Ongoing Coverage:
NPR Story
12:00 pm
Tue February 14, 2012

Cancer Drugs Offers Hope For Alzheimer's Treatment

A medical study published in Science finds that an FDA-approved skin cancer drug can reduce Alzheimer's-like symptoms in mice. It is unclear if the drug, marketed as Targretin, will have the same effect on humans. Some researchers want to begin testing the drug for its efficacy in treating Alzheimer's patients.

The Two-Way
11:40 am
Tue February 14, 2012

Derided As 'Alien,' Government 'Cancels' Valentine's Day In Uzbekistan

Credit Wikipedia
Babur, der Gründer des Mogulreiches.

If you believe the Uzbek government, today is not a day for love and friendship. Nope.

It is a day to celebrate the Moghul emperor Babur, who celebrates his birthday on Feb. 14. Now this hasn't always been case in the Central Asian country. The BBC reports that in years past, lovers celebrated Valentine's Day by listening to the songs of Rayhan, "a popular singer whose music mixes Eastern melodies with Western pop."

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The Two-Way
11:09 am
Tue February 14, 2012

Boeing Closes $22.4 Billion Deal With Lion Air

Credit Boeing
An artist rendering depicts a Boeing 737 MAX 9. Lion Air of Indonesia has agreed to become the first commercial customer for the plane.

When your products sell for more than $80 million, selling one of them is a big deal. Selling hundreds of them in one deal means they're probably feeling pretty good over at Boeing right now. The aircraft company has finalized a deal to sell 230 jets to Lion Air of Indonesia, with a total list price of $22.4 billion — a record for Chicago-based Boeing.

The deal, which was first announced in November during President Obama's multi-country tour of Asia, includes 201 737 MAX jets and 29 of Boeing's extended range 737-900ERs.

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AM Newscasts
11:01 am
Tue February 14, 2012

Newscast for February 14, 2012

Credit File / KBIA
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has been a staunch defender of Pres. Obama's proposed 2013 budget.

Regional news coverage from the KBIA News room, including:

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Education
10:11 am
Tue February 14, 2012

Columbia Board approves school boundaries

The Columbia Board of Education has given final approval to the district’s attendance boundaries.  Tweaked from out of 182 possible scenarios, the Board Monday approved Approach B, which divides Columbia Public School’s Secondary Boundaries into six intermediate schools for grades 6-8 and three high schools for grades 9-12.

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It's All Politics
10:11 am
Tue February 14, 2012

Can Congress Ever Restore Payroll Taxes To Their Usual Levels?

Credit Zhang Jun / Xinhua /Landov
House Republicans, including Speaker John Boehner (right) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (left), said Monday they would vote to extend the payroll tax cut.

Republicans rarely meet a tax cut that they don't like. Now that they have found one, they are finding it politically impossible to stop it.

On Tuesday, President Obama called on Congress to extend a 2 percentage point reduction in payroll taxes, which fund Social Security. The cut, enacted last year, is otherwise set to expire at the end of the month.

The current cut means a savings of about $20 a week to a worker who earns $50,000 a year and about $2,000 a year to someone making $100,000.

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The Salt
9:52 am
Tue February 14, 2012

DIY Willy Wonka Turns Home Into Chocolate Factory

Some people fill their workshops with sawdust and power tools; Ben Rasmussen built a chocolate factory in his.

Actually, "factory" might be too big a word for the Woodbridge, Va. operation, which Rasmussen says is "absurdly small." But it's a step up from his kitchen, where his Potomac Chocolate – one of the smallest chocolate companies in the U.S. – was born.

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Shots - Health Blog
9:37 am
Tue February 14, 2012

States Vary On What They Allow Midwives To Do

Credit Amanda Steen / NPR
Midwife Erin Fullam, left, takes care of Shannon Earle and her new baby Kiera. Daughter Riana, the father, Patrick, and his mother, Ann Earle, look on at the family's home in Takoma Park, Md., in 2011.

Women planning to have a baby at home will probably be helped by a midwife.

Doctors only deliver about 5 percent of babies born outside the hospital, according to figures released last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Depending on where you live, though, finding a licensed midwife can be tough.

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The Two-Way
9:31 am
Tue February 14, 2012

Whitney Houston's Funeral Will Be Held In Childhood Church

Credit Valerie Macon / Getty Images
Fans attend a Whitney Houston Leimert Park Vigil on Monday in Los Angeles.

Pop super star Whitney Houston's funeral will be held at the Newark, N.J. church where she sang as a little girl. Citing the owner of Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, the AP reports her funeral will take place at the New Hope Baptist Church on Saturday, Feb. 18.

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Politics
9:22 am
Tue February 14, 2012

Legislators spar over Obama budget

Credit File / KBIA
Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) praised Obama's budget, while federal Republicans blasted it for not closing the country's large deficit gap.

US Senator Claire McCaskill says President Barack Obama’s budget, which was released Monday, is a workable document.

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