Election 2012
8:15 am
Sat August 11, 2012

Ryan Brings Big Ideas, And Some Risk, To GOP Ticket

Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan is popular with conservatives and brings enthusiasm to the ticket. He won his House seat at 28, which means that now, at 42, he's a seasoned legislator.

Originally published on Sat August 11, 2012 9:43 am

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's newly announced running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, has youth and experience. A conservative from a swing state, he has big ideas and the policy chops to back them up.

He also brings a kind of enthusiasm Romney could use: He's a darling of the conservative base that Romney has had a harder time winning over.

Read more

Andrea Seabrook covers Capitol Hill as NPR's Congressional Correspondent.

In each report, Seabrook explains the daily complexities of legislation and the longer trends in American politics. She delivers critical, insightful reporting – from the last Republican Majority, through the speakership of Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats' control of the House, to the GOP landslide of 2010. She and NPR's Peter Overby won the prestigious Joan S. Barone award for their Dollar Politics series, which exposed the intense lobbying effort around President Obama's Health Care legislation. Seabrook and Overby's most recent collaboration, this time on the flow of money during the 2010 midterm elections, was widely lauded and drew a huge audience spike on NPR.org.

An authority on the comings and goings of daily life on Capitol Hill, Seabrook has covered Congress for NPR since January 2003 She took a year-and-a-half break, in 2006 and 2007, to host the weekend edition of NPR's newsmagazine, All Things Considered. In that role, Seabrook covered a wide range of topics, from the uptick in violence in the Iraq war, to the history of video game music.

A frequent guest host of NPR programs, including Weekend Edition and Talk of the Nation, Seabrook has also anchored NPR's live coverage of national party conventions and election night in 2006 and 2008.

Seabrook joined NPR in 1998 as an editorial assistant for the music program, Anthem. After serving in a variety of editorial and production positions, she moved to NPR's Mexico Bureau to work as a producer and translator, providing fill-in coverage of Mexico and Central America. She returned to NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. in the fall of 1999 and worked on NPR's Science Desk and the NPR/National Geographic series, "Radio Expeditions." Later she moved to NPR's Morning Edition, starting as an editorial assistant and then moving up to Assistant Editor. She then began her on-air career as a weekend general assignment reporter for all NPR programs.

Before coming to NPR, Seabrook lived, studied and worked in Mexico City, Mexico. She ran audio for movies and television, and even had a bit part in a Mexican soap opera.

Seabrook earned her bachelor's degree in biology from Earlham College and studied Latin American literature at UNAM - La Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. While in college she worked at WECI, the student-run public radio station at Earlham College.

The Two-Way
1:13 am
Sat August 11, 2012

Reports: Romney Chooses Paul Ryan As Running Mate

Credit M. Spencer Green / AP
House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. introduces Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on April 3, 2012.

Originally published on Sat August 11, 2012 8:17 am

Update at 8 a.m. ET. It's Official:

We're following the story now over at It's All Politics — Romney Picks Wisconsin's Ryan To Be His Running Mate On GOP Ticket.

Update at 1:30 a.m. ET:

Read more
Arts and Humanities
4:25 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

Moderately Successful Poet, Jeffrey Skinner

Credit Erin Keane

Jeffrey Skinner, formerly a private investigator, is the author of five books of poetry, most recently Salt Water Amnesia (2005), and two anthologies of poems, Last Call: Poems on Alcoholism, Addiction, and Deliverance; and Passing the Word: Poets and Their Mentors.

He recently penned The 6.5 Practices of Moderately Successful Poets: A Self-Help Memoir for Sarabande Books.

Read more
Local News
4:24 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

Drought Devastates Kentucky Corn Crop

The hot, dry summer has taken a toll on Kentucky's corn crop, which could result in the lowest yields in nearly 30 years.

A government report issued Friday predicts an average statewide corn yield of 65 bushels an acre. That's down 74 bushels from last year's crop. And it would be the lowest yield since the 1983 crop produced 48 bushels per acre.

Corn production in Kentucky is forecast at nearly 97 million bushels, down 46 percent from last year.

Read more
Local News
2:03 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

Veterinarians Will Be Watching for Swine Flu at Kentucky State Fair

Veterinarians will be watching for evidence of swine flu during this year's Kentucky State Fair as health officials nationwide have reported a five-fold increase of a new strain of the flu that spreads from pigs to people.

State veterinarians will staff the swine pavilion and visually inspect all swine. Animals that are coughing, sneezing or have labored breathing will be isolated and tested.

Fair Board President Harold Workman says the fair is prepared for the slightest sign of an outbreak and the public will be notified immediately if swine flu is found.

Read more
Local News
1:09 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

Ky Judge Lifts Stay for Bridges Project Case

A federal judge is allowing a case challenging the Ohio River Bridges Project to move forward.

In 2009, River Fields and the National Trust for Historic Preservation filed suit against the Federal Highway Administration. They argued the federal government did not practice due diligence in preparing environmental impact statements and several historical places could be affected by the project.

Western District of Kentucky Judge John G. Heyburn put a stay on the suit in 2010 while bi-state officials reworked the $2.6 billion bridges proposal.

Read more
Environment
12:02 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

Whitfield Chosen to Help Craft GOP Policy on Energy, Environment

First District Congressman Ed Whitfield has been tapped to lead a subcommittee at the Republican National Convention later this month, where he’ll help shape the Republican party’s stance on energy issues.

Whitfield is the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power. During his time in that position, he’s lead efforts to keep the uranium enrichment plant in Paducah open and stop the federal government from regulating coal ash.

Read more
Education
11:18 am
Fri August 10, 2012

Kentucky Education Board Clarifies Restraint, Seclusion Policy

The Kentucky Board of Education has approved regulations strengthening its policies around restraining misbehaving students.

Over the past several years, officials have considered changing the state's education department policies. Several states have laws on the books that regulate restraint. Kentucky is not among them, leaving the education department to set regulations on restraining students.

Read more

Pages