A New Take on Old Fashioned Moonshine

Denver, CO

Colorado Public Radio - People load their plates with local food and their pints with local beer.  Now cocktails are going local too. Megan Verlee reports on the growing number of craft distilleries.

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Military Spending Always Welcome

Huntsville, AL

WBHM - Many state and local governments are struggling to cut services as they try to head off billion dollar deficits. But new research suggests there may be truth in one old political standby. As Tanya Ott reports, military spending may boost a city's bottom line.

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New Yorkers Look for Fresh Start after Tumultuous Years in Albany

Albany, NY

North Country Public Radio - The past four years in state government were tumultuous, as New York got not one, but two new governors, witnessed a coup in the state Senate, and endured the worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression. Karen DeWitt takes a look back.

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Adoption Gives Mom a Rare Second Chance

Miami, FL

WLRN - It's easy to take the family aspects of the holiday season for granted. Pesky in-laws, over-stayed welcomes, childhood issues resurfacing. 41-year-old Vanessa Scott will not be taking anything for granted this holiday. She has reunited her family in one of the most implausible ways possible. Kenny Malone has more.

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Unexpected Optimism in a High Unemployment City

El Centro, CA

The California Report - Congress has agreed to extend unemployment benefits, which is good news for many cities of California where joblessness is dragging down the local economy. In the city of El Centro, near the Mexican border, the official unemployment rate is 30%. But as Ruxandra Guidi reports, local leaders say the numbers don't tell the whole story.

Retailer Targeting Latinos Booms in U.S.

Phoenix, AZ

KJZZ - Hispanic buying power in the U.S. is a whopping trillion dollars per year. Major American companies have been targeting this market since the 1980s -- often with mixed results. Devin Browne reports on one growing American retailer that has learned more lessons than most.

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Art Appears in Abandoned Steel Mill

Rankin, PA

WDUQ - The Carrie Furnace was one of Andrew Carnegie’s original steel mills and sits on more than a hundred acres in Pittsburgh’s industrial heartland. There's a rumor a covert group of artists erected a sculpture in the abandoned mill…so Larkin Page-Jacobs set out to find it.

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Obesity Risks in Play Before Birth

Winslow, AZ

KNAU/Fronteras - One out of every three American children is overweight. First Lady Michelle Obama has launched a campaign to address this obesity epidemic among school children. But new research suggests the country needs a program that targets kids and mothers much earlier. Laurel Morales reports on one such effort on the Navajo Nation. 

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Concern Grows Over Farmland Values

Nevada, IA

Harvest Public Media/Iowa Public Radio - While the housing market languishes, another land asset is skyrocketing: farmland. Farmland prices are up nearly 60 percent over the last decade; in many states prices have risen more than 10 percent just since last year. Kathleen Masterson has the report.

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Federal Agents Crack Down on Drug Tunnels

San Diego, CA

Fronteras/KPBS - US federal authorities are trying out a new tactic in their hunt for subterranean drug smuggling tunnels near the border in San Diego. Authorities are going door-to-door to ask business owners to keep their heads up for underground activity. Amy Isackson reports.


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Moonlight Goes Missing

Austin, TX

KUT - They may not serve the purpose they were originally designed for, but Austin’s Moonlight Towers have become a beloved fixture in the city. Matt Largey reports only about half the original towers remain, and more have gone missing in the last few years. 

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Audio Postcard: Native Fashion on the Runway

St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, Akwesasne, NY


North Country Public Radio - Four years ago Jacobs Manufacturing company started a native fashion show to raise money for the local hat and mitten fund. Today, “Nations Best Next Top Model Show” has grown into a big attraction. Models from Iroquois communities wore the work of ten Mohawk designers, including traditional regalia, cocktail and casual wear and furs. Randi Rourke Barreiro has this audio postcard.


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An Unemployment Carol

Concord, NH

NHPR - Christmas songs and an interpretation of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ could be heard at the statehouse today in Concord. Dan Gorenstein reports the holiday cheer was laced with a political message.

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A Lesson in Alternative Cartography

ODT Maps

Amherst, MA

WFCR - Close your eyes and imagine earth and all its countries. What does the map in your head look like? You could be picturing the map found in most classrooms and textbooks - the Mercator projection created in Germany in 1569. But, according to alternative map specialists the Mercator Map is only one way of seeing the world on a flat surface. Peter Moskowitz reports.

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The Obstacles to Living Independently

Denver, CO

Colorado Public Radio - In Colorado 3,500 people with disabilities live in nursing homes but don’t want to be there and the state is struggling to meet its goal of moving people with disabilities out of institutions and back into their communities. Laura Frank with the Rocky Mountain Investigative News Network reports on the obstacles to independent living.

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Ex-Felons Last in Line for New Jobs

Phoenix, AZ

KJZZ - Each year nearly 700-thousand Americans are released from prison and of many of them will need jobs. In this economy, it won't be easy finding them. Peter O'Dowd reports. 

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Tweeting for Stolen Cars

Seattle, WA

KPLU - Seattle police are tweeting for stolen cars. They’re using Twitter to get the word out whenever a theft is reported. Police say making use of the popular social networking site just makes sense. Paula Wissel reports.

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Watermen Reconsider Aquaculture

The Gazette

Hooper's Island, MD

WYPR - When Maryland first proposed radical changes in efforts to restore the state's decimated oyster population, angry watermen claimed it was a threat to their very existence. Two years later, it appears that the tide may be turning. Joel McCord reports.

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