Local News
3:42 pm
Thu December 27, 2012

Registration Underway for Pence Inaugural Events

Online registration has begun for events surrounding next month’s inauguration of Indiana Governor-elect Mike Pence.

Most of the events in Indianapolis are free and open to the public but registration is required.

They include a family-oriented event on Saturday, January 12 at the Dallara IndyCar Factory, a worship service on Sunday, January 13 at the Indiana Convention Center, and the inauguration itself on Monday, January 14 at the Indiana Statehouse.

Read more
Local News
2:15 pm
Thu December 27, 2012

How Kentucky's 2014 Senate Election May Play Into the 'Fiscal Cliff'

Credit U.S. Senate
Mitch McConnell

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said that Congress is on track to have no deal before the Dec. 31 deadline for the "fiscal cliff."

One key to the negotiations is the brokering abilities of Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the minority leader.  A recent New York Times story notes this:

Read more
Local News
1:37 pm
Thu December 27, 2012

Lawmaker Calls For Full Disclosure of Indiana Job Creation Numbers

Indiana state Sen. Mike Delph

A state lawmaker wants the Indiana Economic Development Corp. to let the public know how many jobs it actually helps create.

Republican Senator Mike Delph says he will introduce the legislation because he believes the public is being intentionally misled.

A yearlong study conducted by WTHR-TV showed as many as 40 percent of the more than 100,000 jobs promoted by Governor Mitch Daniels and agency officials from 2005 to 2010 never materialized. But the IEDC won't disclose which companies have not met their job commitments.

Read more
The Salt
12:51 pm
Thu December 27, 2012

Hospital Bids Bye-Bye To Big Macs, Others May Follow Suit

Originally published on Thu December 27, 2012 1:25 pm

The McDonald's at the Truman Medical Centers' main campus in Kansas City, Mo., has closed, ending an epic, two-decade stint inside the hospital and making it the fifth health facility in the past few years to give the Big Mac the boot.

Read more

Elana Gordon covers the health beat at KCUR. She was previously a production assistant for KCURâ

Politics
12:33 pm
Thu December 27, 2012

Gov. Steve Beshear Concerned With Drop in Coal Severance Revenues

Credit Kentucky Governor's Office
Steve Beshear

Gov. Steve Beshear says he's concerned about the declining revenues form the coal severance tax, echoing concerns raised by House Speaker Greg Stumbo.

Money from the tax on mined coal is used largely for state, county and city infrastructure projects -- specifically in coal mining areas like Eastern Kentucky. 

“I am concerned about the coal severance receipts -- they are down, they’re down significantly. And that's because coal mining is down significantly, the tons of coal mined has dropped,” Beshear said.

Read more
Environment
12:13 pm
Thu December 27, 2012

EPA Head Lisa Jackson Announces Resignation; Twitter Reacts

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced her plans to leave her post after President Obama's inauguration. During her time in the role, she drew fire from the coal industry and manufacturers for her work to increase scrutiny of mountaintop removal coal mining and tighten regulations on coal-fired power plants. But she also won support from environmental groups and occasionally grudging respect from her opponents.

Her successor is unknown, but reports are speculating it could be either Deputy Administrator Robert Perciasepe or Assistant Administrator for Air Gina McCarthy.

Read more
Race
12:12 pm
Thu December 27, 2012

Census Bureau Rethinks The Best Way To Measure Race

Credit Spencer Platt / Getty Images
A crowd crosses the street in midtown Manhattan.

Originally published on Thu December 27, 2012 11:42 am

Possible revisions to how the decennial census asks questions about race and ethnicity have raised concerns among some groups that any changes could reduce their population count and thus weaken their electoral clout.

The Census Bureau is considering numerous changes to the 2020 survey in an effort to improve the responses of minorities and more accurately classify Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern and multiracial populations.

Read more
Credit Doby Photography / NPR

Corey Dade is a national correspondent for the NPR Digital News team. With more than 15 years of journalism experience, he writes news analysis about federal policy, national politics, social trends, cultural issues and other topics for NPR.org.

Prior to NPR, Dade served as the Atlanta-based southern politics and economics reporter at The Wall Street Journal for five years. During that time he covered many of the nation's biggest news stories, including the BP oil spill, the Tiger Woods scandal and the 2008 presidential election, having traveled with the Obama and McCain campaigns. He also covered the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings and Hurricane Katrina, which led to a nine-month special assignment in New Orleans.

At the Journal, Dade also told the stories at the intersection of politics, culture and commerce, such as the Obama presidency's potential to reframe race in America and the battle between African-American and Dominican hair salons for control of the billion-dollar black consumer market.

Dade began his reporting career at The Miami Herald, writing about curbside newspaper racks and other controversies roiling the retirement town of Hallandale, Fla., pop. 30,000. He later covered local and state politics at the Detroit Free Press, The Boston Globe and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

No stranger to radio, over the years Dade has been a frequent guest commentator and analyst on NPR news, talk and information programs and on several cable TV networks.

As a student at Grambling State University in Louisiana, Dade played football for legendary coach Eddie Robinson. He then transferred to his eventual alma mater, the University of Maryland.

U.S.
10:24 am
Thu December 27, 2012

For Veterans, The Wait For Disability Claims Grows Longer

Credit Karen Bleier / Getty Images
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs began the year with a promise to cut wait times disability benefits claims. Instead, the backlog of pending claims has worsened.

Originally published on Mon March 25, 2013 2:46 pm

Pages