History
7:35 am
Tue June 12, 2012

50 Years Later, Mystery Of Alcatraz Escape Endures

Originally published on Tue June 12, 2012 1:37 pm

Fifty years ago three men set out into the frigid waters of the San Francisco Bay in a raft made out of raincoats. It was one of the most daring prison escapes in U.S. history from what was billed as the nation's only "escape-proof prison" — Alcatraz.

Most people assume the men have been at the bottom of the bay or were swept out to sea since the night they broke free, tunneling out of their cells in part with spoons from the kitchen and climbing the prisons' plumbing to the roof.

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The Two-Way
7:19 am
Tue June 12, 2012

Syrian Children Are Being Killed, Tortured And Used As Shields, U.N. Says

Credit AP
A Syrian boy sits in the rubble of house destroyed during a military operation in April in the town of Taftanaz, Syria.
  • NPR's Deborah Amos, reporting from Damascus

After more than a year's worth of appalling news about atrocities in Syria as President Bashar Assad's regime cracks down on dissent, now there's this:

"New crises have caused enormous suffering for children and continue in 2012. In Syria, children were victims of killing and maiming, arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, by the Syrian Armed Forces, the intelligence forces, and the Shabbiha militia.

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Political Junkie
6:48 am
Tue June 12, 2012

A Congressional Election In Arizona We All Wish Didn't Have To Take Place

Originally published on Thu June 14, 2012 10:48 am

If Republicans had their way, there would not have been a gubernatorial recall election in Wisconsin. An unnecessary waste of time, many of them said.

Democrats, for the most part, disagree. Scott Walker's policies, they argued, mandated the recall election.

As for today's special election in Arizona's 8th Congressional District, both Democrats and Republicans agree that it shouldn't be taking place at all.

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Strange News
6:38 am
Tue June 12, 2012

Stealthy Cow May Stand In For Psychic Octopus

Originally published on Tue June 12, 2012 8:18 am

Yvonne the Cow became famous for her escape from a German farm, and certain slaughter. For months, she eluded her owner and a bull sent to lure her out. Now Yvonne may replace the late Paul the Octopus, who predicted the winner for all of Germany's 2010 World Cup soccer matches.

Strange News
6:30 am
Tue June 12, 2012

Massachusetts Town OKs Fines For Profanity

Originally published on Tue June 12, 2012 8:18 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

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Sports
5:53 am
Tue June 12, 2012

Los Angeles Kings Capture Their First Stanley Cup

Originally published on Tue June 12, 2012 8:18 am

In Monday night's Stanley Cup championship, the Los Angeles Kings won for the first time, defeating the New Jersey Devils 6-1.

U.S.
5:53 am
Tue June 12, 2012

50 Years Later, Mystery Of Alcatraz Escape Endures

The legend of the escape from Alcatraz has always held that Frank Morris and Clarence and John Anglin would return for the 50th anniversary of their famed 1962 prison breakout. Tuesday was that anniversary. And while the men, who would now be in their 80s, haven't been heard from in half a century, family members went to the island for the first time to wait — along with U.S. Marshals — just in case.

U.S.
5:53 am
Tue June 12, 2012

Massive Wildfire Burns Out Of Control In Colo.

Originally published on Tue June 12, 2012 8:18 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

In the southern Rocky Mountains, several destructive wildfires are burning across a vast stretch of parched land and firefighters are struggling to gain control. In Colorado, the High Park Fire which flared up this past weekend is huge, even for a region where wildfires are common. The fires quickly engulfed more than 41,000 acres, destroying dozens of homes and buildings. And there's no end in sight. Kirk Siegler of member station KUNC brings us this update.

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Monkey See
5:35 am
Tue June 12, 2012

The Old With The New: Generations Clash In New 'Dallas'

Credit Mark Seliger / TNT
Bobby (Patrick Duffy, top left), J.R. (Larry Hagman, top center left) and the rest of the Ewing family are back, including a new generation, for TNT's reboot of Dallas.

Originally published on Tue June 12, 2012 12:08 pm

In 1980, the world was transfixed by the question of "Who shot J.R.?" Of course, we're talking about the archvillain from the nighttime soap opera Dallas. Three hundred fifty million people worldwide tuned in to find out. Now the TNT cable network is rebooting the show and hoping for even a fraction of that passion.

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Business
5:09 am
Tue June 12, 2012

Starbucks Order Gives Ohio Mug Maker A Jolt

Credit Amanda Rabinowitz / WKSU
Bob Davis hand-dips mugs before they go into the kiln at American Mug and Stein in East Liverpool, Ohio. Most overseas companies have machines that can do this much faster.

Originally published on Tue June 12, 2012 1:03 pm

For decades, when you slid into a booth at a diner or a local coffee shop, the waitress probably arrived with a standard-issue, off-white mug. More than likely that mug came from the Ohio River town of East Liverpool, which calls itself "The Pottery Capital of the Nation."

A lot of that city's pottery business is long gone. Now, one of the few remaining pottery factories in the battered town is pinning its survival on a major corporation.

To step inside American Mug and Stein in East Liverpool is to step into another era.

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