaul Global Anti-Hunger Efforts

Credit Mohammed Ballas / AP
Palestinians unload bags of flour donated by USAID, or the United States Agency for International Development, at a depot in the West Bank village of Anin in 2008.

The White House unveiled its proposal Wednesday for drastic changes in government programs that donate food to fight hunger abroad — and surprised no one.

As we reported last week, rumors of such an overhaul had been circulating for weeks, arousing both hope and anger among organizations involved in global anti-hunger programs.

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SAISD Tutoring
4:08 pm
Wed April 10, 2013

TEA Disciplines Six Tutoring Agencies In Fraud Investigation

Credit San Antonio Independent School District

After a complaint from the San Antonio Independent School District, the Texas Education Agency has suspended or put on probation several tutoring agencies that may have committed fraud.

SAISD filed its complaint in February, claiming several tutoring agencies were falsely submitting names of students they may not have tutored for reimbursement of more than $280,000.

The TEA maintains a list of more than 100 tutoring companies that are entitled to receive school district funds as part of the No Child Left Behind Act and parents choose from that list.

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The Two-Way
3:40 pm
Wed April 10, 2013

A 'Transformational Gift': New York's Met Will Receive $1 Billion Cubism Collection

Originally published on Wed April 10, 2013 6:19 pm

The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art will receive what its director calls a "truly transformational" gift: Leonard A. Lauder's collection of 78 cubist works.

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It's All Politics
3:34 pm
Wed April 10, 2013

Some States Hike Gas Tax; Va. Tries New Route To Fund Roads

Originally published on Wed April 10, 2013 6:19 pm

It's no secret that many of the nation's roads are in pretty bad shape. In the latest report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the condition of America's highways rated a grade of D.

Congestion is a big problem, and so is upkeep. Most states rely on gas taxes to raise the money for repairs and new construction, but that funding source is not the stream it used to be, says James Corless of Transportation for America.

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