Sports
6:23 am
Sun April 1, 2012

Finally, The Payoff In Women's NCAA Basketball

Credit Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
Notre Dame guard Skylar Diggins goes up during the second round of NCAA women's tournament basketball in a game against California.

The NCAA Division 1 women's tournament gets criticized for not having enough true March Madness moments, when the Davids rise up and beat the Goliaths in nerve-jangling upsets. Such is the power structure in the women's game, with largely untouchable elite teams.

The payoff comes when all those elite teams gather, as they have in Denver, in such a show of force and talent that a fan tends not to miss the little guys.

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Around the Nation
10:06 pm
Sat March 31, 2012

Vermont Town Struggles To Keep Bookmobiles Alive

Credit Herb Swanson
The broken-down Cobleigh Public Library bookmobile sits idle at a storage facility in Lyndonville, Vt. Supporters are raising money to put it back on the road.

Originally published on Fri May 11, 2012 10:33 pm

Across America, libraries used to reach out to readers by sending bookmobiles into school parking lots, street corners and rural byways. Now, those rolling reading rooms are becoming scarce — too costly and outmoded, some say.

One town in northern New England just lost its bookmobile. The Cobleigh Public Library in Lyndonville, Vt., had managed to keep its van rolling until about a month ago, when it died.

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The Impact of War
9:17 pm
Sat March 31, 2012

Home Front: Soldiers Become Civilians Again

Originally published on Fri May 11, 2012 10:33 pm

We first met the soldiers of the 182nd Infantry Regiment of the Army National Guard about a week ago, on an airport tarmac. They had just landed in the United States after wrapping up a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan.

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Shots - Health Blog
6:50 pm
Sat March 31, 2012

Babies Take Longer To Come Out Than They Did In Grandma's Day

Credit Carsten/Three Lions / Getty Images
Fifty years ago, the typical first-time mother in the U.S. took about four hours to give birth. These days, women labor about 6 1/2 hours.

Originally published on Sat March 31, 2012 6:51 pm

The typical first-time mother takes 6 1/2 hours to give birth these days. Her counterpart 50 years ago labored for barely four hours.

That's the striking conclusion of a new federal study that compared nearly 140,000 births from two time periods.

One big implication: Today's obstetricians may be rushing to do cesarean sections too soon because they're using an out-of-date yardstick for how long a "normal" labor should take.

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Judging The Health Care Law
5:16 pm
Sat March 31, 2012

How Did The Health Care Mandate Get Here?

Credit Carolyn Kaster / AP
Protesters chant and hold a copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in front of Supreme Court in Washington as the court concluded three days of hearing arguments on the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week over key aspects of President Obama's health care law, including the expansion of Medicaid and whether the court even had the right to hear the case. But the core of the challenge mounted against the Affordable Care Act hinges upon its individual mandate, which requires almost every American to have or buy health insurance.

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Around the Nation
3:00 pm
Sat March 31, 2012

Tribe Sues To Keep Reservation Free Of Booze

The sale or possession of liquor is strictly forbidden by the tribal government of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. But there is a tiny town just over the border in Nebraska that does sell alcohol, in massive quantities, and mostly to tribal residents.

And now a longstanding battle over beer sales has spilled into federal court.

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Politics
3:00 pm
Sat March 31, 2012

In 1993, Republicans Proposed A Mandate First

Originally published on Sat March 31, 2012 5:43 pm

Transcript

GUY RAZ, HOST:

It's WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz.

Before the break, we mentioned the individual mandate in health care. Now, not so long ago, most Democrats hated the idea, and most of its support came from Republicans. And it started with President Bill Clinton's attempt to reform the health care system back in 1993. He came to Capitol Hill to address Congress.

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: This health care system of ours is badly broken, and it is time to fix it.

(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE)

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Law
8:00 am
Sat March 31, 2012

Supreme Court Review: Justices Take On Health Care

This past week at the Supreme Court, judges heard three days of arguments on President Obama's health care law. The justices asked questions to decide whether the Affordable Care Act overreaches the Constitution. NPR's Nina Totenberg and Julie Rovner review the week's events with host Scott Simon.

Sports
8:00 am
Sat March 31, 2012

Final Four Teams Known For Strength, Rivalries

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. Time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF SPORTS THEME MUSIC)

SIMON: Tonight, the party begins on Bourbon Street. Hey, wait. Do parties on Bourbon Street ever end? Anyway, the NCAA men's basketball tournament is down to its Final Four teams. They're four famous basketball programs and the women's Final Four starts tomorrow night in Denver with another quartet of traditional powerhouses.

NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman Tom joins us. Tom, thanks for being with us.

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Sports
8:00 am
Sat March 31, 2012

Win Or Lose, Ky. Gets Spot In NCAA Championship

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has got a real dilemma. Does he root for the Wildcats of the University of Kentucky or the University of Louisville Cardinals in tonight's Final Four basketball game?

Governor Beshear joins us now from his office in Frankfort, Kentucky. Governor, thanks for being with us.

GOVERNOR STEVE BESHEAR: You're welcome, Scott.

SIMON: And let me please give you the chance to alienate half the voters in your state by telling us where you stand on this game.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

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