Dodgers Owner Files Bankruptcy To Fend Off MLB

The Los Angeles Dodgers have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Major League Baseball recently nixed a TV deal for the Dodgers that team owner Frank McCourt said would provide financial stability for the team. The bankruptcy filing appears to be a last-ditch effort by McCourt to keep the MLB from seizing the Dodgers — [...]

Two Towns, Same Flooded River, Different Fates

The swollen Souris River in North Dakota is taking a toll on towns in the western part of the state. Residents in two towns along the river — Velva and Burlington — have both put up a Herculean effort to stop the flood waters. One town has succeeded in that fight while the other has [...]

High Court Strikes Down Ariz. Campaign Finance Law

The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a blow, but not a fatal one, to public campaign financing, with a 5-4 decision striking down a central provision of an Arizona law. The Arizona law offers public funds to state legislative and executive-branch candidates who abide by tight contribution and spending limits. Another provision gives additional dollars when [...]

Waters Begin to Recede In Minot; Wait Could Be Weeks

In Minot, N.D., floodwaters are finally starting to recede into the Souris River, according to a National Guard spokesman who talked to the AP. But in the town, 4,000 homes have been damaged by the river, and thousands of residents remain homeless. Flooding reached a peak over the weekend in Minot, and the water level [...]

Drought Takes Toll on Summer Gardens

The record temperatures may prevent plants from producing fruits and vegetables this year.

FDA To Consumers: Don’t Eat Evergreen Produce Sprouts

If you’ve got bags of sprouts — alfalfa or the spicy variety — from Evergreen Produce, throw them out, the Food and Drug Administration says. The agency says the brand of sprouts may be linked to 20 cases of salmonella, including one bad enough to land a person in the hospital. The cases were reported [...]

‘That’s Racist!’ How A Serious Accusation Became A Commonplace Quip

My editor proposed this story about “that’s racist” after hearing her young son’s friends using it as a joke. Just the night before, it had been a punchline on one of my favorite sitcoms, Parks And Recreation. (Someone calls sorting laundry into whites and darks racist.) Our sense that “that’s racist” was evolving into a [...]

Is Google Playing Fair With Its Search Results?

Google draws over a billion visits to its websites each month, making it the world’s largest Web property. But what it might do with that market share has helped Google become federal regulators’ target in a massive antitrust investigation. It is not illegal for a company to have a monopoly — what experts say is [...]

Mobile Patent Auction May Bring More Than $1 Billion

The last assets of Nortel Networks, the former high-tech giant, are to be auctioned Monday, as it sells off more than 6,000 patents. The bankrupt Canadian company was once a leader in research and development in the telecom industry. Google has already aired a $900 million bid for the U.S. and international patents, which focus [...]

In Mozambique, Grim Prospects For Mother And Child

As part of “Beginnings,” a summer-long series on All Things Considered, Melissa Block traveled to Mozambique to explore maternal health. This is the first of three reports. In Mozambique in southeastern Africa, the rates of maternal and infant mortality are among the highest in the world. In her lifetime, a Mozambican woman has a 1 [...]