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NPR's Morning Edition has prepared listeners for the day ahead with up-to-the-minute news, background analysis, commentary, and coverage of arts and sports. One of the most respected news magazines in the world, Morning Edition airs Monday through Friday on Public Radio East.

Morning Edition is hosted by NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR's Renee Montagne. Kelly Batchelor is the PRE host coordinating regional news, weather, and features of interest to our Eastern North Carolina audiences.

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Religion
5:23 am
Tue June 11, 2013

Churches Reconsider Sponsoring Boy Scout Troops

Some churches have said they will end their affiliation with the Boy Scouts after its decision to allow openly gay members to join. Others, including Southern Baptists, are considering their next move. Another group plans to hold a meeting in Louisville later this month with parents who say they want a more Christian organization for their children.

Business
5:23 am
Tue June 11, 2013

NSA Leak Could Undermine Trust Of Government Contractor

Credit Michael Reynolds / EPA/Landov
Federal contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, headquartered in McLean, Va., employed Edward Snowden, the computer technician at the center of the controversy over leaks involving the National Security Agency.

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 11:56 am

In recent decades, a quiet revolution has been transforming the way Washington works.

Because the U.S. government does not have the workforce to complete all of its tasks, it employs private companies like Booz Allen Hamilton to do the work for it. Booz Allen is the company where Edward Snowden, who said he leaked secrets about the National Security Agency, most recently worked.

Over the past 25 years, this contract workforce has grown and plays a major role in the U.S. government, says Paul Light, a professor of public service at New York University.

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National Security
5:23 am
Tue June 11, 2013

Will Surveillance Disclosure Lead To More Oversight Of NSA?

When surveillance laws were revised in 2012, Congress expressed great concerns that without proper oversight intelligence agencies would engage in the sort of monitoring that has been uncovered in recent days. Congress put a number of safeguards in place, but rejected others that would have guarantee more public discussion about what the NSA does.

Law
5:23 am
Tue June 11, 2013

Feds Buckle On Emergency Contraception Age Restrictions

The administration had been trying to appeal a judge's ruling to make the morning-after birth control pill available over the counter with no age restrictions. The Justice Department said it would obey the order — sort of. The FDA may soon approve the over-the-counter sale of Plan B One Step without a prescription.

NPR Story
5:19 am
Tue June 11, 2013

Business News

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 7:01 am

On Monday, the company announced that CEO Christine Day will step down once a replacement is found. This comes after an embarrassing year for the company which makes fashionable yoga-wear. A recent recall of see-through plants could cost the company $40 million.

NPR Story
5:19 am
Tue June 11, 2013

NSA Collects Massive Amounts Of Data, Then What?

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 6:53 am

The revelations about the monitoring of massive amounts of phone and Internet traffic by the NSA have led to questions of how the agency is using all of that information. Renee Montagne talks with journalist and author James Bamford about how the NSA handles so much data.

NPR Story
5:19 am
Tue June 11, 2013

Iowa Rebrands Medicaid Coverage

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 7:28 am

Iowa's Republican Governor Terry Branstad is pushing to make Iowa the healthiest state. Under the Affordable Care Act, states are deciding whether to expand Medicaid and that's created an opportunity for compromise in Iowa.

Politics
3:18 am
Tue June 11, 2013

How The Senate Farm Bill Would Change Subsidies

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 3:40 pm

The Senate voted Monday to approve its version of the farm bill, a massive spending measure that covers everything from food stamps to crop insurance and sets the nation's farm policy for the next five years.

The centerpiece of that policy is an expanded crop insurance program, designed to protect farmers from losses, that some say amounts to a highly subsidized gift to agribusiness. That debate is set to continue as the House plans to take up its version of the bill this month.

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The Race Card Project: Six-Word Essays
3:18 am
Tue June 11, 2013

A Daughter's Struggle To Overcome A Legacy Of Segregation

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 9:13 am

As we head into the summer months, NPR is looking back to the summer of 1963, a momentous year in civil rights history. As part of NPR's partnership with The Race Card Project, which asks people to distill their thoughts on race to six words, Host/Special Correspondent Michele Norris is asking people who were on the front lines of history to share their memories and their thoughts on race in America today.

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Music News
3:16 am
Tue June 11, 2013

Background Singers Hit Center Stage In 'Twenty Feet From Stardom'

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 10:22 am

Twenty Feet from Stardom, filmmaker Morgan Neville's new documentary, is a reminder that most of pop music's catchiest hooks, riffs and refrains were sung by voices harmonizing in the background. Neville says he wanted to put backup singers — black, female and honed in church — front and center.

"I was really more interested in people who were voices for hire," he says, "who were able to walk into sessions never knowing what they had to do and could bring it."

