11:55am

Fri April 20, 2012
Environment

2 Years On, Gulf Families, Businesses Holding On

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 2:23 pm

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Earth Day is Sunday and in anticipation of that we're going to spend some time revisiting one of the worst environmental disasters in our nation's history: the BP oil spill. It's been exactly two years since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded some 50 miles off the Louisiana coast.

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11:30am

Fri April 20, 2012

11:23am

Fri April 20, 2012
The Two-Way

George Zimmerman To Be Released On $150,000 Bond

Credit Pool / Getty Images

UPDATE at 11:10 a.m. EST:

Judge Kenneth Lester says George Zimmerman can go free as he awaits trial if he posts a $150,000 bail.

Lester said as a condition of his release, Zimmerman would be electronically monitored, could have no contact with Trayvon Martin's family and would be prohibited from possessing firearms or using alcohol. He will also be on a curfew and have to check in every three days.

The judge said once he is assured that security measures have been met, Zimmerman will be freed.

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10:58am

Fri April 20, 2012
The Two-Way

Airliner Crashes Near Pakistani Capital With 127 Aboard

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 11:55 am

UPDATE at 11:50 a.m. EST:

The Associated Press quotes Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhar as saying the 737-200 went down in a farm field of a relatively unpopulated area just a few miles from the international airport in Islamabad.

Mukhar said it was unlikely that anyone had survived.

Pakistani television showed wreckage of the plane, including parts that appeared to be the engine and the wing up against a small building, AP says.

UPDATE at 11:00 a.m. EST:

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10:01am

Fri April 20, 2012
Remembrances

Levon Helm: The 2007 Fresh Air Interview

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 3:37 pm

Credit Rob Loud / Getty Images

Levon Helm, the longtime drummer of The Band who backed Bob Dylan and sang with Van Morrison, died Thursday after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 71.

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8:47am

Fri April 20, 2012
The Salt

Government Takeover Of Farm Subsidy Would Save Billions, Economist Says

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 11:27 am

Credit Mario Tama / Getty Images

Arithmetic can be quite enlightening sometimes. One of the country's top agricultural economists just fiddled with the government's balance sheet on crop insurance, and arrived at a shocking conclusion: We'd spend billions of dollars less than we do now if we just gave away a simplified version of the insurance for free.

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7:30am

Fri April 20, 2012
Research News

Justin Knapp Makes History On Wikipedia

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 7:37 am

Transcript

LYNN NEARY, HOST:

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7:14am

Fri April 20, 2012
Around the Nation

N.J. Gov. Christie Challenges 'New York Post' Story

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

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7:05am

Fri April 20, 2012
Books

'China Hand:' John Paton Davies Place In History

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 10:49 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

When John Paton Davies died, he left some unfinished business. His daughter, Tiki Davies, knew he had signed a contract to write a memoir but never finished it. One of her sisters had a carbon copy of the manuscript, which Tiki Davies started typing into a computer.

TIKI DAVIES: What was interesting to me about retyping it is that it's very much in his voice. He was very funny and an elegant speaker as well as a writer. And so I felt as though I had him back for the couple of months I did this.

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6:55am

Fri April 20, 2012
Around the Nation

Boston Landmark, Fenway Park, Turns 100

The home of the Red Sox may be a Boston landmark but it also holds a place in baseball history. The big green wall in left field is known as the Green Monster. Some fans are paying more than $1,000 to sit on top of the Green Monster when the Red Sox play Friday night.

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