Ongoing Coverage:
Stl Public Radio
5:38 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

Simmons resigns as Mo. administration commissioner

Originally published on Tue December 20, 2011 11:41 am

The head of Missouri's Office of Administration is stepping down effective Feb. 1.

Gov. Jay Nixon announced Tuesday that Administration Commissioner Kelvin Simmons was leaving the position. In a resignation letter dated Monday, Simmons said he was pursuing an "opportunity outside of state government" but did not elaborate.

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It Was A Good Year For...
5:34 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

In Sales, Android Has Upper Hand On The iPhone

Credit Laurent Fievet / AFP/Getty Images
Models hold the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus Android phone during its official launch in Hong Kong in October. The new smartphone runs Google's Android "Ice Cream Sandwich" operating system.

Apple's iPhones may seem more cool, but the Google-backed Android phones are much more popular in the United States. In 2011, Android's U.S. market share was 53 percent, compared to 29 percent for the iPhone, according to the research group NPD.

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Shots - Health Blog
5:22 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

Many Police Officers Are Sleep Deprived, Risky For Them And Us

Credit Sean Locke / iStockphoto
Sleepy police were likelier to fall asleep while driving, a new survey of nearly 5,000 officers in the U.S. and Canada finds. About 40 percent of officers surveyed reported sleep disorders, with various health implications.

Originally published on Tue December 20, 2011 5:33 pm

Harvard researchers say they've uncovered a big problem among the nation's 700,000 police officers: a serious lack of sleep.

In what's believed to be the first study of its kind, the researchers queried nearly 5,000 municipal and state police officers in the U.S. and Canada about their sleep habits and symptoms of possible sleep disorders. Then they assessed their on-duty performance for two years.

Forty percent had sleep disorders, and the vast majority of these were undiagnosed before.

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The Two-Way
5:11 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

Report: U.S. Takes Top Spot As Most Charitable Nation

Credit Scott Olson / Getty Images
Antionette Levi solicits donations for the Salvation Army in Chicago.

Despite the gloomy economic situation, the United States has become the world's most generous nation, according to this year's Charities Aid Foundation's World Giving Index.

Ireland is ranked second followed by Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. Charities Aid Foundation used Gallup's Worldview Poll to look at three behaviors: "giving money, volunteering time and helping a stranger."

The U.S. came out on top after being ranked fifth last year.

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Latin America
5:01 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

In A Drug War, Mexican Forces Accused Of Abuses

In Mexico, the last five years of President Felipe Calderon's drug war have been marked by brutal violence, unsolved kidnappings and tens of thousands of deaths. Most of violence has come from the drug gangs, but some of these atrocities have been committed by the Mexican military and police.

Human rights groups say that as state security forces battle the drug cartels, they've tortured, abducted and killed criminal suspects and even innocent civilians.

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Politics
4:49 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

City Council considers repeal of eviction relief

Credit Tom Check / Flickr

A provision that offers three months of free rent to evicted mobile park residents in Columbia is now facing a challenge.

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Asia
4:05 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

After Kim's Death, No Signs Of Power Struggles

The body of Kim Jong Il, the deceased leader of North Korea, now lies in state in the capital, Pyongyang. His sudden death has raised concerns about possible power struggles. But so far, all outward signs suggest that the North Korean leadership is lining up behind his son, Kim Jong Un.

The Two-Way
4:02 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

Scores Dead In Syria; Thousands Of Women Protest In Egypt

A day after Syria said it would allow Arab League observers into the country, the deadly clashes with government forces continued. Al Arabiya reports that activists said at least 100 Syrian army defectors were killed or wounded and 36 people were killed in clashes with police.

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Still No Job: Over A Year Without Enough Work
3:29 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

Marriage Economy: 'I Couldn't Afford To Get Divorced'

Credit iStockphoto.com

Lindsay Reynolds lives in Waterloo, Wis. Even before the recent economic downturn, Reynolds and her husband struggled to make ends meet. They quarreled, especially over money.

"We never had enough income to pay bills, to pay rent. We were constantly late on rent," Reynolds says. "He always wanted to go do things. He wanted to go buy things. And I said, 'No, we can't. We have to be fiscally responsible.' "

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It's All Politics
3:07 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

'We The People': NPR Readers Would Ratify Four New Amendments

Credit ASSOCIATED PRESS
The people have spoken: NPR readers would add four new amendments to the Constitution.

In "Reconstituting The Constitution: How To Rewrite It," we invited readers to share their own thoughts on how we might change the founding document for 2011. Now the people have spoken.

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