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Europe
7:34 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Swedish Commuter Rail Engineers Get Around Dress Code

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Linda Wertheimer. In Stockholm, engineers on the Swedish commuter rail line have found a new way to skirt a dress code. The drivers were told no more shorts, even though the heat in the cab can top 95 degrees - just long pants or skirts. So many of the male engineers are now wearing skirts. Women are allowed to, so the company says it will not discriminate. Something tasteful in an A-line, or pleats, perhaps? It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Around the Nation
7:29 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Deputies Help Deer With Doritos Bag Stuck On Its Head

Sheriff's deputies on patrol in the Florida Keys spotted a deer on the side of a road with an empty bag of Doritos stuck on its head. "It must have wanted the last chip in the bottom," a deputy told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Parallels
7:15 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Barrios Family Blames Venezuelan Police For Men's Murders

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 9:49 am

The story of Venezuela's Eloisa Barrios is especially revealing because so many of her relatives have been killed. Revealing because of who she believes pulled the trigger.

Some weeks ago, Barrios climbed into our van for a drive to a cemetery. The burial ground is outside a village in the Venezuelan countryside. We went there to visit the Barrios family dead.

She told us nine relatives had been killed in shootings over the past 15 years. All nine were young men.

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Deceptive Cadence
5:20 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Ukrainian Wins Top Prize At Van Cliburn Piano Competition

Credit Rodger Mallison / MCT/Landov
Cliburn medalists Beatrice Rana, second place winner; Vadym Kholodenko, first place winner; and Sean Chen, third place winner, receive applause from the audience at the final awards ceremony at the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition on Sunday.

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 11:39 am

Winners of 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition were announced Sunday night in Fort Worth, Texas. The competition was held over 17 days.

Vadym Kholodenko, 26, of Ukraine, won the top prize of $50,000, but he said the rankings don't mean that much.

"It's kind of fun for audience, for press. It's interesting to put first, second, 10th and so on. But in life, not so important," Kholodenko says.

And, he says, so much of life involves competing no matter what you're doing.

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National Security
4:30 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Confessed NSA Leaker Hole Up In Hong Kong Hotel

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 7:08 am

The Guardian has identified its source for a series of reports it published in recent days on secret U.S. surveillance activity. The paper says the source is Edward Snowden, a former technical assistant for the CIA who now works for a private-sector defense and technology consulting firm.

Law
4:30 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Jury Selection To Begin In Trayvon Martin Case

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 7:08 am

In Sanford, Fla., Monday, jury selection begins in the murder trial of George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer charged with shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012. Police at first declined to charge Zimmerman after the shooting because of Florida's Stand Your Ground law, which gives immunity to people who, fearing for their lives, use deadly force in self-defense.

Animals
4:30 am
Mon June 10, 2013

City Life Disrupts Daily Rhythm Of Birds

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 7:08 am

City life can be harsh on people. For example, it pushes people to work longer and sleep less. A new study suggests that city life can have a somewhat similar effect on birds too. It shows urban blackbirds wake up earlier and go to bed later than their forest dwelling cousins.

National Security
2:58 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Amid Data Controversy, NSA Builds Its Biggest Data Farm

Credit George Frey / EPA/LANDOV
A National Security Agency data center is under construction in Bluffdale, Utah. When this data center opens in the fall, it will be the largest spy data center for the NSA.

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 10:01 am

As privacy advocates and security experts debate the validity of the National Security Agency's massive data gathering operations, the agency is putting the finishing touches on its biggest data farm yet.

The gargantuan $1.2 billion complex at a National Guard base 26 miles south of Salt Lake City features 1.5 million square feet of top secret space. High-performance NSA computers alone will fill up 100,000 square feet.

The Utah Data Center is a data farm that will begin harvesting emails, phone records, text messages and other electronic data in September.

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Around the Nation
2:57 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Rail Project At L.A. Port Draws Environmental Group Ire

Credit Nick Ut / AP
Shipping containers stack up at the Port of Los Angeles.

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 12:21 pm

In California, a high-profile lawsuit is seeking to halt construction of a new $500 million rail yard next to the Port of Los Angeles. Activists, including a national environmental group that's spearheading the opposition, say the massive project would mean even more pollution for nearby neighborhoods that already have some of the worst air in the country.

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Shots - Health News
2:56 am
Mon June 10, 2013

African Americans Remain Hardest Hit By Medical Bills

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 8:37 am

For many years, high medical bills have been a leading cause of financial distress and bankruptcy in America. That pressure may be easing ever so slightly, according to a survey released earlier this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But 1 in 5 Americans still face hardships due to medical costs — and African-Americans continue to be the hardest hit.

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